BBD 07.16.02 The Downward Spiral
Posted by: wrather <wrather@...>
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The Burning Bush Devotional
07.16.02
The Downward Spiral
"But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and
enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin,
when it is full-grown, brings forth death." - James 1:14-15.
"For the wages of sin is death." - Romans 6:32a.
As I was searching for material for this devotional I found a site that
documents visibly the downward spiral sin takes a person on. Through 12
police mug shots of a woman taken at the time of her arrests over several
years it is obvious how sin has taken its toll on her. King Saul also
experienced the downward spiral. Because of Saul's sin the kingdom was
wrenched from him and given to David. However, the transition took several
years. During this time Saul became more and more evil and you would think
that he had much in common with Hitler and Saddam Hussein.
Saul reached the point in his downward spiral recorded in I Samuel 22:17
that he ordered the massacre of the Lord's priests. Saul says to his men,
"Turn and kill the priests of the Lord, because their hand is also with
David, and because they knew when he fled and did not tell it to me." Saul'
s soldiers feared Saul but they feared God more and refused to kill the
priests. However, there was an evil man there, Doeg, who when told to kill
the priests by King Saul immediately began executing them 85 in all. But
that wasn't the end of it. Saul then went with to the Nob the city where
the priests lived and executed everyone who lived there men, women, boys,
and girls and burned the city to the ground.
Sin results in death and death is a very ugly thing when we have to live it
out. The truth of the downward spiral is that if we feed sin, and nourish
sin, the spiraling down is accelerated. To stop the downward plunge we must
stop feeding the sin in our lives. Cut off the sin from its food supply and
it will die and you will live. If you are reading this message and you have
a desire to turn away from the sin that is destroying your life then it is
not too late. Ask God to help you to turn around and go the other way. The
upward spiral leads to life. The closer we come to God the closer He comes
to us. The more we have Jesus in our lives the more life we have. The more
we read, study, meditate, memorize, and hear God's Word the more life we
have. The more time we spend in prayer communicating with our Lord the more
life we have. The more time we spend in fellowship with other Christians
the more life we have. The more time we spend lifting the burdens of others
being the hands and feet of our Lord here on planet earth the more life we
have.
The downward spiral to death or the upward spiral to life - it's your
choice!
Copyright © 2002. Ed Wrather. Permission is given for use of the
devotionals on a non-profit basis with source credited.
If I can help you in any way please contact me at wrather@logixonline.net
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