BBD 03.31.17 Begin Again - Part 1 (Classic)

#1 · March 31, 2017, 12:56 pm

Quote from Forum Archives on March 31, 2017, 12:56 pm
Posted by: theburningbushdevotional <theburningbushdevotional@...>

Classic from 2009

Burning Bush Devotional

31 March 2017

Begin
Again – Part 1

Therefore,
my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable (…stand firm. Let nothing move
you. - NIV), always abounding (Always give yourselves fully - NIV) in the work
of the Lord, knowing (because you know - NIV) that your labor is not in vain in
the Lord. - 1 Corinthians 15:58 NKJV.

Life is made up of beginnings and endings and more beginnings. Winter ends and
spring begins. Spring ends and summer begins. Summer ends and winter begins. We
are ending one year (This was a New Year’s message for 2010.) and starting a
new year with the challenges of the past year behind and the challenges of a
new year ahead. We end childhood and begin young adulthood. We end being young
adults and enter middle age. We end middle age and become senior adults. We are
born, we live, we die, and then if we know Jesus as our Savior, we live again.

I have found that the older I become the harder it is to begin again, the
harder it is to move forward and not to stop. The older I am, the harder it is
to try something new. The older I am, the easier it is to do nothing. The older
I am, the easier it is to think I have done enough. The older I am, the easier
it is to plan for dying instead of for living. The older I am, the harder it is
to continue with life when bad things happen - to begin again.

How do you begin again, how do you move forward with life, how do you really
live as long as you are living? This verse in 1
Corinthians 15:58 does give us some direction as to how to do that. The first
instruction that the apostle Paul gives us about how to begin again, how to
live is this: “…stand firm. Let nothing move you….” He is
saying that we should let nothing in this world deter us, keep us from living
the abundant life that Jesus came to give us (John
10:10b). We should let no bad thing, no evil thing, not even a good thing
keep us from living our lives for the Lord.

For the early Christians, there were some obstacles to living the Christian
life, especially in Corinth. Corinth was an evil place, a wicked place. If you
were a Christian in Corinth you could count on feeling out of place, out of
step with most of the people who lived there. If you were a Christian in
Corinth you could count on encountering persecution in one form or another.
Paul was telling them don't let that stop you from living like you should “…stand
firm. Let nothing move you….”

Paul from the context of this verse, the preceding verses, was also talking
about the discouragement caused by death. The discouragement caused by knowing
that we all will someday die a physical death and the discouragement that comes
from the deaths of those that we love. The fact of death looming ahead of us is
something that we all have to deal with. Both of my parents passed away in 2007
and there is something about your parents no longer being alive that changes
your perspective - it makes you more aware of your own mortality. This year (2009)
there have been so many that I know who are around my age who have passed away.
Last Monday one more of my high school classmates passed away. It makes you
wonder sometimes if you are next. We have seen so many of our young people in
this area who have died at an early age, and it is particularly hard when you
are close to them.

What is it that Paul would say to me? What is it that Paul would say to
you? “…stand firm. Let nothing move you….” Not even
death. “…stand firm. Let nothing move you….”

Copyright © 2009 - 2017. 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 those
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 are celebrating
18 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.

The Addictions Kit - Biblical Help for Addictions by Ed Wrather is now
available for download from Amazon. The Addictions Kit provides practical Biblical steps to defeat
your addiction that actually work.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00VIYLNLM

The New Pastor's Training Manual is available for download on Amazon. Here is the link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00PJ8UTGS If you prefer a paper copy of the book you can order it from
the Burning Bush website at http://bit.ly/1uXDBnk

Books now available at the Burning Bush website:

New Pastor's
Training Manual

Biblical Help
for Overcoming Substance Abuse

Biblical Help
for Overcoming Sexual Addictions In Times of
Trouble - Devotionals to Encourage and Strengthen You (Also available for
download on Amazon.)

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.

Check out the Scripture Index being constructed for the
Devotionals at the Burning Bush website. The Links are in about the middle of
the home page. Topics for each devotional are now being added to the Index.

Please continue to pray for
healing for Pastor Shane Hall, Michelle Abetz, Brad, Damon D. & wife, Beverly
(Jeanie’s sister), Lexi McCalip, Gary Kirk, and Jeanie.

Please pray for an end to the
racial hatred in the USA and that it will be replaced with peace and love. 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. My
prayer focus is now that God will give me opportunities to preach. As the
apostle Paul says, “…woe is me if I do not preach the gospel!”).

You can contact Ed Wrather at
theburningbushdevotional@gmail.com View LinkedIn profile with
endorsements at http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=92988105

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.

