BBD 02.03.05 Stealing the Swimming Pool (Classic)

#1 · February 3, 2015, 7:13 pm

Quote from Forum Archives on February 3, 2015, 7:13 pm
Posted by: theburningbushdevotional <theburningbushdevotional@...>

If for
some reason you do not receive your email version of the devotional please
check the Burning Bush website at www.theburningbush.net for the “Devotional of the Day” and read the devotional
there.

The New Pastor's
Training Manual is now available for download on Amazon. You can READ for
FREE a LARGE SAMPLE (approx. 17 pages) which includes how God worked in my life
to Call me to Preach and other material. Click on the “Look Inside Link.” If
you do buy the 216 page eBook for $3 (FREE if you have KINDLE UNLIMITED.)
please write a review. Thanks! Here is the link: http://amzn.to/1ufa1ov
If you prefer a paper copy of the book you can order it from the Burning Bush
website at http://bit.ly/1uXDBnk

The Burning
Bush Devotional

Classic
from 2005

02.03.15

Stealing
the Swimming Pool

For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is
guilty of all. For He who said, "Do not commit adultery," also said,
"Do not murder." Now if you do not commit adultery, but you do
murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. - James 2:10-11 NKJV.

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

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

The Nicolaysen family had a big surprise when they arrived
at their mountain cabin in Norway. They found a big hole in the ground where
their swimming pool should have been. The pool and all of its equipment had
been stolen. The pool had been installed at the cabin twenty years ago and the
pool was not just bolted down it was in the ground. Arild Nicolaysen
said, “This can’t be, we thought. We didn’t think
it was possible. No one can steal a swimming pool.” Arild’s husband, Brit
Nicolaysen said this, “It must have been a terrible job to disassemble such a
big pool. There is a steel lining all the way around, plus there is a plastic
liner and then there was a skimming system, a filter system and a lot of big
hoses, and pipes.”

When I was five years old, my mother took me with her
once to go shopping in town (We lived on a farm.). At a store, I noticed some
large glass fish bowls filled up with little glittering knives. The knives were
a little over an inch long and I really wanted one. The knives only cost five
cents, but I did not have any money and I knew my mother would not give me any
to buy one. So, I looked around and no one was looking; I reached into the bowl
and pulled out a knife, a green one, and put it in my pocket. What I did was
wrong. It was stealing. I know it was wrong now, but I also knew it was wrong
then. It was a sin, a bad thing in the sight of God.

James makes it clear that whether we steal a swimming
pool or a little green knife worth only five cents we have sinned. Whether a
sin is little or big in our eyes, it is still a violation of God’s Law and we
have fallen “short of the glory of God.” That’s why we need a Savior!

No one upon this earth is perfect, because we have all
sinned whether we have stolen a swimming pool or a little green knife. We have
all sinned whether we have told a little white lie or a whopper of a lie. We
have all sinned as James puts it, whether we have committed adultery or murder.

The penalty for sin is death, and that is what Romans 6:23a says, “The
wages of sin is death.” That’s the bad news.
However, the Good News is that, “the gift of
God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 6:23b).” Have you received the gift?

Copyright © 2005-2015. 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
these 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
received visits from 184 countries in 2015 including from 27 cities in Iran.
Celebrating 16 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
14,000 subscribers across the world.

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

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

Ed Wrather has retired from
pastoring full-time and has more time to pursue other ministry opportunities.
You can make contact at edwrather@yahoo.com or theburningbushdevotional@gmail.com View LinkedIn
profile with endorsements at http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=92988105

Prayer Requests: Please pray for
an end to the racial hatred in the USA and that it will be replaced with peace
and love. Please pray for Justin Lewis who is battling cancer. He is a young
Christian man with a wife and two children. Unless God intervenes there is
little hope for him. Please also pray for Shane Hall who has cancer and for all
those afflicted with this terrible disease. My sister, Reta, is also in need of
prayer, she has stage four renal carcinoma and will have surgery soon to remove
a kidney. 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.).

