The Devotional - A Look at the Book #566

The Devotional - A Look at the Book #566

by Jesse Abel

A Thought for today by Papa “J”

Love is not a tangible asset, nor is it anything of visible value! Yet love is fiercely defended and monitored by all who seek this spiritual and human connection. So then; love is joined by faith and hope. Two additional attributes of God; without these love does not exist where sin abounds. 1 Corinthians 13:1-13

Good Morning

Before serving on submarines; was stationed on destroyers. The last destroyer I was on was the USS Gearing DD 710. (1965 through 1969) This was a Reserve Destroyer with 25 to 30 Regular sailors aboard and the rest of the crew were Reservists who would come on board for two week cruises. When there were no Reservists on board the ship’s home port was New London, Connecticut. The Captain would take the ship to Block Island every Wednesday for a little liberty for his small crew. In those days I did not have a personal relationship with Jesus so the Captain and three of his first class petty officers enjoyed these weekly trips to his favorite bar on the Island. Of course I was one of those three. We were branded by the rest of the crew as; “Captain Crunches Bunch”. The captain eventually lost his command because he had no patience waiting for the help of tug boats and pilots. This resulted in several crunching moments going in and out of harbor when the ship would bounce off the pier or another moored ship. Why do I tell you this? Evil is always present with good; the man was a good captain, he had good characteristics of leadership; but he was distracted by pride, impatience and a promiscuous lifestyle. I am so thankful to God who reached down into this runaway lifestyle of four men and snatched me from the pit. Jonah 2:6… Oh LORD, my GOD; I thank you daily for rescuing this runaway slave. Philemon 1:15-16

2 Corinthians

2 Corinthians 8:16-24 – Troublesome times are here, for the apostle for the Jews and for the church of Jesus Christ. The Judean saints have been persecuted, homes destroyed and farmlands taken away. In the days of this apostle the Jews have little assets left in Jerusalem, all has been taken away. Paul, for at least a year is seeking for the churches of Macedonia, Corinth and others to participate in a giving campaign to relieve this hardship among the saints of God. We should note that his requests for help even went to churches under poverty trials and afflictions like that of the Macedonians.

The hearts of folks then and today are filled with fear, the freedoms that we all hold dear was are at stake. We desperately need to humble our hearts to God; in that He would hear our pleas and deliver us from His chastening rod. As saints we need to awake from our slumbering indifference to the persecution of the universal church of God. If you really want to know what God is doing in the world around us, you need only to look at Jerusalem and the Middle East, all of which is moving into our own backyard.

Jesus is coming soon; maybe it will be this morning; or tonight, maybe even this very noon. The trumpet will sound and all of the dead in Christ shall rise; we who are alive and in the Righteousness of Christ will meet the dead (now alive) in the skies, we will be going to the place where no one dies. We are heaven bound. In the meantime; morning, night or noon our mandate is to show the proof of our love of God to the world by supporting one another by meeting the needs of our brothers and sisters in Christ. Why? Because Jesus is Coming Soon and His kingdom will be filled with those who support Him. Matthew 25:31-46.