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Is God the Executioner?

firstly let a list be made of what some would call counter-statements. In reality they are not and cannot be counter-statements for there is...

Devotional thoughts

SEEKING GOD


0 Israel, return unto the Lord thy God; for thou has fallen by your iniquity. Take with you
words, and turn to the Lord: say unto Him, Take away all iniquity, and receive us graciously: so will
we render the calves of our lips. Asshur shall not save us; we will not ride upon horses: neither will
we say any more to the work of our hands, You are our gods: for in Thee the fatherless finds mercy.
I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely. For Mine anger is turned away from him. I will
be as the dew unto Israel: he shall grow as the lily, and cast forth his roots as Lebanon. His branches shall spread, and his beauty shall be as the olive tree, and his smell as Lebanon. They that dwell under his shadow shall return; they shall revive as the corn, and grow as the vine: the scent thereof shall be as the wine of Lebanon. Ephraim shall say, What have I to do any more with idols? I have heard him, and observed him: I am like a green fir tree. From me is thy fruit found. Who is wise, and he shall understand these things? Prudent, and he shall know them? For the ways of the Lord are right, and the just shall walk in them: but the transgressors shall fall therein. Hosea 14.

By faith and prayer all may meet the requirements of the gospel. No man can be forced to
transgress. His own consent must be first gained; the soul Must purpose the sinful act, before passion can
dominate over reason, or iniquity triumph over conscience. Temptation, however strong, is never an excuse
for sin. “The eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and His ears are open unto their prayers.” Cry unto
the Lord, tempted soul. Cast yourself, helpless, unworthy, upon Jesus, and claim this very promise. The
Lord will hear. He knows how strong are the inclinations of the natural heart, and He will help in everytime of temptation.

Have you fallen into sin? Then without delay seek for mercy and pardon. When David was
convicted of his sin, he poured out his soul in penitence and humiliation before God. He felt that he could
endure the loss of his crown, but he could not be deprived of the favor of God. Mercy is still extended to
the sinner. The Lord is calling to us in all our wanderings, “Return, you backsliding children, and I will
heal your back sliding.” The blessing of God may be ours, if we will heed the pleading voice of His Spirit.
“Like as a father pities his children, so the Lord pities them that fear Him.” - Testimonies, Volume V, page
177.

Have you, reader, chosen your own way? Have you wandered far from God? ... Return to your
Father's house. He invites you, saying, “Return unto Me; for I have redeemed thee.” Isaiah 44:22....
Do not listen to the enemy's suggestion to stay away from Christ until you have made yourself
better; until you are good enough to come to God. if you wait until then, you will never come. When Satan
points to your filthy garments, repeat the promise of the Savior, “Him that comes to Me I will in no wise
cast out.” John 6:37. Tell the enemy that the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses from all sin. Make the prayer of
David your own: “Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.”
Psalm 51:7. - Prophets and Kings, pages 319, 320.



THE SECOND COMMANDMENT


Thou shall not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in
heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. Thou shall not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them. For I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate Me. And showing mercy unto thousands of them that love Me, and keep My commandments. Exodus 20:4-6.

The Lord thy God, He is God, the faithful God, which keeps covenant and mercy with them that
love Him and keep His commandments to a thousand generations. Deuteronomy 7:9.
Are we worshipers of Jehovah or of Baal? Of the living God, or of idols? No outward shrines may be visible there may be no image for the eye to rest upon, yet we may be practicing idolatry. It is as easy to make an idol of cherished ideas or objects as to fashion gods of wood or stone. Thousands have a false conception of God and His attributes. They are as verily serving a false god as were the servants of Baal. Are we worshiping the true God as He is revealed in His word, in Christ, in nature, or are we adoring some philosophical idol enshrined in His place? God is a God of truth. Justice and mercy are the attributes of His throne. He is a God of love, of pity and tender compassion. Thus He is represented in His Son, our Savior. He is a God of patience and long suffering. If such is the being whom we adore, and to whose character we are seeking to assimilate, we are worshiping the true God.” - Testimonies, Volume V, pages 173, 174.

