A Devotional Look at the Book #548

A Devotional Look at the Book #548

by Jesse Abel

A Thought for today by Papa “J”

Personal and National Sin: J. Vernon McGee – On biblical discernment once said: “Satan never gets very far from the Bible. Every one of the cults, even Satanism, uses the Bible.” With secular humanism gaining such ground today… even false religions face intolerant persecution.

Good Morning

I do not remember exactly how old I was, maybe ten, but I remember one morning when my mom was walking me to school. In those days, not many automobiles had curved windshields since the technology was not complete to this point. As we traveled from block to block, I was complaining about the books I was carrying. We did not have back packs in those days either, but we did have book satchels; only I did not have one of those because we could not afford one. My mom thought I should stop complaining since she was pregnant and as she put it, “making the baby upset”! About that time we stepped onto the street. A car had come to a stop to our left and we thought that it was okay to cross. As soon as we got to the middle of the hood of the car, the driver started to make a right hand turn. We attempted to yell at the driver, but for whatever reason he heard nothing. The car began pushing us with increased motion and I took all of my books and hurled them at the windshield. With a loud slap the one heavy book that caused most of my complaint was now a life saver. As the book smacked the windshield the man behind the steering wheel stopped his car; apologized and life goes on without an injury. Some of us today have forgotten or have never learned that there several reasons to stop at stop signs and some crosswalks; you’ve just reviewed one of them. After thought: Books are printed to be read and not to be complained about, also books can be used in a pinch to ward off dangers; thus we should be thankful to carry them. So, quit complaining because you are upsetting the baby! This is another thought that seldom surfaces in the thoughtless and selfish minds of the people of our nation these days of out lives.

2 Corinthians

2 Corinthians 4:16-18 – The lumps and bumps of the Christian way of life can be very critical for the believer in the LORD Jesus Christ who fails to observe the Invisible Attributes of God. This outward and visible body of ours is perishing; even moment by moment. You know as I do that we are not as good as we look as some of us would like to believe. Even on a good day, we have those hidden blemishes or reoccurring aches. In the words the apostle; the outward man is perishing. This earthen vessel does not inherit the kingdom of God, it does not need too since we already have the treasury of the power of God in us via the Holy Spirit. I just can get over this! Wow!

Looking on the outward decay can be a heavy weight! So STOP IT and look to the treasure that we have in this earthen vessel (verse 7 and the power of His resurrection) we can see that our affliction is but for a moment compared to the background view we have of Jesus who is in eternity waiting to receive us. Thus we have a far greater expectancy of living with Jesus who is not seen then what we do see at the present time. “Living for Jesus a life that is true; striving to please Him in all that I do.” The song written by Thomas O. Chisholm and taken from the passage in 2 Corinthians 5:15

So many thoughts about life and the pursuit of it; yet I am reminded of Ecclesiastes 3 and Matthew 6. Time has but a moment compared to the backdrop of eternity with Jesus Christ. In time He shares with us His Character through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit (in part) so that this earthen vessel can experience the Joy of the LORD and endure the sufferings of this present day. One day soon He will say to us: Enter into the JOY of the LORD; a fullness of things that are not seen as yet; but OH what a day when Living for Jesus will be changed to Living with Jesus. Matthew 25:21