The Burning Bush Devotional

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08.13.08

Going for the Gold

Then He said to them all, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me." - Luke 9:23.

For a bishop (literally: overseer) must be blameless, as a steward of God, not self-willed, not quick-tempered, not given to wine, not violent, not greedy for money, but hospitable, a lover of what is good, sober-minded, just, holy, self-controlled (disciplined - NIV), holding fast the faithful word as he has been taught, that he may be able, by sound doctrine, both to exhort and convict those who contradict. - Titus 1:7-9.

When I was in junior high I was having trouble with spelling tests which we had every week on Fridays. We were to spell and then write out the definition for twenty words. It all changed when I decided to actually study and memorize the spelling and definition of the words. Instead of a barely passing grade I began receiving perfect scores on the spelling tests. But there was a price to pay and it was a matter of discipline. I had to discipline myself to spend the time necessary to study and learn the material.

I am not and never was an athlete, although I was involved with TaeKwon-Do for a time. I do know that it takes much discipline to succeed in any sport and I can only marvel at the amazing athletic ability of those participating in the Olympic Games in China. What great discipline they have had to have to even reach these games! Michael Phelps for example has trained every day four hours in the water and one hour on land. Now that training is paying off with broken world speed records and gold medals.

In most areas of life we know that in order to excel we must be disciplined. Certainly an athlete must be disciplined to attain Olympic form and quality. An artist must practice their art as must a musician. Most, however, seem to resist the idea of discipline for the Christian in mastering the Christian disciplines. Jesus in Luke 9:23 is clearly stating the need for discipline to live the Christian life. He says it will not be easy when He says to take up our cross and to deny ourselves. He makes it clear, we are to be disciplined when he says to do this "daily."

It takes discipline to read the Word of God regularly, to pray frequently, and to attend church faithfully. Of course, these things alone do not make up a life wholly given to God. But they are necessary before a life can be wholly given to God. Margueritte Bro, a great prayer warrior, once said, "In almost any skill allied to science, or plain old living, it is every day that counts. Prayer grows in meaning as we grow in practice. The very regularity of our period of devotion works for us... inducing the mood and quality of devotion."

Are you disciplined in your devotional life? Maybe it is time for a renewed commitment to a daily walk with your Lord? A disciplined devotional life will bring rewards of joy, peace, inner strength, steadfastness and more here on earth and far more in eternity. Let us all go for the gold!!

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The Burning Bush Devotional

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08.12.08

Where is the Salt?

You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men. You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven. - Matthew 5:13-16.

Russia has invaded and is attacking the democratic nation of Georgia. Will the nations of the free world stand by and allow the destruction of Georgia? If so, which free nation will next fall to the Russians? Edmond Burke said it well when he said, "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." Albert Einstein said much the same, "The world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but because of those who look on and do nothing."

In a television special on June 6, 1994, observing the D-Day invasion, General Norman Schwarskopf and Dan Rather were walking through the US cemetery on the Normandy coast and General Schwarskopf reflected on the sacrifices of the soldiers buried there. He said, "We should live to make this world worth dying for." There seemed to be doubt in those words as to whether or not General Schwarskopf really thought this world was worth dying for at least at that time.

There does appear to be a moral decay in this world that is ever increasing. The level of immorality reminds me of the statement made in the last verse of the book of Judges (Judges 21:25), "In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes." The book of Judges records the result of that kind of attitude.

The only thing restraining God's hand of Judgment upon this world is those Christians, who are the salt of the earth and the light of the world. Just as salt acts as a preservative in meat and prevents decay and spoilage so do Christians. Christians sprinkled across this world act as a moral preservative preventing or slowing further decay and in some situations even bringing restoration. But sadly there seems to not be enough salt and the decay continues.

Why were Sodom and Gomorrah destroyed? It was a wicked place, yes - but also because there were not even ten righteous people in the place. Not enough salt and what salt it had, Lot, seemed to have lost its savor, its effectiveness.

Does it make any difference how you live your life? Yes, it does! You are the salt of the earth and the light of the world.

Does it make any difference, whether you come to church all the time or just when you happen to feel like it? Of course it makes a difference. Your neighbors know when they hear your car start up and drive by their houses on Sunday morning and when they see you come home with Bibles in hand, they know.

Does it make any difference, whether or not you pray and read your Bible? Of course it does! You don't want to lose your savor, your effectiveness, your influence for the Lord do you?

