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Tuesday, April 10, 2012

The Devotional – A Look at the Book #686

by Jesse Abel

Thoughts for the Day
Looking back at some of the first devotionals reminds me that time amounts to a little bit of nothing compared to eternity. Eternity includes everyone, everything and all of God; as it is appointed unto men to die once, but after that the judgment (The Divine tribunal is not a myth; it is truth) Hebrews 9:27

In May of 1975 after hearing the gospel of Jesus Christ for several years by faithful men and women I believed. Jesus rescued me from a terrible life of sin; abusive ways; depression and despair. He took me out of the quagmire of being alive; but dead in sin. My soul, once black with sin and blind to God, He cleansed and then He protected me by placing my soul in His bosom. He gave me a brand new life, a life to this very day is rich in His grace, protected by His mercy and surrounded by His Word. Many who read these testimonies daily have a similar story; the richness of being rescued from the dead life and given the free gift of living Life everlasting. Notice the Words of Christ recorded by his apostle John. I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture (peace). The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. John 10:9-10 I love the abundant life that Jesus provides for me each day. When I began writing in November of 2007, this testimony was already thirty two years old; four and a half years have gone by, Jesus is my Good Shepherd, He knows me and if you are His, He knows you too! What a wonderful Savior, Jesus my LORD! Romans 13:14 read it again!

Yesterday I saw a bit of the old Jesse pop out. I want to believe that some of what I did was justifiable but at this point it really does not matter, the matter is resolved. The apostle Paul makes in clear in Acts 24:16 that he strives to have a conscience that is without offense toward God and men. So we always have a mandate to resolve our differences; first with God, then with those where the agitation dwells.

In our work-a-day world we always rub shoulders with others. Some are close to being friends and others are close to being unfriendly. Some have short fuses and others take a while to light up (this is the world and within these two types of people there are thousands of variations of when the match hits the fuse and the fireworks begin). Well there is an exception; we who believe in Jesus are told that anger will happen and we are also commanded within the same context… not to sin. Psalm 4:4; 37:8 and Ephesians 4:26 explain why. 

I find it interesting that the Hebrew reading in Psalm 4:4 is to (be agitated) you can almost feel the moment. So I believe that we should not stuff that emotion someplace in the dark corner where it will fester into a monster, but to reveal that we are becoming angry. We must also be aware that God is our righteous help in these and all matters where emotion can destroy. Read Psalm 4 and apply the Word of God to our soul, then we will be able to react in the countenance of the LORD, rather than the shamefulness of SIN.

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