BBD 04.28.14 All Things (New)

#1 · April 28, 2014, 10:11 am

Quote from Forum Archives on April 28, 2014, 10:11 am
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 Burning
Bush Devotional

04.28.14

All Things

And we know that all things work together for good to those who love
God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. - Romans 8:28.

November 1982, was the beginning of a difficult time in our lives.
I had an established business in the oilfield, but the bust had come to the
oilfield. One month I had a good income, the next there was no income. After a
couple of months, I was able to go back to work for a previous employer.
However, because of the slowdown in the oilfield that job only lasted for about
four months. We made the decision for me to go back to college. My wife had to
go back to work. I worked part-time at a Love’s convenience store. The
equipment owned by our business was sold for about a fourth or less of what it
was worth. We sold our home, and after a year of college moved away from the
area we had lived in all of our lives. A year later we were able to move back,
buy another house, and start a new life.

I’ve learned that Romans 8:28 is true, but that doesn’t mean that the “all things” is going to be easy. In fact, it can be downright hard. But I
realize that if our business had continued on as it was the hard choices of
change would never have been made. It is possible, maybe even likely, that I
would never have become a pastor and that my son would have followed in my
footsteps working in the family business and never becoming a pastor either. In
those months of change, I learned to swallow a lot of pride. I had to ask for a
job from an employer that I had already left two times before and had been sure
I would never return to again. But I did. Instead of being the proud owner of a
business that was making a lot of money, I was cleaning toilets, making
sandwiches, and being a clerk in a convenience store. We sold our beautiful
home and moved into a much smaller place. But through it all we continued to
pray, continued to seek God’s direction, continued to stay in church, and God
led us through it all step by step.

The “all
things” has not
been easy for many of God’s servants. Consider Joseph in the Old Testament. He
was nearly killed by his own brothers, but still was sold into slavery. Things
were going well for him there in Egypt even in slavery when it suddenly got worse,
again, when he was falsely accused and thrown into prison. However, from the
very worst place he could be in Egypt, God raised Joseph up to be the second
most powerful person in the known world. The “all things” in
Joseph’s life were used of God so that his own family, the Egyptian people,
along with many people from other lands could all be saved from the famine that
God knew was coming. The “all
things” in
Joseph’s life were not easy, but they were necessary to bring about the end
result of “good.”

If you
think about it, Jesus experienced the ultimate in “all
things” being difficult. Jesus came down from the glories of Heaven to
be born into a family with few of the luxuries of what most of us are used to
these days. The King of kings and the Lord of lords gave it all up to walk
through the “all things” of being tempted at all
points, and of experiencing the pains and trials of human existence. The “all things” of Jesus included suffering the torture
and humiliation of execution on a cruel Roman cross. But the “all things” were necessary to arrive at the “good” of our having a Savior.

I don’t
know what you are going through, but Romans 8:28
is true. Whatever it is, Jesus can help carry you through it, because you see,
He has gone through even worse Himself. He knows what it is like, and He can
help you to make it through the “all things”
until you arrive at the “good.” So keep on step
by step, day by day “looking unto the author and
finisher of our faith (Hebrews 12:1a).” Keep on going because eventually
you will arrive at the “good!”

Copyright © 2014. 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 .org
Burning Bush website

is being updated.

The Burning Bush websites have
received visits from more than 170 countries. Celebrating 15 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.

Prayer Warriors Wanted! Please join the
Burning Bush Prayer Group. The group began in 1998. Send prayer requests and
receive prayer requests. To join send an
email to: bbpg-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

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
the people of Ukraine and Venezuela. 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.

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 Burning
Bush Devotional

04.28.14

All Things

And we know that all things work together for good to those who love
God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. - Romans 8:28.

November 1982, was the beginning of a difficult time in our lives.
I had an established business in the oilfield, but the bust had come to the
oilfield. One month I had a good income, the next there was no income. After a
couple of months, I was able to go back to work for a previous employer.
However, because of the slowdown in the oilfield that job only lasted for about
four months. We made the decision for me to go back to college. My wife had to
go back to work. I worked part-time at a Love’s convenience store. The
equipment owned by our business was sold for about a fourth or less of what it
was worth. We sold our home, and after a year of college moved away from the
area we had lived in all of our lives. A year later we were able to move back,
buy another house, and start a new life.

I’ve learned that Romans 8:28 is true, but that doesn’t mean that the “all things” is going to be easy. In fact, it can be downright hard. But I
realize that if our business had continued on as it was the hard choices of
change would never have been made. It is possible, maybe even likely, that I
would never have become a pastor and that my son would have followed in my
footsteps working in the family business and never becoming a pastor either. In
those months of change, I learned to swallow a lot of pride. I had to ask for a
job from an employer that I had already left two times before and had been sure
I would never return to again. But I did. Instead of being the proud owner of a
business that was making a lot of money, I was cleaning toilets, making
sandwiches, and being a clerk in a convenience store. We sold our beautiful
home and moved into a much smaller place. But through it all we continued to
pray, continued to seek God’s direction, continued to stay in church, and God
led us through it all step by step.

The “all
things” has not
been easy for many of God’s servants. Consider Joseph in the Old Testament. He
was nearly killed by his own brothers, but still was sold into slavery. Things
were going well for him there in Egypt even in slavery when it suddenly got worse,
again, when he was falsely accused and thrown into prison. However, from the
very worst place he could be in Egypt, God raised Joseph up to be the second
most powerful person in the known world. The “all things” in
Joseph’s life were used of God so that his own family, the Egyptian people,
along with many people from other lands could all be saved from the famine that
God knew was coming. The “all
things” in
Joseph’s life were not easy, but they were necessary to bring about the end
result of “good.”

If you
think about it, Jesus experienced the ultimate in “all
things” being difficult. Jesus came down from the glories of Heaven to
be born into a family with few of the luxuries of what most of us are used to
these days. The King of kings and the Lord of lords gave it all up to walk
through the “all things” of being tempted at all
points, and of experiencing the pains and trials of human existence. The “all things” of Jesus included suffering the torture
and humiliation of execution on a cruel Roman cross. But the “all things” were necessary to arrive at the “good” of our having a Savior.

I don’t
know what you are going through, but Romans 8:28
is true. Whatever it is, Jesus can help carry you through it, because you see,
He has gone through even worse Himself. He knows what it is like, and He can
help you to make it through the “all things”
until you arrive at the “good.” So keep on step
by step, day by day “looking unto the author and
finisher of our faith (Hebrews 12:1a).” Keep on going because eventually
you will arrive at the “good!”

Copyright © 2014. 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 .org
Burning Bush website

is being updated.

The Burning Bush websites have
received visits from more than 170 countries. Celebrating 15 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.

Prayer Warriors Wanted! Please join the
Burning Bush Prayer Group. The group began in 1998. Send prayer requests and
receive prayer requests. To join send an
email to: bbpg-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

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
the people of Ukraine and Venezuela. 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.

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