BBD 07.21.10 Shop till You Drop (New)
Posted by: wrather <wrather@...>
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Now available FREE OF COST for BIKER MINISTRIES is the "WORDS for the ROAD"
devotional booklet with 34 devotionals and 48 pages. It is 8 1/2 X 11" bound
in gray lightweight card stock and black plastic comb. I originally intended
to provide this to a ministry at the Sturgis Rally in South Dakota but that
has not worked out. So the booklet is available with the words "Sturgis
Rally Edition" on the cover or without it. Or if you have a ministry
directed toward a different rally I can add your rally name to the cover.
Just let me know. Send me an email at wrather@dobsonteleco.com or
edwrather@theburningbush.org
The Burning Bush Devotional
Welcome to the 781 new subscribers since January 1, 2010!!
There were 1367 new subscribers during 2009!!
07.21.10
Shop till You Drop
But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these
things shall be added to you. - Matthew 6:33.
Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge
of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things,
and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ. - Philippians 3:8.
The apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to him all they had done and
taught. Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not
even have a chance to eat, he said to them, "Come with me by yourselves to a
quiet place and get some rest." So they went away by themselves in a boat to
a solitary place. - Mark 6:30-32.
Strange as it may sound, tour groups in Hong Kong are being forced to shop!
Now some of you might think that is a good thing; however, when you have
shopped till you are ready to drop already, it can cause problems. A
65-year-old man has reportedly died from a heart attack that is thought to
have been brought on from arguing with a tour guide about the forced
shopping. The forced shopping is a frequent practice among the cut rate
Chinese package tours as the tour operators receive a percentage of the
profits from the shops their tours visit. Reportedly there has been an
investigation launched into these practices. A video showing a tour guide
somehow abusing a group of tourists and forcing them into shopping brought
the practice to the attention of authorities.
Shopping for things is not necessarily a bad thing, although being a man I
prefer to go directly into one store I have decided on in advance, grab what
I want, pay for it, and leave. Voila! My shopping is finished! Even better,
with the Internet I can just click on a few links and my purchase will
arrive at my door without even leaving my home. However, many do enjoy the
shopping experience, and it can even relieve stress, but it can be overdone
and create stress. Especially, when you are being forced to do it by an
abusive tour guide!
The point here being that even good things can be participated in
excessively. Recreation is good, but too much can cause neglect of other
things in your life.like work, and it can result in leaving everything
spiritual on the sidelines. Work is a good thing, and it is necessary to
support our families but too much of it can result in neglect of our
families and neglect of the spiritual aspect of our lives. Even Jesus had to
have some quiet time by Himself, and His disciples needed that quiet restful
time too.
In Mark 6, you see Jesus and His disciples simply getting away for a rest.
We need that as well. In addition, we need the rest we receive from spending
time with our God. Jesus modeled that for His disciples and for us as we are
told in Mark 1:35, "Now in the morning, having risen a long while before
daylight, He went out and departed to a solitary place; and there He
prayed." Jesus had a quiet time, and we need to have one every day in our
lives.
There is a balance in life that we need to strive to create and maintain.
How do we do it? We do it by putting God first in our lives as Jesus tells
us in Matthew 6:33. As a devotional I once read said there is time to do
everything this year and everything this day that God wants you to do. Put
Jesus first and you will know what God wants you to do each day. That my
friends, is how you have balance and eliminate stress from your lives.
Copyright © 2010. Ed Wrather. Permission is given for use of the devotionals
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been online since January 31, 1998. On June 8, 1998 the email version of the
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