BBD 09.29.10 Going Through the Motions (New)

#1 · September 29, 2010, 9:23 pm

Quote from Forum Archives on September 29, 2010, 9:23 pm
Posted by: wrather <wrather@...>

Visit the Burning Bush websites:

www.theburningbush.net
www.theburningbush.org

The Burning Bush websites have received visits from more than 170 countries. Celebrating 11 years online since January 31, 1998. Since June 8, 1998 the Burning Bush Devotional has been spreading the truth of Gods Word to more than 11,000 subscribers across the world.

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 love to send and receive inspirational emails then the Burning Bush Inspirational Group is for you. To join send an email to bbinspire-join@welovegod.org

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

The Burning Bush Devotional
Welcome to the 2148 new subscribers since January 1, 2010!!
There were 1367 new subscribers during 2009!!

09.29.10

Going Through the Motions

Now God worked unusual miracles by the hands of Paul, so that even handkerchiefs or aprons were brought from his body to the sick, and the diseases left them and the evil spirits went out of them. Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists took it upon themselves to call the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, We exorcise you by the Jesus whom Paul preaches. Also there were seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, who did so. And the evil spirit answered and said, Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are you? Then the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, overpowered them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded. - Acts 19:11-16.

You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believeand tremble! - James 2:19.

In Duncansville, Pennsylvania there was an attempted robbery at a book store by two women both in their twenties. The robbery failed even though they pointed a gun at the clerk. It failed because the clerk recognized the gun as being just a toy, and he told the two women to get a real gun. Then he told them First, if youre going to rob someone, get a real gun. Second off, youre not getting any money. The clerk then ran the women out of the store and chased them until they escaped in a van. The police were able to find the van and arrest the suspects through the clerks description. (This story was reported in the Altoona Mirror.)

The two women in the failed robbery can be thankful that the clerk recognized that their gun was fake, and they can be very thankful that he did not have a real gun behind the counter to open fire on them. This story reminded me of the story in Acts 19 of the sons of Sceva. The sons of Sceva had the ritual down; they knew what the apostle Paul said when he cast out demons. It is likely that they had seen Paul as through the Name of Jesus people were healed and demons were cast out. However, they discovered that just knowing about Jesus, and just knowing about the ritual of using the Name of Jesus was not enough to actually cast out a demon. It just took one demon possessed person to completely overwhelm seven men; so much so that not only were they wounded, but they had their clothes torn off in the attack.

Evil spirits, aka demons, aka fallen angels know who knows Jesus as their Savior, and who doesnt. If the sons of Sceva had known Jesus the demon possessed person would not have been able to overpower them. Because not only do demons tremble at the knowledge of there being a God they also flee if we resist them as is written in James 4:7, Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. In addition, 1 John 4:4 says, You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.

The question for each of us, is whether we know the real Jesus as our Savior, or whether we only know about Him. We may know the rituals, we may know to pray in the Name of Jesus, but would a demon possessed person laugh in our face if we confronted them like the sons of Sceva did in the Book of Acts? Would they say to us, Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are you? 1 John 5:13 says this, These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God. Do you really know Jesus? Or, are you just going through the motions?

Copyright © 2010. 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.

For information about how to hear my testimony in your church visit this link: www.theburningbush.net/pages.asp?pageid=22160

Many prayer needs are posted at the Burning Bush website on the Prayer Request page. You can also post your prayer requests there and they will be forwarded to the Burning Bush Prayer Group (Of course, I am always in need of prayer - please pray for me.).

If you are not my friend on facebook or myspace you can be, just add me. The devotionals are posted in my blogs on those two social networks and you can leave comments, feedback about them there. There are other social networks designed just for Christians, however, this is an outreach project to reach those who may not know the Lord or may have wandered away. You can help me reach out to them.

If you enjoy the devotional please recommend it to your friends. They may subscribe by sending a blank email to burningbushhtml-join@welovegod.org

Two videos of my sermons are posted on Godtube at: connect.tangle.com/Wrather

You can listen to services at my son, Clark Wrather's church (First Baptist Church of Broken Bow, Oklahoma) live on Sunday mornings at 10:55am CST www.kkbifm.com/

There is a complete devotional archive at the old Burning Bush website. Here is the URL: www.theburningbush.org/33.html.

You may SUBSCRIBE to the html text group 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.