Does it make any difference, whether or not you ever tell anyone about Jesus, give someone a tract, and invite them to church? Of course it does! How will there ever be any more salt! How will there ever be any more light! If we don't win more people to the Lord?

It makes a difference how each one of us lives our life. We should live our lives to make this world worth dying for. You and I are the salt of the earth and the light of the world.

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08.11.08

Sowing Facts

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.

Then He spoke many things to them in parables, saying: "Behold, a sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds came and devoured them. Some fell on stony places…. And some fell among thorns…. But other fell on good ground and yielded a crop: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. He who has ears to hear let him hear." - Matthew 13:3-9

(Read also the Parable of the Sower Explained - Matthew 13:18-23.)

The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field; but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way. - Matthew 13:24-25. (Read the rest of the Parable of the Wheat and the Tares - Matthew 13:26-30.)

I used to be puzzled by what would happen after I visited people. Many times the people that I have visited do not ever come to church but the next Sunday other visitors that I have not visited sometimes do attend our church services. Now I understand that it has to do with sowing spiritual seeds and the spiritual battle in which we are engaged. If you have ever lived on a farm you know about sowing seeds. When I was a boy I would sometimes be allowed to sow an area with seeds. Taking a handful at a time and throwing them out covering the entire area as thoroughly as possible. In a few days I would be rewarded as the seeds bore fruit and the ground would be covered with the crop.

Here are some sowing facts:

Sowing can be bad (Galatians 6:8; Matthew 13:24-25) when used by the enemy.

Sowing can be good (Galatians 6:8; Matthew 13:8) when used by the Lord.

We can sow good or bad into our own lives (Galatians 6:8).

We can sow good or bad into the lives of the lost (Galatians 6:10).

We can sow good or bad into the lives of the saved (Galatians 6:10).

The enemy will resist our efforts and each seed sown is an attack on the enemy (Matthew 13). The enemy will try to snatch away the seeds (Matthew 13:19). The enemy will also be busy sowing bad seeds (Matthew 13:24-25). However, the enemy does not have unlimited forces but the enemy is organized (2 Corinthians 10:3-5; Ephesians 6:10-13). The more seeds that are sown, the more the forces of the enemy are stretched.

If we keep sowing and do not give up, we will reap a harvest (Galatians 6:9) and we can reap a harvest in our own lives (Don't give up on yourself!). We can reap a harvest in the lost being saved. We can reap a harvest in the saved being moved closer to perfection and the amazing thing is that we will always reap more than we sow (Matthew 13:23).

I took a poll of those present in our church last night of the number of times that they had personally had someone witness to them. Only one person had been witnessed to more than twice. In my own life, I have only been witnessed to twice. I was witnessed to once by my wife and once in a convenience store by a stranger. While I was in school, and since as an adult I have never encountered anyone witnessing to someone else. When you plant a spiritual seed in someone's life it is a rare occurrence, and it will be remembered. God will use it.

Why not sow some seeds today?

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08.08.08

In the Middle

Then He said to them all, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me." - Luke 9:23.

And to the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write…"I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth. Because you say, 'I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing'—and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked…As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent." - Revelation 3:14-19.

As Christians we should periodically examine our commitments. Our determination to be faithful to commitments makes up the true Christian life. Before we can become a Christian, we must commit ourselves to turn from sin (repentance) and commit ourselves to have Jesus as our Lord and Savior. Out of the continuation of those commitments flows the Christian life.

Too often after a few years of being a Christian (If not long before), we see people begin to back away from those original commitments. They begin to try to find a middle ground between the world and the Lord. We see many living exactly that way with their lives. They come to church just on Sunday morning if they come at all. They put on their happy faces and know all the Christian things to say. But through the week their Christianity has very little real value to them.

There's an old saying that is still very true: "If you sit in the middle of the road you will be run over!" If we sit in the middle of the road with our Christianity we will be run over by life. We may try to blame the Lord for it, but we really have no one to blame but ourselves. The Bible often warns and challenges us to living completely, totally for God. Joshua said, "And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord (Joshua 24:15)." Elijah said, "How long will you falter between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him (1 Kings 18:21)." And our Lord says to many who make up His church, "I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth (Revelation 3:15-16)."

