Today’s Devotional – July 31st (Most Misquoted Bible Verse Award!)

By admin On January 31st, 2021

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Today’s Devotional – July 31st

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Most Misquoted Bible Verse Award!

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Every year, the movie industry presents awards for the best movies produced that year.

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This has been going on since 1929.

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And in these awards, various aspects of movie production are also given awards.

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Now this gala event gets plenty of promotion and publicity, so that it is a highly anticipated celebration of the movie industry!

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Academy Awards Ceremony – cropped image – Wikipedia – GNU Limited Use License.

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MOST MIS-QUOTED BIBLE VERSE AWARD!

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But this is not the reason for bringing up this subject.

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No, the reason for even mentioning this, is to suggest that Christendom perhaps, should have its own award presentation.

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Yes, and one of the awards might be for the following category: “The Most Mis-quoted Bible Verse.”

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So, just what verse would you nominate, as the most mis-quoted Bible verse?

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Question Mark – Wikimedia – Public Domain

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THE WINNER! 2nd CORINTHIANS 5:8!

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How about this verse, a statement by Paul… “To be absent from the body, is to be present with the Lord”?

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Yes, this verse is perhaps the most mis-quoted of all Bible verses!

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Have you ever heard this verse accurately quoted by a Bible teacher?

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Because actually, the correct quote is…

…”We are confident, I say,

and willing rather to be absent from the body,

and to be present with the Lord.”

2nd Corinthians 5:8

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Paul the Apostle – Artist – Valentin de Boulogne or Nicolas Tournier – circa 1500s – Wikipedia – public domain

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But why?

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Why do they always seem to mis-quote this verse?

Question Mark – Wikimedia – Public Domain

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PUSHING CHURCH DOCTRINES

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The answer is simple!

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It is because the correct Bible verse quote does not confirm what Bible teachers are trying to hold on to.

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**Yes, the great long-held traditional understanding in Christendom is that a Christian goes IMMEDIATELY and CONSCIOUSLY to Heaven!**

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But the problem is, there is no verse in the Bible which makes that exact statement.

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2nd Corinthians 5:8…NOT Proof!

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Now, you can hardly blame these modern-day teachers for mis-quoting this verse to support their church-doctrine.

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For example, the following statement, “I would rather be absent from the South Pole, and present in Hawaii”, does not necessarily prove that absence from the South Pole requires one to be in Hawaii.

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No, it simply means you’d rather be out of one place and present in the other place, even if it requires traveling time.

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ABOVE PICTURE: Holy Bible – cropped image – Wikimedia – Creative Commons Lic.

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WHAT DOES THE GREEK SAY?

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As a matter of fact, Green’s Interlinear Greek/English New Testament translates this verse as follows…

…”we are fully assured, then,

and are pleased rather to go away from home out of the body,

and to come home to the Lord.”

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And so, according to Green’s Interlinear Greek/English actually demands an intermittent traveling time between death and Heaven!

JAY GREEN INTERLINEAR NEW TESTAMENT – SOLD ON EBAY

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HONESTY MORE IMPORTANT THAN DOCTRINE

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Now this daily devotional is not so concerned as to whether or not Christians actually go straight to a conscious existence in Heaven when they die.

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And yes, there indeed are a number of verses which might seemingly suggest that Christians go straight to a conscious existence in Heaven, the moment of death.

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But on the other hand, there are far more verses suggesting that Christians remain in an UN-conscious state of being, until they are resurrected on the Last Day!

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Second Coming – by Jan Luyken – Wikipedia – Public domain

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“…but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembles at My word.”

Isaiah 66:2

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And so, the real point of today’s devotional is not to prove one school of thought or the other, concerning this question.

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But the point of today’s devotional is to ask the questions…

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“Why not just quote this verse correctly?

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Why is it so important to prove one’s own personal interpretation?

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Why not just quote this verse correctly, and “let the chips fall where they may”, as the saying goes?”

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USMC – Prayer before Bible study – Wikimedia – Public Domain

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WRESTLING WITH SCRIPTURE

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“As also in all (Paul’s) epistles,

speaking in them of these things;

in which are some things hard to be understood,

which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest,

as they do also the other scriptures,

unto their own destruction.”

2nd Peter 3:16

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**God has purposely made “some things hard to be understood”, as this above passage reveals! God has purposely written the Bible as a test for us.**

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And so, it is far more important to be totally honest and forthright, than it is to convince others of my own personal prejudice on what the Bible says!

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POLITICS & PERSONAL PREJUDICE

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**But really, why get so dogmatic about it? Why not just say, “I don’t know”? or to say, “There are two schools of thought on this topic”.**

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Either way, it will seem like we close our eyes in death, and open them up, in the twinkling of an eye!

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Yes, the Academy Awards is not the only presentation corrupted by politics and prejudices!

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Bible teaching presentations are also quite often tainted by the same politics and personal prejudices!

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Holy Bible – cropped image – Wikimedia – Creative Commons Lic.

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“GOOD NEWS FROM A FAR COUNTRY!”

Proverbs 25:25

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The very good news is, that God is graciously granting us the opportunity to make any necessary changes in the way we teach others!

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And so, we all just need to back up, and ask God to help us correct these errors, while we’re still in the Day of Grace!

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David’s sorrow – Wikigallery – Public Domain

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“Marvel not at this:

for the hour is coming,

in the which all that are in the graves

shall hear His voice,

And shall come forth;

they that have done good,

unto the resurrection of life;

and they that have done evil,

unto the resurrection of damnation.

John 5:28. 29

OLD LITHOGRAPH: Second Coming – Resurrection Morning – Jan Luyken – Bible – Wikipedia – US Public Domain (2)

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TODAY’S PRAYER…

“Dear Lord, Give me a love for truth. Keep me from all dishonesty. Let me be faithful in the least of matters...

Woman Praying – cropped image – Wikimedia – Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license

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THE END

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TODAY’S FEATURED SIGN

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“THE SIGN OF THE SON OF MAN IN HEAVEN”

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LOOSING THE BANDS OF ORION

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God spoke several times of Orion, in Scripture. His question to Job was a very mystifying question, to say the least… “Canst thou…loose the bands of Orion?” Job 38:31.

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Such a strange question, indeed! How could a constellation have its bands loosed, much less, even have bands? Puzzling, puzzling!

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But now, He is revealing this bright and beautiful constellation in a way that has never before been seen.

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**God Himself will “loose the bands of Orion”, as He is just now unraveling this age-old mystery.**

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And we are beginning to understand that this most notable of all constellations is nothing less than a remarkable metaphor concerning Jesus.

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ABOVE PICTURE – winter constellations – Orion & Revelation 12 Dragon (Hyades, Pleiades, etc…) seen at Eagle Ridge – Signs Of Heaven.org – Not for profit use!

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TOMORROW:

“August 1st (The War Against The KJV)”

King James Bible – Wikimedia – Public Domain

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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 #210 IS PRESENTED BY THE LATE HAROLD CAMPING…

above picture: Prophet Jeremiah – www.christianimagesource.org – Public Domain

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