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To unsubscribe, send ANY message to: burningbushhtml-unsubscribe@welovegod.org

Posted by: wrather <wrather@...>

Visit the Burning Bush websites:

http://www.theburningbush.net
http://www.theburningbush.org

The Burning Bush websites have received visits from more than 170 countries. Celebrating 11 years online since January 31, 1998. Since June 8, 1998 the Burning Bush Devotional has been spreading the truth of Gods Word to more than 11,000 subscribers across the world.

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 love to send and receive inspirational emails then the Burning Bush Inspirational Group is for you. To join send an email to bbinspire-join@welovegod.org

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

The Burning Bush Devotional
Welcome to the 2148 new subscribers since January 1, 2010!!
There were 1367 new subscribers during 2009!!

09.29.10

Going Through the Motions

Now God worked unusual miracles by the hands of Paul, so that even handkerchiefs or aprons were brought from his body to the sick, and the diseases left them and the evil spirits went out of them. Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists took it upon themselves to call the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, We exorcise you by the Jesus whom Paul preaches. Also there were seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, who did so. And the evil spirit answered and said, Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are you? Then the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, overpowered them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded. - Acts 19:11-16.

You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believeand tremble! - James 2:19.

In Duncansville, Pennsylvania there was an attempted robbery at a book store by two women both in their twenties. The robbery failed even though they pointed a gun at the clerk. It failed because the clerk recognized the gun as being just a toy, and he told the two women to get a real gun. Then he told them First, if youre going to rob someone, get a real gun. Second off, youre not getting any money. The clerk then ran the women out of the store and chased them until they escaped in a van. The police were able to find the van and arrest the suspects through the clerks description. (This story was reported in the Altoona Mirror.)

The two women in the failed robbery can be thankful that the clerk recognized that their gun was fake, and they can be very thankful that he did not have a real gun behind the counter to open fire on them. This story reminded me of the story in Acts 19 of the sons of Sceva. The sons of Sceva had the ritual down; they knew what the apostle Paul said when he cast out demons. It is likely that they had seen Paul as through the Name of Jesus people were healed and demons were cast out. However, they discovered that just knowing about Jesus, and just knowing about the ritual of using the Name of Jesus was not enough to actually cast out a demon. It just took one demon possessed person to completely overwhelm seven men; so much so that not only were they wounded, but they had their clothes torn off in the attack.

Evil spirits, aka demons, aka fallen angels know who knows Jesus as their Savior, and who doesnt. If the sons of Sceva had known Jesus the demon possessed person would not have been able to overpower them. Because not only do demons tremble at the knowledge of there being a God they also flee if we resist them as is written in James 4:7, Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. In addition, 1 John 4:4 says, You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.

The question for each of us, is whether we know the real Jesus as our Savior, or whether we only know about Him. We may know the rituals, we may know to pray in the Name of Jesus, but would a demon possessed person laugh in our face if we confronted them like the sons of Sceva did in the Book of Acts? Would they say to us, Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are you? 1 John 5:13 says this, These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God. Do you really know Jesus? Or, are you just going through the motions?

Copyright © 2010. 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.

For information about how to hear my testimony in your church visit this link: http://www.theburningbush.net/pages.asp?pageid=22160

Many prayer needs are posted at the Burning Bush website on the Prayer Request page. You can also post your prayer requests there and they will be forwarded to the Burning Bush Prayer Group (Of course, I am always in need of prayer - please pray for me.).

If you are not my friend on facebook or myspace you can be, just add me. The devotionals are posted in my blogs on those two social networks and you can leave comments, feedback about them there. There are other social networks designed just for Christians, however, this is an outreach project to reach those who may not know the Lord or may have wandered away. You can help me reach out to them.

If you enjoy the devotional please recommend it to your friends. They may subscribe by sending a blank email to burningbushhtml-join@welovegod.org

Two videos of my sermons are posted on Godtube at: connect.tangle.com/Wrather

You can listen to services at my son, Clark Wrather's church (First Baptist Church of Broken Bow, Oklahoma) live on Sunday mornings at 10:55am CST http://www.kkbifm.com/

There is a complete devotional archive at the old Burning Bush website. Here is the URL: http://www.theburningbush.org/33.html.

You may SUBSCRIBE to the html text group 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.

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To unsubscribe, send ANY message to: burningbushhtml-unsubscribe@welovegod.org