As human beings we like to think that there are no absolutes, and that we can have a little of God and little of the world. However, God thinks in terms of absolutes. You are either totally for God, or you are totally against Him. Here is how Jesus puts it, "No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon (Matthew 6:24)." The result of living in the middle is a lack of life. Instead of the "abundant life" that Jesus came to give (John 10:10) you will have a sorry substitute and the substitute life will give you very little peace, and very little joy. Living in the middle will result in your being like a ship without a rudder being blown this way and that because the Lord will not be guiding you and directing your steps. What happens to a ship without a rudder? Eventually, it will be blown into the rocks or capsized by the waves and destroyed.

Has life run over you? Maybe it is time to get out of the middle of the road!!

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08.07.08

Are You a Runaway?

Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, "Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it; for their wickedness has come up before Me." But Jonah arose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. He went down to Joppa, and found a ship going to Tarshish; so he paid the fare, and went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. - Jonah 1:1-3.

Have you ever run away from home? When I was five years old I left our home to visit my cousin. My mother was taking a nap and she thought that I was taking one too. My cousin lived two and a half miles south of us on a country road. I knew that I was supposed to be taking a nap and I knew that I shouldn't leave our farm property but I left anyway. By the time I was two miles from home I was tired but still determined to make it to my cousin's home. I was careful on my journey having been warned about strangers and whenever a car would approach I would go off the roadway and hide until they were gone.

Unknown to me by this time my parents had all of our neighbors out looking for me. They had grown even more concerned when my two dogs returned home without me. A farmer who was plowing finally spotted me and called my parents. Just as I was crawling through a fence to go to my cousin's home my parents found me. I never knew until later the anxiety I had caused them and their friends. That was the last little trip I went on by myself for several years!

Thinking about Jonah, he knew where God wanted him to go and went in the opposite direction. Sometimes we are at least a little like Jonah. We know what God wants us to do but we don't do it. We know what God doesn't want us to do and we do it. From Jonah's experience we know that God is capable of getting our attention. It may not be with a big fish but it will be something very personal to us that we understand.

Even now I would sometimes like to run away but I understand the consequences better now. I understand much better the pain I cause my Heavenly Father when I take my little excursions outside of His will. I also understand His discipline just as I understood the discipline of my parents.

How about you? Are you a runaway? Are you on the run from the will of your Father? You know that you are not where you ought to be and you just keep on going even though you are farther and farther from home. How is that going for you? Not very good is it? Why not do what Jonah finally did - turn around and head back home? The Father is waiting; His arms are outstretched longing to welcome you back. Take that first step back into His will for your life. Tell Him that you are sorry and that you want to come back. Start walking toward the Father instead of away from Him. Start living as you know He would want you to live. Soon, you will discover that wonderful peace that you can only find when you at home in the center of the Father's will.

He's waiting.

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08.06.08

The Right Path

Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it. - Matthew 7:13-14.

Show me Your ways, O Lord; Teach me Your paths. - Psalm 25:4.

Good and upright is the Lord; Therefore He teaches sinners in the way. The humble He guides in justice, and the humble He teaches His way. All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth, to such as keep His covenant and His testimonies for Your name's sake, O Lord, pardon my iniquity, for it is great. - Psalm 25:8-11.

What way is our life headed? What path are we really traveling? Are we going the way that we want to go? This is the way that our flesh, our natural man wants to travel. The Bible tells us in Proverbs 14:12, "There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death."

There is also the way that others would want us to travel. The Psalmist says in Psalm 1:1, "... the path of sinners...." There is another way, a best way, that the Lord wants us to take: "This is the way, walk in it (Isaiah 30:21)."

I remember while working in the oilfield going to a job out in the ranching country west of Canadian, Texas. If you remember the movie, Cast Away, with Tom Hanks that is where the movie ended with his returning an unopened package with angel's wings that had washed up on the island to a home near Canadian in the Texas Panhandle (The home is a bed and breakfast now.).

My directions to the job instructed that I was to take the second fork in the road after leaving Canadian. We took the second fork in the road and drove and drove. There are many miles of unpaved roads through that ranching area. We came back to the beginning and took another possible second fork in the road and drove and drove. I enlisted a deputy sheriff to help find the rig location we were to go to. I went back to Canadian and called in for more directions - if only I had had a cell phone! We searched for most of the day and burned up a tank of gas before receiving the directions for the right way to the location.

Yes, it was the second fork in the road but the second fork turned onto a pasture trail with only tracks for the tires of vehicles. We were searching for an actual road traveled by many vehicles but the road we needed was a narrow one!

After traveling this narrow road for about a half mile, we went down into a valley where the oil rig was located. The drilling rig could not be seen from the main road which we had traveled many times by then. By the time we arrived, we were tired, frustrated, and still had a job to do.

