BBD 02.10.22 Treadmill Living (Classic and a personal note.)

#1 · February 10, 2022, 10:44 am

Quote from Forum Archives on February 10, 2022, 10:44 am
Posted by: theburningbushdevotional <theburningbushdevotional@...>

Classic from 2004

The Burning Bush Devotional

09 December 2022

It has been
three and a half months since my back surgery and I am now able to sit at my
computer for longer periods of time. So, I have begun to send out devotionals
again. As I understand it now the welovegod.org email list service will end in
October of this year and I will need to transition to a different email service
then. Because of that I want to take advantage of the time that we have in case
it is no longer possible to send the devotionals out by email.

I am
praying for all who receive these devotionals.

Be
Blessed!

Ed
Wrather

Treadmill Living

Therefore
we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay
aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run
with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author
and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the
cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of
God. - Hebrews 12:1-2.

How
would you feel about running a marathon on a treadmill? Think about it. The
scenery would never change with only the digital readout revealing how many
more miles were ahead. Michael Wardian has set a world record time running a
26.2 mile marathon on a treadmill. He beat the previous world record by seven
minutes. Wardian said about the two hours and almost 24
minutes of running on a treadmill that, "It's difficult just because you always know where
you are so you can't trick yourself. You just look down and you know where you
are." Christopher
Farley, owner of a new running store where the
record was set said, "The
monotony of a treadmill - the idea that you have to stay balanced for almost
two-and-a-half hours - is a lot harder. It really becomes claustrophobic."

Some of
us know exactly what Wardian and Farley are talking about. Why? Because
we have been running on the treadmill of life with the scenery never changing
and the years passing by. The weight of the world’s demands, and the continued
participation in habitual sin have us running in place never moving forward in
the Christian life.

The
writer of the book of Hebrews urges us to lay aside “every weight.” In training for
athletic events, weights are sometimes worn to gain stamina and to warm up for
an event. The writer of Hebrews is saying that this is the real thing, this is
the race of your life, and it is time to put aside everything that would slow
you down. Lay aside the demand of the world to buy the clothes worn by friends,
or fellow employees. Lay aside the desire to own or lease a vehicle equivalent
to that of your friends. Put down the idea that you have to live in the best
neighborhood, send your kids to the best schools, and have the best vacations.
Lay aside the idea that your husband or your wife must resemble the actors,
actresses, and models, which appear in the media. You must grab hold of the
fact that you must live in the real world where everything and everyone will
not always be perfect.

The
writer of Hebrews also encourages us to lay aside the “sin which so easily ensnares us.” These
are besetting sins; habitual sins, which once they have gained a place in our
lives, are difficult to overcome. These ensnaring, besetting sins include
alcohol/drug addictions, and sexual sins. Here we see an important spiritual
fact and that is that it is possible to lay aside even these sins, or we would
not be told to do so. How can we lay them aside? We must follow the
instructions, which follow verse 1. We must look to Jesus who has the power to enable us to lay aside these
things. The apostle Paul in Philippians 4:13 said, “I can do all things through
Christ who strengthens me.” You too,
through Christ Jesus, can do all things the Christian life requires including
the laying aside of the weight of worldly things and ensnaring sins.

Copyright © 1998 - 2021. 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
those first devotionals was primarily through the Burning Bush Newsletter sent
to prison facilities throughout the United States and Canada.

Visit the
Burning Bush website:

www.theburningbush.net

The Burning Bush websites are
celebrating 23 years online since January 31, 1998. Since June 8, 1998 the
Burning Bush Devotional has been spreading the truth of God's Word to subscribers
across the world. At one time there were 18,000 subscribers in more than 70
countries to the devotional but that has now shrunk to around 9,000.

You can leave comments/feedback
about the devotionals at www.theburningbush.net.

There is a translation tool on
theburningbush.net website in the top right-hand corner of all of the pages.

Check out the Scripture Index being constructed for the Devotionals at
the Burning Bush website. The Links are in about the middle of the home page.
Topics for each devotional are now being added to the Index.