You can help support this
ministry by using this link: www.paypal.me/EdWrather

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@...>

Classic from 2009

Burning Bush Devotional

31 March 2017

Begin
Again – Part 1

Therefore,
my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable (…stand firm. Let nothing move
you. - NIV), always abounding (Always give yourselves fully - NIV) in the work
of the Lord, knowing (because you know - NIV) that your labor is not in vain in
the Lord. - 1 Corinthians 15:58 NKJV.

Life is made up of beginnings and endings and more beginnings. Winter ends and
spring begins. Spring ends and summer begins. Summer ends and winter begins. We
are ending one year (This was a New Year’s message for 2010.) and starting a
new year with the challenges of the past year behind and the challenges of a
new year ahead. We end childhood and begin young adulthood. We end being young
adults and enter middle age. We end middle age and become senior adults. We are
born, we live, we die, and then if we know Jesus as our Savior, we live again.

I have found that the older I become the harder it is to begin again, the
harder it is to move forward and not to stop. The older I am, the harder it is
to try something new. The older I am, the easier it is to do nothing. The older
I am, the easier it is to think I have done enough. The older I am, the easier
it is to plan for dying instead of for living. The older I am, the harder it is
to continue with life when bad things happen - to begin again.

How do you begin again, how do you move forward with life, how do you really
live as long as you are living? This verse in 1
Corinthians 15:58 does give us some direction as to how to do that. The first
instruction that the apostle Paul gives us about how to begin again, how to
live is this: “…stand firm. Let nothing move you….” He is
saying that we should let nothing in this world deter us, keep us from living
the abundant life that Jesus came to give us (John
10:10b). We should let no bad thing, no evil thing, not even a good thing
keep us from living our lives for the Lord.

For the early Christians, there were some obstacles to living the Christian
life, especially in Corinth. Corinth was an evil place, a wicked place. If you
were a Christian in Corinth you could count on feeling out of place, out of
step with most of the people who lived there. If you were a Christian in
Corinth you could count on encountering persecution in one form or another.
Paul was telling them don't let that stop you from living like you should “…stand
firm. Let nothing move you….”

Paul from the context of this verse, the preceding verses, was also talking
about the discouragement caused by death. The discouragement caused by knowing
that we all will someday die a physical death and the discouragement that comes
from the deaths of those that we love. The fact of death looming ahead of us is
something that we all have to deal with. Both of my parents passed away in 2007
and there is something about your parents no longer being alive that changes
your perspective - it makes you more aware of your own mortality. This year (2009)
there have been so many that I know who are around my age who have passed away.
Last Monday one more of my high school classmates passed away. It makes you
wonder sometimes if you are next. We have seen so many of our young people in
this area who have died at an early age, and it is particularly hard when you
are close to them.

What is it that Paul would say to me? What is it that Paul would say to
you? “…stand firm. Let nothing move you….” Not even
death. “…stand firm. Let nothing move you….”

Copyright © 2009 - 2017. 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 those
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 are celebrating
18 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.

The Addictions Kit - Biblical Help for Addictions by Ed Wrather is now
available for download from Amazon. The Addictions Kit provides practical Biblical steps to defeat
your addiction that actually work.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00VIYLNLM

The New Pastor's Training Manual is available for download on Amazon. Here is the link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00PJ8UTGS If you prefer a paper copy of the book you can order it from
the Burning Bush website at http://bit.ly/1uXDBnk

Books now available at the Burning Bush website:

New Pastor's
Training Manual

Biblical Help
for Overcoming Substance Abuse

Biblical Help
for Overcoming Sexual Addictions In Times of
Trouble - Devotionals to Encourage and Strengthen You (Also available for
download on Amazon.)

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.

Check out the Scripture Index being constructed for the
Devotionals at the Burning Bush website. The Links are in about the middle of
the home page. Topics for each devotional are now being added to the Index.

Please continue to pray for
healing for Pastor Shane Hall, Michelle Abetz, Brad, Damon D. & wife, Beverly
(Jeanie’s sister), Lexi McCalip, Gary Kirk, and Jeanie.

Please pray for an end to the
racial hatred in the USA and that it will be replaced with peace and love. 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. My
prayer focus is now that God will give me opportunities to preach. As the
apostle Paul says, “…woe is me if I do not preach the gospel!”).

You can contact Ed Wrather at
theburningbushdevotional@gmail.com View LinkedIn profile with
endorsements at http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=92988105

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.

You can help support this
ministry by using this link: http://www.paypal.me/EdWrather

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