BBD 08.01.02 Hard-Pressed
Posted by: wrather <wrather@...>
country's flag on the map and leave a message. You can find it on the front
page at http://www.theburningbush.org
If this devotional is a blessing to you, maybe you have a friend or family
member who would like to start receiving it. Subscribing is easy. Send a
blank email to [email protected] or to subscribe to
the html version send a blank email to
[email protected]
The Burning Bush Devotional
08.01.02
Hard-Pressed
"For it is God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone
in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the
face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that
the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. We are
hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in
despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed -
always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life
of Jesus also may be manifested in our body." - II Corinthians 4:6-9.
This morning on Good Morning America I watched an amazing thing a stutterer
stopped stuttering after putting a device in his ear! The device is called
the "Speech Easy Device" developed by Joseph Kalinowsky himself a stutterer
and two others. The device tricks the brain into thinking that another
person is speaking at the same time and when speaking in unison with others
the stuttering is inhibited. Currently there is a 90% success rate with the
device. Debbie Cook the mother of Wesley who stutters says, "It's just our
dream come true for him. Because we've tried everything we knew and would
never really give up hope. We've always prayed there would be that
something and we just can't believe we've found it."
Joseph Kalinowsky grew up stuttering and he was "hard-pressed on every side"
because of it. Joe says he would pray every night when he was a child,
"Take off my arm, God, because I know kids will tease me for not having an
arm. But if I can talk the same as every other kid, that'll be OK. And I'd
get up and the arm was still there. And I'd begin to talk and the stutter
was still there. And I'd turn up to the heavens and say you didn't do it.
I guess He had another purpose." Joe eventually became a speech therapist
at East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina where with two
other inventors the "Speech Easy Device" has become a reality.
In the life of Joe Kalinowsky and others affected by stuttering we see the
value of persistent prayer personified. Years of prayer by those who
stutter, parents of stutterers and others have now resulted in a miracle
through human technology. But then that is what God delights in doing. He
puts Himself through the Holy Spirit in weak earthen vessels, which is the
treasure, the apostle Paul is writing about. Because of the treasure of the
indwelling Spirit we are able to endure and overcome. "We are hard-pressed
on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair;
persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed." With the
surrender of ourselves to the will and purpose of the Lord then through our
earthly bodies the "life of Jesus" will be "manifested."
Do you have a weak earthen vessel? Is your vessel "hard-pressed on every
side"? In your weakness, in your inability may be the very thing that God
will use to bring glory to Himself! Surrender yourself to God's will and
purpose and your weak earthen vessel is no longer worthless but a "treasure"
that God will use to bring glory to the Lord and life to countless others
touched by your life.
Copyright © 2002. Ed Wrather. Permission is given for use of the
devotionals on a non-profit basis with source credited.
If I can help you in any way please contact me at [email protected]
Subscribe to the Burning Bush Prayer Group. Send and receive prayer
requests to over 500 members. Send a blank email
to: [email protected]
Subscribe to the Burning Bush Inspirational Group. Send and receive
inspirational material to over 100 members. Send a blank email
to: [email protected]
Subscribe to the Burning Bush Restoration and Recovery Group for those with
addictions or recovering from addictions. Receive devotionals and
inspirational material directed toward those with addictions. Send and
receive prayer requests. Over 200 members. Send a blank email
to: [email protected]