A Devotional Look at the Book #541

A Devotional Look at the Book #541

by Jesse Abel

A Thought for today by Papa “J”

The coins in your pocket: The Answer is 118 reeds on the edge of the U.S. Dime. Now that was not so hard was it? Especially when someone else does the leg work! Sort of like learning about God; huh! 2 Timothy 2:15

A DAY IN THE PAST, THE PRESENT OR THE FUTURE

Once on a destroyer we visited one of the islands in the Caribbean; I believe it was Jamaica but I could be wrong. What was unique and still hangs out in my memory is that we needed to anchor out in the harbor. The main reason was for safety and that the only available pier was said to be owned by an elderly woman who charged each sailor who walked on her pier (coming or going) twenty-five cents. Now it was not until the end of our stay when the local police came to the pier and arrested the woman. Apparently she did not own the pier since it was the property of the town. Here is the point! Integrity… there was a day in these United States when men in political authority exhibited integrity. These men did not extract income from “We the People” by deception and fraud. Have we become this island of deception? Would it be safer if we could just anchor off shore and watch the United States crumble and become a police state? We have thrown every natural or human effort at the problems of our collapsing infrastructure, yet to no avail. Is it time yet? I said… Is it Time Yet? Oh Yes! It is time that as a nation we must humble ourselves in the sight of the LORD, and then He will lift us up! James 4:7-10 and 2 Chronicles 7:14. Worldliness has caused our national failure; when will we learn this? The truth is that we do have the resources to turn this nation around, it is called PRAYER a resource that all of us have but; but more than many of us do not know how to use.

2 Corinthians

2 Corinthians 3:1-3 – The apostle is well known to the Corinthian believers and does not need letters of commendation or references from others; nor does he need any approval from them. This would be like holding a conference by some well respected evangelist or bible teacher and saying to them. Oh; by the way went you come for the conference; bring letters of recommendation with you and we will also give you letters of the same when you leave.

No! We should not have to do this since the epistle of truth ought to be anchored in our hearts. We ought to have this testimony of truth available and visible at all times in order that this truth might be read by everyone who has a need or desire to know. How might we do this? Romans 13:11-14 we ought to be Christ like. The church at Corinth did have trouble with this; if you have taken the time to count the number of sins within the church at Corinth you would find over sixty four of them; simply put, this is not a picture of Christ.

So I believe that there is a real need for the contemporary churches of today to have a make over. Worship and preaching in most churches today is nothing more than an emotional roller coaster with no brakes. For folks with spiritual heart problems the Spirit of the Living God is not able to get through. Our spiritual needs are many these days simply because we do not see epistles of truth in the hearts of our church leaders. Thus it is not the new age epistles of contemporary movements. God is not doing something new! God is the same today as He was yesterday and you can be sure that He will be the same epistle tomorrow! Hebrews 13:8 and John 8:58.

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.

A Devotional Look at the Book #539

A Devotional Look at the Book #539

by Jesse Abel

A Thought for today by Papa “J”

The nickel on the nightstand: Does not picture an elephant or a donkey. Nor does the nickel any longer reflect our national heritage of Chief Iron Tail and the buffalo (1913 – 1938). Like many assets of the United States… the nickel has lost its value.

A DAY IN THE PAST, THE PRESENT OR THE FUTURE

Days that stand out in life are special to us; are they not? A courtship that brings us to the altar, the birth of a son or daughter, the beginning of a long military career or finding that certain career. These events have forged a place in our hearts that will always be like a sweet spot in our mind. Sometimes when things are tough people retreat to these “sweet spots” for comfort and rest from the boiling stresses of life; these episodes of retreat do not always workout for the best since many people end up not letting go of certain things that develop within the sweet spot and these end up being bondages instead of a comfort. As in the courtship that not only leads to the altar but also to the courtroom or the career that begins to crumble as one is passed over in the advancement process. Bitterness, resentment and hurt work ruin in a person’s mind to the point of semi-permanent impairment. Today I feel that our Nation reeks of this spoilage of the American mind. Why? Deuteronomy 5:6-21 which is summed up for us New Testament saints with the words of Jesus Christ in Matthew 22:34-40. National Idolatry and selfishness has replaced our national love for God and neighbor. Until we as a nation are willing to acknowledge this sin there will be no peace. To know Jesus is to know peace. If your life has no Jesus in it; then you have no peace.

