Quote from Forum Archives on July 17, 2012, 11:03 am

Posted by: edwrather <edwrather@...>

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The Burning Bush Devotional
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07.17.12

Don't Let It Get Away From You

Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in
the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. -
1 Corinthians 15:58.

In 1997, we moved from one side of town to the other (We were living at that
time in Weatherford, Oklahoma.); from a duplex to a small house. My parents
had just bought a new pickup truck, and so I asked my Dad if I could borrow
it for the move. He agreed, and gave me this word of advice, "Don't let it
get away from you." After I had driven the pickup some, I understood what he
meant. Just a little pressure on the accelerator would make the truck take
off as if you had pushed the accelerator to the floor on many vehicles. If
you were unprepared for the sudden thrust of acceleration, you could lose
control. Thankfully, I never let the pickup get away from me! Now since my
parents have both passed away I still drive the pickup some and frequently
remember my Dad's words of advice about driving that old truck.

As I was thinking about this phrase, about not letting it get away from me,
I used a search engine to see how often the phrase had been used.
Surprisingly, there were more than two and half million results! Apparently,
a lot of us have been letting a lot of stuff get away from us. Aretha
Franklin even has a song with the phrase in it. Here, are a three lines from
the song:

Gotta be strong, gotta be strong, gotta be strong
Don't let it get away from you
Do whatcha gotta do

A couple of other lines in the song seem to be so very true:

Taking care of home and family
Sometimes it's hard to keep your sanity

Just living life, making a living, raising children, keeping a marriage
strong, and holding a family together can be enough to push some over the
edge, or I guess we could say, let life "get away from us."

How do we keep from losing it? How do we keep from letting life "get away
from us?" I love this verse in 1 Corinthians 15:58, just reading the verse
you receive a sense of strength, power, and determination. We as Christians
are able to keep it together and prevent life from getting "away from us" by
keeping first things first. How can we be steadfast in the Lord? Remember
the words of Jesus in Matthew 6:33, "But seek first the kingdom of God and
His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you."

If life has gotten away from you, if one thing after another keeps going
wrong, God has the answer for how you can keep things together and be
"steadfast" and "immovable". What is the answer? The answer is Jesus! Listen
to God's Word:

Isaiah 26:3, "You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on
You, because he trusts in You."

Hebrews 12:3, "For consider Him (Jesus) who endured such hostility from
sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your
souls."

Philippians 4:6-7, "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and
supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and
the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts
and minds through Christ Jesus."

So, before life gets away from you, put Jesus first in your life. Every
morning, before you do anything else, pray (Mark 1:35) and read God's Word
(Matthew 4:4). Every week allow time, give the time necessary for your
family to assemble with other believers (Hebrews 10:24-25). Give a part of
what God has blessed you with (Proverbs 3:9-10; 2 Corinthians 9:6-7), and be
the servant of God serving others by following the example of Jesus (Mark
10:45).

Don't let it get away from you!

Copyright © 2012. 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.

Thank you for your prayers for my wife, Jeanie, she has completed chemo for
ovarian cancer and is continuing to improve. Thank you for your prayers for
Missy Dyess who is recovering from a horrendous head on vehicle accident. In
the weeks since the accident she has made much progress. She is still in
need of your prayers to continue to recover. Please pray for Kanesha Greer,
she is a 10-year-old girl who has stage four bone cancer (osteosarcoma).
Kanesha is a member of our church. 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.).

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My son, Clark Wrather, has been called to be the pastor of the First Baptist
Church of Yukon, Oklahoma. His first Sunday there was July 15, 2012. God has
performed many miracles to bring this move about. Services at FBC Yukon are
televised in the Oklahoma City area on Cox Channel 125.

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