How much simpler and easier life is when we have the right directions and follow the right path!

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08.05.08

In Him

Therefore, the One whom you worship without knowing, Him I proclaim to you: God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands. Nor is He worshiped with men's hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things. And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, 'For we are also His offspring.' - Acts 17:23-28.

While my oldest son, Clark, was in high school; he came close to death at a track meet. Clark was not competing but helping the coaches. Here are Clark's recollections about what occurred: "I was in Jr. High, helping out at a high school track meet. I was at the thrower's box, with one end of the measuring tape and Bobby Price at the other. We were measuring the high school girl's discus event. Instead of rolling the discus back in from the field, Bobby decided to throw it. I did turn my head, and if I had not, it would have hit the back of my head, which the doctor said is where the cranium is weak due to it fusing together there while it was being formed. He even said that if it had hit anywhere else than where it did (the hard, thick ridge above my eye), I would have died or had serious brain damage." When I arrived at the emergency room Clark was awake and alert. The doctor sewed up the wound with several stitches and sent him home.

The frightening thing for us was that as Clark said he had just turned his head toward his friend when he was hit. If he had not turned his head at that exact moment the discus would have hit him in the back of the head and most likely ended his life.

Some time ago I attended a funeral service for the father of a member of our church. The preacher made a statement that I've heard many times before, but it seemed to stick in my mind that day. He said, "We are all just one heart beat away from death." In a moment of time our lives can suddenly end. As true as that is, it is also true that "... in him we live, and move, and have our being." I know that God turned the head of my son and spared his life.

As we go about our lives we should always be aware of the fragility of life. It is through the power of God that we walk through each day and each night. Each heartbeat is a heartbeat that God has given to us. With each heartbeat there is the assurance of God's continued purpose for our lives in this world. What is the purpose, what is the reason God has given us this day? It is a question we should ask each day of our lives.

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08.04.08

Wake them Up

For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. - Romans 1:16

The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear! - Matthew 13:41-43.

In Independence, Missouri 97-year-old Grace George was saved by her cat. At four o'clock in the morning Grace woke up because of her cat's loud meowing or maybe yowling is a better word. Grace just wanted to get some more sleep, so she put the cat outside, but then she smelled smoke and knew she had to escape from the house. Grace was aggravated about being woken up but so thankful for being saved from the fire. The fire department believes that lightening caused the fire which caused about $115,000 in damage. As for the cat, Boo Boo is going to get a special treat, a can of salmon.

If your house was on fire it would not matter to you whether it was two in the afternoon or three in the morning you would be thankful if someone woke you up and warned you of the danger. If you saw someone's house on fire of course you would do all you could to alert the family inside of the danger and call the fire department too. If you needed to you might even smash a window or knock down a door to save a life threatened by a fire in a home. There would be no hesitation and we would each do what we could to the best of our ability to try to save them.

Spiritually there are countless millions perhaps even billions of people who are very close to facing an eternal spiritual death in the burning fires of hell. What is the appropriate thing to do in order to alert someone to their impending torment in eternity? If you were the one facing death by fire wouldn't you want someone to try to save you? Wouldn't you want someone to at least try to talk to you about what is ahead in your future? If someone knew how you could avoid such a horrible fate as eternity in the burning fires of hell wouldn't you want them to tell you?

Jesus, Paul, Peter, and the writer of Hebrews all speak of the need for salvation. Why did they mention the need for salvation? Because there is something to be saved from. There is something to be terrified of and that terrible thing is called hell. We should be terrified of it because it is exponentially worse than simply dying a physical fire here on this earth because hellfire will never ever end and it will go on and on eternally.

If your neighbor, or your parents, or your children, or your co-workers, or your friends are lost and facing eternal damnation in hell what should you do? What would you do if their house was on fire? Maybe you ought to try to get their attention. Certainly, you should not be ashamed of the gospel and never mention it but then that is what majority of us do. This is not something that you can put off and put off and never do anything about because there will come a day when they will slip out into eternity, and it will be too late to tell them how to be saved.

Is there someone you need to warn? Maybe you need to do a little "yowling" and try to wake them up before it is everlastingly too late.

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08.01.08

Tanggung Djawab

Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him. - Colossians 3:12-17.

Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." - John 14:6.

The Indonesian language has a word for responsibility "tanggung djawab." It means literally, "to hold the answer." This is to say that for anyone to hold the answer in any situation and not to share it they would be blatantly irresponsible.