Please pray about the
situation in Ukraine with the Russian troop buildup on their border.

Please pray for God to touch and
bring about His will in these lives: Martha and John W.; Alan Medders; Norman
Cupp; Georgia Bronnert; Caleb Freeman; Pat S.; Buck & Barbara Wright; GWEN
PRUET; James Perkins and his wife; Vonnie; Evi Porter; Jennifer Burge; Kinsey
W; Addison; JoJo, Bailey and Nicky; Ralph and De Chapman; Hilary; Cody
Stahlman; Patsy M.; Brandy and Jadyn’s Dad; John W.; Patricia Rohman and Lisa
Butler who has had a stroke; Scott J.; Karla W.; Clayton T. and Sarah; Clark
S.; Lana Bass; Matthew Collins; Marjean C.; Bradley E.; Fern McVey; Nannie R.;
Sarah Anderson; Beverly J; Larayne S. and Shonda Hutson.

Please pray for the coronavirus
COVID19 pandemic to come to an end. Pray for treatments and a cure for the
virus to be rapidly found and deployed. Pray for all those afflicted to be
healed and for our leaders to have supernatural wisdom and ability to lead us
through this pandemic.

Please pray for an end to the
rioting, looting, wanton destruction, and the racial hatred in the USA and that
it will be replaced with peace and love. May God help the USA! 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. Having back surgery in a few weeks. 03.18.18
I accepted the call to be the pastor of Fairview Baptist Church in Elk City, Oklahoma.
Please pray for me and for this church.).

You can contact Ed Wrather at
theburningbushdevotional@gmail.com

If you enjoy the devotional please
recommend it to your friends. They may subscribe by sending a blank email to [email protected]

There is a complete devotional
archive at the old Burning Bush website. Here is the URL: http://www.theburningbush.org/DevotionalArchive.html.

Devotion vs Devotional: We do our
devotions, we read devotionals.

You can unsubscribe to the burningbushdevo devotional group by
sending a blank email to [email protected] 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 [email protected] and you may unsubscribe by
sending a blank email to [email protected] and then respond
to the confirmation email. If the link does not work, copy and paste the link.

--

To unsubscribe, send ANY message to: [email protected]

Posted by: theburningbushdevotional <theburningbushdevotional@...>

Classic from 2004

The Burning Bush Devotional

09 December 2022

It has been
three and a half months since my back surgery and I am now able to sit at my
computer for longer periods of time. So, I have begun to send out devotionals
again. As I understand it now the welovegod.org email list service will end in
October of this year and I will need to transition to a different email service
then. Because of that I want to take advantage of the time that we have in case
it is no longer possible to send the devotionals out by email.

I am
praying for all who receive these devotionals.

Be
Blessed!

Ed
Wrather

Treadmill Living

Therefore
we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay
aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run
with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author
and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the
cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of
God. - Hebrews 12:1-2.

How
would you feel about running a marathon on a treadmill? Think about it. The
scenery would never change with only the digital readout revealing how many
more miles were ahead. Michael Wardian has set a world record time running a
26.2 mile marathon on a treadmill. He beat the previous world record by seven
minutes. Wardian said about the two hours and almost 24
minutes of running on a treadmill that, "It's difficult just because you always know where
you are so you can't trick yourself. You just look down and you know where you
are." Christopher
Farley, owner of a new running store where the
record was set said, "The
monotony of a treadmill - the idea that you have to stay balanced for almost
two-and-a-half hours - is a lot harder. It really becomes claustrophobic."

Some of
us know exactly what Wardian and Farley are talking about. Why? Because
we have been running on the treadmill of life with the scenery never changing
and the years passing by. The weight of the world’s demands, and the continued
participation in habitual sin have us running in place never moving forward in
the Christian life.

