Daily Devotional, Year 2 – MARCH 4 (Babylon = Baby-Land, Part 4: “Why Does God Allow Suffering?”)
By admin On January 20th, 2021.
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Daily Devotional, Year 2 – MARCH 4
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Babylon = Baby-Land
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Part 4:
“Why Does God Allow Suffering?”
To read Part 1, just click here… ” MARCH 1 (Babylon = Baby-Land! Part 1: Music)”
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“And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast;
and his kingdom was full of darkness;
and they gnawed their tongues for pain,
And blasphemed the God of heaven
because of their pains and their sores,
and repented not of their deeds.”
Revelation 16:10, 11
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In the first three parts (click here) of this topic, several aspects of Mankind’s childish behavior were discussed.
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But in this fourth part, the subject of God’s love is brought into question. And so, let’s begin to explore this question…
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There are very many people who wonder why a loving God allows all this bad stuff to happen.
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Yes, if God is all-powerful, why does He let people suffer?
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Maybe God isn’t as loving and merciful as He would have us believe?
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Munch Det Syke Barn – 1896 – Wikipedia – US Public Domain
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OUR CHILDISH THINKING!
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Well, perhaps what people are really asking is this: “Why doesn’t God just take away all the results of sin, and merely let us enjoy this selfish world?”
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Well, isn’t that what we’re truly desiring? Aren’t we really asking God to simply let us alone, so we can keep on sinning, without any repercussions? And so, there are many persons who turn their backs to God in anger, because we feel that God is just a “big meanie in the sky”!
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Crying girl – Wikipedia – cropped image – Share-alike License
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OLD TESTAMENT JUSTICE
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And yet, when we adults accuse God of being a “big meanie”, He just seems to sit silently up there in Heaven, patiently enduring our scorn and contempt against Him!
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Why doesn’t He just cast down some lightning bolts at all those who murmur and point our accusing finger at Him?
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After all, that’s what He sometimes did in the Old Testament, when His people continually complained! And many people today murmur against the way God behaved in the Old Testament! “Just look at how impatient God was in the Old Testament!”, say many skeptics.
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Well, perhaps God was merely showing us how He could handle things, if He wanted to!
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Moses Breaks Tables of the Law – by G. Dore – Wikimedia – US Public Domain
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THEN CAME THE PRINCE OF PEACE!
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But then, beginning in the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus walked onto the world-stage, and lived a life of patience, peace, mercy, and self-sacrificing brotherly love; seemingly presenting an entirely opposite side to His Old Testament character!
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But listen… “He (Jesus) is despised and rejected of men;
a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief:
and we hid as it were our faces from Him;
He was despised, and we esteemed Him not…
But He was wounded for our transgressions,
He was bruised for our iniquities: …
and with His stripes we are healed…
and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth:
He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter”
Isaiah 53:2-6
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So here we get an entirely different description of God, in the life of Jesus!
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And this above passage is actually from the Old Testament!
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Jesus – Woman why weepest thou – Jesus – Wikipedia – US Public Domain
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IMAGINE SIN WITHOUT PUNISHMENT
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And so, with all these seeming contradictions, most people are confused as to just who is this God of the Bible?
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Well, to answer this question, let’s just suppose that God took away all the evil results which sin and rebellion bring! Yes, let’s just imagine a world in which all the earth’s inhabitants (including Satan and his armies) simply were allowed to live and enjoy and thrive in our sin and selfishness!
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Well, just imagine if we allowed our own children to continue to do whatever they wanted, without suffering any correction! How do you think our children would grow up? Like complete monsters? Yes, our children would grow up to become horrible tyrants!
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Burning Man – 2013 – Chapel – cropped and altered image – Wikimedia – Creative Commons License
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“IS THIS THE MAN?”
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But frequently, our children do not understand why we are “so mean and cruel”, when we correct them!
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But it is because we love them, that we correct and punish them (but never in anger and rage!)
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And so, with this in mind, we can understand why a loving Heavenly Father allows the evil results of sin!
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Yes, when Lucifer deceived the other angels, telling them that he had a better plan than God’s kingdom of unselfish love, Lucifer was given rule over this planet.
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And God, in His fatherly wisdom allowed Lucifer’s alternative plan to fully mature into what it has now become: a world of pride, hate, violence, selfishness, lust, and every other sinful behavior.
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Satan presiding at the Infernal Council – Wikipedia – US Public Domain
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GOD’S ETERNAL PURPOSE
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God could have simply destroyed this planet, and all its inhabitants, if He chose to! But He didn’t!
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Instead, He says… “The God of My mercy shall prevent Me: God shall let Me see My desire upon Mine enemies. Slay them not, lest My people forget:” Psalm 59:10, 11
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Here we get a glimpse at why God has allowed evil to continue: to teach His people the results of evil!
