Daily Devotional, Year 2- MARCH 31 (How To Put Time In A Bottle!)
By admin On January 15th, 2021.
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Daily Devotional, Year 2- MARCH 31
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How To Put Time In A Bottle!
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“For what is your life? It is even a vapor,
that appears for a little time,
and then vanishes away.”
James 4:14
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For those who lived in the 1970’s, the name Jim Croce might ring a familiar bell.
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Yes, Jim Croce was a shooting star, whose 15 minutes of fame ended almost as soon as it began!
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Empty bottle with mail – Wikimedia – Creative Commons – Share-alike License
Jim Croce – Wikipedia – Public Domain
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AN EERINESS
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And yet, he wrote and recorded more hit songs, to merely be referred to as a,
“one-hit-wonder”!
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But there was a certain eeriness which surrounded his momentary flash upon the pop-music scene. You see, Croce suddenly died in a plane crash, while that plane was just taking to the sky!
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This crash seemed to be a fitting symbol of Jim Croce’s career, which also came to a sudden crash, after that career just began taking to the sky!
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Empty bottle with mail – Wikimedia – Creative Commons – Share-alike License
Jim Croce – Wikipedia – Public Domain
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LIFE WON’T PASS ME BY
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But to add to the eeriness, one of Croce’s songs was published posthumously…
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“Like the pine trees linin’ the windin’ road
I’ve got a name, I’ve got a name
Like the singin’ bird and the croakin’ toad
I’ve got a name, I’ve got a name
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“And I carry it with me like my daddy did
But I’m livin’ the dream that he kept hid
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“Movin’ me down the highway
Rollin’ me down the highway
Movin’ ahead so life won’t pass me by”
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Read more: Jim Croce – I Got A Name Lyrics | MetroLyrics“
BIRD – Erithacus rubecula Norway – singing – Wikipedia – share-alike-license
Toad – Wikimedia – Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.
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HARD TO SING TO
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This song, like most of Croce’s songs, was very memorable and easy to sing to.
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But this zest-for-life song/poem, was a bit difficult for the world to sing along with, knowing that its composer had just been laid to rest in his early grave at the very young age of 30.
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But even though Jim Croce didn’t want life to pass him by, it nevertheless did!
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Listen again… “Movin’ me down the highway
Rollin’ me down the highway
Movin’ ahead so life won’t pass me by”
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Yes, Jim Croce’s life was passed by, due to his untimely death.
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Jim Croce – Wide World Concert – Wikipedia – Public Domain
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LIFE IS SHORT
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But let’s get honest for a moment. When you really think about it, life passes us all by, doesn’t it? We live for about 7 or 8 decades, and there we go, right down into our grave!
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But even if we live another decade or two beyond most others, we probably will only be existing, and not really living!
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And even those few who actually do enjoy this selfish world well into their 90’s, will finally go down to their graves, never to be heard from again…
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Listen… “His breath goes forth, he returns to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish.” Psalm 146:4
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Calvary Cemetery Queens – Wikipedia – Public Domain
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TIME IN A BOTTLE
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Jim Croce wrote another hauntingly beautiful ballad… “If I Could Put Time In A Bottle”, which also was released posthumously.
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But this was also a bit difficult to sing to, knowing that Croce was already in the grave, and his bottle was already broken! And many people even thought that perhaps Croce wrote this song as a precognition of his soon-coming date with death…
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Listen… “If I could save time in a bottle,
The first thing that I’d like to do,
Is to save every day ’til eternity passes away, Just to spend them with you”
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These above lyrics have a macabre aura to them, considering that they were sung to the world just days and weeks after he was put in the grave!
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Read more: Jim Croce – Time In A Bottle Lyrics | MetroLyrics
Still Life With A Skull & Hour-glass – Wikipedia – Public Domain
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DEAD PEOPLE SINGING
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But when you think about it, there are so many songs we hear each day, sung by deceased people.
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Well, we could probably just conclude that we humans are so familiar with death and dying, that we become numb to these morbid things!
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As the Preacher says… “Meaningless, meaningless! All is meaningless!…One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh:” Ecclesiastes 1:2, 4
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Persistence of Memory – Salvador Dali – Wikigallery – Public Domain
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OTHER BOTTLES
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The point is, that there are many people throughout the world who live their hopeless lives, knowing that time is passing them by.
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And as they grow older, they eventually realize that they cannot put time in a bottle! They understand that life will soon pass them by!
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And so, they try to cover this death-sentence up, by trying not to think about their inevitable doom!
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Some resort to another bottle (alcohol) to try to forget about the past (or the present): ah yes, the Bottle of Forgetfulness!
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And others will try to keep so busy, as to not be alone with fearful thoughts about their hopeless future!
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Listen… “And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.” Hebrews 2:15
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Yes, the people of the world live in fear of death, though many try to hide this fact!
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Alcohol bottles – photographed while drunk by Kotivalo for Wikimedia – Share-alike License 3.0
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HIDING FROM REALITY
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Yes, we try to imagine that the next few decades will drag out, and so “why should I worry about my future date with death?”
