BBD 01.16.17 Looking Back (Classic)

#1 · January 16, 2017, 10:17 am

Quote from Forum Archives on January 16, 2017, 10:17 am
Posted by: theburningbushdevotional <theburningbushdevotional@...>

Classic from 2009

Burning Bush Devotional

16 January 2017

Looking Back

The sun had
risen upon the earth when Lot entered Zoar. Then the LORD rained brimstone and
fire on Sodom and Gomorrah, from the LORD out of the heavens. So He overthrew
those cities, all the plain, all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew
on the ground. But his wife looked back behind him, and she became a pillar of
salt. - Genesis 19:23-26 NKJV.

In Fresno, California, a 20-year-old man is back in jail, again. The man had
been arrested and incarcerated being charged with child abuse and marijuana
possession. He was released from jail (It is unknown whether those charges are
still pending.); however, he has now been arrested and incarcerated for the
felony charge of receiving stolen property. What was the stolen property? A
Fresno County Jail T-Shirt with the word, “PRISONER” on the back. He
apparently had taken the shirt with him when he was released on the first
charges. Why? Maybe he had enjoyed his stay in jail so much that he wanted a
souvenir to help him to remember the good times that he had while he was there.
Of course, now he gets to wear his “PRISONER” shirt for real.

Lot’s wife appears to have had a problem similar to that of the man in the
Fresno County Jail. Lot and his family had been delivered from the destruction
of Sodom and Gomorrah, and the delivering angels had warned them, “Escape for
your life! Do not look behind you (Genesis 19:17b).” But
Lot’s wife looked back and was turned into a pillar of salt. What was it that
she was missing back there in Sodom and Gomorrah? Why was it that God destroyed
the place with fire and brimstone? Abraham is told in Genesis
18:20 that it would be destroyed, “because their sin is very
grave (NKJV) (grievous - KJV; immense - The
Message; flagrant - NLT; extremely serious -
Holman).” Did Lot’s wife miss the immorality of the place so flagrantly
h_mos_xual that the men of the city demanded that Lot send out the angels so “that we
may know them carnally (19:5c)?” Or, was she missing her material
possessions, a house, and other things that she was leaving behind?

Do you see the parallel to the Christian life? Lot’s wife had been saved from
immediate death - angels had been sent to personally deliver her and her
family. She had seen the angels with her own eyes, but still looked back,
apparently wanted to go back. So many of us as Christians have been saved from
eternal destruction, we have been rescued by Jesus who suffered and died in our
place. However, we are like Lot’s wife, and sometimes we try to go back.
Sometimes we start acting like we used to act before we were set free. We start
wearing our “PRISONER” shirts around acting like we are still in jail
for our sins.

What would God tell us to do when we are tempted to look back? Perhaps he would
tell us what the apostle Paul says in Philippians 3:13-14, “Brethren,
I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those
things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I
press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” May we
all forget those things that are behind us, that we have been saved from, and
reach forward, pressing on for “the prize of the upward call of
God in Christ Jesus.”

Copyright © 2009-2016. 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 websites:

www.theburningbush.net

www.theburningbush.org

The Burning Bush websites are celebrating
18 years online since January 31, 1998. Since June 8, 1998 the Burning Bush
Devotional has been spreading the truth of God's Word to more than 12,000
subscribers across the world. (At one time there were 18,000 subscribers to the
email devotional. Email has become less important as many are using the social
platforms like facebook and twitter more frequently.)

The Addictions Kit - Biblical Help for Addictions by Ed Wrather is now
available for download from Amazon. The Addictions Kit provides practical Biblical steps to defeat
your addiction that actually work.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00VIYLNLM

The New Pastor's Training Manual is available for download on Amazon. Here is the link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00PJ8UTGS If you prefer a paper copy of the book you can order it from
the Burning Bush website at http://bit.ly/1uXDBnk

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.

Prayer
Requests:

Please continue to pray for
healing for Michelle Abetz, Shane Hall, Brad, Damon D. & wife, Beverly
(Jeanie’s sister), Brent Baker, Lexi McCalip, Gary Kirk, and Jeanie.

Please pray for an end to the
racial hatred in the USA and that it will be replaced with peace and love. 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. My
prayer focus is now that God will give me opportunities to preach. As the
apostle Paul says, “…woe is me if I do not preach the gospel!”).

You can contact Ed Wrather at edwrather@yahoo.com or
theburningbushdevotional@gmail.com View LinkedIn profile with
endorsements at http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=92988105

If you enjoy the devotional
please recommend it to your friends. They may subscribe by sending a blank
email to burningbushdevo-join@welovegod.org

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 burningbushdevo-leave@welovegod.org 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 burningbushhtml-join@welovegod.org and you may unsubscribe by
sending a blank email to burningbushhtml-leave@welovegod.org and then respond
to the confirmation email. If the link does not work, copy and paste the link.

