BBD 07.26.13 No Heart (Classic)
Posted by: theburningbushdevotional <theburningbushdevotional@...>
Visit the
Burning Bush websites:
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
16,000 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.
The Burning Bush Devotional
14,000 Subscribers
to the Email Devotional
Classic from 2006
07.26.13
No Heart
Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade
itself, is not puffed up. - 1 Corinthians 13:4.
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 4:30-32.
But I say to you who hear: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate
you, bless those who curse you, and pray for those who spitefully use you. To
him who strikes you on the one cheek, offer the other also. And from him who
takes away your cloak, do not withhold your tunic either. Give to everyone who
asks of you. And from him who takes away your goods do not ask them back. And
just as you want men to do to you, you also do to them likewise. - Luke
6:27-31.
Ronald Michalowicz, who was only 54 years old at the
time, developed cancer of the tongue, which was thought would rapidly lead to
his death. However, some friends in the town of Bedford Park, Illinois decided
to raise the money necessary for him to receive treatment. After receiving
chemotherapy, the disease is in remission and it appears that Ronald will
survive.
Ronald worked as a fire inspector for Bedford Park, which
has a rule against solicitation of charitable contributions. In Ronald’s
situation, the rule was waived by an official of the town and the solicitation
was not done by Ronald himself. Now that he has returned to work, other town
officials have enforced the no-solicitation rule by firing Ronald even though
he was just one year short of retirement.
Personally, I think the town ought to be ashamed! They
should be ashamed in the first place for not providing sufficient insurance to
meet the needs of their employees. Second, they ought to be ashamed that it was
not the town but others that sought to raise the funds necessary for his
treatment. The fact that they have resisted those efforts and that they
discharged a man who survived in spite of their poor treatment of him is
despicable. It appears likely that the town will profit by being able to avoid
the payment of Ronald’s retirement benefits.
It is a fact of life that some people are givers and some
are takers. Some people are kind and some people are mean. Some people care
about others and some people could care less about anyone but themselves. You
could say in a figurative way that some people have a heart and some do not
have a heart. It basically comes down to the spiritual condition of a person as
to how they treat others.
What is the solution for a bad spiritual heart condition?
The treatment requires a heart transplant. Our heart must be replaced with the
heart of Jesus. His nature must be implanted into us. It is a radical
treatment, but it is the only way to cure a mean, cold-hearted person of their
selfish, uncaring nature. The good news is that the treatment can be almost
instantaneous and often occurs simply by someone seeing clearly how much their
God loves them through Jesus.
I like the way that the apostle Paul describes this
transformation in his letter to Titus, "For
we ourselves were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various
lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another.
But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not
by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He
saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit,
whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, that
having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope
of eternal life. This is a faithful saying, and these things I want you to affirm
constantly, that those who have believed in God should be careful to maintain
good works. These things are good and profitable to men (Titus 3:3-8)."
Copyright © 2006-2013. 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.
Ed Wrather has retired from
pastoring full-time and has more time to pursue other ministry opportunities.
No matter what the size your church, Ed will come on a love offering basis for
a revival or to share his testimony in the continental United States. You can
make contact at edwrather@yahoo.com or WratherEd@gmail.com
View LinkedIn profile with endorsements at
http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=92988105
Prayer Requests: 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.).
Please join the Burning Bush Prayer Group.
The group began in 1998 and is made up of over 300 prayer warriors. Send prayer requests and receive prayer
requests. To join send an email to: bbpg-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
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/33.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