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Daily Devotional, Year 2 – JUNE 9

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The Heart,

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Part 2:

A World of Evil!

To read Part 1, click here…April 20th (The Heart, Part 1: Treasure Chest of the Mind!)

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As we look around at this poor sinful world, we have to shake our head at all the horrible atrocities now occurring nearly everywhere!

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Things we never dreamed would happen in our day, are now happening!

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9/11 World Trade Center attack – New York – cropped – by UpsateNYer & Wikipedia – Share-Alike Lic.

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ANGELS CAST DOWN TO HELL (EARTH).

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But why should we be surprised at all this evil?

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After all, in a very real sense, this antichrist world-system in which we live is what the Bible refers to as, “Hell”!

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Yes, the Bible reveals that Satan and his fallen compatriots were, “cast…down to HELL, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment;” 2nd Peter 2:4

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And if we continue to read about these fallen angels, we soon discover… “And his (the Dragon, Satan’s) tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the EARTH:” Revelation 12:4

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Gustave Dore – Paradise Lost illustration – Lucifer becomes Satan – Wikimedia – US Public Domain

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HELL IS SPIRITUAL DARKNESS

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So where were the angels that sinned cast down to?

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To the Earth or to Hell?

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Actually, both are true!

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Yes, this kingdom of darkness which is the world-system, is included in this catch-all name, “Hell”!

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And even though Hell refers to the grave, it also refers to the spiritual darkness in which the inhabitants of earth now live.

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It is only when the light of Heaven begins to flicker within the heart of a believer, that he or she begins to make the upward departure out of Hell…

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Listen to the Wise Man… “The way of life is above to the wise, that he may depart from Hell beneath.” Proverbs 15:24

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And so, this little proverb reveals a great truth, which this world refuses to believe, nor even hear: that this dark world of sin is as much a part of Hell, as is the final reward for sin, “the grave” (or, “Sheol”)!

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HELL IN THE HEART

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And so, as we look out upon the landscape of this hellish world, the countless atrocities occurring in every direction should not surprise us!

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But is that the extent of Hell?

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Or does Hell even extend to the human heart?

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BY GRACE ALONE!

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It is said, that as some evil-doers were being led to their execution in the 1500’s, a well-known Reformationist of that day exclaimed, “But for the grace of God, there goeth myself, John Bradford!”

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Well, whether John Bradford, or Richard Baxter or whoever else is attributed to first exclaiming this well-known saying, it is nonetheless true.

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None of us can hold our head up high.

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It’s only the grace of God that dwells in a person’s heart which causes that person to do any good thing!

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ABOVE PICTURE: the accusing finger share-alike license www.signsofheaven.org

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THE DESIRES OF HELL IN THE HEART

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Listen to this next Bible verse…

“Yea also, because he transgresses by wine, he is a proud man,

neither keeps at home,

who enlarges his desire as Hell,

and is as death, and cannot be satisfied,

but gathers unto him all nations,

and heaps unto him all people:”

Habakkuk 2:5

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Notice this above verse speaks of enlarging one’s “desire as Hell”.

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A man’s desires are in his heart. 

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Mark of the Beast – Wikipedia – Public Domain

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A WORLD OF EVIL IN MY OWN HEART!

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But though some of us might use this phrase, “enlarging one’s desire as Hell”, from time to time, none of us really believe it to the depths of its verity!

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Because if I really understood the wickedness that lay dormant in my very own heart, I would never ever shake my head at the atrocities occurring around the world!

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No, instead, I would hang my head in shame because of all the evil in the world, realizing it is merely a portrait of all the evil lying dormant in my very own heart!

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David’s sorrow – Wikigallery – Public Domain

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THE HEART, DESPERATELY WICKED

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Listen to the prophet, Jeremiah… “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” Jeremiah 17:9

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This verse reveals a truth which defies the so-called science of psychology, which claims to understand the human mind!

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Psychology just doesn’t realize that the human heart is far beyond our comprehension! “Who can know it?”, says the Lord! 

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But one great truth that psychology is totally ignorant of, is that the human heart and mind is the battlefield between Heaven and Hell. 

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ABOVE PICTURE: Battle for the heart – www.signsofheaven.org

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THE TONGUE AND THE MIND

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Listen to James… “And the tongue is a fire,

a world of iniquity:

so is the tongue among our members,

that it defiles the whole body,

and sets on fire the course of nature;

and it is set on fire of Hell.”

James 3:6

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Well, if the tongue is “set on fire of Hell”, then what can be said for the heart and mind which fully control the tongue?

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Gossips in the Altstadt in Sindelfingen, Germany. Sally Kennison – cropped – share-alike license – wikimedia commons

 

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NO GOOD IN ME!  

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The Apostle, Paul, confessed about his own heart… “For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing:” Romans 7:18

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Paul fully understood that the only goodness in him, was, “on loan from God”, so to speak.

Yes, it was only the Holy Spirit dwelling in Paul that made Paul righteous. 

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Stephen Stoned Acts 7:57-60 – lavistachurchofchrist.org

 

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I AM THE CHIEF OF SINNERS!

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Yes, Paul, without God’s Holy Spirit, was no better than the murderous thugs we see today around the world, as evidenced by his earlier years persecuting Christians.

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And neither are we!

