Quote from Forum Archives on September 5, 2011, 10:37 am

Posted by: edwrather <edwrather@...>

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The Burning Bush Devotional
Welcome to the 7582 new subscribers since January 1, 2011!!
There were 4010 new subscribers during 2010!!
Classic from 2003

09.05.11

Did the Devil do it?

Let no one say when he is tempted, "I am tempted by God"; for God cannot be
tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. 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 1:13-15.

Route 666 in New Mexico, also known by local residents as the "Highway to
Hell" or "Satan's Highway", has been renamed Route 491 (In 2003). The
highway has had a very high rate of fatalities in comparison to other
highways in New Mexico. Governor Bill Richardson said at the dedication,
"After 77 years of concern and discontent we have finally removed any
reference to the devil from this highway." After news of the renaming had
been released, most of the Highway 666 signs were stolen. Even though it was
the Devil's highway, authorities are not blaming the devil, but are looking
for thieves who wanted souvenirs.

We do have a tendency to blame others for our sin. Some even blame God.
James, makes this clear, in that God does not ever tempt anyone to do evil.
God will try us, but He does not tempt us to do evil. Of course, many blame
the devil. Flip Wilson made the statement "the devil made me do it" famous,
although it had been in use for hundreds of years. We always want to blame
someone or something besides ourselves for our sin.

What is it that causes us to sin? It is something in us, our own desires,
and lusts that bring about our sin. 1 John 2:16 further define those
desires, "For all that is in the world-the lust of the flesh, the lust of
the eyes, and the pride of life-is not of the Father but is of the world."
It is our own lust, which draws us into sin. It is what feels, looks and
sounds good - the lust of the flesh. It is the wanting of material things -
the lust of the eyes. It is the pride of life, which leads to being easily
offended and rebellion.

Lust brings about the opposite of life, it brings about death. It usually
does not happen quickly, but death does come. "When desire has conceived, it
gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death."

It is helpful, when fighting temptation, to recognize that our own desires
must be changed. As we grow closer to our Lord, we will have more and more
of a desire for what will bring life instead of death. The more that we
resist the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life,
the more life we will have. The closer we become to our Lord, the more we
will be able to resist those evil desires.

Make it a goal of every day, to grow a little closer to the Lord, than you
were the day before.

Copyright © 2003-2011. Ed Wrather. Permission is given for use of the
devotionals on a non-profit basis with source credited. 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.

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Wrather, who will be having a surgery September 19.

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