Daily Devotional, Year 3 – June 22 (The Return of Elijah, Part 1: “Fathers & Children”)

By admin On February 16th, 2021

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Daily Devotional, Year 3 – June 22

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The Return of Elijah,

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Part 1:

“Fathers & Children”

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“Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet

before the coming of the great and dreadful

day of the LORD:

And he shall turn the heart of the fathers

to the children,

and the heart of the children to their fathers,

lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.”

Malachi 4:5, 6

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There’s a great deal of speculation about this above passage concerning the return of Elijah, the Prophet, just prior to the “great and terrible day of the Lord”.

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Will this Elijah be the exact same Elijah who came to Israel back in the days of the kings of Israel?

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Or will he be another individual, who, like John the Baptist, will come in the spirit and power of Elijah?

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Or was this Old Testament prophecy fulfilled in the coming of John the Baptist?

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And these are the three most popular theories about this most infamous human prophet who is to return in these last moments of time.

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Elijah leaves earth witnessed by Elisha – Wikigallery

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IT WILL TAKE US BY SURPRISE

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Well, one thing is for sure, whoever this Elijah turns out to be, it will take God’s people by surprise.

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Yes, the Bible is filled with story after story about how God purposely does things in new and original ways!

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For instance, just think about when Christ came to this world.

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Nobody was expecting Him to come in the way that He came!

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Everyone was taken by surprise to the degree that the spiritual rulers over God’s people believed He was of the Devil and treated Him accordingly!

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Elijah leaves earth witnessed by Elisha – Wikigallery

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OLD TESTAMENT SACRIFICIAL SYSTEM!?!

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Now, there is further speculation about the return of Elijah.

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You see, there are many who speculate that Elijah’s coming will somehow set in motion or correspond to the rebuilding of the temple of the Lord, over there in Jerusalem. Thus, the Jews will return to the Old Testament sacrificial system.

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Now, this idea seems to be really far-fetched, since Christ’s Atonement on the Cross forever did away with the Old Testament sacrificial system.

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And so, if the Jews ever try to begin the Old Testament sacrificial system, it would be nothing more than a vain and worthless endeavor! A mere exercise in futility! Worse, a slap in God’s face!

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the Holy of Holies – www.thebiblerevival.com – Public Domain

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SAD CONDITION OF CHURCH-WORLD

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Now as we look around at the church-world, do we see an undone work to be performed within the family circle?

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In other words, does the heart of the fathers need to be turned to the heart of the children? And visa-versa?

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Audience hands – cropped & altered – Wikimedia – Universal Public Domain

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TOO MANY DIVERSIONS

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Well, statistics show that young people are leaving the Church is mass numbers, to join in with the same pursuits of the secular world!

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And truth-be-told, this cornucopian super-society is filled with so many diversions, pleasures, and ambitious pursuits: and many Christian parents are pre-occupied with such world-loving pursuits!

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And so, it is no wonder that such a disconnect exists within the family circle! And coupled with the very high divorce rate in the Church, things are not well at all!

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New York Times Square – terabass – cropped – Wikipedia – Share-alike License

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A CORNUCOPIAN SUPER-SOCIETY!

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And to a great degree, Satan the False Prophet has stolen a march on God’s people!

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Yes, he has created this cornucopian super-society with the express purpose of diverting the hearts of Christians and non-Christians alike, to the seemingly endless variety of vain pleasures and ambitious pursuits of this selfish world!

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And so, if ever there was a time when the heart of the fathers needs to be turned to the heart of the children, it is now!

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Thus, this horrible condition in today’s church-world really begs for the return of Elijah!

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Castle of Disney – Wikipedia – Public Dom

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“And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord”

Ephesians 6:4

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One great means of counteracting the great overflowing tide of evil in this fallen world is for the parents to make every effort to reflect the loving ways of Jesus to our children.

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In simpler terms, we must plead daily with God to give us the grace to live with our family in such a way as to show them that Heaven is a place of joy!

