BBD 04.11.11 When Things go "Bump" in the Night (Classic)

#1 · April 11, 2011, 10:09 pm

Quote from Forum Archives on April 11, 2011, 10:09 pm
Posted by: edwrather <edwrather@...>

Visit the Burning Bush websites:

www.theburningbush.net
www.theburningbush.org

The Burning Bush websites have received visits from more than 170 countries.
Celebrating 11 years online since January 31, 1998. Since June 8, 1998 the
Burning Bush Devotional has been spreading the truth of God's Word to more
than 18,000 subscribers across the world.

Please join the Burning Bush Prayer Group. The group began in 1998 and is
made up of more than 300 prayer warriors. Send prayer requests and receive
prayer requests. To join send an email to: bbpg-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

If you love to send and receive inspirational emails the Burning Bush
Inspirational Group is for you. To join send an email to
bbinspire-join@welovegod.org

You can now leave comments/feedback about the devotionals at
www.theburningbush.net.
Free Books for the Kindle are available at the Burning Bush website.
Forwarding of this email is encouraged and appreciated!!

The Burning Bush Devotional
Welcome to the 5529 new subscribers since January 1, 2011!!
There were 4010 new subscribers during 2010!!
Classic from 2003

04.11.11

When Things go "Bump" in the Night

For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a
sound mind. - 2 Timothy 1:7.

And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to
Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the
nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the
Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you;
and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Amen. - Matthew
28:18-20.

Some folks living around Langley, Virginia become a little nervous when they
hear strange, or unexpected noises. Maybe, it is because they have an
unusual neighbor. Their neighbor? The Central Intelligence Agency. The
neighbors were a little concerned, when a helicopter hovered over the top of
a building on the CIA grounds for an unusually long time. They were
installing a new air conditioning unit. Or, the strange noise that emanated
from the facility during a recent snowstorm. It was just some rented heat
blowers to melt the snow.

A spokesperson for the CIA Bill Harlow said, "There are lots of houses that
are adjacent to our fence line or close to it. Sometimes they see and hear
things that gets them nervous." So, the agency has hand-delivered postcards
to the homes surrounding their facility. The cards asked residents to report
"anything unusual or suspicious." The card was signed by "Marie." The CIA
says that "If they see something or hear something which disturbs them, they
need to know who to contact." That way the neighbors can be assured that it's
just a new heating unit, or they were just melting some snow. I wonder what
they will say during the summer? And who is "Marie?"

We live in an increasingly violent and uncertain time, with threats of war,
and terrorism on many horizons. How do we face life during such a time? How
do we continue to move forward living life, and serving God during such
times? It is one thing to profess our faith, but a much greater challenge to
actually live out that faith. How can we live in a way that will bring light
to the darkness that constantly presses upon us?

The enemy uses fear to keep us in our place. He uses fear to keep us from
spreading faith, hope, and love to others around us. Often our enemy uses
verbal threats from others like Nehemiah faced (Nehemiah 6). Other times it
is a fear based in reality like Moses faced when responding to God's call.
Moses knew how powerful the Egyptians were, and how cruel they could be. In
both situations what happened? Nehemiah and the people completed the
rebuilding of the wall around Jerusalem in spite of the threats. Moses led
his people to freedom, in spite of the power and cruelty of the Egyptians of
that era. In both situations, God provided the strength and resources
needed. Nehemiah prayed, "Now therefore, O God, strengthen my hands
(Nehemiah 6:9b)." Moses was assured, as God addressed each of his excuses.
Moses was to remember that it was God who sent him, and to share that with
the Egyptians and his people (Exodus 3:13-14). Moses became great in prayer,
speaking with God as a person would speak to another.

Moses and Nehemiah were both commissioned by God. Timothy and Paul were
commissioned by God. You and I, if we know the Lord as our Savior, have been
commissioned by God (Matthew 28:18-20). So, when the world says get back
into your foxhole; when they say stop living and talking like a Christian,
what do you do? Remember that you have been commissioned, sent by God to
live out your faith in this world. Your Commander, is not your neighbor.
Your Commander is the Creator of the Universe. If you need strength and
courage, ask Him for it just as Nehemiah did, and He will provide it.
Because, "God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love
and of a sound mind."

Copyright © 2003-2011. Ed Wrather. Permission is given for use of the
devotionals on a non-profit basis with source credited. 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.

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.).

If you are not my friend on facebook or myspace you can be, just add me. The
devotionals are posted in my blogs on those two social networks and you can
leave comments, feedback about them there. There are other social networks
designed just for Christians, however, this is an outreach project to reach
those who may not know the Lord or may have wandered away. You can help me
reach out to them.

For information about how to hear my testimony in your church visit this
link: www.theburningbush.net/pages.asp?pageid=22160

If you enjoy the devotional please recommend it to your friends. They may
subscribe by sending a blank email to burningbushdevo-join@welovegod.org

Two videos of my sermons are posted on GodTube (now Tangle) at:
connect.tangle.com/Wrather

You can listen to services at my son, Clark Wrather's church (First Baptist
Church of Broken Bow, Oklahoma) live on Sunday mornings at 10:55am CST
www.kkbifm.com/
Several videos of Clark's sermons can be found at his church website:
www.fbcbrokenbow.com

There is a complete devotional archive at the old Burning Bush website. Here
is the URL: www.theburningbush.org/33.html.

You can unsubscribe to the pure text version of the devotional by sending a
blank email to burningbushdevo-leave@welovegod.org and then respond to the
confirmation email.

You may subscribe to the html text group by sending a blank email to
burningbushhtml-join@welovegod.org and you may unsubscribe by sending a
blank email to burningbushhtml-leave@welovegod.org and then respond to the
confirmation email. If the link does not work, copy and paste the link.