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And with the aid of that infamous happy-faced false prophet, the television (which constantly assures us just how important and relevant we are), we try to escape that Grim Reaper, who always seems to be waiting just around the next corner, lurking in the shadows, patiently waiting!
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Jack-the-Ripper – Wikipedia – Public Domain
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A GENERATION PASSES AWAY
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“…vanity of vanities; all is vanity. What profit hath a man of all his labor which he takes under the sun? One generation passes away, and another generation comes…” Ecclesiastes 1:2-4
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But we see a new generation springing up, with all the brash exuberance which we once had!
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We see the younger generation having their so-called “storybook romances”, that we once experienced! We see our hair turning grey, while theirs are full of youthful color and sheen! We hear our favorite Jim Croce song while riding the down-escalator in a department store, as we try to find something to buy, which might brighten up our day!
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Oh yes, God gives us many happy, fleeting moments with friends and family. But the longer we live, the more that life passes us by! We no longer feel a part of the, “now generation”! We hear the TV tell us how relevant we seniors are, all the while focusing its attention on the young and beautiful!
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Jim Croce died over 40 years ago. He would be over 70 years old today! But with each passing day, his memory keeps fading more and more into the past! Soon his name will be forgotten altogether!
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Sunset over San Diego Graveyard – Wikipedia – Share-alike License for Andy Eick
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BOTTLE THAT WILL NEVER BREAK!
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Now, is there any Good News in this hopelessly dying world?
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Oh yes! The Bible speaks of a bottle that will never ever be broken!
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Listen… “Thou tellest my wanderings: put Thou my tears into thy bottle: are they not in Thy Book?…For Thou hast delivered my soul from death: wilt not Thou deliver my feet from falling, that I may walk before God in the light of the living?” Psalm 56:8, 13
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Here is a wonderful poetic promise, which hopefully, Jim Croce took hold of, prior to his sudden death!
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And this wonderful promise of everlasting life is still available for you and I to take hold of, if we wish to!
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Thomas Cole – Pilgrim of the Cross at the End of His Journey – Wikimedia – US Public Domain
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AS THE STARS FOREVER!
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Yes, there exists an unbreakable bottle, which will forever hold all my tears and all my wanderings through this dark Valley of the Shadow of Death, called planet Earth.
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So yes, you CAN put time in a bottle after all!
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You DON’T have to let life pass you by!
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You CAN actually shine, “as the stars for ever and ever!” Daniel 12:3
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Starry Night at La Silla – Wikimedia – Share-Alike license
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TODAY’S PRAYER…
“Dear Lord, Make me to know mine end, and the measure of my days, what it is; that I may know how frail I am. Behold, Thou hast made my days as an handbreadth; and mine age is as nothing before Thee…” Psalm 39:4, 5
Praying Hands – Otto Greiner – Wikimedia – .bassenge.com – Cropped image – Public Domain
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READ MORE…
To explore deeper into this subject, please read… “Flower of the Field Constellation: Part 2-“All is Vanity””, or you can also read… February 7th (Why Not Just Eat, Drink & Be Merry?)
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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FLOWER OF THE FIELD IN HEAVEN
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This is perhaps one of the most amazing constellations that God has created! It truly looks like a flower, and appears to be blowing in the direction of westward. But as autumn draws near, this constellation appears to bow itself down, just like the flowers of Earth bow down, at the summer’s end.
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And these are not merely obscure stars. These are among the biggest and brightest stars in the night heavens!
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The Two Turtle-Doves Constellation is also known as Sagittarius .
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The Flower of the Field is commonly known as Scorpio .
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But there is another obvious aspect to this constellation group. Notice that the birds are flying in the same direction as the flower is bending; it is as if the east wind is blowing these heavenly messengers…
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“The wind blows where it desires, and you hear the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it comes, and where it goes: so is every one that is born of the Spirit. John 3:8.
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So here is another incredible Bible concept, written in the heavens! And God has spoken of these signs! Listen… “For ever, O LORD, Thy Word is settled in Heaven.” Psalm 119:89
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THE ZODIAC CONSTELLATION NAMES
By the way, it is not the purpose of www.theheavensdeclare.net to give any validity to the Zodiac or any pagan deities. But the common names of many constellations must be given, solely for the purpose of locating them on star-charts.
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WHY IS THIS FLOWER POINTING UPWARD?
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To the right is a star-chart from Wikipedia. The editor of this site has sketched in the Flower of the Field Constellation on this constellation commonly referred to as the Scorpio Constellation (plus a few other close-by bright stars).
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Do you see the long blade of grass growing from the base of the Flower of the Field? This is made of the two highest stars of the Lupus Constellation, and the two lowest stars of the Libra Constellation.
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As this Wikipedia star-chart shows, the flower appears to be pointing to Arcturus and the Revelation 12 Woman (shown in sketch below). Arcturus represents Jesus, as He leads His sons (and daughters) on a spiritual journey up a heavenward pathway, as is written… “Canst you bring forth Mazzaroth in his season? or can you guide Arcturus with his sons?” Job 38:32.
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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
“April 1 (Cuttlefish & The False Prophet)”
Giant Cuttlefish – Wikimedia – Creative Commons Attribution
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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 #454 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