What is the responsibility of the Christian? The apostle Paul sums up the Christian's responsibility with one verse in Colossians 3:17. What does the Christian life include? The Christian life is everything you say, everything you do, and everything you are. The Christian life should be everything, every detail of what you are - nothing held back.

What does it mean to "do all in the name of the Lord Jesus?" In the time of the early church the name of a person indicated the person's authority and power - to do something in the name of that person, or in relationship with that person. What is our relationship to Jesus? How do we see Jesus in our life? We must see Jesus as Lord of our lives, not as a Lord, or one of many Lords, but as the Lord.

Many Colossians, because of a false teaching called Gnosticism, saw Jesus only as a god (among many) and that there were more powerful spirit beings than Jesus. Sadly, I read in a recent Time magazine that there was a survey of religious Americans revealing that 70% agree that "many religions can lead to eternal life." Ten years ago I wrote in a devotional and said that, "few Christians would admit to having the same problem that the Christians at Colossae had." Apparently many Christians or possibly false Christians have bought a lie in the past ten years straight from the pit of hell. However, even if we believe that Jesus is the only "Way" to Heaven many of us still have other gods that we worship. If there is anything that we put before God then it is a false God, an idol.

The false gods we worship and serve today have names like: money, material possessions, careers, recreation, selfishness, alcohol, drugs, pornography, school activities, even our children or our spouses. Before we can ever fulfill our responsibility as a Christian, we must deal with our false gods.

"Tanggung djawab." We hold the answer, we bear responsibility for those around us, but before we can ever reach them, we must deal with our own lives. We are each responsible to place Jesus on the throne of our life so that we can fulfill our responsibilities as a child of God.

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07.31.08

Things Happen

Now listen, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money." Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, "If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that." As it is, you boast and brag. All such boasting is evil. Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins. - James 4:13-17.

If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. - James 1:5.

Last week a woman who lives in Levy County, Florida saw some kind of animal in her yard, and she went outside to check it out. The animal turned out to be a fox, and it attacked her. The fox bit her on the leg but wouldn't turn loose, and so she told her husband to go get their rifle. The husband did manage to kill the fox after firing seven rounds from the .22 caliber gun, but he also hit his wife once in the lower leg. She apparently is going to be okay.

Early in our marriage, Jeanie and I were both working at a cotton gin that my father-in-law managed. Our car needed a tune up and there was a garage close to the gin that I took it to. Not long afterwards Jeanie and I heard the sirens of fire engines. We all wondered where they were going since this was a small city. It wasn't long before I found out. The mechanic came from the garage that I had taken our car to. He said that the fire had been…my car! All the wiring and everything except the block under the hood had been destroyed.

We contacted our insurance agent, and he tried to go to the garage to check out the damage. But he couldn't check out the damage because the garage was locked up. The mechanic had left and went to California for a week with our damaged car locked up in his garage. We did finally gain access to the car and after another week our car was finally repaired. Sometimes the cost of a tune up is higher than you might think.

Life seems to always have the potential to throw us a curve ball when we least expect it. We think we know what tomorrow will bring, but we really have no control. We think we will have good health for many years to come, but we know that tomorrow all that could change. We think that we have many years to live our lives for the Lord. But the end of our life could be today. We think that we have plenty of time to reach that neighbor, friend, or relative with the good news of Jesus. But the truth is we may never have another opportunity.

The truth is that life has twists and turns that none of us can predict or foresee. Unexpected things occur in the life of every person on a frequent basis. Some of those occurrences are big, some are little, and some are life changing. Things happen! However, God does know what is coming around the corner and He is the only One who really knows. Let us not depend on our fallible human wisdom, knowledge and resources but instead seek the wisdom and guidance of the Lord for each step of every day. "If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him (James 1:5)."

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07.30.08

When Bad Things Happen

And with many other words he testified and exhorted them, saying, "Be saved from this perverse generation." Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them. And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers. Then fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles. Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common, and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need. So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved. - Acts 2:40-47.