2 Corinthians

2 Corinthians 2:1-11 – Ever been around someone with; sorrow of heart? Usually a person in this mindset is suffering from intimidation or guilt. Even church leadership can promote sorrow within the congregation when these men are confronted with ongoing sin in the church. I am not a pastor (thank the LORD) but I have stood behind the pulpit enough to see the saddened eyes and the wrinkled frowns of a group of saints who have hurt themselves and others because of sin.

What is to be done to correct this blight of failure and sin? Should there be a time of discipline? Emphatically YES! Should there be a time of reflection and repentance? The same YES applies. Lastly; should there be a time of forgiveness? Still the answer remains – YES! Here is a thought. Was discipline administered in one moment of time, or did it occur over a period of time leading up to the moment of final execution? In most cases; church discipline is applied by the biblical principles found in Matthew 1815-20 and many other passages; even like that in James 5:19-20. These events in the lives of God’s children take time.

So here again we see that discipline like other sorrows of life have a process; that process has only one focus… HEALING. Healing the heart that is out of balance; like this simple but profound statement of the apostle Paul in Romans 5:8: “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us”. We therefore in our disciplines should be just as willing to demonstrate restoration love for the sinner. In discipline we died to them; but in forgiveness we are restored to them even as Christ has forgiven us.

A Devotional Look at the Book #538

A Devotional Look at the Book #538

by Jesse Abel

A Thought for today by Papa “J”

The stolen nickel on the nightstand: Has opportunity to end up in the piggy bank; years later when the five year old is accountable the seed of strict discipline will reap laughter and singing according to Psalm 126:1-6.

A DAY IN THE PAST, THE PRESENT OR THE FUTURE

There was a day on one of the submarines I was on when things were calm and peaceful; we were just entering the Atlantic heading West through the Straits of Gibraltar. As we began to turn to the North and make our way to England the Sonar Tech reported; “Torpedo in the water” then he added… this is not a drill! The Officer of the Deck ordered emergency deep and the Captain showed up in the control room. He replaced the Officer of the Deck with words like; “This is the Captain; I have the Con” He order the ship to full flank speed to the depth of one thousand feet and he also order for evasion canisters to be deployed. These four missile like flasks contained noises that sound like our submarine so the torpedo became confused as to which noise was the real submarine and we escaped the jaws of the enemy. Here is the point! Having never read Psalm 124 as a new believer of just a couple of years that when I opened my Bible to find comfort; it was this Psalm that provided exactly what I needed since it explained exactly what had just happened to us as though God were there with us and He was. The remembrance of this moment it time always fills me with overwhelming joy.

2 Corinthians

2 Corinthians 1:15-24 – I am sure that you have noticed as I have that the apostle Paul; as with most of the writers of the New Testament, write in first person accounts of what God is doing in their lives. The Holy Bible is personal; not only with the writers but also to those who read the words. Since God is the Author of the written word then He to has a personal interest in all messages. Even though God is often the second voice; sort of behind the scene motivation, He is the main reason the writers of scripture are faithful to write. In other words it is God who is faithful to fulfill Paul’s travel plans and ours as well and so our words should always be discipline with truth.

Truth demands that our “yes” is always yes and that our “no” is always no! Otherwise how will the promises of God stand if not on this firm foundation? Confidence in God requires that our relationship with Him is one of personal inner action with Him. Mainly, this is why I write as I do. This is not to say that I have some special dispensation with God, thus I speak. Yet I am saying that we who believe in Jesus as the scripture mandates must have this same daily message having a “yes and no” foundation of standing on the promises of God who anointed us and sealed us in the Holy Spirit.

So we all have the opportunity of going to a group of people; friendly or foe and speak of how God is working in our lives. Sometimes this requires restraint by not expressing dominion over the faith of someone and sometimes it requires boldness with messages that are weighty as in 2 Corinthians 10:10, but in every case the yes must be yes and no must be no as required.

