BBD 03.15.11 When All is Gone (Classic)

#1 · March 15, 2011, 4:55 pm

Quote from Forum Archives on March 15, 2011, 4:55 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 16,000 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 3817 new subscribers since January 1, 2011!!
There were 4010 new subscribers during 2010!!
Classic from 2003

03.15.11

When All is Gone

I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward. - Genesis 15:1c.

The Lord is my Shepherd.Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow
of death. - Psalm 23 :1a; 4a.

Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. - John 6:68.

Job, who lived in the land of Uz, was a man who had it made in worldly
terms. He had a large family, and was blessed with an abundance of worldly
goods. However, in a very short period of time it was all tragically taken
away from him. The bad news came, and then more bad news came, and more and
more; it must have seemed like it would never end. The Sabeans raided,
killing servants, and taking away his oxen and donkeys. Then, another
messenger came to report that the fire of God had fallen from heaven,
burning up his sheep and servants. Then, the Chaldeans came, killing more
servants and taking Job's camels. Finally, it was reported to Job that his
sons, and daughters had been killed when a great wind hit their home. On top
of all of this bad news, Job became horribly, terribly ill; with sores over
his entire body, and he was in much pain.

All had been taken away from Job except for a few miserable friends, and his
wife, who urged him to just curse God and die. Job was about as low as you
can go, and still be breathing. On top of it all, his friends accused him of
being a sinner, and urged him to confess his sins. His friends believed all
the bad things had happened because Job had committed some terrible sin.
However, Job was innocent so there was not anything to confess.

In the United States, we have a great tradition of pausing once a year to
give thanks to God for His blessings during the past year. The tradition of
thanksgiving was begun over three hundred years ago. We are thankful for all
the things, and worldly blessings that we have been allowed to have, and to
enjoy. We should express our thanks to God, not just on Thanksgiving, but
every day for all He has blessed us.

Job and David, both point us to a deeper level of Thanksgiving. When all has
been taken away. When all our worldly goods, and even our families are gone.
When our health has broken, and we are in pain, what can we be thankful for
then? David expresses it in this way, "Yea, though I walk through the valley
of the shadow of death." When we have reached the lowest of low, even in the
"valley of the shadow of death" then, there is only the most important of
all left, for which to be thankful. What is that? God. Underlying
everything, every blessing, every day we should be thankful for God. As God
told Abraham, "I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward." As Peter
said to Jesus when asked if he too was going to leave, "Lord, to whom shall
we go? You have the words of eternal life."

When all is gone, when we are walking in the valley of the shadow of death,
we still have the most important, wonderful, One of all, to be thankful
for - God! He is our "exceedingly great reward."

Copyright © 2003-2011. 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 16,000 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 3817 new subscribers since January 1, 2011!!
There were 4010 new subscribers during 2010!!
Classic from 2003

03.15.11

When All is Gone

I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward. - Genesis 15:1c.

The Lord is my Shepherd.Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow
of death. - Psalm 23 :1a; 4a.

Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. - John 6:68.

Job, who lived in the land of Uz, was a man who had it made in worldly
terms. He had a large family, and was blessed with an abundance of worldly
goods. However, in a very short period of time it was all tragically taken
away from him. The bad news came, and then more bad news came, and more and
more; it must have seemed like it would never end. The Sabeans raided,
killing servants, and taking away his oxen and donkeys. Then, another
messenger came to report that the fire of God had fallen from heaven,
burning up his sheep and servants. Then, the Chaldeans came, killing more
servants and taking Job's camels. Finally, it was reported to Job that his
sons, and daughters had been killed when a great wind hit their home. On top
of all of this bad news, Job became horribly, terribly ill; with sores over
his entire body, and he was in much pain.

All had been taken away from Job except for a few miserable friends, and his
wife, who urged him to just curse God and die. Job was about as low as you
can go, and still be breathing. On top of it all, his friends accused him of
being a sinner, and urged him to confess his sins. His friends believed all
the bad things had happened because Job had committed some terrible sin.
However, Job was innocent so there was not anything to confess.

In the United States, we have a great tradition of pausing once a year to
give thanks to God for His blessings during the past year. The tradition of
thanksgiving was begun over three hundred years ago. We are thankful for all
the things, and worldly blessings that we have been allowed to have, and to
enjoy. We should express our thanks to God, not just on Thanksgiving, but
every day for all He has blessed us.

Job and David, both point us to a deeper level of Thanksgiving. When all has
been taken away. When all our worldly goods, and even our families are gone.
When our health has broken, and we are in pain, what can we be thankful for
then? David expresses it in this way, "Yea, though I walk through the valley
of the shadow of death." When we have reached the lowest of low, even in the
"valley of the shadow of death" then, there is only the most important of
all left, for which to be thankful. What is that? God. Underlying
everything, every blessing, every day we should be thankful for God. As God
told Abraham, "I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward." As Peter
said to Jesus when asked if he too was going to leave, "Lord, to whom shall
we go? You have the words of eternal life."

When all is gone, when we are walking in the valley of the shadow of death,
we still have the most important, wonderful, One of all, to be thankful
for - God! He is our "exceedingly great reward."

Copyright © 2003-2011. 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.