Posted by: edwrather <edwrather@...>

Visit the Burning Bush websites:

http://www.theburningbush.net
http://www.theburningbush.org

The Burning Bush websites have received visits from more than 170 countries.
Celebrating 11 years online since January 31, 1998. Since June 8, 1998 the
Burning Bush Devotional has been spreading the truth of God's Word to more
than 18,000 subscribers across the world.

Please join the Burning Bush Prayer Group. The group began in 1998 and is
made up of more than 300 prayer warriors. Send prayer requests and receive
prayer requests. To join send an email to: bbpg-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

If you love to send and receive inspirational emails the Burning Bush
Inspirational Group is for you. To join send an email to
bbinspire-join@welovegod.org

You can now leave comments/feedback about the devotionals at
http://www.theburningbush.net.
Free Books for the Kindle are available at the Burning Bush website.
Forwarding of this email is encouraged and appreciated!!

The Burning Bush Devotional
Welcome to the 5529 new subscribers since January 1, 2011!!
There were 4010 new subscribers during 2010!!
Classic from 2003

04.11.11

When Things go "Bump" in the Night

For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a
sound mind. - 2 Timothy 1:7.

And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to
Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the
nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the
Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you;
and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Amen. - Matthew
28:18-20.

Some folks living around Langley, Virginia become a little nervous when they
hear strange, or unexpected noises. Maybe, it is because they have an
unusual neighbor. Their neighbor? The Central Intelligence Agency. The
neighbors were a little concerned, when a helicopter hovered over the top of
a building on the CIA grounds for an unusually long time. They were
installing a new air conditioning unit. Or, the strange noise that emanated
from the facility during a recent snowstorm. It was just some rented heat
blowers to melt the snow.

A spokesperson for the CIA Bill Harlow said, "There are lots of houses that
are adjacent to our fence line or close to it. Sometimes they see and hear
things that gets them nervous." So, the agency has hand-delivered postcards
to the homes surrounding their facility. The cards asked residents to report
"anything unusual or suspicious." The card was signed by "Marie." The CIA
says that "If they see something or hear something which disturbs them, they
need to know who to contact." That way the neighbors can be assured that it's
just a new heating unit, or they were just melting some snow. I wonder what
they will say during the summer? And who is "Marie?"

We live in an increasingly violent and uncertain time, with threats of war,
and terrorism on many horizons. How do we face life during such a time? How
do we continue to move forward living life, and serving God during such
times? It is one thing to profess our faith, but a much greater challenge to
actually live out that faith. How can we live in a way that will bring light
to the darkness that constantly presses upon us?

The enemy uses fear to keep us in our place. He uses fear to keep us from
spreading faith, hope, and love to others around us. Often our enemy uses
verbal threats from others like Nehemiah faced (Nehemiah 6). Other times it
is a fear based in reality like Moses faced when responding to God's call.
Moses knew how powerful the Egyptians were, and how cruel they could be. In
both situations what happened? Nehemiah and the people completed the
rebuilding of the wall around Jerusalem in spite of the threats. Moses led
his people to freedom, in spite of the power and cruelty of the Egyptians of
that era. In both situations, God provided the strength and resources
needed. Nehemiah prayed, "Now therefore, O God, strengthen my hands
(Nehemiah 6:9b)." Moses was assured, as God addressed each of his excuses.
Moses was to remember that it was God who sent him, and to share that with
the Egyptians and his people (Exodus 3:13-14). Moses became great in prayer,
speaking with God as a person would speak to another.

Moses and Nehemiah were both commissioned by God. Timothy and Paul were
commissioned by God. You and I, if we know the Lord as our Savior, have been
commissioned by God (Matthew 28:18-20). So, when the world says get back
into your foxhole; when they say stop living and talking like a Christian,
what do you do? Remember that you have been commissioned, sent by God to
live out your faith in this world. Your Commander, is not your neighbor.
Your Commander is the Creator of the Universe. If you need strength and
courage, ask Him for it just as Nehemiah did, and He will provide it.
Because, "God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love
and of a sound mind."

Copyright © 2003-2011. Ed Wrather. Permission is given for use of the
devotionals on a non-profit basis with source credited. 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.

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.).

If you are not my friend on facebook or myspace you can be, just add me. The
devotionals are posted in my blogs on those two social networks and you can
leave comments, feedback about them there. There are other social networks
designed just for Christians, however, this is an outreach project to reach
those who may not know the Lord or may have wandered away. You can help me
reach out to them.

For information about how to hear my testimony in your church visit this
link: http://www.theburningbush.net/pages.asp?pageid=22160

If you enjoy the devotional please recommend it to your friends. They may
subscribe by sending a blank email to burningbushdevo-join@welovegod.org

Two videos of my sermons are posted on GodTube (now Tangle) at:
connect.tangle.com/Wrather

You can listen to services at my son, Clark Wrather's church (First Baptist
Church of Broken Bow, Oklahoma) live on Sunday mornings at 10:55am CST
http://www.kkbifm.com/
Several videos of Clark's sermons can be found at his church website:
http://www.fbcbrokenbow.com

There is a complete devotional archive at the old Burning Bush website. Here
is the URL: http://www.theburningbush.org/33.html.

You can unsubscribe to the pure text version of the devotional by sending a
blank email to burningbushdevo-leave@welovegod.org and then respond to the
confirmation email.

You may subscribe to the html text group by sending a blank email to
burningbushhtml-join@welovegod.org and you may unsubscribe by sending a
blank email to burningbushhtml-leave@welovegod.org and then respond to the
confirmation email. If the link does not work, copy and paste the link.