A Survivor Story

[Story-Teller]

A Survivor Story

Today’s devotional was written by Dr. Walker Moore who is president of AweStar Ministries in Tulsa, P. O. Box 470265, Tulsa 74147. You may contact Walker at [email protected] or 800.293.7827. Visit their website at www.awestar.org.

God’s Word: He who overcomes will inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be My son. - Revelation 21:7.

Reflection: Family experts say there is a common denominator among happy families: they all go camping. Wanting to be a good father, I took my wife and teenage sons camping. If the Lord tarries another thousand years, I will never do it again.

We started our little outing in Minnesota and finished up at the Lake of the Ozarks in Missouri. This was the time for our family to spend alone with one another and Mother Nature. It did not take long for us to become the laughing stock of the campground. Their tents had patches; ours had price tags. They had the Wilderness Experts badge from the Boy Scouts; we were holding the instructions and reading them aloud. They had backpacks that were named after mountain ranges; ours were named after landfills. Who would have ever thought that in the middle of the summer it would get near freezing in Minnesota? Our cheap $5 sleeping bags did absolutely nothing to protect us from the elements. There we were, four bodies huddled together, shivering trying to conserve heat. We were not hard to find, just look for the shaky tent. Not wanting anymore of this Minnesota fun, we headed south.

But camping in the woods at the Lake of the Ozarks was no picnic either. Now we were camping in the midst of a heat wave, and our tents had become a portable sauna. My family would lie there at night gasping for air while the sweat poured. (At least our new sleeping bags made great sponges.) When it finally cooled off in the middle of the night, our sleep was interrupted by the loud serenading of locusts. Whoever said the country was quiet has never spent the night in it.

Our family did survive, and learned that one camping experience would last us a lifetime. So for you parents who have not yet taken your family on the camping adventure, let me give you some survivor tips. 1) Lint from your navel makes a handy fire starter. (Warning: Remove lint from navel before applying the match.) 2) When camping, always wear a long-sleeved shirt. It gives you something to wipe your nose on. 3) A two-man pup tent does not include two men nor a pup. 4) The sight of a bald eagle has thrilled campers for years. The sight of a bald man however, does absolutely nothing for the eagle. 5) The guitar of the noisy teenager next to your campsite makes excellent kindling for your campfire.

The experts are right: camping does make a family happy. And my family will be happy as long as we never do it again.

Insight: Difficult experiences can be used to draw your family closer together.

Prayer: Dear Father, I know that there are going to be difficult days in our family. The enemy wants to divide and conquer. But as our Great Shepherd please draw our family close around you. During these seemingly impossible days unite our hearts and spirits with the hope that is You. Amen.

Copyright © 2006. 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.
Submitted by Richard

 

[Story-Teller]

A Spider in Your Ear

A Spider in Your Ear
Then they came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gadarenes. And when He had come out of the boat, immediately there met Him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit, who had his dwelling among the tombs; and no one could bind him, not even with chains, because he had often been bound with shackles and chains. And the chains had been pulled apart by him, and the shackles broken in pieces; neither could anyone tame him. And always, night and day, he was in the mountains and in the tombs, crying out and cutting himself with stones. When he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and worshiped Him. And he cried out with a loud voice and said, “What have I to do with You, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I implore You by God that You do not torment me.” For He said to him, “Come out of the man, unclean spirit!” Then He asked him, “What is your name?” And he answered, saying, “My name is Legion; for we are many.” Also he begged Him earnestly that He would not send them out of the country. - Mark 5:1-10.

Just in time for Friday the 13th is a story about a woman in Sweden who had an unwelcome visitor for a month. The visitor crept into their home and made itself welcome in an ear. Yes, it was a black spider the size of a thumbnail that a woman eventually washed out of her ear and watched as it crawled away. She had experienced some hearing loss in the ear and thought there might be wax building up. However, after that she could hear scratching sounds in her ear - how scary is that! That is when she went to a pharmacy and bought some cleanser to wash out her ear. The woman did remember seeing a spider on her bed 27 days before she was able to wash out the spider.

To have a spider in your ear or even to think that you have a spider in your ear is a frightening thought for most of us. But an even more terrifying thing would be to have an infestation of demons living in you. How terrible would that be? The man Jesus encountered in Gadara did not just have one demon but a legion of demons; thousands of demons were living inside of him.

Even though the man was possessed by demons, he did the right thing. He recognized the One who could help him. He ran and worshipped Jesus. However, when he spoke it was the words of the demons that are recorded. On one hand the man wanted to worship God, however, at the same time he had these demons that were causing him to do things he did not want to do.

Let us learn a lesson from the demon possessed man of Gadara. Whether it is a problem with an infestation of demons in our life or some other problem the thing to do, the first thing to do is to run to Jesus.

Have you asked Jesus to help you?

Copyright © 2006. 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.

Submitted by Richard