The
writer of the book of Hebrews urges us to lay aside “every weight.” In training for
athletic events, weights are sometimes worn to gain stamina and to warm up for
an event. The writer of Hebrews is saying that this is the real thing, this is
the race of your life, and it is time to put aside everything that would slow
you down. Lay aside the demand of the world to buy the clothes worn by friends,
or fellow employees. Lay aside the desire to own or lease a vehicle equivalent
to that of your friends. Put down the idea that you have to live in the best
neighborhood, send your kids to the best schools, and have the best vacations.
Lay aside the idea that your husband or your wife must resemble the actors,
actresses, and models, which appear in the media. You must grab hold of the
fact that you must live in the real world where everything and everyone will
not always be perfect.

The
writer of Hebrews also encourages us to lay aside the “sin which so easily ensnares us.” These
are besetting sins; habitual sins, which once they have gained a place in our
lives, are difficult to overcome. These ensnaring, besetting sins include
alcohol/drug addictions, and sexual sins. Here we see an important spiritual
fact and that is that it is possible to lay aside even these sins, or we would
not be told to do so. How can we lay them aside? We must follow the
instructions, which follow verse 1. We must look to Jesus who has the power to enable us to lay aside these
things. The apostle Paul in Philippians 4:13 said, “I can do all things through
Christ who strengthens me.” You too,
through Christ Jesus, can do all things the Christian life requires including
the laying aside of the weight of worldly things and ensnaring sins.

Copyright © 1998 - 2021. 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
those first devotionals was primarily through the Burning Bush Newsletter sent
to prison facilities throughout the United States and Canada.

Visit the
Burning Bush website:

http://www.theburningbush.net

The Burning Bush websites are
celebrating 23 years online since January 31, 1998. Since June 8, 1998 the
Burning Bush Devotional has been spreading the truth of God's Word to subscribers
across the world. At one time there were 18,000 subscribers in more than 70
countries to the devotional but that has now shrunk to around 9,000.

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 right-hand corner of all of the pages.

Check out the Scripture Index being constructed for the Devotionals at
the Burning Bush website. The Links are in about the middle of the home page.
Topics for each devotional are now being added to the Index.

Please pray about the
situation in Ukraine with the Russian troop buildup on their border.

Please pray for God to touch and
bring about His will in these lives: Martha and John W.; Alan Medders; Norman
Cupp; Georgia Bronnert; Caleb Freeman; Pat S.; Buck & Barbara Wright; GWEN
PRUET; James Perkins and his wife; Vonnie; Evi Porter; Jennifer Burge; Kinsey
W; Addison; JoJo, Bailey and Nicky; Ralph and De Chapman; Hilary; Cody
Stahlman; Patsy M.; Brandy and Jadyn’s Dad; John W.; Patricia Rohman and Lisa
Butler who has had a stroke; Scott J.; Karla W.; Clayton T. and Sarah; Clark
S.; Lana Bass; Matthew Collins; Marjean C.; Bradley E.; Fern McVey; Nannie R.;
Sarah Anderson; Beverly J; Larayne S. and Shonda Hutson.

Please pray for the coronavirus
COVID19 pandemic to come to an end. Pray for treatments and a cure for the
virus to be rapidly found and deployed. Pray for all those afflicted to be
healed and for our leaders to have supernatural wisdom and ability to lead us
through this pandemic.

Please pray for an end to the
rioting, looting, wanton destruction, and the racial hatred in the USA and that
it will be replaced with peace and love. May God help the USA! 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. Having back surgery in a few weeks. 03.18.18
I accepted the call to be the pastor of Fairview Baptist Church in Elk City, Oklahoma.
Please pray for me and for this church.).

You can contact Ed Wrather at
theburningbushdevotional@gmail.com

If you enjoy the devotional please
recommend it to your friends. They may subscribe by sending a blank email to [email protected]

There is a complete devotional
archive at the old Burning Bush website. Here is the URL: http://www.theburningbush.org/DevotionalArchive.html.

Devotion vs Devotional: We do our
devotions, we read devotionals.

You can unsubscribe to the burningbushdevo devotional group by
sending a blank email to [email protected] 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 [email protected] and you may unsubscribe by
sending a blank email to [email protected] and then respond
to the confirmation email. If the link does not work, copy and paste the link.

To unsubscribe, send ANY message to: [email protected]