Quote from Forum Archives on January 6, 2005, 11:10 pm

Posted by: wrather <wrather@...>

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 www.theburningbush.org

The Burning Bush Devotional

(Over 13,000 subscribers in 75 countries)

01.06.05

Refocus -The Word of God

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was
God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and
without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life
was the light of men. - John 1:1-4.

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the
glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. - John
1:14.

All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for
doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness,
that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good
work. - 2 Timothy 3:16-17.

George Mueller is remembered for many things including his care of orphans.
He began caring for orphans when he moved in 1832 to pastor a church at
Bristol, England. It was there at Bristol that two young children became the
responsibility of the church. Mueller had very little money - only two
shillings at the time he began to care for the children. During the next
sixty years, God moved in a mighty way to provide for that ministry. Over
seven million dollars were sent by God to help meet their needs. Mueller
also began 117 schools, which provided educations for more than 120,000
children many of whom were orphans. The church he pastured had 2,000 members
at the time of his death. Charles H. Spurgeon said of George Mueller, “Of
flowers of speech he has none, and we hardly think he cares for them; but of
the bread of Heaven he has abundance.”

>From where did George Mueller’s empowerment come? It certainly was in part
from his voracious reading of the Word of God. Mueller was a student of the
ministry of George Whitefield who was a great evangelist during the 1700s.
Mueller adopted a habit of Whitefield’s, which was the reading of the Bible
while on his knees in an attitude of prayer and meditation. Mueller through
his lifetime had documented in his journal reading through the Bible some
200 times. I think we can see the source of George Mueller’s empowerment.

Reading God’s Word will help you to refocus upon the Lord Jesus Christ.
Jesus is the Word become flesh. Jesus quotes Scripture in Matthew 4:4, to
resist the temptation of the devil, when He says, "Man shall not live by
bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God." We
cannot live the Christian life without a daily nurturing, filling, that
comes only from the Word of God.

I recently spoke with a pastor friend who sadly shared about one of his sons
for whom nothing seems to work out. Everything his son tries always ends in
some degree of failure. His son knows what the problem is in that he knows
he is not on the right track with his life and that he is not in God’s will.
Joshua tells us how we can get on the right track with our lives and it is
through the Word of God. Joshua says, “This Book of the Law shall not depart
from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may
observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make
your way prosperous, and then you will have good success (Joshua 1:8).”

You cannot expect to read the Bible for a few moments one night and expect
your life to instantly change. You can expect that through a commitment to
reading through the Bible in a year (about 3 chapters a day) that you will
begin to see positive changes for the better in your life. As you follow
through with that commitment to God in all areas of your life, you will see
over the course of months and years dramatic changes for the better
occurring, which will lead to the successful living of a good life for the
glory of God.

Now’s a good time to dust off that Bible, open it up to Genesis chapter one
and begin to read. I can promise you that you will never regret the time you
spend in the Word. Let us refocus our lives on Jesus through the Word of
God.

Copyright © 2005. 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.

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@welovegod.org

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 associate.com/groups/burningbushdevo. There is a complete
archive at the Burning Bush website and the address for the archive is
www.theburningbush.org/33.html.

You may subscribe to the pure text group by sending a blank email to
burningbushdevo-subscribe@welovegod.org and you can unsubscribe by sending a
blank email to burningbushdevo-unsubscribe@welovegod.org

You may subscribe to the html text group by sending a blank email to
burningbushhtml-subscribe@welovegod.org and you may unsubscribe by sending a
blank email to burningbushhtml-unsubscribe@welovegod.org

Subscribe to the Burning Bush Prayer Group. Send and receive prayer requests
to over 300 members. Send a blank email to: BBPG-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

Subscribe to the Burning Bush Inspirational Group. Send and receive
inspirational material to over 100 members. Send a blank email to:
bbinspire-subscribe@welovegod.org

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@yahoogroups.com

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@yahoogroups.com. A closely related website is
Peoplefaces which seeks to help those in need
peoplefaces.ohzone.net/index2.htm