BBD 01.18.11 An Empty Life

#1 · January 17, 2011, 11:52 pm

Quote from Forum Archives on January 17, 2011, 11:52 pm
Posted by: edwrather <edwrather@...>

Visit the Burning Bush websites:

www.theburningbush.net
www.theburningbush.org

The Burning Bush websites have received visits from more than 170 countries.
Celebrating 11 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 11,000 subscribers across the world.

Please join the Burning Bush Prayer Group. The group began in 1998 and is
made up of more than 300 prayer warriors. Send prayer requests and receive
prayer requests. To join send an email to: bbpg-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

If you love to send and receive inspirational emails the Burning Bush
Inspirational Group is for you. To join send an email to
bbinspire-join@welovegod.org

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

The Burning Bush Devotional
Welcome to the 736 new subscribers since January 1, 2011!!
There were 4010 new subscribers during 2010!!

01.18.11

An Empty Life

Then Samuel said to the people, "Do not fear. You have done all this
wickedness; yet do not turn aside from following the LORD, but serve the
LORD with all your heart. And do not turn aside; for then you would go after
empty things which cannot profit or deliver, for they are nothing. - 1
Samuel 12:20-21.

Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the
wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. - Ephesians 5:6.

Would you pay £1,500 (about $2,300) for a painting empty of any paint, as in
a blank canvas? Would you pay even more for a sculpture that was just an
empty space, because the sculpture was not really there? The Arts Council
England, also paid the artist Agnieszka Kurant for a movie shot with an
empty camera, as in no film in it. At least one British official (Matt
Hancock) seemed to think that paying for nothing was wrong, and he called
the so-called empty art, "a staggering waste." I'm no art critic, but it
could be that he is right! (The Sun, London - December 2, 2010)

Even more of a waste than empty art, is an empty life. Samuel warned the
people, after God gave them a king, that to now turn away from God would
only lead to "empty things." There are many today seeking to lead you away
from God. They are able to say all the right things, but they are only
saying, "empty words." The apostle Paul warns that we can be cheated
".through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of the
men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to
Christ (Colossians 2:8)." What can we be cheated out of? Life. Real life. We
can be cheated out of the abundant life (John 10:10b) that Jesus came to
give us.

What are you giving yourself to? What are you giving your life to? Is your
goal in life to have as much money as you can possibly accumulate? Is your
goal to have the most toys, the best car, the best truck, the biggest house,
the most land? Or, have you given up on even those kinds of goals, and
instead you are just doing whatever drugs you can lay your hands on? Maybe
you are just drinking your way into oblivion? All of that stuff, the
material things, the drugs, the alcohol; all of it, brings only more
emptiness into your life.

How can you end the pain of an empty life? Not by adding more emptiness, not
by compounding the problem. The apostle Paul directs us to the One who can
give us fulfillment, instead of emptiness. Here's what God says through Paul
in Colossians, "As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so
walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you
have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving (Colossians 2:6-7)."
Only in Jesus can we find true meaning in life. Walk in Him, build your life
on Jesus Christ because "For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead
bodily; and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and
power (Colossians 2:9-10)."

Instead of having an empty, meaningless, and unfulfilled life; you can be
"complete" by living your life for the Lord Jesus. I guess the only question
is this: What are you waiting for? Give your life, give your heart, your
whole heart to Jesus. He's knocking at the door, and He wants to come in
(Revelation 3:20).

Copyright © 2011. Ed Wrather. Permission is given for use of the devotionals
on a non-profit basis with source credited. 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 these first devotionals was
primarily through the Burning Bush Newsletter sent to prison facilities
throughout the United States and Canada.

Many prayer needs are posted at the Burning Bush website on the Prayer
Request page. You can also post your prayer requests there and they will be
forwarded to the Burning Bush Prayer Group (Of course, I am always in need
of prayer - please pray for me.).

If you are not my friend on facebook or myspace you can be, just add me. The
devotionals are posted in my blogs on those two social networks and you can
leave comments, feedback about them there. There are other social networks
designed just for Christians, however, this is an outreach project to reach
those who may not know the Lord or may have wandered away. You can help me
reach out to them.

For information about how to hear my testimony in your church visit this
link: www.theburningbush.net/pages.asp?pageid=22160

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

Two videos of my sermons are posted on GodTube (now Tangle) at:
connect.tangle.com/Wrather

You can listen to services at my son, Clark Wrather's church (First Baptist
Church of Broken Bow, Oklahoma) live on Sunday mornings at 10:55am CST
www.kkbifm.com/

There is a complete devotional archive at the old Burning Bush website. Here
is the URL: www.theburningbush.org/33.html.