When bad things happen in my life my response, since I have been a Christian has always been to turn to God. Do I blame God for the bad things that have happened? No. Do I ask Him to help me? Yes. Does He always help me the way that I want Him to help me? No. However, He does always bring good out of the bad as His Word promises in Romans 8:28. I may not immediately be able to see it, but eventually I know that I will and I have every time something bad has happened. Is that the only way that God helps when the bad things happen? No. He is able to hold me together and give me peace in spite of the turmoil and the anguish that may be spinning around me. Philippians 4:6-7 is not just words on a paper because prayer really does make a difference. Sometimes God does move in answer to those prayers to change things supernaturally. I would like for Him to do that every time but even when He doesn't I trust Him to know better than I do what is best for my life (Isaiah 55:8-9; Jeremiah 29:11).

Before I was a Christian, I did not turn to God when bad things happened. I ponder sometimes what a great difference it would have made in my life if as a teenager I had been walking with my Lord and had called out to Him when I was hurting and alone. Oh, life during those days would have been so much better, more full, more exciting, more everything….

Why do people turn away from God or blame God when bad things happen? Acts 2:42 explains why the early church did not do that, "And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers." This verse says much about what we need as Christians today. When our world comes crashing in and everything is going wrong, what do we do? Where do we turn? We should follow the example of the early church and continue on. They "continued steadfastly." This seems to indicate that there was at least some opposition to their doing what the remainder of the verse states.

When all seems lost, continue on. Continue on in the "apostles' doctrine" which was and is the Word of God. Continue on reading, studying and meditating upon the Word of God. Continue on memorizing and imbedding the Word of God in your hearts.

When all seems lost, continue on. Continue on in fellowship with other Christians. Continue on provoking and encouraging others to love and good works and assembling with other believers (Hebrews 10:24-25). Continue on and stand firm with your labor for the Lord because we know that it is never in vain (1 Corinthians 15:58). Continue on in that fellowship of obedience to the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20). Continue on and you too will have "gladness…of heart!"

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07.29.08

Great and Mighty Things

Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know. - Jeremiah 33:3.

Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen. - Ephesians 3:20-21.

Before Dawson Trotman became the founder of the Navigators he was a truck driver. The verses above from Jeremiah and Ephesians were upon his heart when he felt a great burden to pray. He and a friend who was a plumber met together outside in the hills at five o'clock in the morning for 42 days to pray and claim those promises. They at first prayed for the United States and then with a map of the world began to pray for the countries of the world. Little did Dawson know that God would use his life to touch the lives of people in all the countries for which they were praying.

Billy Graham once said about Dawson Trotman: "I think Daws has personally touched more lives than anybody I have ever known." Those verses in Jeremiah and Ephesians are included in the early version of the Navigator's Topical Memory System and the topic for those verses is "God's Answer." The topic just prior to God's Answer is "Praying Alone" and the verses are Matthew 6:6 ("But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly."), and Mark 1:35 ("Now in the morning, having risen a long while before daylight, He went out and departed to a solitary place; and there He prayed.").

The Word of God changed Dawson Trotman's life leading him to a saving knowledge of Jesus and then through His Word God trained and empowered Dawson for the work that God had for him. While Dawson was driving a truck he memorized a verse a day for three years. Those verses of Scripture changed Dawson Trotman's life and the lives of countless others. Through memorization of Scripture God changed my life and I was able hear more clearly the still small voice of God speaking to me about His call upon my life. He will do the same for you.

God says through the prophet Jeremiah (Jeremiah 33:3), "Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know." What are the great and mighty things that you do not know that God wants to show you for your life? You may be a truck driver, or a dishwasher, or an executive, or a pastor, or have some other occupation but what great and mighty things would God show you if you were to spend an extended time in prayer? What impact would it have upon your life? What impact would it have upon the lives of countless others? It changed Dawson Trotman's life forever.

Why not begin to call upon God today in a deeper way than you ever have before? Allow God to reveal to you the great and mighty things that you do not know.

If you are not my friend here on ROCspace, you can be - just add me. Visit the Burning Bush website at www.theburningbush.net

The Burning Bush websites have received visits from more than 150 countries. Since 1998 the Burning Bush Devotional has been spreading the truth of God's Word to more than 11,000 subscribers across the world.

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07.28.08

Real Faith

But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. - Hebrews 11:6.

I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will guide you with My eye. - Psalm 32:8.

Barnabus Shaw along with his wife, Jane, was the first Wesleyan minister to come to South Africa in 1816 and he had planned to preach the Gospel at Cape Town. However, he was forbidden from doing so by the governor. Uncertain as to how to proceed, the Shaws acted on faith according to a passage of Scripture that God had placed on their hearts (1 Samuel 6). They bought oxen and a wagon and loaded their belongings into the wagon. Then they did something really strange - they allowed the oxen to go wherever the oxen wanted to go. In a month they had traveled about 200 miles and there they were met by a group of Khoikhoi people. The tribe had left their home and they were on their way to Cape Town to find a missionary so that they could learn about the Word of God. What incredible faith!

