Today’s Devotional – June 9th (The Power of Positive-Thinking Gospels! Part 1)
By admin On January 28th, 2021.
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Today’s Devotional – June 9th
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The Power of Positive-Thinking Gospels!
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Part 1
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Several nights ago, a very popular Christian speaker held a large convocation with a vast throng of thousands of listeners.
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And this evangelist gave a very high-energy presentation, with a very positive message.
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Well, the gist of what he said is, “We need to think positive, speak positive, and believe positively, that God has good things in store for us here on earth!”
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Yes, this popular speaker continued to present a message about achieving our earthly dreams: earthly dreams for ourselves and for our families.
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“THE WORDS OF HIS MOUTH WERE SMOOTHER THAN BUTTER!”
Psalm 55:21
This extravaganza was filled with short, but uplifting testimonies, a high-energy, upbeat rock band, attractive women, well-timed jokes, and smoother-than-butter preaching!
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Well, needless to say, this presentation was received with no lack of enthusiasm!
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The vast audience, thousands strong, seemed mesmerized, yet ecstatic about this uplifting and upbeat message! The night was a huge success!
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Evangelist Preaching – Church – Audience hands – cropped/altered – Wikimedia – Public Domain
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THINK & GROW RICH
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The fact is, this Power of Positive Thinking philosophy has been blowing in and out of the church-world for many decades.
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It began in the earlier part of the 20th century when one of the nation’s richest men, commissioned a well-known writer to study the most successful men in America…
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…studying them with the sole purpose of discovering what all these highly successful men had in common…
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…to discover what commonly-held virtues contributed to their financial wealth.
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Think and grow rich original cover – Wikipedia – Fair Use Rationale
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POWER OF POSITIVE THINKING
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From there, a certain other man, a professed Christian, took this recipe for success and packaged it into his own religious ideology.
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And this Christian writer renamed this philosophy, The Power of Positive Thinking.
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And its influence was a great contributor to the modern-day gospels which largely focus on earthly prosperity.
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Happy face svg – wikimedia – public domain
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CHRISTIANS TO THINK ON THESE THINGS
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But the Christian must not allow his or her own self to stray away from the pure Gospel of the Bible.
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Oh yes, the Christian has the Spirit of joy, and is encouraged to think upon things which uplift the soul (see Philippians 4:8).
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But the fact is, the Bible is a book which has both joyful truths, but also many unhappy truths.
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And by no means should the Christian attempt to diminish the words of the Bible, simply because they are “negative”.
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The Bible says to think on things that are “true…honest…just” (see Philippians 4:8), and this would include unhappy truths.
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Oh yes, the Bible promises “perfect peace” to those who keep their hearts fixed on Jesus and His Word! Isaiah 26:3
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But this popular evangelist, the other night, wasn’t selling a message of “perfect peace”.
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Holy bible – cropped – wikimedia – creative commons lic.
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JESUS TAUGHT BOTH JOYFUL & SAD THINGS
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Oh yes, the Lord taught that we must believe, and be healed… “Thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace.” Luke 7: 50.
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But nowhere did He advocate eliminating every negative thought out of our mind.
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Jesus was called “a man of sorrows” Isaiah 53, and it is written of Him, “Jesus wept”, as he looked sorrowfully down upon the city that rejected Him.
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Nevertheless, many, both then and now, did not wish to hear the whole Gospel…
…”this is a hard saying; who can hear it?…
From that time many of His disciples went back,
and walked no more with Him.”
John 6:60, 66
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JEREMIAH, THE WEEPING PROPHET
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The prophet Jeremiah was opposed by similar groups in his day…
“…Which say to the seers, See not;
and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things,
speak unto us smooth things,
prophesy deceits:”
Jeremiah 30:10.
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These groups did not like all the unhappy truths which Jeremiah was prophesying.
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They wanted a “happy-faced” gospel, and Satan supplied them with false prophets who told the people what they wanted to hear.
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Unfortunately, those “prosperity preachers” of Jeremiah’s day caused the people to reject Jeremiah’s unhappy truths, which ultimately led to their destruction.
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Cry of prophet Jeremiah on the Ruins of Jerusalem – Wikiart – US Public Domain
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SOME VERY GOOD NEWS!
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Fortunately, in the midst of all this negativity, there is some very Good News!
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Yes, it’s not too late
to renounce such false gospels, and begin to simply study God’s Word.
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And of course, such a repentance is the gift of God.
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But the New Testament prescribes the remedy for all who have been deceived by such gospels…
…”Ye adulterers and adulteresses…
whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God…
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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By the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit, such repentance as this can be a joyful experience…
…”I waited patiently for the LORD;
and…He brought me up also out of an horrible pit…
And He hath put a new song in my mouth,”
Psalm 40:1-3
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TO READ PART 2, CLICK HERE…
June 10th (Power of Positive-Thinking Gospels, Part 2: Our Children!)
Child and Computer – TV – Wikimedia – Creative Commons Share-alike License
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TODAY’S PRAYER…
“Dear Lord, Help me to not get caught up in the many false gospels which are blowing in the wind in these last moments. Give me a love for the often-painful eye-salve of Thy Holy Word…The Bible
Prayer – Mother and Daughter – Wikipedia – (cropped image) the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license
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READ MORE…
To explore deeper into this subject, please read…January 4 (The gospel according to Pollyanna)…
…or you can also read… December 30 (A Supernatural Book!)
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 SERPENT-OF-OLD CONSTELLATION
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Now, as step back about several light-years, we can view the great “Son of Man Constellation”.
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And if we look at his right foot, it is revealed that this serpent is winding its way over the top of the heel of Jesus’ foot.
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Of course this reminds one of the very words of God, as He spoke to the serpent in the Garden…
…”And the LORD God said unto the serpent,
Because thou hast done this, thou [art] cursed…
And I will put enmity between thee and the woman,
and between thy seed and her seed;
it shall bruise thy head,
and thou shalt bruise His heel.”
Genesis 3:14, 15.
Of course, this was a prophecy about Jesus, and how Satan would bruise His Heel.
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And so, it is no coincidence that God has arraigned the stars in such a way as to portray this concept, concerning the serpent bruising Christ’s heel.
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READ MORE…
To explore deeper into this subject, please read… “The Five Foolish Virgins Stars”…
…or you can also read… “Flood Waters of Satan-Introduction”
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TOMORROW:
“June 10th (Nature’s Witnesses, Part 7: “The Beauty of Nature”)
Child boy face with butterfly – Wikimedia – US Govt. 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 #158 IS PRESENTED BY THE LATE HAROLD CAMPING…
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above picture: Prophet Jeremiah – www.christianimagesource.org – Public Domain