BBD 04.30.05 Runaway
Posted by: wrather <wrather@...>
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The Burning Bush Devotional
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04.30.05
Runaway
He who is slow to wrath has great understanding, but he who is impulsive
exalts folly. A sound heart is life to the body, but envy is rottenness to
the bones. - Proverbs 14:29-30.
Another translation (the Message) puts Proverbs 14:30 as, "A sound mind
makes for a robust body, but runaway emotions corrode the bones."
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness,
goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no
law. - Galatians 5:22-23.
The good news, the great news, the wonderful news today is that Jennifer
Wilbanks is alive and well!! The sad news is that Jennifer is a runaway. She
is a runaway from at the very least the stress of a huge wedding that kept
growing and growing. For a week, Jennifer Wilbanks of Duluth, Georgia was
thought to have been kidnapped. As it is now known, she went out for a run
and took a bus to Albuquerque, New Mexico. Jennifer is 32 years old and was
to be married today in a huge wedding with some 600 guests expected. No one
except the police gave any consideration to the possibility that Jennifer
had skipped out on the biggest event of her life.
The actions of Jennifer Wilbanks may seem strange for some and for others of
us they may be understandable. I think most of us have been under such
stress at times that it would have been wonderful to have that stress
removed from our lives. Very few would have taken the actions that Jennifer
has taken but many have taken similar actions. Because every day across this
world, there are people who have had all that they can take and they simply
drop out. They drop out of their careers, lives, families and they leave it
all behind. Some, most, tell others what they are doing and some do not.
Stress works havoc on our emotions and can lead to making major mistakes. In
fact, it can lead to destruction of most everything that is good in our
lives when we let our emotions take control.
How can we avoid someday, unexpectedly, having a runaway in our own life? By
having more of Jesus i.e. the Holy Spirit. The apostle Paul in Galatians 5
speaks of the fruit of the Spirit. If you contemplate the different fruit
mentioned you will see that this is the opposite of an emotionally stress
driven runaway. Would "love" lead someone to have a runaway? Would "joy"
lead someone to have a runaway? Would "peace" lead someone to have a
runaway? Would "longsuffering" or "patience" make someone have a runaway?
Would "kindness" result in a runaway? Would "goodness" bring about a
runaway? Would "faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control" cause someone to
have a runaway? The answer to all of these questions, of course, is "No!"
You can prevent a runaway in your life by having more and more of Jesus in
your life. The more of Jesus that you have in your life the more of the
"fruit of the Spirit" that you will have in your life. Continuing to grow
day by day as a child of God will protect you from self-destruction. To grow
you must take advantage of the resources of God. The three primary resources
of God are the Bible, prayer, and the church. Are you reading the Bible? Are
you praying? Are you faithful in attending church if you are physically
able? If not you are just asking for trouble and heading for a.runaway.
Copyright © 2005. Ed Wrather. Permission is given for use of the devotionals
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