BBD 09.27.21 Hell's Gate (Classic)

#1 · September 27, 2021, 11:35 am

Quote from Forum Archives on September 27, 2021, 11:35 am
Posted by: theburningbushdevotional <theburningbushdevotional@...>

Classic from 2010

The Burning Bush Devotional

27 September 2021

(The devotional was not sent for three days last week
because of a health issue I was having. I am better now.)

Hell’s Gate

Enter by
the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to
destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and
difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it. -
Matthew 7:13-14 NKJV.

Then one said to Him, “Lord, are there few who
are saved?” And He said to them, “Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for
many, I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able. When once the
Master of the house has risen up and shut the door, and you begin to stand
outside and knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open for us,’ and He will
answer and say to you, ‘I do not know you, where you are from.’” - Luke
13:23-25 NKJV.

There is a huge flaming crater in Turkmenistan's Karakum Desert, which is
about 60 yards wide that is called “Hell's Gate” or “Hell's
Door” by people in the area. The crater is the result of a blow-out
caused by a drilling accident back in 1971. Soviet petroleum engineers decided
to burn off the gas, and it has been burning ever since. Hell's Gate is a
tourist attraction for the foreign tourists that actually make it to the
country, and it is said to be a beautiful sight to see (You can see photos of
it on the web.). However, Turkmenistan's president would like to put out the
fire so that development of natural gas reserves in the area will not be
hindered.

It would be great if the actual gate to enter hell was located in the
Karakum Desert then we could just avoid the place, and never go to hell. Hell's
Gate, however, is much closer and much more personal than that. We enter Hell's
Gate in more subtle, unsuspecting ways. Life has a way of keeping us busy with
things other than the vital spiritual ones. Our attention is placed on
work, family, our home, and we seldom think about God and eternity.

The path to hell is more of a slide than a walk. The busier we are with our
worldly affairs the closer we slide to the gaping mouth of the Gate of Hell. We
ignore our spiritual condition, we push aside any thoughts about God, or church,
or Jesus, and we slide closer and closer to that Gate of no return. When we do
think about spiritual things, we think of how we are not any worse than many
religious people that we know. We think that a good God would never send anyone
to hell. We think of all the religions in the world and think they probably all
lead to the same place. We slide closer to the gaping mouth of hell as we focus
in on more pleasant thoughts. It becomes a habit to avoid thinking of spiritual
things, and only of worldly things. It becomes a habit never considering, and
to avoid considering, what will happen after you die.

The spiritual truth is that there is only One way to avoid the Gate of Hell,
and that way is a very narrow way, because that way is only through Jesus
Christ. Jesus says this in John 14:6, “I am
the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through
Me.” We can only enter the narrow gate by
believing upon Jesus as our Savior, as Jesus explains to Nicodemus in John 3:14-17, “And as Moses
lifted up the serpent in the wilderness (Numbers 21:9), even so must the Son of
Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have
eternal life. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son,
that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

Are you sliding closer and closer to the gaping mouth of the Gate of Hell?
Or, have you already entered into eternal life through the “narrow gate” of believing upon Jesus Christ? Jesus
says in Revelation 3:20, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.”

Jesus
is knocking at the door of your heart! Let Him in!

Copyright © 1998 - 2021. 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
those first devotionals was primarily through the Burning Bush Newsletter sent
to prison facilities throughout the United States and Canada.

Visit the
Burning Bush website:

www.theburningbush.net

The Burning Bush websites are
celebrating 23 years online since January 31, 1998. Since June 8, 1998 the
Burning Bush Devotional has been spreading the truth of God's Word to subscribers
across the world. At one time there were 18,000 subscribers in more than 70
countries to the devotional but that has now shrunk to around 9,000.

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

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

Check out the Scripture Index being constructed for the Devotionals at
the Burning Bush website. The Links are in about the middle of the home page.
Topics for each devotional are now being added to the Index.

Please pray for comfort and
peace for those who have lost loved ones in Afghanistan and healing for the
wounded. Please pray for the Americans and others left behind in Afghanistan. May
they all look to the Lord for help….

Please pray for the people
of Afghanistan and the people of Haiti. Pray that America would turn back to
God. Please pray for protection of our troops wherever they may be and help for
Americans and others who have been left behind and those who are fearing for
their lives there in that place. May God help them all!!

Please pray for those
affected by the hurricanes!

Please pray for God to touch and
bring about His will in these lives: Caleb Freeman; Pat S.; Buck & Barbara
Wright; GWEN PRUET; James Perkins and his wife; Vonnie; Evi Porter; Kinsey W; Addison;
JoJo, Bailey and Nicky; Ralph and De Chapman; Hilary; Cody Stahlman; Patsy M.; Brandy
and Jadyn’s Dad; John W.; Patricia Rohman and Lisa Butler who has had a stroke;
Scott J.; Karla W.; Clayton T. and Sarah; Clark S.; Lana Bass; Matthew Collins;
Marjean C.; Bradley E.; Fern McVey; Nannie R.; and Shonda Hutson.

Please pray for the coronavirus
COVID19 pandemic to come to an end. Pray for treatments and a cure for the
virus to be rapidly found and deployed. Pray for all those afflicted to be
healed and for our leaders to have supernatural wisdom and ability to lead us
through this pandemic.

Please pray for an end to the
rioting, looting, wanton destruction, and the racial hatred in the USA and that
it will be replaced with peace and love. May God help the USA! 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. 03.18.18 I accepted the call to be the pastor of Fairview Baptist
Church in Elk City, Oklahoma. Please pray for me and for this church.).

You can contact Ed Wrather at
theburningbushdevotional@gmail.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/DevotionalArchive.html.

