BBD 10.29.13 What Would It Take?

#1 · October 29, 2013, 2:30 pm

Quote from Forum Archives on October 29, 2013, 2:30 pm
Posted by: theburningbushdevotional <theburningbushdevotional@...>

Visit the
Burning Bush websites:

www.theburningbush.net

www.theburningbush.org

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 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

10.29.13

What Would It Take?

Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He
who promised is faithful. And let us consider one another in order to stir up
love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is
the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see
the Day approaching. - Hebrews 10:23-25 NKJV.

…Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body. -
Ephesians 5:23b NKJV.

And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been
given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the
nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the
Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and
lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen. - Matthew 28:18-20
NKJV.

Casey
Wagner is thankful that he is still alive after being hit twice by lightning.
It occurred while he was at an off-road racing event at Saint Jo, Texas. Casey
was under a tree when he was struck, which knocked him to his knees; then he
was struck a second time. Casey says, “It dropped me
to my knees and then it hit me again. When I got hit, it was just two big ol'
flashes and then sparks went everywhere.” Casey says he could feel
the electricity shoot through his body from his right foot out through his
arms. He did lose feeling in his right leg and left arm for a time but had no
other significant injuries other than his heart skipping a beat. Casey says now, “I've got all the feeling back. It's just
like my whole body is waking up from… like if your arm falls asleep, that's how
my whole body feels.” Casey does believe that it was God that
protected him keeping him alive. And…Casey plans on going to church more now. (FoxNews
10.28.13; CBS 10.28.13; New York Post 10.28.13)

In past
devotionals when I have mentioned attending church services I have always
received comments from some saying that they believe in God; but want no part
of organized religion. So what is a church? W. A.
Criswell, a great Bible scholar, writes “A
‘church’ (ekklesia, Gk.) is a group of people who, having been called
out of sin and unbelief to faith in Christ, have given witness to that faith
through believer’s baptism and have banded themselves into a voluntary
fellowship. The church is made up of all those who have been regenerated by
faith in the atoning work of Christ.” Criswell also writes that ekklesia
means literally, “…the called out ones.”
Criswell also says, “The word itself implies no
more than simply “assembly.” Criswell writes further, “The universal Church is manifested in the world by a
series of individual local churches, each of which is to be a microcosm of the
whole, with N.T. Christians under the leadership of the Holy spirit banding
themselves into local independent assemblies and operating democratically under
the sovereign rule of the Holy spirit to carry on the ministry in that
particular locality.”

From
this passage in Ephesians 5:23 we see how the
work (Matthew 28:18-20) of Christ upon this
Earth is to be done is through the “ekklesia”, the “assembly” i.e. the church.
The “head”, the leader of this “church” is the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. Church,
assembling together with other believers, is God’s idea and His command.

What
would it take for you to be obedient to God’s command for you to be faithful in
assembling with other believers? For Casey Wagner, it took being struck by
lightning twice…. What about you? What will it take in your life?

Copyright © 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 theburningbushdevotional@gmail.com
View LinkedIn profile with endorsements at
http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=92988105

Prayer Requests: Update on my nephew: Surgery appears to have gone well and Ron is now out of the hospital. He did have substantial pain after the surgery and still needs prayer for his recovery and relief from pain. Thank you for all of your prayers!! Please pray for my nephew Ron Wagner as he will be having another brain surgery Thursday. This
surgery will be in Denver and hopefully will be more successful than the last
one. Thanks for your prayers!! 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

Posted by: theburningbushdevotional <theburningbushdevotional@...>

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
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

10.29.13

What Would It Take?

Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He
who promised is faithful. And let us consider one another in order to stir up
love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is
the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see
the Day approaching. - Hebrews 10:23-25 NKJV.

…Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body. -
Ephesians 5:23b NKJV.

And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been
given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the
nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the
Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and
lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen. - Matthew 28:18-20
NKJV.

Casey
Wagner is thankful that he is still alive after being hit twice by lightning.
It occurred while he was at an off-road racing event at Saint Jo, Texas. Casey
was under a tree when he was struck, which knocked him to his knees; then he
was struck a second time. Casey says, “It dropped me
to my knees and then it hit me again. When I got hit, it was just two big ol'
flashes and then sparks went everywhere.” Casey says he could feel
the electricity shoot through his body from his right foot out through his
arms. He did lose feeling in his right leg and left arm for a time but had no
other significant injuries other than his heart skipping a beat. Casey says now, “I've got all the feeling back. It's just
like my whole body is waking up from… like if your arm falls asleep, that's how
my whole body feels.” Casey does believe that it was God that
protected him keeping him alive. And…Casey plans on going to church more now. (FoxNews
10.28.13; CBS 10.28.13; New York Post 10.28.13)

In past
devotionals when I have mentioned attending church services I have always
received comments from some saying that they believe in God; but want no part
of organized religion. So what is a church? W. A.
Criswell, a great Bible scholar, writes “A
‘church’ (ekklesia, Gk.) is a group of people who, having been called
out of sin and unbelief to faith in Christ, have given witness to that faith
through believer’s baptism and have banded themselves into a voluntary
fellowship. The church is made up of all those who have been regenerated by
faith in the atoning work of Christ.” Criswell also writes that ekklesia
means literally, “…the called out ones.”
Criswell also says, “The word itself implies no
more than simply “assembly.” Criswell writes further, “The universal Church is manifested in the world by a
series of individual local churches, each of which is to be a microcosm of the
whole, with N.T. Christians under the leadership of the Holy spirit banding
themselves into local independent assemblies and operating democratically under
the sovereign rule of the Holy spirit to carry on the ministry in that
particular locality.”

From
this passage in Ephesians 5:23 we see how the
work (Matthew 28:18-20) of Christ upon this
Earth is to be done is through the “ekklesia”, the “assembly” i.e. the church.
The “head”, the leader of this “church” is the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. Church,
assembling together with other believers, is God’s idea and His command.

What
would it take for you to be obedient to God’s command for you to be faithful in
assembling with other believers? For Casey Wagner, it took being struck by
lightning twice…. What about you? What will it take in your life?

Copyright © 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 theburningbushdevotional@gmail.com
View LinkedIn profile with endorsements at
http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=92988105

Prayer Requests: Update on my nephew: Surgery appears to have gone well and Ron is now out of the hospital. He did have substantial pain after the surgery and still needs prayer for his recovery and relief from pain. Thank you for all of your prayers!! Please pray for my nephew Ron Wagner as he will be having another brain surgery Thursday. This
surgery will be in Denver and hopefully will be more successful than the last
one. Thanks for your prayers!! 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