Daily Devotional, Year 3 – November 11 (How a Joke Killed! Part 3: “A Deadened Conscience”)
By admin On February 17th, 2021.
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Daily Devotional – November 11
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How a Joke Killed!
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Part 3:
“A Deadened Conscience”
To go to Part 1, click here…JANUARY 10th (How a Joke Killed!)
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“But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness,
let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints;
Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting,
which are not convenient: but rather giving of thanks…
Let no man deceive you with vain words:
for because of these things cometh the wrath of God
upon the children of disobedience.”
Ephesians 5:3, 4, 6
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On the morning of that fearful day, when God destroyed Sodom and its surrounding cities, the main character of that true historical account, Lot, tried to warn his sons-in-law to flee from the wrath to come!
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But his sons-in-law didn’t believe him! They thought he was merely joking!
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Listen… “And Lot went out, and spake unto his sons in law, which married his daughters, and said, Up, get you out of this place; for the LORD will destroy this city. But he seemed as one that mocked unto his sons in law.” Genesis 19:14
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Perhaps Lot’s sons-in-law were accustomed to hearing Lot make such mocking jests, previous to this fateful morning!
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Yes, maybe Lot had a reputation of being somewhat of a joker. Maybe Lot was the type who enjoyed a good gag and a good laugh, previous to this solemn moment!
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After all, why would his sons-in-law conclude his was merely joking?
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Well, we’ll just have to wait to find out what exactly did happen on that frightful morning.
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Picture – Lot Escapes Sodom – www.thebiblerevival.com offers free Bible clipart – Public Domain.
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OUR HYPOCRISY
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But it has already been discussed that when Christians try to warn the world to, “Prepare to meet Thy God”, it must be done in a most solemn and holy manner.
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But alas, our lives are instead devoted to career, and opulence, and vacations, and parties, and laughing and joking, etc…
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Well, the world is savvier than we give them credit for! They can see through our hypocrisy! They can plainly discern that our lives do not match up to our profession! And they conclude that we speak with a double tongue (just like this photo of a snake)!
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Brown tree snake – Boiga – Wikipedia – Public Domain
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CONSCIENCES SEARED AS WITH A HOT IRON
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Now, there is one more aspect to joking or jesting or sarcastic humor, or comedy, or what other name one wishes to refer to. The Bible calls it “mocking”, and “jesting”.
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Paul, when writing to Timothy, prophesied that in the latter times, that men’s consciences would be seared as with a hot iron. (See 1st Timothy 4:2)
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But what does this have to do with joking and jesting and light and frivolous conversation?
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The problem is, when we get into the habit of making light of so many of life’s issues, our consciences eventually become desensitized to the seriousness of life! For instance, when we hear many jokes about death, then our hearts eventually become jaded concerning death! Death loses its sting! (But when standing at death’s door, the sting will come back a hundred-fold!)
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Or when we stand in line at the grocery store, and see the outrageous headlines of the gossip tabloids, these mocking sensational headlines also tend to make us callous and skeptical! Or when we watch situation comedies, night-after-night, they tend to cause us to lose our sympathy and sincerity for the problems which others are going through! We just laugh it off!
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Waiting in line – Wikimedia – Share-alike License
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JOKING DRIES UP OUR SYMPATHIES
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It’s so sad to watch the late-night comedians make fun of the people and problems of life! But of course, they are of the world, so what else can we expect from the world?
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But Christians need to keep our conscience very tender!
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But when we turn so many situations of life into a joke, this tends to grow a callous around our heart! We lose much of our sympathy for the troubles which the world suffers!
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For instance, when we laugh at videos which make fun of all the “odd people” in shopping centers, we lose any sympathy we might otherwise have for them!
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Listen… “Unto the pure all things are pure: but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure; but even their mind and conscience is defiled.” Titus 1:15
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As this above verse reveals, we can defile our mind and conscience!
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Fat People – cropped image – Wikimedia – share-alike license
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THE VERY GOOD NEWS!
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The Good News in all this, is that God can purify and renew our hearts and minds. Yes, God says… “And every man that hath this hope in HIM, purifieth himself, even as HE is pure.” 1st John 3:3
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Yes, God wants to give us a new heart. But we must jealously guard our new heart!
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Listen… “Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life. Put away from thee a froward mouth, and perverse lips put far from thee. Let thine eyes look right on, and let thine eyelids look straight before thee. Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established. Turn not to the right hand nor to the left: remove thy foot from evil.” Proverbs 4:23-27
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Those who refuse to follow such warnings as this above passage are playing fast and loose with their soul! The soul is our most valuable possession and must be guarded for what it is: a priceless and precious jewel! There is no replacement for my soul! It is the only one like it in all the universe! There is no hope for me, if I should trade it away for the trifle little trinkets and vain (worthless) pleasures of this extremely short life!
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USMC – Prayer before Bible study – Wikimedia – public domain
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TO READ PART 4, CLICK HERE…
JANUARY 16 (How a Joke Killed! Part 4: Mocking Others! Not Good!)
Joker – Jester – Puck Cover- Wikipedia – Public Domain
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TODAY’S PRAYER…
“Dear Lord, Give me a heart which desires to become Christlike in every way! Take away my foolish pride which the Devil has deceived me with, by giving me these satanic abilities…
Prayer for USA – Wikimedia – Creative Commons Attribution 2.0
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READ MORE…
To explore deeper into this subject, please read… “Television & The Image That Speaks” or you can also read… “February 15th (The Two Images!)”
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 HOLY GHOST RIDER CONSTELLATION
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This newest Signs Of Heaven Constellation (Fall, 2013) is by far the faintest of constellations, but is a very incredible and awesome one in a number of ways (which this article will explain).
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It is primarily comprised of the Camelopardalis Constellation (head and upper back), plus about 5 stars from the Cassiopeia Constellation (his leg), plus some random stars. It appears as an outline of a rider. Only the back of his head is detailed. And his back and the back of his legs are also detailed. Both sides of his arm are visible, and his hand is gripping the horse’s mane, and that is detailed by three stars (which are also part of the horse’s mane). The rider is in a position vaguely similar to a race-horse jockey. The two brightest stars in this constellation, are from the Cassiopeia Constellation, and are part of his leg. All the rest of the stars are very faint, and must be viewed on a very starry night.
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Since this constellation has just been revealed, there may be more to this constellation in the coming months. But if you can locate the Goodly Horse in Battle Constellation, then you shouldn’t have too much trouble locating this Rider Constellation, provided you have excellent star-watching conditions.
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READ MORE…
To explore deeper into this subject, please read… “The Holy-Ghost-Rider Constellation”
Question book magnify svg – Wikimedia – GNU license
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TOMORROW…
World of Lies, Part 17: “Pandemic of Lies”
Posters against anti-Covid measures and vaccinations in France – Wikimedia – Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license
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20+ MINUTE AUDIO JEREMIAH STUDY
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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 IS STUDY #313 PRESENTED BY THE LATE HAROLD CAMPING…
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Prophet Jeremiah – www.christianimagesource.com – Public Domain
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Click on image credit links below each photo, for licensing names, details, and tags, etc.. Most Images cropped & reduced in size.