BBD 05.28.14 Stealing the Chocolate (New)

#1 · May 28, 2014, 11:41 am

Quote from Forum Archives on May 28, 2014, 11:41 am
Posted by: theburningbushdevotional <theburningbushdevotional@...>

If for
some reason you do not receive your email version of the devotional please
check the Burning Bush website at www.theburningbush.net for the “Devotional of the Day” and read the devotional there.

The Burning
Bush Devotional

05.28.14

Stealing
the Chocolate

…above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able
to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. - Ephesians 6:16.

For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the
flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for
pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that
exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought (every loose
thought and emotion and impulse - MSG) into captivity to the obedience of
Christ, and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is
fulfilled. - 2 Corinthians 10:3-6.

Luis
Augusto Mora of Bogota, Columbia has been given five months in prison. Those
five months will be served in La Picota, one of the worst prisons in the
country. What terrible thing did Luis do to merit this punishment? He
shoplifted two boxes of chocolate bars with a value of eight dollars from a
supermarket in Bogota. Luis admits that he
is a chocolate addict, but has expressed regret. He says he will, “never touch a
chocolate again in my life.” To the
credit of the President of the Columbia, Juan Manuel Santos, he says that
prosecutors should not waste their time with misdemeanors similar to Luis Mora’s.
(KTRK-TV; CBS46.com and various other news venues
05.27.14)

Certainly, even stealing eight dollars of chocolate is a criminal
and spiritual offense. It is likely that this was not the first time Luis had
stolen chocolate, and probably not the second, or third, or fourth time either.
Will five months in one of the worst prisons in Columbia change the heart of
Luis and stop him from ever stealing chocolate again? It is doubtful but
possible. While I was a parole officer, a man told me that he had served a few
years (1930s or 1940s) of hard labor in prison at Oklahoma State Reformatory
(OSR). Most of the time after serving time at hard labor in OSR the man was
able to stay out of trouble. This was back during the time when the inmates
were chipping away at a granite mountain making it into a small mountain. They
were also picking cotton and doing other farm labor. For some people though,
the threat of punishment is not a deterrent. It has been reported that during
colonial times while pickpockets were being hung, in the crowd were other
pickpockets still picking pockets.

What is needed is a true change of heart which will only come
through a spiritual transformation. A fruit of the Spirit is “self-control (Galatians 5:23).” Growth from being a baby Christian into a
mature believer will result in the all of the fruit of the Spirit being
manifested in the believer’s life. If we have “self-control” we will
not be controlled by our fleshly impulses. Instead, we will be free of
momentary impulses that can wreck our lives.

In addition to fleshly impulses, there is another spiritual threat
that we face. That threat is from the “fiery darts” of the
devil. I believe that those “darts” include thoughts that are sometimes placed
into our minds. At times, those evil thoughts can be almost overwhelming, and
many succumb to their evil intent. Any thought, which urges you to do anything
evil, contrary to what you know God wants could be a thought straight from the
pits of hell. You can fight those thoughts with God’s Word. Memorize at least a
few verses so that when those thoughts come you can say those verses out loud,
or in your mind, and it will defeat the “fiery darts.” This is
the example given to us by our Lord Jesus when He was tempted in the wilderness
(Matthew 4). When the devil tempted Jesus, He responded
with Scripture. That is what we need to do too! “For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God….”

Copyright © 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.

Visit the
Burning Bush websites:

www.theburningbush.net

www.theburningbush.org

The .org
Burning Bush website

is being updated.

The Burning Bush websites have
received visits from more than 170 countries. Celebrating 15 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.

You can leave comments/feedback
about the devotionals at www.theburningbush.net.

There is a translation tool on
theburningbush.net website in the top left hand corner of all of the pages.

Prayer Warriors Wanted! Please join the
Burning Bush Prayer Group. The group began in 1998. Send prayer requests and
receive prayer requests. To join send an
email to: bbpg-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

Ed Wrather has retired from
pastoring full-time and has more time to pursue other ministry opportunities.
You can make contact at edwrather@yahoo.com or theburningbushdevotional@gmail.com View LinkedIn profile with
endorsements at http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=92988105

Prayer Requests: Please pray for
the return of the Nigerian school girls. 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.).

