BBD 04.28.15 Nothing Left (Classic)
Posted by: theburningbushdevotional <theburningbushdevotional@...>
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The Burning
Bush Devotional
Classic
from 2007
04.28.15
Nothing
Left
(With the
current natural disaster in Nepal leaving people on the streets with nothing,
and the manmade disaster in Baltimore, this devotional can provide
encouragement.)
Now it happened, when David and his men came to Ziklag, on the third day,
that the Amalekites had invaded the South and Ziklag, attacked Ziklag and
burned it with fire, and had taken captive the women and those who were there,
from small to great; they did not kill anyone, but carried them away and went
their way. So David and his men came to the city, and there it was, burned with
fire; and their wives, their sons, and their daughters had been taken captive.
Then David and the people who were with him lifted up their voices and wept,
until they had no more power to weep. And David’s two wives, Ahinoam the
Jezreelitess, and Abigail the widow of Nabal the Carmelite, had been taken
captive. Now David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him,
because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and his
daughters. But David strengthened himself in the LORD his God. - 1 Samuel
30:1-6 NKJV.
The fires are still burning in California (2007) and we
need to pray for God to intervene, and help all those affected. I watched and
heard so many heart breaking stories yesterday on the news, sadly there are
many more today. Many have been injured, and two have died in the fires. I
received an email today to pray for a family of nine that had lost everything
except for the clothes they are wearing.
Yesterday, one family told of how they were able to load
up their cars and barely evacuate in time before the fires burned it to the
ground. They thought they were safe when they stopped their cars, but the wife’s
car caught on fire, and burned up with everything in it that they had tried to
save. Ten minutes later the husband’s car also burned up, leaving them thankful
just to be alive and together.
Of course, we need to remember that the rain falls upon
the just and the unjust (Matthew 5:45). It appears that the fires in California are doing the
same, burning down the homes of those living for God, and those who are not
living for God. Why? Because bad things have happened on Planet Earth, ever
since Adam and Eve sinned. God loves us so much that He has a plan to correct
everything, but that plan required Jesus Christ to suffer and die on the cross
for our sins. Someday, everything again will be perfect like it was in the
Garden of Eden for those who know Jesus as their Savior. No matter what may
happen to us here on this Earth, we must always remember that God cares, and He
has proven that by what was done on the cross.
What do you do when you lose everything? David had lost everything;
he had lost his possessions, his home, and his family. He had nothing left. How
could he recover from such a loss? The Amalekites had taken everything, but God
was just using them to bring David back to Him. David had lost his focus and we
can understand. He had been the hero of the nation, but had become a hunted
man. David had begun to listen to his own voice instead of to the Voice of the
Lord. As a consequence, David was living among the enemies of his people, the
Philistines. Fighting in some ways against his own people, the people of God.
We see people doing the same kind of thing today. Things
get a little tough, they become discouraged and instead of moving closer to the
Lord, they move further away. They blame the Lord for their problems. They stop
praying, they stop coming to church, they stop reading God’s Word, and they
stop doing anything for the Lord. Some actively oppose the work of God’s
people. But for many it becomes even worse. So many times people turn to
alcohol, or drugs or they gamble, or they become angry and bitter; and they too
end up losing everything.
David had a similar situation. He had lost everything.
What would he do? Give up? Take some sleeping pills? Drink some wine? No! David
did what we need to do if we have lost it all. David we are told in 1 Samuel 30:6, “...encouraged himself in the Lord his God.” This was while the people were talking about stoning
him!! David turned to God and asked God what to do. God gave him a plan, and as
a result, in verse 19 we
read, “...David recovered all!”
If you have lost it all, why not turn to God? Ask God
what His plan is for your life at this point in time. Ask God how you too can
recover. He’s waiting.
Copyright © 2007-2015. 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
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Please pray for Justin Lewis who
is battling cancer. He is a 35-year-old Christian with a wife and four
children. Unless God intervenes there is little hope for him. He has recently been at MD
Anderson in Houston for about ten days with super chemo and needs to go back
soon for another super chemo treatment. They found new places of cancer on his
last scan. He is very weak and needs to gain some weight and strength prior to
the next treatment. Thank you for all of your prayers for Justin and his wife
and four children!! (Update: Justin has now completed two super chemo
treatments and is currently undergoing a third. He will have another scan at
the end of this treatment. The great news is that he was able to work four days
before going back for his third treatment!! Thanks for all of your prayer for
him, they are making a difference!!) Please also pray for Justin Lewis' sister
Tammy. Tammy has been in the hospital in New Jersey for about a week. She has
Guillian-Barre Syndrome and when she is released from the hospital she will
have to go to rehab and learn to walk again. She has three young children at
home that her husband is carrying for.
Prayer Requests: Please pray for
those affected by the earthquake in Nepal. Please pray for an end to the racial
hatred in the USA and that it will be replaced with peace and love. Please also
pray for Shane Hall who is a young pastor who has cancer and for all those
afflicted with this terrible disease. My sister, Reta’s surgery for removal of
kidney and cancerous tumor went better than expected. She will now have targeted
chemo by pill or injection for nodules in her lungs. Please pray too for
Beverly who has been recently diagnosed with cancer. 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.).
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