BBD 02.19.14 Begin the Upward Spiral (Classic)
Posted by: theburningbushdevotional <theburningbushdevotional@...>
The Burning Bush Devotional
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Classic from 2005
02.19.14
Begin the Upward
Spiral
But as many as received Him (Jesus), to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who
believe in His name. - John 1:12.
We hear of person after person who begins to use illegal
substances, or who becomes involved in sinful activities, and their lives begin
to disintegrate. It is the downward spiral, which continues until they are
hurt, arrested, or kill someone. Sometimes the disintegration is very vivid, as
in obvious. There is a posting on the Internet showing through mug shots
(photographs taking when being booked into jail) the very obvious downward
spiral. It is sickening how much deterioration that can happen to a person in a
very brief period of time.
Once in the downward spiral of things going from bad to
worse there is a sense of hopelessness that sets in. Because of that sense of
hopelessness, the self-destructive behavior continues and often even
accelerates. But it does not have to be that way! Because there is hope!
Instead of a downward spiral of destruction, there can be an upward spiral into
blessing.
If you are in a downward spiral, how do you stop the
freefall? How do you begin going the other way? Step one is to receive
Jesus as your Savior. When you receive Jesus as your Savior, you become a child
of God (John 1:12).
When Jesus is your Savior, it means that you have become a part of the royal
family, and not just any royal family; but the royal family of the King of
kings and Lord of lords. No one can take that away from you. As the apostle
Paul puts it, "For I am persuaded that neither death nor
life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things
to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to
separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans
8:38-39)."
Step two out of the downward spiral, and into the upward
spiral of blessing, is to start living like a child of the King of kings and
the Lord of lords ought to live. I know you have all of these excuses, and
you’ve failed every time you’ve tried to do better, and on and on. It does not
have to be that way. Why? Because you are no longer alone. One
plus one no longer equals two. Things have changed, and God Himself is on your
side. "What then shall we say to these things?
If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but
delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all
things (Romans 8:31-32)?" "…in all these things we are more than
conquerors through Him who loved us (Romans 8:37)."
Believe now in His Name, live in His power and begin the
upward spiral of blessing.
Copyright © 2005-2014. Ed
Wrather. The Burning Bush website has been online since January 31, 1998. On
June 8, 1998 the email version of the Burning Bush Devotional was first sent.
Ed Wrather began writing devotionals in the early 1990s. The distribution of
these first devotionals was primarily through the Burning Bush Newsletter sent
to prison facilities throughout the United States and Canada.
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