BBD 04.18.16 Close the Door (New)
Posted by: theburningbushdevotional <theburningbushdevotional@...>
Since June 8th 1998, this
is the 1719th
Burning Bush Devotional
18 April 2016
Close
the Door
Therefore, putting away lying, “Let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor,” for we are members of one another.
“Be angry,
and do not sin”: do not let the sun go down on your wrath, nor give place to the
devil (Do not give the devil an opportunity – AMP). Let him who stole steal no
longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give him
who has need. Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good
for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers. And do not
grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of
redemption. Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put
away from you, with all malice. And be kind to one another, tenderhearted,
forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you. – Ephesians 4:25-32
NKJV.
Just another morning for a PNC bank manager
in Zebulon, North Carolina; until, he spotted a man wearing a mask, gloves,
hoodie, and holding a gun. The bank manager sprang into action; he did not have
time to lock the door so he held onto the door while the robber tried to pull
the door open. It was a tug-of-war, but the manager won and the robber finally
gave up and ran away. Thankfully, the robber did not fire his gun to try to
gain entry. You just never know what may happen on a Monday morning! (ABC News; Fox News; AP
01.28.16)
What would have happened if the bank manager
had not held the door closed preventing the robber from entering the bank? Most
likely the robber would have entered the bank and demanded money. It is
impossible to know how that scenario would have worked out. If the robber
immediately was given all of the money he demanded and no one interfered the
robbery may have ended without anyone being hurt. However, we know that
sometimes robbers do not act rationally. One of the employees may have
irritated him in some way resulting in the robber shooting the employee.
Just one week before the attempted robbery in
North Carolina there was a bank robbery in Eufaula, Oklahoma. In Eufaula, the
bank manager was shot and killed, a teller was shot but survived, and another
employee was taken hostage. The robber was killed in a shootout with police and
the hostage was also shot, but survived. Once the robber has entered through
the open door there is no way to predict the damage that may occur.
In Ephesians 4
we are told not to give place to the devil, not to give the devil an
opportunity. What happens if we give the devil an opportunity? There is no way
to know for sure the damage that he will do. One thing for sure is that the
devil will cause all of the damage in your life and the lives of those you care
about that he possibly can. We open up the door for the devil when we sin. When
we sin it’s like we have invited the devil to come in and cause us trouble;
and, that old devil is very good at causing trouble, at creating havoc in
lives. Close the door! Don’t give place to the devil! Don’t give the devil an
opportunity to destroy your life! James 4:7-8a
tells us how to close the door, “…submit to God. Resist
the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God
and He will draw near to you.”
Copyright © 2016. 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 those first devotionals
was primarily through the Burning Bush Newsletter sent to prison facilities
throughout the United States and Canada.
Visit the
Burning Bush websites:
The Burning Bush websites are celebrating
18 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 14,000
subscribers across the world.
The Addictions Kit - Biblical Help for Addictions by Ed Wrather is now
available for download from Amazon. The Addictions Kit provides practical Biblical steps to defeat
your addiction that actually work.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00VIYLNLM
The New Pastor's Training Manual is available for download on Amazon. Here is the link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00PJ8UTGS If you prefer a paper copy of the book you can order it from
the Burning Bush website at http://bit.ly/1uXDBnk
You can leave comments/feedback
about the devotionals at http://www.theburningbush.net.
There is a translation tool on
theburningbush.net website in the top right hand corner of all of the pages.
Check out the Scripture Index being constructed for the
Devotionals at the Burning Bush website. The Links are in about the middle of
the home page. Topics for each devotional are now being added to the Index.
Prayer
Requests:
Please continue to pray for Michelle A., Shane Hall, Reta
(my sister), and Beverly (Jeanie’s sister). Please also pray for Max Boothe,
Nathan Reed, Brent Baker, and Tommy Merrell.
Please pray for an end to the
racial hatred in the USA and that it will be replaced with peace and love. Many
prayer needs are posted at the Burning Bush website on the Prayer Request page.
You can also post your prayer requests there (Of course, I am always in need of prayer - please pray for me. I am in
need of prayer as I have resigned as pastor of Calvary Baptist Church in
Cordell, Oklahoma and am now seeking God’s direction for how I am to serve Him.).
You can contact Ed Wrather at edwrather@yahoo.com or
theburningbushdevotional@gmail.com View LinkedIn profile with
endorsements at http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=92988105
If you enjoy the devotional
please recommend it to your friends. They may subscribe by sending a blank
email to burningbushdevo-join@welovegod.org
There is a complete devotional
archive at the old Burning Bush website. Here is the URL: http://www.theburningbush.org/DevotionalArchive.html.
Devotion vs Devotional: We do our
devotions, we read devotionals.
You can unsubscribe to the burningbushdevo devotional group 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 (Because of time
constraints the devotional is only being sent now in html format) 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.
--
To unsubscribe, send ANY message to: burningbushdevo-leave@welovegod.org