Quote from Forum Archives on March 3, 2012, 6:38 pm

Posted by: edwrather <edwrather@...>

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The Burning Bush Devotional
There are 17,000 Subscribers to the Email Devotional

02.29.12

Dead Living

But she who lives in pleasure is dead while she lives. - 1 Timothy 5:6 NKJV.

And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you
once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince
of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of
disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts
of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were
by nature children of wrath, just as the others. - Ephesians 2:1-3 NKJV.

But all things that are exposed are made manifest by the light, for whatever
makes manifest is light. Therefore He says: "Awake, you who sleep, Arise
from the dead, and Christ will give you light." - Ephesians 5:13-14 NKJV.

95-year-old Li Xiufeng had been in her coffin for six days when she crawled
out. A neighbor had found Li not breathing and not moving in her bed. Chen
Qingwang was unable to wake Li and believed that she had died while she was
asleep. Chen said, "She didn't get up, so I came up to wake her up. No
matter how hard I pushed her and called her name, she had no reactions. I
felt something was wrong, so I tried her breath, and she was gone, but her
body is still not cold." The day before the funeral, Chen went to Li's house
and found her coffin was empty. Chen said, "We were so terrified, and
immediately asked the neighbors to come for help." They found Li sitting in
her kitchen cooking! Li told them, "I slept for a long time. After waking
up, I felt so hungry, and wanted to cook something to eat. I pushed the lid
for a long time to climb out." (Orange News 02.29.12)

You could say that Li Xiufeng was dead, but still living. Her body was still
alive at some very low level of existence; however, who would want to live
like that? How wonderful it must have been to awake from her almost dead
existence, crawl out of the coffin, and begin to really live!

We have heard about people who text while driving, who drink while driving,
who are high on drugs while driving, and who do all kinds of other things
while they are driving. Even more scary are those who are dead living while
driving!

If you do not know Jesus as your personal Savior, if you have not been "born
again (John 3:3);" you are dead in your "trespasses and sins (Ephesians
2:1)." In addition, those who know Jesus as their Savior who "lives in
pleasure is dead" while living. To be "carnally minded (mind of sinful man -
NIV) is death (Romans 8:6)" and everyone who puts their focus, their desires
upon the things of this world, or human, fleshly desires are dead living.

The Bible makes it clear what we must do to stop our dead living. We must
"awake!" We must "cast off the works of darkness" and "put on the armor of
light." We must "walk properly." We must "put on the Lord Jesus Christ."

"And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of
sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. The
night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works
of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light. Let us walk properly, as
in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in
strife and envy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for
the flesh, to fulfill its lusts (Romans 13:11-14 NKJV)."

So, if you have been dead living, crawl out of that coffin, put on the Lord
Jesus Christ, and find out what it is like to really live!

Copyright © 2012. 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.

Please continue to pray for my wife, Jeanie, as she recovers from surgery
and ovarian cancer, and is now going through chemo. Many prayer needs are
posted at the Burning Bush website on the Prayer Request page. You can also
post your prayer requests there and they will be forwarded to the Burning
Bush Prayer Group (Of course, I am always in need of prayer - please pray
for me.).

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