The Bible is hard for our human minds to accept. Because when we read the Bible we are suddenly in a world where seas part and people walk across on dry ground. A world where bushes burn but are not burned up. In this world of the Bible, manna drops out of the sky to feed the people, not once but every day (six days a week). In this world of faith people walk on water, the blind are able to see again, quadriplegics are made to walk and even the dead are brought back to life!! Even though it seems unbelievable somehow we believe, and we know that the Bible is true and that God exists. "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen (Hebrews 11:1)."

What is even more amazing is when God's people begin to exercise their faith. I once heard a sermon about faith and the pastor said the exercise of faith is:

Believing when you don't see it.
Obeying when you don't understand it.
Giving when you don't have it.
Persisting when you don't feel like it.
Praising before you receive it.
And trusting when you don't get it (i.e. what you have prayed for).

The exercise of that kind of faith is a testimony to a faithless world. Is your faith being exercised? I ask that because God is still God and we still must walk by faith and not by sight in this world. Maybe it is time for you to give up the reins of your life to the Lord and allow Him to guide you with His eye? It may be that the Lord has something humanly impossible for you to do that will require real faith. Will you answer His call?

If you are not my friend here on ROCspace, you can be - just add me. Visit the Burning Bush website at www.theburningbush.net

The Burning Bush websites have received visits from more than 150 countries. Since 1998 the Burning Bush Devotional has been spreading the truth of God's Word to more than 11,000 subscribers across the world.

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07.25.08

There are Consequences

(Update of a devotional from 1998)

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. - 1 John 1:9.

For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. - Romans 3:23.

For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. - Romans 6:23.

Are there any consequences for our sins if we ask God to forgive us? If we are cleansed from unrighteousness, washed and made as white as snow, and our sins are put as far as the east is from the west and remembered no more; are there any consequences for sins that have been forgiven?

Remember King David in the Old Testament and how he committed adultery, ordered the murder of Bathsheba's husband Uriah? After David is confronted by the prophet Nathan, David then cries out to God in Psalm 51, "Have mercy upon me, O God, according to Your lovingkindness; according to the multitude of Your tender mercies, blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions, and my sin is always before me (Psalm 51:1-3)." I believe that David would tell you that even after God had forgiven him there were some consequences for his sins.

What were the consequences? They are spoken from the lips of the prophet Nathan who says beginning in 2 Samuel 12:10, "Now therefore, the sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised Me, and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife. Thus says the LORD: 'Behold, I will raise up adversity against you from your own house; and I will take your wives before your eyes and give them to your neighbor, and he shall lie with your wives in the sight of this sun. For you did it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel, before the sun.' So David said to Nathan, 'I have sinned against the LORD.' And Nathan said to David, 'The LORD also has put away your sin; you shall not die. However, because by this deed you have given great occasion to the enemies of the LORD to blaspheme, the child also who is born to you shall surely die.'" All of those things spoken by the prophet Nathan came to pass as is recorded in Scripture even though David had been forgiven of his sins! If we sin there are consequences and those wages must be paid.

You may be thinking but that was in the Old Testament and that God does not do things like that now after Jesus died on the cross. In Acts chapter five, Ananias and his wife Sapphira lied about the amount they received from selling property they owned. The consequence for their lying to the apostle Peter and in actuality to the Holy Spirit was the immediate supernatural death of Ananias and Sapphira.

You may think that you can knowingly live in sin and that there will be no consequences for you. Sadly, there are always consequences for sin - those wages must be paid. You may not think that you are paying them but you are by living beneath your privileges as a member of the royal family of the King of kings and Lord of lords. When you are living outside of the will of God there are always consequences and those consequences affect everyone and everything around you because the wages of sin must be paid.

The good news, the great news is that you do not have to live outside of God's will for your life. You can turn back. You can begin again. You may have wasted years of your life but you do not have to waste the rest of your life. Change now. Begin now. 1 John 1:9 is the place to start. Do it now. Please don't risk another day of disobedience to your Lord because the wages must always be paid.

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07.24.08

Out of Gas

(Update of a devotional from 1998)

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry. Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, "If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread." But He answered and said, "It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.'" - Matthew 4:1-4.

