BBD 08.26.13 Breaking Into Prison (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 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.
The Burning Bush Devotional
14,000 Subscribers
to the Email Devotional
Classic from 2006
08.26.13
Breaking Into Prison
"Have you not brought this on yourself, in that you have forsaken the
LORD your God when He led you in the way? And now why take the road to Egypt,
to drink the waters of Sihor? Or why take the road to Assyria, to drink the
waters of the River? Your own wickedness will correct you, and your
backslidings will rebuke you. Know therefore and see that it is an evil and
bitter thing that you have forsaken the LORD your God, and the fear of Me is
not in you," says the Lord GOD of hosts. - Jeremiah 2:17-19 NKJV.
Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God?
Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor
homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor
revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some
of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in
the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God. - 1 Corinthians 6:9-11
NKJV.
A strange thing happened in Vienna, Austria. A
23-year-old man, Detlef Federsohn, has been arrested for trying to break into
jail. Detlef had served two years in the Josefstadt Prison for theft prior to
his release and his rearrest. Police officers found Detlef on the roof of the prison
trying to break in, trying to get back into prison. Federsohn said this in response to questions about his
strange behavior, "Life is so much
easier on the inside. They feed you, do your washing and let you watch TV,
which I can tell you is a lot more than my mum does. So I thought if I could
sneak back in, I would blend in with the others and the (guards) wouldn't
notice."
Backsliding is a word that is not used much anymore but
it does not mean that backsliding among Christians has stopped. Backsliding is
the Christian equivalent to what Detlef Federsohn was trying to do. Detlef
wanted to return to his familiar surroundings in prison with all of his prison
friends, and prison food. Christians sometimes try to do the same thing. They
try to go back down to Egypt, they try to go back to being fornicators,
idolaters, adulterers, homosexuals, sodomites, thieves, covetous, drunkards,
revilers, and extortioners. However, once you have been born again (John 3:3), you cannot become unborn. Once you have eternal
life (John 3:16) it cannot become uneternal life or it would not have
been eternal life to begin with.
What happens when a Christian begins to backslide is
misery begins to set in. Lot is an example of what it is like to live in the
midst of wickedness. While Lot may not have participated, he was certainly in
the midst of it living in Sodom and Gomorrah. The apostle Peter writes of this
situation by saying, "…and delivered
righteous Lot, who was oppressed by the filthy conduct of the wicked (for that
righteous man, dwelling among them, tormented his righteous soul from day to
day by seeing and hearing their lawless deeds) (2 Peter 2:7-8)." Just being around the wickedness was enough to torment
the soul of Lot. How much worse it would have been if Lot had actually been
participating in the evil? It is even worse for the Christian who tries to go
back to the evil lifestyle that God brought them out of through their believing
in Jesus Christ.
The backslidden Christian will never have peace and will
always have a tormented soul. In addition, their backsliding opens them up to
the discipline of the Lord (Hebrews 12). So, if you’ve gone down to Egypt and are trying to find
a way back into your former prison of sin - the chains have been broken. Stop
trying to wrap them back around yourself! Stop trying to make yourself
miserable! How do you stop? You turn back to the Lord! You ask
Him for help. As the apostle Peter says just after talking about Lot’s
tormented soul, "…the Lord knows how to deliver the godly
out of temptations (2 Peter 2:9a)…." God
knows what you need, He has what you need, and He is able to
deliver you. Let Him!!
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