Daily Devotional, Year 2 – MARCH 16 (You Can’t Fix Hell! Part 2: Weeds)
By admin On January 20th, 2021.
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Daily Devotional, Year 2 – MARCH 16
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You Can’t Fix Hell!
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Part 2:
“Weeds”
To read Part 1, click here… January 31st (You Can’t Fix Hell!)
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“And make straight paths for your feet,
lest that which is lame be turned out of the way;
but let it rather be healed.
Follow peace with all men, and holiness,
without which no man shall see the Lord:
Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God;
lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you,
and thereby many be defiled;”
Hebrews 12:13-15
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When Mankind first sinned, God placed a curse upon this world, saying… “cursed is the ground for thy sake…Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field;” Genesis 3:18
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And Mankind has been fighting weeds ever since that day!
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Taraxacum officinalis plant – Dandelion root – Wikimedia – Share-alike License
Jean François Millet (French, 1814-1875), Dandelions – Wikimedia – US public domain
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THE ROOT OF THE PROBLEM
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Now, one thing that many of us have learned by experience, is that it is an exercise in futility to attempt to pull weeds without getting to the root of the problem!
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Because, it won’t be but a few days until a nice healthy weed grows back to replace the one you just pulled! Perhaps even two or three more will grow back in its place!
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You simply have to remove the root!
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Jean François Millet (French, 1814-1875), Dandelions – Wikimedia – US public domain
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NATURE TEACHERS
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Well, of course, God has created nature to be enjoyed on several levels.
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And not only can nature be enjoyed for its natural beauty and awesome grandeur, but also for its wisdom! Yes, all of nature was created to teach Mankind lessons!
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Now there are probably many lessons to be learned from the thorns and thistles in the world. But the one lesson to be our focus today, is the root of the weed.
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Yes, the root of a weed teaches us a great lesson!
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Jean François Millet (French, 1814-1875), Dandelions – Wikimedia – US public domain
Worker ant carrying leaf – Wikimedia – Public Domain
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PULLING WEEDS OF SIN
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You see, if the weed can be compared to unwanted sin, then it begins to be understood that sin has a root, which must be removed, before it can be totally eliminated!
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In other words, a person may put away a certain sin. But if the root cause of that sin is not removed, then that sin will eventually return, in one way or another!
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And there are many Christians who feel the calling to correct the sins of unbelievers.
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And so, we will go on a crusade to correct others for their failings. Maybe we complain to a store manager about his bad-tempered cashier. Or we criticize an injustice in the world. Or we lecture some drunkard about his drinking.
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Well, it’s not difficult to relate all this to pulling a weed, without removing the root.
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Jean François Millet (French, 1814-1875), Dandelions – Wikimedia – US public domain
Drunk Panhandler – Wikipedia – Public Domain
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JESUS WENT TO THE ROOT OF SIN
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When Jesus came to this world, He was mostly quiet for 30 years. But then, when He began His 42-month ministry, He proclaimed the Good News of Salvation to this world!
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But Jesus had learned well the importance of getting to the root of Mankind’s problem.
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And so, wherever He preached, He went straight to the heart of Mankind’s sin.
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He was not merely trying to get people to behave!
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He knew that there must be a complete rebirth of the soul in Man!
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For instance, in the account of the Rich Young Ruler (see Luke 18:18-30), Jesus saw that it was useless for this young man to attempt to keep the Law, while his love for earthly abundance was greater than his love for God.
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Jean François Millet (French, 1814-1875), Dandelions – Wikimedia – US public domain
Rich Young Ruler – Hoffman – Wikimedia commons – US public domain
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BORN AGAIN!
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Or take the Pharisee, Nicodemus, who came to Jesus by night.
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Jesus did not mince words with that chief-Pharisee!
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No, but He directed Nicodemus to the heart of the matter… “Ye must be born again!”
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Now this revelation startled the Pharisee.
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And because Pharisees were mostly interested in correcting outward behavior, Nicodemus was shaken to the very core of his soul when he heard Jesus’ stunning words!
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Jean François Millet (French, 1814-1875), Dandelions – Wikimedia – US public domain
Nicodemus – Wikimedia – Public Domain
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CLEANING UP HELL!
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The Bible warns us…
“He that is unjust, let him be unjust still:
and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still:
and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still:
and he that is holy, let him be holy still.”
Revelation 22:11
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This above verse warns us against trying to clean up sin-ladened Mankind!
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There is no need to attempt to correct Man’s exterior behavior. It is like trying to clean up Hell (as discussed in Part 1). All we will be doing is cleaning up the outward appearance of this totally evil world!
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And let’s face it! The Devil loves nothing more than to have a nice and pretty veneer-like covering over his selfish kingdom!
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And so, by trying to correct unbelievers, we make this sin-darkened world even more deceptive, giving it a bright and glossy exterior!
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The Devil welcomes all such human “good works”!
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Jean François Millet (French, 1814-1875), Dandelions – Wikimedia – US public domain
Satan presiding at the Infernal Council – Wikipedia – US Public Domain
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O HYPOCRITE ME!
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But God wants me to clean up my own self before I even think of trying to clean up others!
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Listen… “And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye,
but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?….
Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye;
and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye.”
Matthew 7:3, 5
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As this passage suggests, I have enough work to do in my own heart, without trying to tackle the sins of others! Oh yes, I can (and should) tell others about the Good News of Salvation!
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But until I get the log out of my own eye, I certainly have no business trying to correct the behavior of another! At the very least, I should do so with fear and trembling!
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Jean François Millet (French, 1814-1875), Dandelions – Wikimedia – US public domain
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GOOD NEWS!
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The Good News is, that I still have time to get busy and clean up the garden of my own heart!
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And so, as I read God’s Word, and hide those precious life-giving words in my own heart, God will begin to pull the weeds of sin from the soil of my soul!
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And when God begins pulling weeds, He gets the entire weed, root, stem, and all!
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Jean François Millet (French, 1814-1875), Dandelions – Wikimedia – US public domain
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TODAY’S PRAYER…
“Dear Lord, Let my words be few, as I go about my day. Help me to judge myself as the chief of sinners, and not others. O Lord, do a work in me to purify my heart, thus removing any bitter root which springs up. Forgive my great hypocrisy…
Woman Praying – cropped image – Wikimedia – Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license
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READ MORE…
To explore deeper into this subject, please read… “The Flower of Heaven Constellation”, or you can also read… “January 25th (Nature’s Four Witnesses)”
Question book magnify svg – Wikimedia – GNU license
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THE END
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TODAY’S FEATURED HEAVENLY SIGN
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“THE GLORY OF MAN,
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AS THE FLOWER…
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FALLS AWAY”…
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1st Peter 1:25
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WiltedRose wikimedia public domain
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FLOWER OF THE FIELD CONSTELLATION…
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LOCATING THIS CONSTELLATION…
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This constellation group can best be seen in spring through summer in the southern sky just above the horizon. Like all constellations, it slowly moves westward through the months, appearing a little earlier each night. It also appears to move through the sky westward each night. It can be easily seen under any degree of darkness. In other words, you don’t need a very dark night.
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In the sketch to the right, the ‘Flower of the Field’ Constellation `is in the lower part of the screen, directly under the Cross/Scepter Constellation. (The sketches in this site are approximate, and not 100% accurate. The individual stars have different brightness than seen here. But these sketches are close enough in order to find them in the night sky.)
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This constellation presents one of the most beautiful verses in Scripture. And yet that Scripture presents one of the most repugnant concepts (which unsaved Mankind has tried to elude for millenniums). And that concept is, that Mankind is like the grass that withers, and his glory as the wildflower that fades away. But God’s Word and those that love it will go on for ever and ever!
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ABOVE STAR-CHART – Summer Constellations w/ark (aka: Sagittarius) & Revelation 12 Woman (aka: Ursa Major, including The Big Dipper) – www.theheavensdeclare.net
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THE FLOWER FADES…BECAUSE…THE LORD BLOWS UPON IT…
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If you go out in the springtime, your lawn may be full of those pesky little yellow flowers commonly known as Dandelions. And yet, if it were not for the weeds that follow, those little yellow flowers would no doubt be very welcome additions to our lawns.
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The Dandelion does well for a short time. For after a few days it is bright and beautiful. But when a hot blast from the east blows upon it, it quickly dries up, turning into spindles, as seen in the photograph below, on the lower right. This reminds us of the Bible verse at the top of the page where it says…
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“The grass withers, the flower fades: because the spirit of the LORD blows upon it: surely the people is grass.”
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The Bible compares the Spirit of God to wind. If you notice in the sketch on the upper right, the constellation shows a flower bent as if the wind is blowing on it; a wind from the east… “The wind blows where it desires, and you hear the sound thereof, but can not tell from where it comes, and where it goes: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.” John 3:8
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The above verse paints a beautiful picture of just how God leads his children. He is like a gentle breeze that pushes His children in the direction we must go.
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But of course, the flower of the field is rooted in the earth. It cannot go with the gentle nudgings of the Holy Spirit! It forever clings to the earth and eventually passes away! And so it is with lost Mankind!
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Photos of yellow dandelion courtesy share-alike lic. Click here for link.
Dandelion_sun wikipedia & avmaier ahare-alike license
Child & Dandylion wikimedia Public domain
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READ MORE…
To explore deeper into this subject, please read… “Flower of the Field Constellation”
Question book magnify svg – Wikimedia – GNU license
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TOMORROW…
“MARCH 17 (A World of Lies, Part 4: It’s A Chameleon World!)”
Chamaeleo namaquensis Lizard (Namib-Naukluft, 2011) – Wikipedia – Share-alike License
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20+ MINUTE AUDIO STUDY IN JEREMIAH
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ALL‘NOBLE BEREANS’ (open-minded seekers of Bible truth) ARE ENCOURAGED TO BEGIN FOLLOWING THIS 650+ AUDIO BIBLE STUDY THROUGH THE BOOK OF JEREMIAH EACH DAY ON THIS DAILY DEVOTIONAL.
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THIS STUDY #439 IS PRESENTED BY THE LATE HAROLD CAMPING, FORMER CEO OF FAMILY RADIO…
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above picture: Prophet Jeremiah – www.christianimagesource.org – Public Domain