Just a day or two ago in Cookeville, Tennessee three thieves ran into a problem while making their getaway. The three were in the process of stealing a recliner from a Goodwill store. Now, they did succeed in loading the recliner into their truck and they were able to begin to drive away but that was when their problems started. Before leaving the parking lot of the store the truck ran out of gas and by that time someone had called the police about the break-in. They were all arrested and have been charged with the attempted theft.

Some of you may never have run out of gasoline in your car. It has only happened to me once and that was enough! I was 17 years old and a friend had set up a double date for us. We were on our way to pick up the girls and I was in a hurry. It was a complete shock when the car began to spit and sputter and then die. Needless to say we were late for the date, and the evening turned out badly which was probably for the best.

Spiritually we can run out of gas as well. We are busy people with jobs, children, their activities, our activities, church, our responsibilities at church, and church activities. We are preoccupied with the immediate. Then it happens, a crisis comes into our lives and we find that the spiritual tank is empty. We turn to the Lord and try to fill it back up but the crisis is such that everything we take in immediately goes back out. We put on our happy faces and pretend that everything is okay but really we are just barely crawling, trying to make it through another day. Sound familiar?

The fact is we can't wait until that storm blows in to fill up the tank. Just as we need physical food frequently in order to live we also need spiritual food. We need that daily intake of reading, studying, and meditating upon the Word of God. We also need to pray every day. Jesus says to pray in the Lord's Prayer, the model prayer, "Give us this day our daily bread (Matthew 6:11)." In Mark 1:35 we are told, "Now in the morning, having risen a long while before daylight, He went out and departed to a solitary place; and there He prayed." Jesus had a quiet time and we need one every day too - preferably early in the morning before beginning our day.

Maybe it's time to fill up the tank? Don't let the devil catch you when you're, out of gas!

If you are not my friend here on ROCspace, you can be - just add me. Visit the Burning Bush website at www.theburningbush.net

The Burning Bush websites have received visits from more than 150 countries. Since 1998 the Burning Bush Devotional has been spreading the truth of God's Word to more than 11,000 subscribers across the world.

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07.23.08

Judgment is Coming Soon

(Update of a devotional from 1998)

No one, when he has lit a lamp, covers it with a vessel or puts it under a bed, but sets it on a lampstand, that those who enter may see the light. For nothing is secret that will not be revealed, nor anything hidden that will not be known and come to light. Therefore take heed how you hear. For whoever has, to him more will be given; and whoever does not have, even what he seems to have will be taken from him. - Luke 8:16-18.

In the time in which we live, we can understand how God is able to keep a record of our lives. Camcorders have made it possible to record in color with sound many of the events of our lives. There are millions of cell phones that also contain cameras and digital cameras that all may be used to record the events around us. We know that whatever our capabilities may be that God's abilities to record our lives are far superior to ours.

For those who do not have salvation through Jesus Christ, they will one day be at the Great White Throne judgment which is spoken of in Revelation 20:11-12, "Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books."

Those of us who know Jesus as our Savior will one day stand before a different judgment. This judgment is known as the Judgment Seat of Christ. It is spoken of in 2 Corinthians 5:10-11, "For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad. Knowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are well known to God, and I also trust are well known in your consciences."

Someday if we know the Lord Jesus as our Savior, we will stand before him face to face. His fiery eyes will examine our lives. He will see everything we have ever said, done or thought. The apostle Paul is speaking of this event in 1 Corinthians 3:11-15, "For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one's work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one's work, of what sort it is. If anyone's work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. If anyone's work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire."

Revelation 1:14 gives this description of the Alpha and Omega, "His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and His eyes like a flame of fire." One day those burning eyes of fire shall examine our lives. All the junk, the sinful things, the wasteful things, all of that will be burned away and only those things fit for Heaven will be left. Some, as Paul indicates, will arrive in Heaven only with the smell of smoke upon them and nothing else. However, the apostle also assures us in Romans 8:1 that, "There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit."

As current world events are now unfolding it is possible to see that the end times are near if we are not already in them. The time remaining to do the work of the Lord is not limitless. Let us be about our Father's business, see where He is working and join Him in that work because judgment is coming soon.

If you are not my friend here on ROCspace, you can be - just add me. Visit the Burning Bush website at www.theburningbush.net

The Burning Bush websites have received visits from more than 150 countries. Since 1998 the Burning Bush Devotional has been spreading the truth of God's Word to more than 11,000 subscribers across the world.

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