BBD 02.23.15 The Challenge of the Call (New)

#1 · February 23, 2015, 3:34 pm

Quote from Forum Archives on February 23, 2015, 3:34 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 now priced at $0.99 cents, (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

02.23.15

The
Challenge of the Call

And Jesus, walking by the Sea of Galilee, saw two brothers, Simon
called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were
fishermen. Then He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of
men.” They immediately left their nets and followed Him. - Matthew 4:18-20
NKJV.

Hu
Huiyuan is a 21-year-old woman who lives in the Anhui Province in China. Hu is
writing a novel, and has written six chapters of it, approximately 60,000
words. Many people, perhaps millions, write novels. However, how many of them
write their novels by typing with a toe on their left foot? She has cerebral palsy;
the only parts of her body not paralyzed are her head and left foot. Hu’s
mother has been a dedicated teacher providing her with an education; in
addition to helping her learn how to perform physical tasks most of us take for
granted. Hu’s mother says, “When I was
teaching her how to speak, I had to be very patient as every single word might
take a thousand times of repeating.” Hu
says about her education, “I’m not a genius, but I’m very focused. When I watched
TV in my childhood, I often learned words with subtitles.” It is
surprising that Hu is now able to type on her keyboard, while strapped in a
wheelchair, 20 to 30 words a minute! (Shanghaiist
01.26.15)

Life will always provide us with challenges, we may not have to
try to write a book typing with our toe, but it may seem like it at times.
Every person who comes to know Jesus as their personal Savior is called to a
challenging life of service. We are told this in Luke 9:23, “Then He (Jesus) said to them all, ‘If
anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross
daily, and follow Me.’” The indication here from Luke 9:23, is that the call is not a call to a life of ease, but to
a life of sacrifice. The phrase “take up his cross
daily” makes this clear, because we know what a cross meant in the first
century. The cross in the first century was a horrific instrument of execution,
which the condemned would often be required to carry on their backs to the
place of their death. The amazing thing to consider is why would anyone follow
Jesus, especially in the first century, when He was calling them to a life of
cross carrying?

Even
the apostle Paul faced great challenges as he lived out the call God had placed
upon his life. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 7:5, “…when
we came to Macedonia, our bodies had no rest, but we were troubled on every
side. Outside were conflicts, inside were fears.” But Paul also says, “I am filled with comfort. I am exceedingly joyful in all our
tribulation (2 Corinthians 7:4).” Then Paul says, “Nevertheless God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by
the coming of Titus, and not only by his coming, but also by the consolation
with which he was comforted in you, when he told us of your earnest desire,
your mourning, your zeal for me, so that I rejoiced even more (2 Corinthians
6:5-7).”

Whatever
challenges you face in life, whatever God has called you to do, the God “who comforts the downcast” has what you need. You may
think you simply cannot take another step physically or mentally, but then God
makes His presence known. It may be that God shows up through the words of a
book, a devotional, or as the apostle Paul experienced through the coming of a
trusted friend who encourages you. Cross carrying has never been easy, but it
has always been possible as we look to the One who called us to help us take
one more step, or even to type one more letter. May God show up in some way
today in your life to encourage, to strengthen, to empower, and to comfort you.

Copyright © 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 right 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 cell carcinoma and will have surgery February
27 to remove the tumor and 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 now priced at $0.99 cents, (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

02.23.15

The
Challenge of the Call

And Jesus, walking by the Sea of Galilee, saw two brothers, Simon
called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were
fishermen. Then He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of
men.” They immediately left their nets and followed Him. - Matthew 4:18-20
NKJV.

Hu
Huiyuan is a 21-year-old woman who lives in the Anhui Province in China. Hu is
writing a novel, and has written six chapters of it, approximately 60,000
words. Many people, perhaps millions, write novels. However, how many of them
write their novels by typing with a toe on their left foot? She has cerebral palsy;
the only parts of her body not paralyzed are her head and left foot. Hu’s
mother has been a dedicated teacher providing her with an education; in
addition to helping her learn how to perform physical tasks most of us take for
granted. Hu’s mother says, “When I was
teaching her how to speak, I had to be very patient as every single word might
take a thousand times of repeating.” Hu
says about her education, “I’m not a genius, but I’m very focused. When I watched
TV in my childhood, I often learned words with subtitles.” It is
surprising that Hu is now able to type on her keyboard, while strapped in a
wheelchair, 20 to 30 words a minute! (Shanghaiist
01.26.15)

Life will always provide us with challenges, we may not have to
try to write a book typing with our toe, but it may seem like it at times.
Every person who comes to know Jesus as their personal Savior is called to a
challenging life of service. We are told this in Luke 9:23, “Then He (Jesus) said to them all, ‘If
anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross
daily, and follow Me.’” The indication here from Luke 9:23, is that the call is not a call to a life of ease, but to
a life of sacrifice. The phrase “take up his cross
daily” makes this clear, because we know what a cross meant in the first
century. The cross in the first century was a horrific instrument of execution,
which the condemned would often be required to carry on their backs to the
place of their death. The amazing thing to consider is why would anyone follow
Jesus, especially in the first century, when He was calling them to a life of
cross carrying?

Even
the apostle Paul faced great challenges as he lived out the call God had placed
upon his life. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 7:5, “…when
we came to Macedonia, our bodies had no rest, but we were troubled on every
side. Outside were conflicts, inside were fears.” But Paul also says, “I am filled with comfort. I am exceedingly joyful in all our
tribulation (2 Corinthians 7:4).” Then Paul says, “Nevertheless God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by
the coming of Titus, and not only by his coming, but also by the consolation
with which he was comforted in you, when he told us of your earnest desire,
your mourning, your zeal for me, so that I rejoiced even more (2 Corinthians
6:5-7).”

Whatever
challenges you face in life, whatever God has called you to do, the God “who comforts the downcast” has what you need. You may
think you simply cannot take another step physically or mentally, but then God
makes His presence known. It may be that God shows up through the words of a
book, a devotional, or as the apostle Paul experienced through the coming of a
trusted friend who encourages you. Cross carrying has never been easy, but it
has always been possible as we look to the One who called us to help us take
one more step, or even to type one more letter. May God show up in some way
today in your life to encourage, to strengthen, to empower, and to comfort you.

Copyright © 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 right 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 cell carcinoma and will have surgery February
27 to remove the tumor and 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