A Devotional Look at the Book #540

A Devotional Look at the Book #540

by Jesse Abel

A Thought for today by Papa “J”

The coins in your pocket: What is a reed? Some U.S. coins have what is commonly referred to as ribs but are in reality; reeds. So on the edge of the dime; how many individual reeds will you find? Give me your answer at http://jesse225c@blogspot.com/

A DAY IN THE PAST, THE PRESENT OR THE FUTURE

We were on our way to periscope depth and the Officer of the Deck and Con was on the periscope moving in slow circles and repeating the words; “no shapes, no shadows”. This is a common and required practice for all OOD’s as the ship moves from deep water to the shallow water of periscope depth. Suddenly the Officer stopped his process and just stared through the scope. The captain was in the control room and without hesitation he commanded control of the Deck and the Con, he then had the collision alarm sounded and commanded the Diving Officer to emergency dive the ship. The Chief of the Watch was ordered to voice Emergency Deep over the ship’s 1MC voice system and the Diving Officer order the Engine room to all ahead flank. The sound coming through the hull of the sub was the sound of the surface ships propeller; “whoosh – whoosh – whoosh – whoosh – whoosh – whoosh – whoosh… then nothing, the danger was over. One man in authority froze and did not react. The other man sensing the danger responded and saved the day. It was determined that the surface ship was less than twenty feet from the after section of our hull as we began our descent. The draft of the surface ship was less than fifty feet, had it been more the ship would have hit us. Men in position of authority must respond or be helped. Old Testament Scripture is a grand teacher of this truth. Notice the help of Aaron and Hur given to Moses as the battle over the Amalekites was won by Joshua. Genesis 17:1-16.

2 Corinthians

2 Corinthians 2:12-17 –The message of salvation does not originate from the church or from the mouth of man. The origin of the gospel is God’s Son; sacrificed to death for our sins and raised from that death by the power of God providing salvation to all who believe… so think about it. How then can the gospel come from any other source except from God Himself? Notice how the apostle John states this truth in John 1:1-13.

Some folks are pleasant to be around and others are not, for example; I feel that I am a little rough around the edges as I feel the rejection from many people because of this. I cannot use this as an excuse when witnessing victory in Christ’s gospel… you do know what I mean; don’t you? “Well that’s just the way I am so take it or leave it”. If this attitude were a smell; what would it smell like? God does not open the door of opportunity to share His gospel with anyone if you haven’t allowed the Holy Spirit to shower down on you that sweet aroma of Christ in you. As the apostle states in Galatians 5:16

This gospel of Christ is a serious matter and as the apostle clearly states; “who is sufficient for these things”? God has entrusted the message of the gospel to the church and the mouth of man. The words of the apostle Paul are not as mild as we might think as various versions of the Bible are given for interpretation. The words found in the in verse 17 can literally read in this way. “Like the rest who adulterate the gospel for personal gain” and do not forget whatever we speak; we speak it in the sight of God who is witness of our accountability in His gospel.