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Yes, God has an eternal purpose! And just what is His eternal Purpose?
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Listen… “Having made known unto us the mystery of His will,
according to His good pleasure which He hath purposed in Himself:
That in the dispensation of the fulness of times
He might gather together in one all things in Christ,
both which are in Heaven, and which are on earth;
even in Him:”
Ephesians 1:9, 10
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Avvakum burned 1682 by artist Myasoyedov 1897 – Wikipedia – Pub-Dom
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LUCIFER EXPOSED IN THE LAST DAYS
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And so, now it begins to become clear that God has allowed all Heaven to witness the depths of evil, as seen in this fallen world, as a means of understanding how much more excellent His government is!
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Listen as God describes these last days in which Lucifer will be exposed…
“They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee (Lucifer),
and consider thee, saying, ‘Is this the man that made the earth to tremble,
that did shake kingdoms; That made the world as a wilderness,
and destroyed the cities thereof;
that opened not the house of his prisoners?'”
Isaiah 14:16, 17
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So here it says that Lucifer and his kingdom will be exposed and examined in these last days!
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lithoraph by Gustave Dore’ – Wikipedia – Public Domain
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PEACE THAT SURPASSES ALL UNDERSTANDING!
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But the Good News is, that the more that we come into harmony with God’s Word, the more pleasant will our lives become!
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As a matter of fact, the Bible tells us that we can live in “perfect peace”! (Isaiah 26:3)
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Yes, God promises to do, “exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the Power that worketh in us,” Ephesians 3:20
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Now with such promises as this, how can we lose?
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Braet von Überfeldt – Woman with Bible – 1866 – Wikipedia – US Public Domain
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TO READ PART 5, CLICK HERE…
MARCH 19 (Babylon = Baby-Land! Part 5: Living By The Law!)
Moses – Ten Commandments – Wikipedia – US Public Domain
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TODAY’S PRAYER…
“Dear Lord, Help me to not love the miserable idols of this horribly unhappy world. But rather, help me get excited about the prospects of seeing my family, happy and healthy in Thy everlasting Promised Land. Let me trade in this miserably selfish world, for that wonderfully unselfish and joyful Promised Land…
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READ MORE…
To explore deeper into this subject, please read… “January 27th (It’s a Brand-X World)”, or you can also read… “March 13th (Planet Earth: Devil’s Island!)”
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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7 STARS IMITATE THE CROSS OF ORION
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Peter let down his Lord by denying him thrice. But God allowed this to happen, knowing that Peter would repent, later to become one of the zealous Followers of Jesus. Probably many Christians have let their Lord down in a big way in the past. And like Peter, they have repented, likewise to become even more ardent Followers of Jesus.
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The Church, in these last days, has been flooded with every device that Satan could possibly conjure up, to cast across our pathway, and lead God’s sheep astray. And though the Church has been greatly hindered, God is about to purify His sin-laden people, who will finally lift up the Cross of Christ with such power and glory, as this world has never before seen.
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And the Reader may just discover the way that he or she might also help lift that Cross up. And God has inscribed in the heavens, a picture of how the Church lifts up the Cross, as they imitate their Lord. So please read this very important article. And though it may take 30 minutes or so, it will be well worth the read.
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crucifixion of Peter-Caravaggio-Martirio di San Pietro – Wikipedia – US public domain
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LOCATING THESE TWO CONSTELLATIONS
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This phenomenon begins in October, in the pre-dawn hours. It then begins a little earlier each night.
This Wikipedia star-chart to the left, has this Orion Constellation sketched in. You must locate Orion, when it is mid-sky, between east and west. You’ll be facing southward most likely, unless you are far south. Try to imagine it as a Cross on a steep hill. The 3-star belt of Orion becomes the crest of the hill. The 3 very faint stars that make up Orion’s head become the very top of the Cross.
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Next, locate the 7 Stars Constellation. This 7 Stars Constellation is seen by facing northward. It stands upright a little later in the night. Eventually, Orion will lay down and no longer be seen as an uplifted Cross! Beginning in November, the 7 Stars (AKA Big Dipper) can be seen as a Cross a little bit later in evening.
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When you are comfortable in locating Orion & The 7 Stars Constellations, then show a friend. This can be a great witnessing tool!
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READ MORE…
To explore deeper into this subject, please read… “’7 Stars’ Imitate ‘The Cross of Orion’”
Question book magnify svg – Wikimedia – GNU license
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TOMORROW…
“MARCH 5 (God’s Prophetic Curve-ball)”
Curveball – Wikipedia – Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.
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20+ MINUTE AUDIO STUDY IN JEREMIAH
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ALL‘NOBLE BEREANS’ (open-minded seekers of Bible truth), YOU 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 #428 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