Today’s Devotional – August 10th (TV & The Beast’s Mark! Part 2)

By admin On February 2nd, 2021

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Today’s Devotional – August 10th

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TV & The Beast’s Mark!

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Part 2

To read Part 1, click here…August 9th (TV & The Beast’s Mark!)

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TALKING IMAGE PROPHESIED OF…

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“And he had power to give life

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unto the image of the beast,

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that the image of the beast should both speak,

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and cause that as many as would not worship the

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image of the beast should be killed.”

Revelation 13:15

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WORLD-WIDE POWER OF TELEVISION

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**In yesterday’s devotional (Click here), a case was presented, that TV is an integral part of what the Image and Mark of the Beast is all about.**

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But today’s devotional is concerned with the heart, and just why and how it must be purified.

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Family watching television, c. 1958 wikipedia public domain

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“(UNBELIEVERS SHALL BE)…THORNS IN YOUR SIDE”

Numbers: 33:55.

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Maybe the best place to begin today’s devotional, is with God’s purpose for all the killing in the Old Testament.

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And let’s face it! With all the many thousands of lives that were forfeited in the Old Testament, you could say that God was really putting an exclamation mark on what He was trying to convey to us!

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And so, this is perhaps one of the most important concepts in Scripture…

“Then ye shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you,

and destroy all their pictures,

and destroy all their molten images,

and quite pluck down all their high places…

for I have given you the land to possess it.”

Numbers 33:52, 53 (condensed for brevity)

The driving out of all the non-worshippers of Jehovah was one of the great themes of the Old Testament!

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But just what was the purpose of all that killing? Is God some sort of tyrant? Does God have so little regard for human life?

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– Gideon & The 300 – www.thebiblerevival.com – Public Domain

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“COME OUT FROM AMONG THEM!”

2nd Corinthians 6:17

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When Jesus came to the earth, He put to rest much of the notion that God is a vengeful God.

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Yes, Jesus was totally a man of peace, never once retaliating against one of His many foes!

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So then, in light of Jesus’ peaceful ways, just what was the reason for all those bloody battles in the Old Testament?

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– Gideon & The 300 – www.thebiblerevival.com – Public Domain

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“EVERY MAN that has this hope in Him (Jesus), purifies himself…”

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Well, it must be understood that all those OT stories about the children of Israel rooting out the enemies were actually metaphorical pictures of what Christians must do in our own hearts and minds.

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**Just listen…*“EVERY MAN that has this hope in Him (Jesus), purifies himself…”.***

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So this commandment to purify our hearts, is not just for some, but for every Christian!

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Sign of the Son of Man Constellation – made of the various constellations on this website

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EVIL COMMUNICATIONS CORRUPT!

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And so, our great commission to purify our hearts and minds was God’s purpose in giving us those many stories of bloody battles!

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But why is it important to separate from sin and sinners?

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Why are we to “come out from among them, and be ye separate” from unbelievers? (2nd Corinthians 6:17)

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To be truly Christ-like would be much too great of a sacrifice for any worldly-minded “Christian”.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. wikimedia public domain

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THE MARK = IDEALS OF THE HEART

**If you or I operate by the faithless ways of Satan’s evil World-System, then, in essence, we have the Mark of the Beast.**

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**On the other hand, if we live by faith in the principles and promises of God’s Word, we then have God’s seal in our foreheads.**

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To put it concisely, it’s all about “just who is ruling my heart?”.

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Mark of the beast – pub. dom. – Wikipedia

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BATTLEFIELD OF THE HEART

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“Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Thee: because he trusteth in Thee.” Isaiah 26:3.

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Yes, to keep our minds totally fixed upon Jesus and His Word, is a much more pleasant way of saying what Paul put in military terms!

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Oh no, we are not to use slaughter weapons as does the world, to win our war. But we are to root out the enemy…out of our heart.

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ABOVE PICTURE: soldiers of the cross – armor up! – Orion & The Revelation 12 Dragon constellation (comprised of Hyades & Pleiades and other constellations) – www.signsofheaven.org

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SIMPLE SOLUTION!

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Well, the very Good News is, that the solution to all this is very simple!

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**God wants us to cease (as far as reasonably possible) from hearing and seeing the evil instruction which we are bombarded with, every day!**

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And instead, God wants us to fill our heart with His life-giving instruction which comes from His glorious Word, the Bible.

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Yes, in these last hours of earth’s history, God is willing to pour out all Heaven’s resources, to ensure our complete victory!

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Marines at Prayer by Alex Raymond – Wikimedia – Public Domain

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And as for all those thousands who were killed by God in the Old Testament…

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…they will one day soon be resurrected to stand before the Supreme Judge of the universe.

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And who knows the extent of God’s mercy?

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We’ll just have to wait till that day to find out!

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TODAY’S PRAYER…

“Dear Lord, Give me the grace and strength and desire to purify my heart into the image of Christ! Help me to come out from among all the ungodly influences I possibly can…

The Christian Martyrs Last Prayer – Wikipedia – US 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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Chariot of Orion Constellation

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O LORD my God, Thou art very great;

Thou art clothed with honour and majesty.

Who coverest Thyself with light as with a garment:

Who stretchest out the heavens like a curtain:

Who layeth the beams of His chambers in the waters:

Who maketh the clouds His chariot:

Who walketh upon the wings of the wind:”

Psalm 104:1-3

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**In the winter-night skies, this most amazing constellation can be seen. It is called “The Chariot of Orion Constellation”.**

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Yes, this most remarkable constellation is spoken of in Psalm 104…

“O LORD my God,

Thou art very great;