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Our hearts are desperately wicked! We can say along with Paul… “This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.” 1st Timothy 1:15

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You see, Paul wasn’t being a bit pretentious here, as he made this above statement! No, and he said that we too are worthy of this same condemnation! I too, am chief of sinners! You are too, the chief of sinners, dear reader!

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And so, as both you and I look out upon this horribly evil world, we are merely looking at the depths of our own heart!

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NO ROOM FOR FINGER-POINTING!

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And for further confirmation of our own wickedness, Paul gives a long laundry-list” of the sins of the world, and then says to us…

“Therefore you are inexcusable, O man,

whosoever you are that judges:

for wherein you judge another,

you condemn yourself;

for you who judges, do the same things.”

Romans 2:1

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As it clearly states in the above verse, we who judge another wicked human, do not realize that the same wickedness exists in us too!

 

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THE WORLD: PORTRAIT OF OUR HEART!

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And really, we may think ourselves industrious and very moral.

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And yet those “morally decrepit” and utterly “lazy folks” over there, at whom we shake our heads, are merely a picture of our own heart!

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Those “disgusting” drug dealers and merchants of flesh are merely a picture of our own heart!

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Those murderous thugs around the world who are forcing their sick religion on others are merely a picture of our own heart!

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And though God mercifully restrains sin to a certain extent, we must not get the idea that we are any less sinful than the most evil of men upon the earth!

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ISIL – Execution of man – September 2014 – Wikimedia – Public Domain

 

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JUDGMENT DAY NOW!

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But the Day is coming in which those who are not fully hidden in God’s secret pavilion, will begin to manifest the great evil which lies deep within each and every heart!

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Listen to this following prophecy…

“The hands of the pitiful women have sodden their own children:

they were their meat in the destruction of the daughter of My people.”

Lamentations 4:10

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Pretty scary Bible verse, wouldn’t you say? And this is speaking of God’s own people cannibalizing their own children!

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Cannibalism in Russia and Lithuania 1571. – Wikimedia – Public Domain

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DOOR OF MERCY STILL AJAR!

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But in spite of this horrible situation, there is Good News for any person, be it man, woman, or child, who is willing to become a follower and disciple of Jesus!

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And so, dear “strangers and pilgrims”, let us turn our backs on this ugly world, and begin to purify our hearts, that we might dwell in love, and dwell in God, and He in us!

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USMC – Prayer before Bible study – Wikimedia – Public Domain

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TO READ PART 3, CLICK HERE…

AUGUST 28 (The Heart, Part 3: Desperately Wicked!

ABOVE PICTURE: Mark of the beast – pub. dom. – Wikipedia

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TODAY’S PRAYER…

“Dear Lord, Give me a full understanding of this truth, so that I will no longer sit on the Judgment Throne against others… 

Prayer – Mother and Daughter – Wikipedia – (cropped image) the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license

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READ MORE…

To explore deeper into this subject, please read… The Dragon of Revelation 12 Constellation, or you can also read this shorter article… January 20th (3 Fingered Judgment-Day) 

Question book magnify svg – Wikimedia – GNU license

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THE END

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TODAY’S FEATURED HEAVENLY SIGN

Info & pics of constellations on this site from Wikipedia & International Astronomical Union (click here)

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LOCATING THE DRAGON

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The Dragon Constellation can be located by finding Orion in winter months. The Dragon is to Orion’s left, and the Dragon’s mouth is right next to Orion’s shield. This Dragon’s mouth is the V-like constellation The Hyades Cluster, which is the very same constellation that comprises the head of Taurus the Bull. In other words, Hyades is also known as the head of Taurus the Bull. And Hyades is the mouth of this Dragon.

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The tip of the Dragon’s tail is composed of that star-cluster known as The Pleiades. The Pleiades is actually in the shape of a lion’s furry tassel tip of his tail. The sketch below shows this Pleiades as the tail tip.

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Now with aid of a dark starry night, you may begin to connect this mouth and the tail with a very long body in an oval shape. The front and back legs are very well-defined with stars. The front legs are made partially of Taurus. The back legs and rear fin are made of the Cetus Constellation. But the long oval-shaped body has relatively few stars, but can been seen, howbeit with a dark starry night. The four stars of the front fins are made partially of Taurus. This Dragon constellation appears in the eastern horizon about mid-summer in the pre-dawn hours, spewing his flood-waters northward toward the Woman of Revelation 12 (Woman in Travail). The Wave of Water is primarily composed of the Constellation Auriga. The are two more less bright stars which are closest to the Dragon’s mouth. These two dimmer stars are also part of this Wave of Water.

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READ MORE…

To explore deeper into this subject, please read… The Dragon of Revelation 12 Constellation

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TOMORROW…

JUNE 10 (My Yoke Is Easy!)

Jesus – Woman why weepest thou – Jesus – Wikipedia – US Public Domain

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25 MINUTE SAMPLER OF OPEN FORUM

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BECAUSE OF A MIX-UP, THERE IS NO STUDY TODAY. THESE STUDIES WILL RESUME TOMORROW. BUT YOU ARE HIGHLY ENCOURAGED TO LISTEN TO HAROLD CAMPING’S OPEN FORUM IN WHICH HE TAKES BIBLE QUESTIONS FROM CALLERS. THIS IS PROGRAM #250

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Harold Camping