A Devotional Look at the Book #537

A Devotional Look at the Book #537

by Jesse Abel

A Thought for today by Papa “J”

The nickel on the nightstand: Is never alone, it is always seen whether literally with the eye or in the minds eye. To the child this is temptation and without proper training the nickel will produce sin, James 1:14-15

A DAY IN THE PAST, THE PRESENT OR THE FUTURE

Some of us older generation remember the song by Pete Seeger: “Where have all the flowers gone?” The song sung by he and his wife Tao conveyed the message that everything created eventually goes to the graveyard. The song (a poem) was written in 1961 by Pete Seeger is a stoic expression; while it creates the thought of pain and suffering in ones mind, it totally rejects the idea to suffer since everything in the song ends with death as the victor. A message of no hope of recovery; thus life having no intrinsic value is not worthy of the reward of living, nor to suffer the pain of dying. Well what does this song have to do with things today? “Where have all the nations gone?” They’ve gone to Hell… yes every one!” What should be done? Shall we stop living like everyone? Should we stop looking at the flowers of our Creator? Should young men stop chasing young women? Should we stop building families who may of necessity send their children to war? Well guess what? We have; many of us today do not have an aroma of life about us; our nation smells like death. Smelling of deadly abortions, of same sex marriages that reek with the death odor of aids. Our children are fat with complacency and disobedience; the aroma of the living dead. Those of us who believe in Jesus Christ must be willing to preach the gospel. The door is open by the LORD Himself. He is the sweeter, He is the living aroma of Life so let us stop peddling religion and start again to be sincere, as from God. 2 Corinthians 2:12-17

2 Corinthians

2 Corinthians 1:12-14 – Speaking of being sincere; there are many people peddling religion today who are not sincere. There are those who say that if you trust in God you will prosper materially and there are those who will tell you that when you trust in God you will be healed of all disease past, present and future. And if they can sell it to you that they have the answer to the end times they will! All of this is done in the name of Jesus Christ (fact) and spoken of as truth (fiction). Paul identifies this lack of sincerity as apostasy 1 Timothy 4:1-5

Apostasy is a lack of sticking to the truth; meaning that some depart from the truth in order to bring into the church a lot of people who are unsaved by offering things that appeal to the world. Promises and priorities that appeal to the unsaved are nothing more than gimmicks that actually backfire on a church. This causes the leadership to fall into revisionism. Now here is a word that has literally been extracted from the Bible, meaning that the leadership finds no future value in standing firm on the foundation to preach the Word. 2 Timothy 4:1-5 so they have retreated to other methods of working for God.

So to boast in part or in whole will mean little at the judgment seat of Christ. The sincere in Christ will have a reward; this is already established as we will see as we travel through this epistle. The foolish in Christ will have a reward as well and this will also be revealed as we study. I love the Word of the Living God and He tells me that death does not have a victory and this is my confidence and I hope yours as well. 1 Corinthians 15:50-58

A Devotional Look at the Book #536

A Devotional Look at the Book #536

by Jesse Abel

A Thought for today by Papa “J”

The nickel on the nightstand: Is it better to take the nickel or learn wisdom; the child left alone does know right from wrong; but training him or her to choose right over wrong is an absolute necessity. Proverbs 4:1-7

A DAY IN THE PAST, THE PRESENT OR THE FUTURE

After the storm of last week we all have had the opportunity to look around at some of the damaged areas in our neighborhoods and areas that we frequent. The storm not considered to be of hurricane strength did major damage to our area. Most likely I did not notice some of the things you did, nor did you notice some of the things I did; that is just the way it is. That is true of the four gospels; Matthew, Mark, Luke and John so what I am saying is not profound, yet the Word of the Living God is always profound; well back to the weather. Before the storm a person could not see any depth to the wooded areas when passing by, but now after the storm we can see deeper into the woods almost as deep as during the winter when the leaves and ground cover has been removed. Is this significant enough to mention? I think so! I enjoy believing that God is the same; yesterday, today and forever. Hebrews 13:8 and there is coming a Great Day of the LORD when He will utterly consume all things from the face of the land. Zephaniah 1:1-18. Storms; large and small are simply previews of that Great Day!

