Morning DevotionalREADING THE MIND OF THE ENEMY
THE GREAT WHITE THRONE
READING THE MIND OF THE ENEMY
Morning Devotional April 28, 2012
And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. Revelation 12:17.
So why all this fuss about the Sabbath? What’s the big deal? Intelligence services jubilantly celebrated their incredible luck in locating ad retrieving the laptop of the mastermind of terror. On it names, addresses, strategies, records---a veritable treasure trove exposing their antagonist’s most secret plans. Neither is the truth about the Seventh-day Sabbath some inconsequential option for God’s chosen in this hour of history---it is central to the final showdown. For that reason, the following verbatim quote sheds light on the strategic thinking process of heaven and earth’s great dragon nemesis.
“Satan says, ‘I will work at cross purposes with God. I will empower my follower to set aside God’s memorial, the seventh-day Sabbath. Thus I will show the world that the day sanctified and blessed by God has been changed. That day shall not live in the minds of the people. I will obliterate the memory of it. I will place in its stead a day that does not bear the credentials of God, a day that cannot be a sign between God and His people. I will lead those who accept this day to place upon it the sanctity that God placed upon the seventh day. Through my vicegerent, I will exalt myself. The first day will be extolled, and the Protestant world will receive this spurious sabbath as genuine. Through the nonobservance of the Sabbath that God instituted, I will bring His law into contempt. . . . Thus the world will become mine. I will be the ruler of the earth, the prince of the world. I will so control the minds under my power that God’s Sabbath shall be a special object of contempt. A sign? I will make the observance of the seventh day a sign of disloyalty to the authorities of earth. Human laws will be made so stringent that men and women will not dare to observe the seventh-day Sabbath’” (Prophets and Kings, pp. 183, 184).
In his rebellion against heaven, the dragon has declared the Sabbath a high-value target in a desperate strategy to obliterate the Creator from the minds of those on earth. Is it any surprise then that of all generations of the chosen, this last one is called to unfurl the flag of loyalty to the Creator through allegiance to His Sabbath? For to stand for Christ, even if to stand alone, is surely the highest honor of all His friends. (The Chosen by Dwight K. Nelson, p. 129).
God bless us all! Happy Sabbath!
Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Philippians 2:9-11, NRSV.
Will there be no comeuppance for this no humbler God? Do not the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit rightfully deserve the accolades and honor, the worship of all the galaxies They have so humbly served all this millennia? But of course!
In one of the most breathtaking scenes in all the Apocalypse, there comes the moment when the great white throne of the Most High God is raised---and all the Spielberg and Lucas special effects animation could not probably capture the dazzling majesty and the grandeur of this cosmic scene---high above the assembled universe. “Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away” (Revelation 20:11).
And we will all stare, for we will all be there, be assured. Is this the man who stripped Himself naked to the waist, and with towel and basin in hand washed the pairs of dirty feet that belonged to the 12 men (one of whom is just like you and me) who should have been lined up, each to have his turn to wash their Master’s feet?
Is this the same God---how can it be!---who with hands tied behind Him endured the slaps, the fists, the spit in the face, who with face now black-and-blue was stripped naked to be flogged one lash short of death, who with battered face and bloody back and legs is finally nailed to that splintery cross and hoisted to coagulate between heaven and earth until He expired?
“Far above the city, upon a foundation of burnished gold, is a [white] throne, high and lifted up. Upon this throne sits the Son of God, and around Him are the subjects of His kingdom. The power and majesty of Christ no language can describe, no pen portray. The glory of the Eternal Father is enshrouding His Son. The brightness of His presence fills the city of God, and flows out beyond the gates, flooding the whole earth with its radiance” (The Great Controversy, p. 665).
It is any wonder, then, we shall all one day bow before this humble God? And is there any question we should begin that bowing right now? (The Chosen by Dwight K. Nelson p. 41).
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THE THIN LINE
Morning Devotional May 25, 2012
There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you---who are you to judge your neighbor? James 4:12, NIV.
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WHAT EVERY CARPENTER KNOWS
Morning Devotional May 24, 2012
Judge not, that you be not judge. For with what judgment you judge, you will be judge; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you. Matthew 7:1, 2.
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THE BEATITUDE IN THE MIDDLE AND AT THE END
Morning Devotional May 23, 2012
Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. Matthew 5:7.
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CONFUCIUS PROVERB
Morning Devotional May 22, 2012
For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich. 2 Corinthians 8:9.
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WHEN THE DEBT RATIO
IS 600,000 TO ONE
Morning Devotional May 21, 2012
Freely you have received, freely give. Matthew 10:8.
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THE TWO LORD’S PRAYERS
Morning Devotional May 20, 2012
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THE PLEA OF THE DYING SOLDIER
Morning Devotional May 19, 2012
Then Jesus said, “Father forgive them, for they do not know what they do.” Luke 23:34.
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THE GOOD SAM CLUB – 2
Morning Devotional May 18, 2012
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THE GOOD SAM CLUB – 1
Morning Devotional May 17, 2012
The man wanted to justify his action, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” Luke 10:29, NLT
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THE CASTE SYSTEM
Morning Devotional May 16, 2012
Let me not, I pray, show partiality to anyone. Job 32:21.
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