Today’s Devotional – March 30th (“All Pleasant Pictures”)

By admin On January 17th, 2021

 

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Today’s Devotional – March 30th

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“All Pleasant Pictures”

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“For the day of the LORD of hosts shall be

upon every one that is proud…and…lifted up;

and he shall be brought low….

and upon all pleasant pictures

And the idols He (the Lord) shall utterly abolish.”

Isaiah 2:12, 16-18

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.http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:At_a_loss.svg

“Have you ever sat down to watch a movie which was such a persuasive plea in behalf of this fallen world, that you actually began to question your Christian belief-system?”

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Question Marks – At a loss – svg – Wikimedia Commons – Share-Alike License

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“ALL PLEASANT PICTURES”

Isaiah 2:16

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Well that’s exactly what happened just the other day!

.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:It%27s_A_Wonderful_Life.jpg

Yes, a believing Christian was invited for lunch at the home of other Christians.

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And before the meal, they began to watch an old movie from the late 40’s.

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And this movie was so charming and so seemingly innocent, that the Believer was actually taken away with all its quaint portrayal of the world!

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And as he watched it, he even began to question some of his own Christian beliefs!

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It’s A Wonderful Life (not the particular movie watched in the above story) – Wikipedia – Public domain

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ACTION THRILLER

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A similar experience happened recently to a Believer who is a care-giver for an elderly gentleman.

.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Born_to_the_West_(1937)_1.jpg

You see, this care-giver’s job is to sit with the elderly person, and watch over him through the day, and feed him, and keep the television going.

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And so, when trying to choose what show to watch, the care-giver finally decided to put on an action-thriller.

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And it didn’t take long until the care-giver was completely caught up in all the action and intrigue and quaint romanticism of this movie!

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Born to the West (not the particular movie watched in the above story) – Wikipedia – Public domain

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“THE GOD OF THIS WORLD”

2nd Corinthians 4:4

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And this is the point of today’s devotional: that Christians must not underestimate the power of television!

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Yes, the “god of this world” is so cunning and so deceitful, that he can actually produce television shows which portray this horrible world in such an attractive way, that a Christian can even be drawn away from the Spirit of Holiness.

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“Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own stedfastness.” 2nd Peter 3:17

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And this Believer realized that Satan can put the most attractive elements of this world, combined with beautiful music, and a sympathetic story-line, and charismatic actors, and, “voila!”: this ugly and sad and suffering world, all of a sudden seems magical, almost as if it’s (supposedly) a wonderful place, to a great degree!

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Satan presiding at the Infernal Council – Wikipedia – US public domain

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“BE NOT DECEIVED! EVIL COMMUNICATIONS CORRUPTS GOOD MANNERS (CHARACTER)”

1st Corinthians 15:33

joshua 24 Parting Advice www.thebiblerevival.org public domain

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In light of this present-day Hollywood deception, the following passage from the Old Testament really begins to make sense.

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Listen… “Then ye shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, and DESTROY ALL THEIR PICTURES, and destroy all their molten IMAGESBut if ye will not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you; then it shall come to pass, that those which ye let remain of them shall be…thorns in your sides, and shall vex you in the land wherein ye dwell.” Numbers 33:52, 55, 56

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Yes, God is trying to get our attention. That’s right, all those literal killings in the Old Testament were merely given as an object lesson about what God wants us to do spiritually.

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No, no, no! God doesn’t want Christians to literally kill anyone!

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But rather, He wants Christians to separate themselves from earthly fellowship with unbelievers, banishing their world-loving ways out of the heart!

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joshua 24 Parting Advice – www.thebiblerevival.org – public domain

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“UPON ALL PLEASANT PICTURES”

.Dream-Maker of Babylon

Now, the last passage mentioned (Numbers 33:52, 55, 56, in the above section), was concerning driving out the unbelievers and destroying all their pictures.

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But this next passage from Isaiah Chapter 2 concerning the Day of the Lord, even goes one step further, speaking of “all PLEASANT pictures”.

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Listen… “For the day of the LORD of hosts shall be upon every one that is proud and lofty, and upon every one that is lifted up; and he shall be brought low…. and UPON ALL PLEASANT PICTURES. And the loftiness of man shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of men shall be made low: and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day. And the idols He shall utterly abolish.” Isaiah 2:12, 16-18.

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And so, this concept of God bringing His judgment against all the “pleasant pictures” of the people of the world really begins to make sense in the light of the television shows and movies which portray the citizens of this evil world as having inherent goodness.

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“COME OUT OF HER (BABYLON), MY PEOPLE!”

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The Bible plainly states “And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness.” 1st John 5:19.

TV indoctrination

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This above verse reveals that the “WHOLE world lies in wickedness”, not just SOME of the world.

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And so, if these movies attempt to portray any portion of the people of this present world-system as being inherently good, then these movies are in direct opposition to God’s Word.

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And God still calls for His people to, ” come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean [thing]; and I will receive you, And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be My sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.” 2nd Corinthians 6:17, 18.

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Yes, as this above passage reveals, it is God’s chief desire to, “receive you and be a Father unto you.”

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But we must be willing to realize that to, “come out from among them”, includes an end-time exodus away from the high-tech “pleasant pictures” now being produced by “the god of this world” with the express intention of converting us into loyal citizens of this, his Babylonish world-system! 

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“JUDGE NOT, THAT YE BE NOT JUDGED!”

Matthew 7:1

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Now, just a word of caution.

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These truths from Heaven are given “for me and me alone!”

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We are not to look at others with a judgmental eye.

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And anyway, we just don’t know how God is working in the hearts and lives of others, nor do we know the true motives of others!

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So we must simply look into the mirror and realize that, “Christ Jesus came into this world to save sinners. of who I AM CHIEF!” 1st Timothy 1:15

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Yes, my own heart is filled with enough evil to keep me busy for a lifetime, trying to purify it from my own innate wickedness!

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https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:USMC-100506-M-2360J-038.jpg

TODAY’S PRAYER…

“Dear Lord, Let me not be deceived by all the pleasant pictures which pour out from the television each day. But help me to keep my eyes firmly fixed upon Jesus…

Marine Praying – Wikimedia – USMC Public Domain

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https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Question_book_magnify2.svgREAD MORE…

To explore deeper into this subject, please read… “Television & The Image That Speaks”, or you can also read this shorter article…April 26th (Television: Enchanted Ground!)

Question book magnify svg – Wikimedia – GNU license

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THE END

.Orion Constellation at Eagle Ridge

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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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WIDE & NARROW GATES IN THE HEAVENS

Revelation 12 Woman chooses Narrow Way

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As the opening verse says, “Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.” Matthew 7:13-14

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So what are these two gates all about? And how can I choose the right door? Well, just read this article and these questions and more will be answered.

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This sketch, while not 100% accurate, gives a fair portrayal of how this constellation group appears at winter’s end and even into June, when above the western horizon.

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https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Question_book_magnify2.svg

READ MORE…

To explore deeper into this subject, please read… Revelation 12 Woman & The Narrow Gate Stars (Orion’s Gate to Heaven)

Question book magnify svg – Wikimedia – GNU license

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https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Computer_hacking.jpgTOMORROW:

“March 31st (Copy-Cut-n-Paste Christianity!)”

Computer-hacking-Wikimedia-Creative-Commons-Attribution-Share-Alike-3.0-Unported-license.-300×225

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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 #89 IS PRESENTED BY THE LATE HAROLD CAMPING, FORMER CEO OF FAMILY RADIO…

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

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