BBD 03.11.09 Do You Need Rescuing?
Posted by: wrather <wrather@...>
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The Burning Bush Devotional
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03.11.09
Do You Need Rescuing?
.the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve
the unjust under punishment for the day of judgment. - 2 Peter 2:9.
Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall. No temptation
has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who
will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the
temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear
it. Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry. - 1 Corinthians 10:12-14.
Usually when we hear a story about a St. Bernard dog we think immediately of
their heroic history as rescue dogs in the Swiss Alps. In 1707, the St.
Bernard, Barry, rescued (depending on accounts of the event) between 40 and
100 people at what is now known as the Great St. Bernard Pass. The heroic
dog's body has actually been preserved and is in the Natural History Museum
at Berne. However, I recently read about a St. Bernard that instead of
rescuing was on the receiving end of a rescue. Duke, a 16-month-old, St.
Bernard got out of his owner's yard in Billings, Montana and ended up
falling through the ice on a golf course pond. Duke got out of the pond but
then was frozen to the ice. After the dog was found by a maintenance worker
the fire department was called. See, it's not only cats in trees that they
rescue! Two firefighters reached the 118-pound dog with a rescue sled. After
the ice was broken off, and a blow dryer at a veterinary clinic dried him
off, Duke was feeling pretty good.
In the 21st Century, there are as there always have been many worldly
temptations and snares of the devil. Even great servants of God can sometime
succumb to those temptations and snares. Bob Harrington is an example. Bob
was saved in 1958 and three days later preached his first sermon. He became
an evangelist and by the late 1960s was conducting area wide crusades and
had a weekly television program. His ministry in the French Quarter of New
Orleans was well known and he was proclaimed by the Mayor of New Orleans to
be the "Chaplain of Bourbon Street." It all came to an end in 1976 when Bob
Harrington was at the pinnacle of his ministry. Bob left the ministry to
live as a prodigal for 19 years. After 19 years of prodigal living he
returned to the Lord. You can find out more about Bob Harrington's life and
ministry at his website thechaplain.com.
What was it that led to Bob Harrington's fall? His website mentions his
pride. What was it that led to the devil's being cast out of Heaven? It was
his pride (Ezekiel 28:17). When did Bob Harrington turn away from the Lord?
It was at the point of his greatest ministry. When you are the most
effective for the Lord you must be very careful that you do not fall victim
to the snares of the world, the flesh, and the devil.
What if you have already fallen? You were a servant of God in the past, and
even led many to a saving faith in the Lord. You were a rescuer but now you
need to be rescued. There is a way of escape and the Lord is able to deliver
you. If He rescued Bob Harrington, He can rescue you. If you will turn back
to the Lord, the Lord will run to you as the Father ran to the prodigal son,
welcoming you home (Luke 15:11-31). Just in case you were waiting for an
invitation, here it is - your Heavenly Father wants you to come home.
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