Daily Devotional, Year 4, January 4 (Trickle-Down Christianity)
By admin On April 20th, 2021.
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Daily Devotional, Year 4: January 4
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Trickle-Down Christianity!
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Trickle-Down Economics!
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Remember that?
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Free-Marketers loved it!
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Socialists and Marxists absolutely hated it! And still do!
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After all, a free-market system allows people to become wealthy…and socialists absolutely hate that!
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WHAT IS TRICKLE-DOWN ECONOMICS?
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So just what exactly was this beloved/hated ideology?
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Actually, it is a very simple concept, namely, it is the idea that if the government gets out of the way of trying to tax and regulate small businesses, they will thrive, resulting in a robust economy in which new jobs will pop up like proverbial mushrooms after a heavy rain!
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Well, of course, this simple concept makes a lot of common sense!
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Question Mark – Wikimedia – Public Domain
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THE TRICKLE-DOWN ECONOMICS OF GIVING
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But the title of this article is “Trickle-Down Christianity”.
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So, what’s that all about!?
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Well, of course, the obvious answer is that the more the Christian gives to trustworthy ministries, the more that those ministries will thrive, causing the Gospel to thrive, causing more and more souls to flourish! And of course, this type of whole-hearted benevolence trickles back down to the Giver!
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Listen…“Knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord, whether he be bond or free.” Ephesians 6:8Â
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Here we see that even those who are not Christians receive back from the Lord, as much as they gave…”the same shall he receive of the Lord“!
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Lady Helping the homeless street-person – Wikimedia – Share-alike License
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But even though that’s the most obvious definition of Trickle-Down Christianity, the Trickle-Down effect goes even far beyond that!
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Exclamation Mark – Wikimedia – Public Domain
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TRICKLE-DOWN PRAYERS…
“But as for me, when they were sick, my clothing was sackcloth: I humbled my soul with fasting; and my prayer returned into mine own bosom.”
Psalm 35:13
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Yes, if we think about it, there is a trickle-down effect in every other aspect of Christianity, as well!
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For example, just try to imagine the tremendous trickle-down effect to a fervent prayer-life! Just imagine how many souls will be blessed by the prayers of a God-fearing Christian…“Ye also helping together by prayer for us, that for the gift bestowed upon us by the means of many persons thanks may be given by many on our behalf”. 2nd Corinthians 1:11
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Here we see that the prayers of the saints had a great and positive effect on the preaching of the Gospel during Paul’s ministry!
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Marine Praying – Wikimedia – USMC Public Domain
Woman Praying – cropped image – Wikimedia – Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license
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TRICKLE-DOWN BIBLE STUDY
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But how can there be a trickle-down benefit from Bible study? Well, doesn’t God refer to His Word as a double-edge sword?
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Yes, the Bible both cuts to save, but also cuts to destroy. And the more that a Believer hides that Word in his or her heart, the closer will be that Christian’s likeness to Christ!
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And so, not only will that Christian enjoy the benefits of wisdom of knowledge of God’s Word, but also will be a book, “known and read of all men”, inspiring them to likewise grow in the Word (2nd Corinthians 3:2)!
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TRICKLE-DOWN CHARITABLE DEEDS
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The human body was originally created in the image of God. And so, the body of Christ, the Church, is likewise recreated into the image of God. When one part of that body suffers, the whole body suffers. When one part of the body rejoices, that the entire body rejoices!
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And so, whether by growing in faith, or in prayer, or in any other aspect of Christianity, the entire body, the Church will likewise enjoy the fruits of one body-part! That’s right, whatever blessing we bestow on God’s people, will have its blessed effects upon the entire body of Christ!
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Remember our previous Bible verse regarding “the same shall he receive of the Lord”? This likewise applies to good deeds!
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Mall witnessing, Panama City, Panama – www.blog.travelpod.com
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GOOD NEWS!
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Okay, so this is all very Good News! But the best Good News of all, is that you and I can begin this very minute to store up treasure in Heaven, in our giving of alms, in our fervent prayers, in our faith-walk, and in our growing in the grace and in the knowledge of our Lord!
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And as we do so, the blessings will begin to flow out in every direction, not only in the body of Christ, but also, to the whole unsaved world!
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USMC – Prayer before Bible study – Wikimedia – Public Domain
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“ADD THOU NOT!”
Proverbs 30:6
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Now having said all this, we must be very jealous to not add names and “isms” to God’s Pure and undefiled Word of Truth. So, we must discard this name, “Trickle-Down Christianity”, and any other name which the Bible does not name!
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So, let’s just be quoting the Bible and not man-made “anythings” like this article has done!
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ABOVE PICTURE: Adding to or taking from God’s Word, the Bible
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TODAY’S PRAYER…
“Dear Lord, Help me to engage myself in giving of every type…
USMC – Prayer before Bible study – Wikimedia – Public Domain
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READ MORE…
To explore deeper into this subject, please read…Today’s Devotional – February 4th (Why Doesn’t My Christianity Work?)Â
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 ARK IN THE HEAVENS
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So what importance to us is all this information? Well, if a person goes out at night, beginning in April (earlier in southern-most latitudes, and later in northern-most), in the pre-dawn hour, they just might locate the constellation commonly referred to as the  Sagittarius Constellation . It is located in the southern sky. (Each night it appears a little earlier, slowly inching westward, through the summer, until it finally disappears below the western horizon in November.)
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At first, it simply appears as two twin birds flying westward. But if you look once again, it just might appear as a long box-like figure, with one star on the right, as you face it, and two stars on the left. The box, of course would be the Ark, and the stars on either side would represent angels, which are sometimes referred to as stars in the Bible (for instance, “the seven stars are the angels…” Revelation 1:20). To the right is a star-chart from Wikipedia, in which the editor of this site has sketched in this Sagittarius Constellation, to show how God created it to appear.
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ABOVE STAR-CHART – summer constellations – Two Turtledoves (Sagittarius) -Flower of the Field (Scorpio) – Cross/Scepter Constellations (stars from Ophiochus & Serpens cut) – www.theheavensdeclare.net – Not for commercial profit uses!
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READ MORE…
To explore deeper into this subject, please read…The Ark of the Covenant Constellation
Question book magnify svg – Wikimedia – GNU license
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TOMORROW…
January 5 (The Pearl of Great Price)
White pearl necklace – Wikipedia – Share-alike Lic.
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THE GREAT CONTROVERSY BY ELLEN G. WHITE
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Noble Berean (Open-minded seeker of Bible Truth):
This 44 chapter audio book is a brief history of the Church, from the Cross of Christ forward to the Return of Christ.
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Chapter 2 –Â Persecution In The First Centuries
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Martin Luther – Wikimedia – US Public Domain
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EXCERPTS FROM THE OPEN FORUM QUESTION/ANSWER RADIO TALK-SHOW…
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Noble Berean (Open-minded seeker of Bible Truth):
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This is a small 30 minute sampling of the late Harold Camping’s nearly 50 year-long series of 90 minute nightly talk shows…This is Open Forum Show #53
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ABOVE PICTURE: Holy bible – cropped image – Wikimedia – Creative Commons lic.