Please sign the GuestMap at The Burning Bush website. You can plant your country's flag on the map and leave a message. You can find it on the front page at http://www.theburningbush.org The Burning Bush Devotional (Over 13,000 subscribers in 75 countries) 09.22.04 Growing Up “And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.” - Luke 2:52. The Social Capital Community Benchmark Survey, a study by Harvard University, has found that “religiously active people are more likely to be viewed as good citizens and have a more diverse circle of friends than their non-religious neighbors.” Seventy-one percent of those surveyed were found to trust people at church, which compares to 52 percent, who would trust their co-workers. As we look at the life of Jesus we see the good citizenship, the trustworthiness in his development. From age 12 to the beginning of Jesus’ ministry there is silence about the events of His life. However, Luke 2:52 really is a summary of what we can surmise about this time period. Jesus was trained to be a carpenter by his stepfather, Joseph. Most likely Joseph died during this time and Jesus became the head of the household being the oldest of the children. Humanly, Jesus was a hardworking, responsible, trustworthy and wise individual and was growing more so all the time. If we are to follow the example of our Lord, we too will be hardworking, responsible, trustworthy, and wise. Let us as Jesus did “increase (increased) in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.” Copyright © 2004. Ed Wrather. Permission is given for use of the devotionals on a non-profit basis with source credited. On June 8, 1998 the email version of the Burning Bush Devotional was first sent. Because of family illnesses, personal health concerns, and ministry pressures I have been unable to write as frequently as I would like. For the immediate future I will be resending devotionals written a few years ago. Thank you for your prayers, support and understanding! Ed Wrather is available for revivals, conferences, and other speaking and ministry opportunities as the Lord leads. More information about Ed may be found at http://www.theburningbush.org/28.html. The Crossmap Christian Search and Portal is a wonderful resource. I would like to encourage you to visit this great site at www.crossmap.com. Crossmap has recently added the Burning Bush Devotionals to their site. You may visit Crossmap’s sister website, the online version of the Christian Post at www.christianpost.com. If you have a Christian website you are invited to add the link to my free links at the Burning Bush website. The Bravenet free links is near the bottom of the front page www.theburningbush.org. If you enjoy the devotional please recommend it to your friends. They may subscribe by sending a blank email to burningbushdevo-subscribe@... Streaming Videos of our services including my sermons are posted at: www.theburningbush.org/fbcswvideo.html There is now a webpage available at associate.com where the devotionals are archived http://associate.com/groups/burningbushdevo. There is a complete archive at the Burning Bush website and the address for the archive is http://www.theburningbush.org/33.html. You may subscribe to the pure text group by sending a blank email to burningbushdevo-subscribe@... and you can unsubscribe by sending a blank email to burningbushdevo-unsubscribe@... You may subscribe to the html text group by sending a blank email to burningbushhtml-subscribe@... and you may unsubscribe by sending a blank email to burningbushhtml-unsubscribe@... Subscribe to the Burning Bush Prayer Group. Send and receive prayer requests to over 300 members. Send a blank email to: BBPG-subscribe@... Subscribe to the Burning Bush Inspirational Group. Send and receive inspirational material to over 100 members. Send a blank email to: bbinspire-subscribe@... Subscribe to the Burning Bush Restoration and Recovery Group for those with addictions or recovering from addictions. Receive devotionals and inspirational material directed toward those with addictions. Send and receive prayer requests. Over 200 members. Send a blank email to: tbbrr-subscribe@... Subscribe to the Intercede Life Group and pray for and help in practical ways those who need help. To subscribe send a blank email to interclife-subscribe@.... A closely related website is Peoplefaces which seeks to help those in need http://peoplefaces.ohzone.net/index2.htm