
Devotionals from Dad
I am a simple man that wants to be able to share short 5 to 6 minute Christian devotions based upon my own personal life experiences. The devotionals have been created for my children and grandchildren, however I am hopeful that many others will find them inspirational.
Devotionals from Dad
Up in Smoke
Love to hear from and know who is listening
I came home from work the other day on my way feed the chickens and pick up eggs I noticed smoke was rising up out of the door on the chicken coop. When I opened the door the entire building was filled with smoke, but there was very little flames. I quickly flipped the breaker box switch and turned off the electricity. I began kicking out the straw on the floor, but within a few seconds the inside of the coop was engulfed in flames. A heat lamp bulb had somehow came in contact with the straw bedding and when I opened the door I provided a source of air and the fire was quickly out of control. I ran to the storage shed and dug my garden hose reel out, while calling 911 on my cell phone at the same time. I stretched the hose out and of course the hose reel lacked about 15 feet of reaching the fire. So I ran back to get another hose. I did manage to somewhat keep the fire under control until the fire department arrived, with the help of my neighbors who saw the smoke or got a frantic call for help from me. I was able to keep the fire from spreading into the dry trees and grass the surrounded the chicken coop. The chickens were smart enough to get out of the fire and none of them were harmed, but the chicken coop was a complete loss. The following morning I opened the door of my home to let the dogs out and the air around my home was filled with the smokey stench of the fire from the day before. When I went to work my co-workers could also smell the smoke that had soaked into coat that I had been wearing the day before as I was trying to put the fire out. In the Bible, the smoke from the fires of hell symbolizes the eternal torment of those who oppose God. The smoke is used to describe the uncomfortable state of the wicked and the irreversible nature of their punishment.
Revelation 14:10-11 ESV he also will drink the wine of God's wrath, poured full strength into the cup of his anger, and he will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever, and they have no rest, day or night, these worshipers of the beast and its image, and whoever receives the mark of its name.
Smoke is a product of combustion. If the fire is quenched, the smoke ceases. This is a graphic image that the flames of hell causes burning and that the smoke of the combustion signifies the torment of those who are afflicted. The smoke is from the carbon material of the human body being burnt. The human body is composed of 4 key ingredients, oxygen, carbon, hydrogen and nitrogen. If the thing that smokes is taken out of the flame, or is wholly consumed, then the flames that causes the smoke ceases. But the fires of hell can not be quenched.
Mark 9: 43-48 ESV And if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled, than with two hands to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire. And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life lame, than with two feet to be thrown into hell. And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into hell, ‘where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.
This may seem to be ghastly, but this is the truth of God's word. Those who refuse to accept Jesus as their savior will have no rest day or night. The devil, his demons, and those who followed him, will burn yet not be consumed. They will beg any who will listen to give them a drop of water on their tongue to relieve their anguish from the flames, there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, not silence or the mere roaring of a fire. The bible i