BBD 06.25.09 I, Me, and Myself

#1 · June 29, 2009, 5:45 pm

Quote from Forum Archives on June 29, 2009, 5:45 pm
Posted by: wrather <wrather@...>
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 Gods Word to more than 11,000 subscribers across the world.

Please join the Burning Bush Prayer Group. The group began in 1998 and is made up of over 300 prayer warriors. Send prayer requests and receive prayer requests. To join send an email to: bbpg-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

You can now leave comments/feedback about the devotionals at www.theburningbush.net.

Im now on twitter and you can find me by searching for my name or my email address wrather@dobsonteleco.com.

The Burning Bush Devotional
(A Devotional Classic from 2003)

Welcome to the 680 new subscribers since January 1, 2009

06.25.09

I, Me, and Myself

But Jesus called them to Himself and said to them, "You know that those who are considered rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant. And whoever of you desires to be first shall be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many. - Mark 10:42-45.

Larry Scherwitz, a psychologist, conducted a study on the relationship between heart disease and self-centeredness. He studied 150 patients hospitalized either for suspected heart disease or after a heart attack. He kept track of how often they used the pronouns I, me, my, mine, or myself. He found that patients with more severe disease made far more references to themselves. Also, the findings remained significant even when patients were matched for age, blood pressure, cholesterol, and Type A behavior. Scherwitz in his study found that people who are what he calls self-involved have more severe coronary artery disease than those who are more focused toward others.

It appears that there is scientific evidence that serving others and being concerned about others is a very healthy activity and attitude. On the other hand being concerned only with yourself, your interests, your activities, your plans (I, me, my, mine, or myself. ) is a prescription for physical and spiritual disaster. If you want to do something really good for yourself - stop thinking about yourself all the time. Put the spotlight on the needs of other people and think about how you can be a part of meeting those needs.

If you really want to follow Christ, if you really want to be like Christ then you will serve others and not just yourself and your interests. Jesus gave us the ultimate example of being concerned about the needs of others. Jesus did not just talk about meeting the needs of others. No, He demonstrated how to meet the needs of others continually as He went about doing good being a servant to all He met. Jesus did not come to be served but to give His own life in sacrificial service. Jesus, the Lord of lords, and the King of kings had a right to be served but instead came to serve us.

It has been said by many a doctor that the very best thing that you can do for your physical health is to stop smoking. It may be that they will want to add that ending our self-involvement could be just as important to our physical health. Why not begin today to lift up your eyes from your own life to the lives of those around you as you look for opportunities to serve in obedience to your Lord.

Copyright © 2009. 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.

Prayer Requests: Please pray for Malachi, Cody, and Mica who are young boys with cancer. Malachi is very ill and in much pain. He is paralyzed on one side because of a tumor pressing on his brain. 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 and for the healing of our son Nicks eye.).

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.

If you enjoy the devotional please recommend it to your friends. They may subscribe by sending a blank email to burningbushhtml-subscribe@welovegod.org

Two videos of my sermons are posted on Godtube at: www.godtube.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 may SUBSCRIBE to the html text group by sending a blank email to burningbushhtml-subscribe@welovegod.org and you may UNSUBSCRIBE by sending a blank email to burningbushhtml-unsubscribe@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: burningbushhtml-unsubscribe@welovegod.org   

Posted by: wrather <wrather@...>

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 Gods Word to more than 11,000 subscribers across the world.

Please join the Burning Bush Prayer Group. The group began in 1998 and is made up of over 300 prayer warriors. Send prayer requests and receive prayer requests. To join send an email to: bbpg-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

You can now leave comments/feedback about the devotionals at http://www.theburningbush.net.

Im now on twitter and you can find me by searching for my name or my email address wrather@dobsonteleco.com.

The Burning Bush Devotional
(A Devotional Classic from 2003)

Welcome to the 680 new subscribers since January 1, 2009

06.25.09

I, Me, and Myself

But Jesus called them to Himself and said to them, "You know that those who are considered rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant. And whoever of you desires to be first shall be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many. - Mark 10:42-45.

Larry Scherwitz, a psychologist, conducted a study on the relationship between heart disease and self-centeredness. He studied 150 patients hospitalized either for suspected heart disease or after a heart attack. He kept track of how often they used the pronouns I, me, my, mine, or myself. He found that patients with more severe disease made far more references to themselves. Also, the findings remained significant even when patients were matched for age, blood pressure, cholesterol, and Type A behavior. Scherwitz in his study found that people who are what he calls self-involved have more severe coronary artery disease than those who are more focused toward others.

It appears that there is scientific evidence that serving others and being concerned about others is a very healthy activity and attitude. On the other hand being concerned only with yourself, your interests, your activities, your plans (I, me, my, mine, or myself. ) is a prescription for physical and spiritual disaster. If you want to do something really good for yourself - stop thinking about yourself all the time. Put the spotlight on the needs of other people and think about how you can be a part of meeting those needs.

If you really want to follow Christ, if you really want to be like Christ then you will serve others and not just yourself and your interests. Jesus gave us the ultimate example of being concerned about the needs of others. Jesus did not just talk about meeting the needs of others. No, He demonstrated how to meet the needs of others continually as He went about doing good being a servant to all He met. Jesus did not come to be served but to give His own life in sacrificial service. Jesus, the Lord of lords, and the King of kings had a right to be served but instead came to serve us.

It has been said by many a doctor that the very best thing that you can do for your physical health is to stop smoking. It may be that they will want to add that ending our self-involvement could be just as important to our physical health. Why not begin today to lift up your eyes from your own life to the lives of those around you as you look for opportunities to serve in obedience to your Lord.

Copyright © 2009. 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.

Prayer Requests: Please pray for Malachi, Cody, and Mica who are young boys with cancer. Malachi is very ill and in much pain. He is paralyzed on one side because of a tumor pressing on his brain. 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 and for the healing of our son Nicks eye.).

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.

If you enjoy the devotional please recommend it to your friends. They may subscribe by sending a blank email to burningbushhtml-subscribe@welovegod.org

Two videos of my sermons are posted on Godtube at: http://www.godtube.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 may SUBSCRIBE to the html text group by sending a blank email to burningbushhtml-subscribe@welovegod.org and you may UNSUBSCRIBE by sending a blank email to burningbushhtml-unsubscribe@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: burningbushhtml-unsubscribe@welovegod.org