I've been there a few times in my life. Most don't understand it. That's understandable. However, it hit home to me when the Apostle Paul said, 'Apart from such external things, there is the daily pressure on me of concern for all the churches' (2 Cor. 11:28). A number of years ago, the pain was so intense that the physical affliction Paul spoke about earlier in 2 Corinthians 11 would have been much preferred. I can take the long hours and the hard work. I can even take the pressures on my family. But the emotional pain is the one and only thing that forever tempts me to throw in the towel. When I feel that way, I can almost hear the Lord saying to me, 'Are you in it for Me or are you in it for yourself?' That's gut-check time. Am I really a servant of Christ (2 Cor. 11:23)?
Randy Smith

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BBD 04.29.16 Are You Deluded? (New)

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#1 · April 29, 2016, 1:15 pm

Posted by: theburningbushdevotional <theburningbushdevotional@...>

Since June 8th 1998, this
is the 1728th   

Burning Bush Devotional

29 April 2016

 

 

Are You
Deluded?

 

 

For the idols speak delusion; the diviners envision lies,
and tell false dreams; they comfort in vain. Therefore the people wend their way like sheep; they are in trouble
because there is no shepherd. –
Zechariah 10:2 NKJV.

 

 

But seek first the kingdom of God
and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. – Matthew 6:33
NKJV.

 

 

Are you voting for Hillary, Bernie, Donald or Ted? If you’re not sure
who to vote for there is another option. That option is Andrew Basiago, he is
an attorney and is running for President as an Independent. Basiago claims he
has unique qualifications for being President of the United States. What are
his unique qualifications? He claims to have been involved with a project
called Pegasus which has sent him on time travels from the time he was a boy of
seven years of age. Because Basiago has seen the future, he claims that as
President he will know what to avoid to keep the country safe. Also, Andrew is vastly more
experienced in foreign relations, because of his travel to Mars in 1981. (Inverse 04.26.16)

 

 

Dictionary
dot com defines delusion
as: “a fixed false belief that is resistant to reason or confrontation with actual fact.” Although, I’m not a psychologist, I think any reasonably
sane person would conclude that Andrew Basiago is suffering from a delusion. It
is surprising that Basiago is not currently a resident in a mental health
facility. Of course, the way things are going he may receive a surprising
number of votes.

 

 

Zechariah was a prophet during the time of the Babylonian
exile who along with Haggai encouraged the completion of the Temple. The
construction of the Temple was begun in 536 B.C., but work had halted because
of the opposition of the Samaritans. In Zechariah 10:2, the prophet identifies the spiritual cause of the
Babylonian captivity, which was idol worship. Today we may not have a wooden or
stone idol that we bow down to, but we still have our idols.

 

 

Our idols today consist of anything that we put before
God (Matthew 6:33).
Here are a few of the things that can become idols: money, job, power, recreation and
hobbies. What was it that had flowed out of idol worship during the time of
Zechariah? The people were captive in a foreign land and “…the
people wend their
way like sheep; they are in trouble because there is no shepherd (Zechariah 10:2b).” Focusing
time and resources on idols creates a delusion. The delusion is that we do not
need God and can live life better without Him. This will always result in our
captivity by our idols, we will make poor decisions without our Shepherd (God),
and our quality of life will diminish.

 

 

Let nothing
delude you into thinking that you can live better without God. It is a lie
straight from the pit of Hell. Put God first and everything else will fall into
its proper place.

 

 

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:

 

 

 http://www.theburningbush.net

 http://www.theburningbush.org

 

 

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 Abetz, 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.).

 

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
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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.

 

 

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