2 Corinthians

2 Corinthians 1:8-11 – What is more comforting? Confidence or doubt! Now I know that anyone who does not need a checkup from the neck up will tell you that confidence is where comfort rules the day. But the question that seems to pop up in most of us is how I shall gain confidence when everything around me seems doubtful; even threatening as it did for the apostle Paul and those with him there in Asia.

At some point in all events we must journey through the door of not knowing what to expect on the other side. There are a host of things we might lose or gain and we may very well lose the ultimate struggle with life itself. (Many of us could gain from this) Losing is not generally an option for us to consider; we want gain from every aspect of living life. A person who does not personally know God by faith in His Son Jesus struggles and fails over the unexpected because of a lack of hope… hope in simple terms is confidence in action.

So what I am saying is that our first hope is not to trust in ourselves for life but in God; to trust in Jesus Christ who is our Life whom God raised from the dead. Notice this! Did God raise His Son from the dead? The answer is YES! Did Jesus die for our SIN? The answer is YES! If these are true then we have claimed this truth by trust; the same confidence in God that is capable to deliver us from any and all sentences of the unknown. Proverbs 3:5-6

A Devotional Look at the Book #535

A Devotional Look at the Book #535

by Jesse Abel

A Thought for today by Papa “J”

The nickel and the nightstand: For a child of five it is not the nickel that makes the thief, but what dwells in the heart, as in; “Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old, he will not depart from it! Proverbs 22:6, removing the nickel is useless; we must guard the soul of our young; see verse 5.

A DAY IN THE PAST, THE PRESENT OR THE FUTURE

So let me ask you a question. Do you believe God’s talk? You say; “well just what is God’s talk that I might believe it? God’s talk is His Holy Bible and nothing more; I grew up a Catholic and I was taught that only church leaders were allowed to read the Holy Bible and that everyone else should not because of demons and other religious rhetoric. This religious rhetoric is common to all religious beliefs; from major church denominations to small villages in the jungles throughout the world. This should explain something too us; “Religion does not reveal true; “God Talk” for example; a little boy of four years of age was found wandering through a village in the Sepik Region of Papua, New Guinea. The adults asked him; “Aren’t you afraid that the spirits will eat you?” His reply! “No, my dad and mom told me that God’s talk tells us that this is not true. So our family does not believe that anymore.” And the boy walked confidently on his way. So while there are those who say that God’s Talk is mysterious, difficult and hard to believe. This little boy named Kinsli speaks volumes about our traditional beliefs being nothing more than religious rhetoric. Matthew 19:13-15 The kingdom of heaven rests in our hearts by FAITH, not FEAR. Reflections from page 6; NTM@work; volume 70 – No.1 August 2011.

2 Corinthians

2 Corinthians 1:7 – The more I look into this section of suffering and consolation the more excited I become since this helps me see the bigger picture. Yesterday I connected suffering and consolation by saying these circumstances were like a coin; suffering on one side and consolation on the other. However a revision is necessary and here is why. If these circumstances were like a coin, one could only view one side at a time and while this sounds logical I do not feel it explains the suffering of Christ.

We are partakers of the suffering of Christ in that we have the “whole of Him” there is not one part of Christ’s suffering and another part of Christ’s consolation, we are partakers of the death (suffering) and His resurrection (consolation), so we are complete in Christ. When our brothers and sisters are partakers of suffering they are also partakers of consolation and their hope and ours in God is revealed in our mutual steadfastness of this truth.

Just to recap a bit over 2 Corinthians 1:3-7; suffering and consolation is only possible because of the mercies of God. God who suffered the loss of His Son for you and me is the Father of suffering. Raising Jesus His Son from the dead makes God; the Father of all consolation too. He allows us to be partakers of this wonderful truth in order that we can share among the fellowship of believers and know within our church family the JOY of the LORD which is our ongoing hope in suffering and consolation… 2 Corinthians 1:8-11 coming up!