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And the parents need to show much heavenly love for our children. Whether engaging them in their little games and sports, or hugging them often, or just making life in the home nice and breezy.

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This is an integral part of what it means to “bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.”

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The Christian parents must, kindly, patiently, and gently, guide our children through their childhood in such a way which will cause them to desire, yes, even yearn, to walk side-by-side with us along the joy-filled highways and byways of eternity!

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Family eating meal – Wikipedia – Public Domain

Family Portrait – cropped image – Wikimedia – Share-alike License

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GOOD NEWS!

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But the Good News is, we don’t need to wait for Elijah to return! We can begin right now, to turn our heart to our children!

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Yes, right now we can begin to put away our vain amusements and ambitious pursuits, and begin to devote ourselves to the Lord!

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Prayer – USMC – Wikimedia – US Govt. Public Domain

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WEEP BEFORE THE ALTAR (THE CROSS)

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And the prophet Joel gives us the prescription for restoration…“Let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, Spare Thy people, O LORD, and give not Thine heritage to reproach, that the heathen should rule over them: wherefore should they say among the people, Where is their God? Then will the LORD be jealous for His land, and pity His people.” Joel 2:17

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Yes, as this above passage says, we have allowed the heathen to rule over us!

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We and our children have been taken captive by this atheistic society. And we willingly send our little lambs into the deadly jaws of this Antichrist world, to be indoctrinated by television, radio, schools, and secular neighbors!

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And the remedy for this is to weep before the altar (the Cross) and cry out for deliverance for both our self and for our children!

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sheep – Lambs to the slaughter – cropped & altered – Wikimedia – Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license.

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“BE AFFLICTED, MOURN, AND WEEP!”

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The New Testament Book of James offers a similar prescription for spiritual healing…“Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God…Draw nigh to God, and He will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He shall lift you up.” James 4:4, 8-10

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Yes, we really need to understand just how greatly in trouble we really are! And once we do, then it won’t be so difficult to, “Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness.”

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(Just look at this picture of David. This is the same sorrowful stance we must take before God, crying out for deliverance from our Laodicean miasma, pleading for revival and restoration!)

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David’s Sorrow – Wikigallery – US Public Domain

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OUR CHILDREN CAST IN THE LAKE OF FIRE?

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We need to get a vision of Judgment Day, and just how horrible it will be should we one day soon witness our unsaved children being cast into the Lake of Fire!

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And so, we all must put away our vain and foolish endeavors and begin to devote ourselves to the Lord, as if our very soul’s Salvation is at stake!

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Because it is!

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USMC – Prayer before Bible study – Wikimedia – Public Domain

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TO READ PART 2, GO HERE…

June 23 (The Return of Elijah, Part 2: “Fathers & Children” CONTINUED)

Father & Son – Wikimedia – Public Domain

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TODAY’S PRAYER…

“Dear Lord, Help me to be faithful in all that I do, that my children can learn from my good and godly example…

Marine Praying – Wikimedia – USMC Public Domain

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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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“And there appeared a great wonder (sign) in heaven; a woman…

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And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness”

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Revelation 12:1, 14

***FROM WHERE &* *TO WHERE DOES SHE FLEE?***

WOMAN ROTATES THROUGH THE SEASONS…

This page is about the Big Dipper, also called the Great Bear constellation (Ursa Major ). However, the ancient pagan cultures did not see this constellation as God intended it to be seen. It is actually a headless woman in childbirth. This is seen in springtime. It is seen in the northern skies.

But as the seasons progress, this travailing woman flips upside down, now appearing as a woman with upraised arms like eagle wings who is running (eventually flying, as shown in sketch on right) into the wilderness (westward). The single star representing her birth-child (Christ) now becomes her head (“Christ is the head of the church.” Ephesians 5:23

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The 7 Stars (Big Dipper) is easy to see with its very bright 7 stars. But the Revelation 12 Woman (Ursa Major) must be seen on a dark starry night, away from city lights.

These are star charts from Wikipedia, with sketches of the Woman added.

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TOMORROW…