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Volume 5 ... #30
Keeping the truth of God inside you
I was reading a secular book and one character appeared named "Salome." In the book, it was said she was proud to be named after the daughter of Herodius who danced before Herod and caused John the Baptist to be beheaded.
I stopped reading the secular book and turned to the Bible to check these statements.
It is very important to "keep the truth of God" in our minds.
I had not remembered the name of this daughter being given in the account in the Bible. So I checked this.
Mt. 14 ...At that time Herod the tetrarch heard of the fame of Jesus, 2 And said unto his servants, This is John the Baptist; he is risen from the dead; and therefore mighty works do shew forth themselves in him.
3 For Herod had laid hold on John, and bound him, and put him in prison for Herodias' sake, his brother Philip's wife. 4 For John said unto him, It is not lawful for thee to have her. 5 And when he would have put him to death, he feared the multitude, because they counted him as a prophet.
6 But when Herod's birthday was kept, the daughter of Herodias danced before them, and pleased Herod. 7 Whereupon he promised with an oath to give her whatsoever she would ask. 8 And she, being before instructed of her mother, said, Give me here John Baptist's head in a charger. 9 And the king was sorry:nevertheless for the oath's sake, and them which sat with him at meat, he commanded it to be given her. 10 And he sent, and beheaded John in the prison. 11 And his head was brought in a charger, and given to the damsel:and she brought it to her mother. 12 And his disciples came, and took up the body, and buried it, and went and told Jesus.
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We can be drawn off the message from God by seeking details not presented by God which have no substance for us.
And we must care about truth enough to want to keep our minds correctly fixed on Bible truths. We must stop and look it up in Bible when confronted with such things as this detail.
The truth of the Bible must be kept in our minds for there are many deceivers who would draw us away by fleshly attractions.
And even if that was the daughter's name, so what? What does it mean to us that the sister-in-law who committed adultery was named "Herodias"?
The real meaning of this scripture is: The sister-in-law held a grudge against John the Baptist because he said it was not lawful for her to be having sex with Herod, her husband's brother.
The sister-in-law, Herodias, kept that grudge in her heart until the time she could get even with John the Baptist. And then she struck like a snake hiding in the grass.
Certainly this example in scripture warns us to let grudges go ... give them up ... pray, asking God to get our heart straight about the matter ... be healed by God ... be willing to be healed.
Evil works can come from evil stored in our heart. While the evil seems to lie dormant, it grows secretly and will rise up at some point and strike unless it is pulled out of our heart.
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We must work diligently not to hold resentments in our heart. We do this by telling God we resent something and by asking God to help us to get over our resentment, purifying our heart through God.
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Another message: You must not be led into evil by your mother nor by anyone else nor by anything else. In the time of temptation, we are told to ask God for wisdom and God will give wisdom to us. James 1:5 ... We are also told a promise that God will make a way of escape for us. I Cor. 10:5.
James 1:5 ... If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.
I Cor. 10:13 ... There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.
14 Wherefore, my dearly beloved, flee from idolatry.
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Care about the Bible ... Care about the truth of the Bible ... Keep God's truth in your heart.
Guard your heart!