Quote from Forum Archives on October 26, 2011, 10:31 pm

Posted by: edwrather <edwrather@...>

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The Burning Bush Devotional
There are 18,000 Subscribers to the Email Devotional
Classic from 2003

10.27.11

Do Not Be Deceived

Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will
also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption,
but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life. And
let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if
we do not lose heart. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to
all, especially to those who are of the household of faith. - Galatians
6:7-10.

Investigators in Athens, Alabama raided a mobile home and found two small
bags of marijuana in the home of Jesus Santana. Among pot smokers, there has
developed a custom for some to use the pages of a Bible to roll their
joints. This apparently was why Santana said when arrested, "I guess God got
y'all to get me." At least Santana was convinced that was the reason he was
caught. Sheriff Mike Blakely said, "When we found his marijuana, he admitted
he'd been smoking marijuana, and that he'd been tearing pages out of the
Bible, rolling it."

You would think that if your first name was Jesus, that you would
occasionally think about God, and what He desires in your life. Apparently,
Santana had been doing some thinking along those lines, and arrived at the
conclusion that God was not going to let him get by with what he had been
doing. We have a longsuffering God, and that is how God is often portrayed
in the Bible. We are told in Lamentations; it is only because of the mercies
of God that we are not destroyed and that His mercies are new every morning.
Jesus said that the Father sends rain upon the just and unjust. Why is God
so merciful and longsuffering? God tells us why along with a warning in the
book of Romans, ".do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance,
and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to
repentance (Romans 2:4)?" "It is not God's will that any should perish but
that all should come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9)."

God reached a point with the church at Cornith, where he had the apostle
Paul confront them with the truth of their sins. Through that confrontation,
with the truth came repentance. Paul writes, "Now I rejoice, not that you
were made sorry, but that your sorrow led to repentance. For you were made
sorry in a godly manner, that you might suffer loss from us in nothing. For
godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted;
but the sorrow of the world produces death (2 Corinthians 7:2-10)." Many
like Jesus Santana may not have someone like the apostle Paul to confront
them with the truth. However, God will use whatever is available to bring a
person to repentance. In the case of Santana, God used some undercover
officers conducting an investigation into illegal drug possession and use,
which resulted in the arrest and interruption of the normal routine of life
of this man. It allowed Santana to have an opportunity to reflect upon what
was going on in his life, and whether or not God was pleased with his life.

Don't be deceived, just because you have gotten by with doing certain
things, or not doing certain things for a length of time; does not mean that
God approves of what you are doing. God is longsuffering. But He is not
mocked, and there will come a day of reckoning whether in this life or the
next.

Copyright © 2003. 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.

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.). Please pray for our grandson, Mason
Wrather, as he recovers from surgery. Please pray a member of our church who
is battling cancer, Connie Bryan.

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Church of Broken Bow, Oklahoma) live on Sunday mornings at 10:55am CST
www.kkbifm.com/
Several videos of Clark's sermons can be found at his church website:
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