Devotion vs Devotional: We do our
devotions, we read devotionals.

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

Posted by: theburningbushdevotional <theburningbushdevotional@...>

Classic from 2010

The Burning Bush Devotional

27 September 2021

(The devotional was not sent for three days last week
because of a health issue I was having. I am better now.)

Hell’s Gate

Enter by
the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to
destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and
difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it. -
Matthew 7:13-14 NKJV.

Then one said to Him, “Lord, are there few who
are saved?” And He said to them, “Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for
many, I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able. When once the
Master of the house has risen up and shut the door, and you begin to stand
outside and knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open for us,’ and He will
answer and say to you, ‘I do not know you, where you are from.’” - Luke
13:23-25 NKJV.

There is a huge flaming crater in Turkmenistan's Karakum Desert, which is
about 60 yards wide that is called “Hell's Gate” or “Hell's
Door” by people in the area. The crater is the result of a blow-out
caused by a drilling accident back in 1971. Soviet petroleum engineers decided
to burn off the gas, and it has been burning ever since. Hell's Gate is a
tourist attraction for the foreign tourists that actually make it to the
country, and it is said to be a beautiful sight to see (You can see photos of
it on the web.). However, Turkmenistan's president would like to put out the
fire so that development of natural gas reserves in the area will not be
hindered.

It would be great if the actual gate to enter hell was located in the
Karakum Desert then we could just avoid the place, and never go to hell. Hell's
Gate, however, is much closer and much more personal than that. We enter Hell's
Gate in more subtle, unsuspecting ways. Life has a way of keeping us busy with
things other than the vital spiritual ones. Our attention is placed on
work, family, our home, and we seldom think about God and eternity.

The path to hell is more of a slide than a walk. The busier we are with our
worldly affairs the closer we slide to the gaping mouth of the Gate of Hell. We
ignore our spiritual condition, we push aside any thoughts about God, or church,
or Jesus, and we slide closer and closer to that Gate of no return. When we do
think about spiritual things, we think of how we are not any worse than many
religious people that we know. We think that a good God would never send anyone
to hell. We think of all the religions in the world and think they probably all
lead to the same place. We slide closer to the gaping mouth of hell as we focus
in on more pleasant thoughts. It becomes a habit to avoid thinking of spiritual
things, and only of worldly things. It becomes a habit never considering, and
to avoid considering, what will happen after you die.

The spiritual truth is that there is only One way to avoid the Gate of Hell,
and that way is a very narrow way, because that way is only through Jesus
Christ. Jesus says this in John 14:6, “I am
the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through
Me.” We can only enter the narrow gate by
believing upon Jesus as our Savior, as Jesus explains to Nicodemus in John 3:14-17, “And as Moses
lifted up the serpent in the wilderness (Numbers 21:9), even so must the Son of
Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have
eternal life. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son,
that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

Are you sliding closer and closer to the gaping mouth of the Gate of Hell?
Or, have you already entered into eternal life through the “narrow gate” of believing upon Jesus Christ? Jesus
says in Revelation 3:20, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.”

Jesus
is knocking at the door of your heart! Let Him in!

Copyright © 1998 - 2021. 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
those first devotionals was primarily through the Burning Bush Newsletter sent
to prison facilities throughout the United States and Canada.

Visit the
Burning Bush website:

http://www.theburningbush.net

The Burning Bush websites are
celebrating 23 years online since January 31, 1998. Since June 8, 1998 the
Burning Bush Devotional has been spreading the truth of God's Word to subscribers
across the world. At one time there were 18,000 subscribers in more than 70
countries to the devotional but that has now shrunk to around 9,000.

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 right-hand corner of all of the pages.

Check out the Scripture Index being constructed for the Devotionals at
the Burning Bush website. The Links are in about the middle of the home page.
Topics for each devotional are now being added to the Index.

Please pray for comfort and
peace for those who have lost loved ones in Afghanistan and healing for the
wounded. Please pray for the Americans and others left behind in Afghanistan. May
they all look to the Lord for help….

Please pray for the people
of Afghanistan and the people of Haiti. Pray that America would turn back to
God. Please pray for protection of our troops wherever they may be and help for
Americans and others who have been left behind and those who are fearing for
their lives there in that place. May God help them all!!

Please pray for those
affected by the hurricanes!

Please pray for God to touch and
bring about His will in these lives: Caleb Freeman; Pat S.; Buck & Barbara
Wright; GWEN PRUET; James Perkins and his wife; Vonnie; Evi Porter; Kinsey W; Addison;
JoJo, Bailey and Nicky; Ralph and De Chapman; Hilary; Cody Stahlman; Patsy M.; Brandy
and Jadyn’s Dad; John W.; Patricia Rohman and Lisa Butler who has had a stroke;
Scott J.; Karla W.; Clayton T. and Sarah; Clark S.; Lana Bass; Matthew Collins;
Marjean C.; Bradley E.; Fern McVey; Nannie R.; and Shonda Hutson.

Please pray for the coronavirus
COVID19 pandemic to come to an end. Pray for treatments and a cure for the
virus to be rapidly found and deployed. Pray for all those afflicted to be
healed and for our leaders to have supernatural wisdom and ability to lead us
through this pandemic.

Please pray for an end to the
rioting, looting, wanton destruction, and the racial hatred in the USA and that
it will be replaced with peace and love. May God help the USA! 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. 03.18.18 I accepted the call to be the pastor of Fairview Baptist
Church in Elk City, Oklahoma. Please pray for me and for this church.).

You can contact Ed Wrather at
theburningbushdevotional@gmail.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/DevotionalArchive.html.

Devotion vs Devotional: We do our
devotions, we read devotionals.

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