As the worshipers of the true and living God, we should bear fruit corresponding to the light and
privileges we enjoy. Many are worshiping idols instead of the Lord of heaven and earth.  anything that men love and trust in instead of loving the Lord and trusting wholly in Him, becomes an idol, and is thus registered in the books of heaven. Even blessings are often turned into a curse. The sympathies of the human heart, strengthened by exercise, are sometimes perverted until they become a snare. If one is reproved, there are always some who will sympathize with him. They entirely overlook the harm that has been done to God's cause by the wrong influence of one whose life and character do not in any way resemble those of the Pattern. God sends His servants with a message to the people professing to be followers of Christ; but some are children of God only in name, and they reject the warning-Ibid., page
250.




THE FIRST COMMANDMENT

Thou shall have no other gods before Me. Exodus 20:1
We know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is none other God but one. For
though there he that are called gods, whether in heaven or in earth, (as there be gods many and lords many,) but to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in Him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by Him. I Corinthians 8:4-6.

In the last days of this earth's history, the voice that spoke from Sinai is still declaring, “Thou shall have no other gods before Me.” Man has set his will against the will of God, but he cannot silence the word of command. The human mind cannot evade its obligation to a higher power. Theories and speculations may abound; men may try to set science in opposition to revelation, and thus do away with God's law; but stronger and still stronger comes the command, “Thou shall worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shall thou serve.” Matthew 4:10 - Prophets and Kings, pages 624, 625.

Men put God out of their knowledge, and worshiped the creatures of their own imagination; and
as the result, they became more and more debased. The psalmist describes the effect produced upon the worshiper by the adoration of idols. He says, “They that make them are like unto them; so is every one that trusts in them.” It is a law of the human mind that by beholding we become changed. Man will rise no higher than his conceptions of truth, purity, and holiness. If the mind is never exalted above the level of humanity, if it is not uplifted by faith to contemplate infinite wisdom and love, the man will be constantly sinking lower and lower. The worshipers of false gods clothed their deities with human attributes and passions, and thus their standard of character was degraded to the likeness of sinful humanity-Patriarchs and Prophets, page 91.

Jehovah, the eternal, self-existent, uncreated One, Himself the source and sustainer of all, is alone entitled to supreme reverence and worship. Man is forbidden to give to any other object the first place in his affections or his service. Whatever we cherish that tends to lessen our love for God or to interfere with the service due Him, of that do we make a god.” - Ibid., page 305.

“There's a law that I am learning That is helping me each day;
That our God sends something better For the things He takes away.
While some sorrow presses on us, And we feel that loss severe,
He will follow tip this heartache With a blessing, never fear.”





NO MATTER from what angle we view world conditions today, a darkened horizon is filling men’s hearts with fear. We dwell in the midst of political, economic, and social crises that make up the headlines of every passing day. Our leading statesmen, scientists, and military men tell us that our civilization is heading for collapse. The astronomical amounts being set aside for armaments in the annual budgets of the nations, is proof conclusive that all expect another world war, and they are arming to the teeth in readiness for it.

Having finished off the Fascist giant which threatened to throw it out of the arena of world politics, Democracy has risen from its knees, to face and come to grips with the giant of Communism. The ideologies of these two political systems, so diametrically opposed to each other, have divided the nations into two hostile camps-camps that anxiously await the striking of the decisive blow which will bring to an end the terrible suspense which, at the moment, is causing all men everywhere to fear the future with a nameless dread.

How applicable to the times in which we live are those verses in the Book of Isaiah which say, “We wait for light, but behold obscurity.” The context here reveals that as a result of a departure from God and His ways, confusion and chaos reign upon the earth. ‘The way of peace they know not,” declares the prophet. ‘They have made them crooked paths.” “The wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt. There is no peace, said my God, to the wicked.” Turning now to the prophet Jeremiah, we find him pointing the way to peace in these words, “Stand you in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and you shall find rest for your souls.” Jeremiah 6:16.

It is sin that separates men from God and places them in darkness and distress. It is sin that robs the world and individuals of peace. How tragic that we should be living in an era when many nations have decided to blot the very consciousness of God from out their midst! This departure from the Lord, we believe, is the cause of all the misery and gloom through which the world is passing today. The one and only remedy that will bring relief to the nations is an unconditional return and surrender to God. What a wonderful thing it is to have an anchor that will hold our frail craft in these stormy and distressing times! How comforting to be able to turn to God’s Word and find therein a message that meets the need of this hour-a word of hope that assures us that God is still on the throne and watches over His own!









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