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.

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
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--

To unsubscribe, send ANY message to: burningbushdevo-leave@welovegod.org

Posted by: theburningbushdevotional <theburningbushdevotional@...>

If for
some reason you do not receive your email version of the devotional please
check the Burning Bush website at http://www.theburningbush.net for the “Devotional of the Day” and read the devotional there.

The Burning
Bush Devotional

05.28.14

Stealing
the Chocolate

…above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able
to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. - Ephesians 6:16.

For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the
flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for
pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that
exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought (every loose
thought and emotion and impulse - MSG) into captivity to the obedience of
Christ, and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is
fulfilled. - 2 Corinthians 10:3-6.

Luis
Augusto Mora of Bogota, Columbia has been given five months in prison. Those
five months will be served in La Picota, one of the worst prisons in the
country. What terrible thing did Luis do to merit this punishment? He
shoplifted two boxes of chocolate bars with a value of eight dollars from a
supermarket in Bogota. Luis admits that he
is a chocolate addict, but has expressed regret. He says he will, “never touch a
chocolate again in my life.” To the
credit of the President of the Columbia, Juan Manuel Santos, he says that
prosecutors should not waste their time with misdemeanors similar to Luis Mora’s.
(KTRK-TV; CBS46.com and various other news venues
05.27.14)

Certainly, even stealing eight dollars of chocolate is a criminal
and spiritual offense. It is likely that this was not the first time Luis had
stolen chocolate, and probably not the second, or third, or fourth time either.
Will five months in one of the worst prisons in Columbia change the heart of
Luis and stop him from ever stealing chocolate again? It is doubtful but
possible. While I was a parole officer, a man told me that he had served a few
years (1930s or 1940s) of hard labor in prison at Oklahoma State Reformatory
(OSR). Most of the time after serving time at hard labor in OSR the man was
able to stay out of trouble. This was back during the time when the inmates
were chipping away at a granite mountain making it into a small mountain. They
were also picking cotton and doing other farm labor. For some people though,
the threat of punishment is not a deterrent. It has been reported that during
colonial times while pickpockets were being hung, in the crowd were other
pickpockets still picking pockets.

What is needed is a true change of heart which will only come
through a spiritual transformation. A fruit of the Spirit is “self-control (Galatians 5:23).” Growth from being a baby Christian into a
mature believer will result in the all of the fruit of the Spirit being
manifested in the believer’s life. If we have “self-control” we will
not be controlled by our fleshly impulses. Instead, we will be free of
momentary impulses that can wreck our lives.

In addition to fleshly impulses, there is another spiritual threat
that we face. That threat is from the “fiery darts” of the
devil. I believe that those “darts” include thoughts that are sometimes placed
into our minds. At times, those evil thoughts can be almost overwhelming, and
many succumb to their evil intent. Any thought, which urges you to do anything
evil, contrary to what you know God wants could be a thought straight from the
pits of hell. You can fight those thoughts with God’s Word. Memorize at least a
few verses so that when those thoughts come you can say those verses out loud,
or in your mind, and it will defeat the “fiery darts.” This is
the example given to us by our Lord Jesus when He was tempted in the wilderness
(Matthew 4). When the devil tempted Jesus, He responded
with Scripture. That is what we need to do too! “For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God….”

Copyright © 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.

Visit the
Burning Bush websites:

http://www.theburningbush.net

http://www.theburningbush.org

The .org
Burning Bush website

is being updated.

The Burning Bush websites have
received visits from more than 170 countries. Celebrating 15 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.

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 left hand corner of all of the pages.

Prayer Warriors Wanted! Please join the
Burning Bush Prayer Group. The group began in 1998. Send prayer requests and
receive prayer requests. To join send an
email to: bbpg-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

Ed Wrather has retired from
pastoring full-time and has more time to pursue other ministry opportunities.
You can make contact at edwrather@yahoo.com or theburningbushdevotional@gmail.com View LinkedIn profile with
endorsements at http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=92988105

Prayer Requests: Please pray for
the return of the Nigerian school girls. 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.).

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.

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