You can unsubscribe to the pure text version of the devotional 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 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.

Posted by: edwrather <edwrather@...>

Visit the Burning Bush websites:

http://www.theburningbush.net
http://www.theburningbush.org

The Burning Bush websites have received visits from more than 170 countries.
Celebrating 11 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 11,000 subscribers across the world.

Please join the Burning Bush Prayer Group. The group began in 1998 and is
made up of more than 300 prayer warriors. Send prayer requests and receive
prayer requests. To join send an email to: bbpg-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

If you love to send and receive inspirational emails the Burning Bush
Inspirational Group is for you. To join send an email to
bbinspire-join@welovegod.org

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

The Burning Bush Devotional
Welcome to the 736 new subscribers since January 1, 2011!!
There were 4010 new subscribers during 2010!!

01.18.11

An Empty Life

Then Samuel said to the people, "Do not fear. You have done all this
wickedness; yet do not turn aside from following the LORD, but serve the
LORD with all your heart. And do not turn aside; for then you would go after
empty things which cannot profit or deliver, for they are nothing. - 1
Samuel 12:20-21.

Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the
wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. - Ephesians 5:6.

Would you pay £1,500 (about $2,300) for a painting empty of any paint, as in
a blank canvas? Would you pay even more for a sculpture that was just an
empty space, because the sculpture was not really there? The Arts Council
England, also paid the artist Agnieszka Kurant for a movie shot with an
empty camera, as in no film in it. At least one British official (Matt
Hancock) seemed to think that paying for nothing was wrong, and he called
the so-called empty art, "a staggering waste." I'm no art critic, but it
could be that he is right! (The Sun, London - December 2, 2010)

Even more of a waste than empty art, is an empty life. Samuel warned the
people, after God gave them a king, that to now turn away from God would
only lead to "empty things." There are many today seeking to lead you away
from God. They are able to say all the right things, but they are only
saying, "empty words." The apostle Paul warns that we can be cheated
".through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of the
men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to
Christ (Colossians 2:8)." What can we be cheated out of? Life. Real life. We
can be cheated out of the abundant life (John 10:10b) that Jesus came to
give us.

What are you giving yourself to? What are you giving your life to? Is your
goal in life to have as much money as you can possibly accumulate? Is your
goal to have the most toys, the best car, the best truck, the biggest house,
the most land? Or, have you given up on even those kinds of goals, and
instead you are just doing whatever drugs you can lay your hands on? Maybe
you are just drinking your way into oblivion? All of that stuff, the
material things, the drugs, the alcohol; all of it, brings only more
emptiness into your life.

How can you end the pain of an empty life? Not by adding more emptiness, not
by compounding the problem. The apostle Paul directs us to the One who can
give us fulfillment, instead of emptiness. Here's what God says through Paul
in Colossians, "As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so
walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you
have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving (Colossians 2:6-7)."
Only in Jesus can we find true meaning in life. Walk in Him, build your life
on Jesus Christ because "For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead
bodily; and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and
power (Colossians 2:9-10)."

Instead of having an empty, meaningless, and unfulfilled life; you can be
"complete" by living your life for the Lord Jesus. I guess the only question
is this: What are you waiting for? Give your life, give your heart, your
whole heart to Jesus. He's knocking at the door, and He wants to come in
(Revelation 3:20).

Copyright © 2011. Ed Wrather. Permission is given for use of the devotionals
on a non-profit basis with source credited. 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 these first devotionals was
primarily through the Burning Bush Newsletter sent to prison facilities
throughout the United States and Canada.

Many prayer needs are posted at the Burning Bush website on the Prayer
Request page. You can also post your prayer requests there and they will be
forwarded to the Burning Bush Prayer Group (Of course, I am always in need
of prayer - please pray for me.).

If you are not my friend on facebook or myspace you can be, just add me. The
devotionals are posted in my blogs on those two social networks and you can
leave comments, feedback about them there. There are other social networks
designed just for Christians, however, this is an outreach project to reach
those who may not know the Lord or may have wandered away. You can help me
reach out to them.

For information about how to hear my testimony in your church visit this
link: http://www.theburningbush.net/pages.asp?pageid=22160

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

Two videos of my sermons are posted on GodTube (now Tangle) at:
connect.tangle.com/Wrather

You can listen to services at my son, Clark Wrather's church (First Baptist
Church of Broken Bow, Oklahoma) live on Sunday mornings at 10:55am CST
http://www.kkbifm.com/

There is a complete devotional archive at the old Burning Bush website. Here
is the URL: http://www.theburningbush.org/33.html.

You can unsubscribe to the pure text version of the devotional 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 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.