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@...>

If for
some reason you do not receive your email version of the devotional please
check the Burning Bush website at http://www.theburningbush.net for the “Devotional of the Day” and read the devotional
there.

The New Pastor's
Training Manual is now available for download on Amazon. You can READ for
FREE a LARGE SAMPLE (approx. 17 pages) which includes how God worked in my life
to Call me to Preach and other material. Click on the “Look Inside Link.” If
you do buy the 216 page eBook for $3 (FREE if you have KINDLE UNLIMITED.)
please write a review. Thanks! Here is the link: http://amzn.to/1ufa1ov
If you prefer a paper copy of the book you can order it from the Burning Bush
website at http://bit.ly/1uXDBnk

The Burning
Bush Devotional

Classic
from 2005

02.03.15

Stealing
the Swimming Pool

For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is
guilty of all. For He who said, "Do not commit adultery," also said,
"Do not murder." Now if you do not commit adultery, but you do
murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. - James 2:10-11 NKJV.

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

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

The Nicolaysen family had a big surprise when they arrived
at their mountain cabin in Norway. They found a big hole in the ground where
their swimming pool should have been. The pool and all of its equipment had
been stolen. The pool had been installed at the cabin twenty years ago and the
pool was not just bolted down it was in the ground. Arild Nicolaysen
said, “This can’t be, we thought. We didn’t think
it was possible. No one can steal a swimming pool.” Arild’s husband, Brit
Nicolaysen said this, “It must have been a terrible job to disassemble such a
big pool. There is a steel lining all the way around, plus there is a plastic
liner and then there was a skimming system, a filter system and a lot of big
hoses, and pipes.”

When I was five years old, my mother took me with her
once to go shopping in town (We lived on a farm.). At a store, I noticed some
large glass fish bowls filled up with little glittering knives. The knives were
a little over an inch long and I really wanted one. The knives only cost five
cents, but I did not have any money and I knew my mother would not give me any
to buy one. So, I looked around and no one was looking; I reached into the bowl
and pulled out a knife, a green one, and put it in my pocket. What I did was
wrong. It was stealing. I know it was wrong now, but I also knew it was wrong
then. It was a sin, a bad thing in the sight of God.

James makes it clear that whether we steal a swimming
pool or a little green knife worth only five cents we have sinned. Whether a
sin is little or big in our eyes, it is still a violation of God’s Law and we
have fallen “short of the glory of God.” That’s why we need a Savior!

No one upon this earth is perfect, because we have all
sinned whether we have stolen a swimming pool or a little green knife. We have
all sinned whether we have told a little white lie or a whopper of a lie. We
have all sinned as James puts it, whether we have committed adultery or murder.

The penalty for sin is death, and that is what Romans 6:23a says, “The
wages of sin is death.” That’s the bad news.
However, the Good News is that, “the gift of
God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 6:23b).” Have you received the gift?

Copyright © 2005-2015. 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
these 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
received visits from 184 countries in 2015 including from 27 cities in Iran.
Celebrating 16 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
14,000 subscribers across the world.

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 left hand corner of all of the pages.

Ed Wrather has retired from
pastoring full-time and has more time to pursue other ministry opportunities.
You can make contact at edwrather@yahoo.com or theburningbushdevotional@gmail.com View LinkedIn
profile with endorsements at http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=92988105

Prayer Requests: Please pray for
an end to the racial hatred in the USA and that it will be replaced with peace
and love. Please pray for Justin Lewis who is battling cancer. He is a young
Christian man with a wife and two children. Unless God intervenes there is
little hope for him. Please also pray for Shane Hall who has cancer and for all
those afflicted with this terrible disease. My sister, Reta, is also in need of
prayer, she has stage four renal carcinoma and will have surgery soon to remove
a kidney. 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.).

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