--

To unsubscribe, send ANY message to: burningbushdevo-leave@welovegod.org

Posted by: theburningbushdevotional <theburningbushdevotional@...>

Classic from 2009

Burning Bush Devotional

16 January 2017

Looking Back

The sun had
risen upon the earth when Lot entered Zoar. Then the LORD rained brimstone and
fire on Sodom and Gomorrah, from the LORD out of the heavens. So He overthrew
those cities, all the plain, all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew
on the ground. But his wife looked back behind him, and she became a pillar of
salt. - Genesis 19:23-26 NKJV.

In Fresno, California, a 20-year-old man is back in jail, again. The man had
been arrested and incarcerated being charged with child abuse and marijuana
possession. He was released from jail (It is unknown whether those charges are
still pending.); however, he has now been arrested and incarcerated for the
felony charge of receiving stolen property. What was the stolen property? A
Fresno County Jail T-Shirt with the word, “PRISONER” on the back. He
apparently had taken the shirt with him when he was released on the first
charges. Why? Maybe he had enjoyed his stay in jail so much that he wanted a
souvenir to help him to remember the good times that he had while he was there.
Of course, now he gets to wear his “PRISONER” shirt for real.

Lot’s wife appears to have had a problem similar to that of the man in the
Fresno County Jail. Lot and his family had been delivered from the destruction
of Sodom and Gomorrah, and the delivering angels had warned them, “Escape for
your life! Do not look behind you (Genesis 19:17b).” But
Lot’s wife looked back and was turned into a pillar of salt. What was it that
she was missing back there in Sodom and Gomorrah? Why was it that God destroyed
the place with fire and brimstone? Abraham is told in Genesis
18:20 that it would be destroyed, “because their sin is very
grave (NKJV) (grievous - KJV; immense - The
Message; flagrant - NLT; extremely serious -
Holman).” Did Lot’s wife miss the immorality of the place so flagrantly
h_mos_xual that the men of the city demanded that Lot send out the angels so “that we
may know them carnally (19:5c)?” Or, was she missing her material
possessions, a house, and other things that she was leaving behind?

Do you see the parallel to the Christian life? Lot’s wife had been saved from
immediate death - angels had been sent to personally deliver her and her
family. She had seen the angels with her own eyes, but still looked back,
apparently wanted to go back. So many of us as Christians have been saved from
eternal destruction, we have been rescued by Jesus who suffered and died in our
place. However, we are like Lot’s wife, and sometimes we try to go back.
Sometimes we start acting like we used to act before we were set free. We start
wearing our “PRISONER” shirts around acting like we are still in jail
for our sins.

What would God tell us to do when we are tempted to look back? Perhaps he would
tell us what the apostle Paul says in Philippians 3:13-14, “Brethren,
I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those
things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I
press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” May we
all forget those things that are behind us, that we have been saved from, and
reach forward, pressing on for “the prize of the upward call of
God in Christ Jesus.”

Copyright © 2009-2016. 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 websites:

http://www.theburningbush.net

http://www.theburningbush.org

The Burning Bush websites are celebrating
18 years online since January 31, 1998. Since June 8, 1998 the Burning Bush
Devotional has been spreading the truth of God's Word to more than 12,000
subscribers across the world. (At one time there were 18,000 subscribers to the
email devotional. Email has become less important as many are using the social
platforms like facebook and twitter more frequently.)

The Addictions Kit - Biblical Help for Addictions by Ed Wrather is now
available for download from Amazon. The Addictions Kit provides practical Biblical steps to defeat
your addiction that actually work.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00VIYLNLM

The New Pastor's Training Manual is available for download on Amazon. Here is the link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00PJ8UTGS If you prefer a paper copy of the book you can order it from
the Burning Bush website at http://bit.ly/1uXDBnk

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.

Prayer
Requests:

Please continue to pray for
healing for Michelle Abetz, Shane Hall, Brad, Damon D. & wife, Beverly
(Jeanie’s sister), Brent Baker, Lexi McCalip, Gary Kirk, and Jeanie.

Please pray for an end to the
racial hatred in the USA and that it will be replaced with peace and love. 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. My
prayer focus is now that God will give me opportunities to preach. As the
apostle Paul says, “…woe is me if I do not preach the gospel!”).

You can contact Ed Wrather at edwrather@yahoo.com or
theburningbushdevotional@gmail.com View LinkedIn profile with
endorsements at http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=92988105

If you enjoy the devotional
please recommend it to your friends. They may subscribe by sending a blank
email to burningbushdevo-join@welovegod.org

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 burningbushdevo-leave@welovegod.org 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 burningbushhtml-join@welovegod.org and you may unsubscribe by
sending a blank email to burningbushhtml-leave@welovegod.org and then respond
to the confirmation email. If the link does not work, copy and paste the link.

To unsubscribe, send ANY message to: burningbushdevo-leave@welovegod.org