BBD 07.25.06 The Law of Pain
Posted by: wrather <wrather@...>
Several devotional booklets are available for free download in
PDF format at the new site. Just click on the Free Book
Downloads link.
Be a part of the Burning Bush Community! Share prayer requests,
inspirational material, find help for addictions, and help
others. Find out more at the Burning Bush Community webpage:
http://www.theburningbush.net/pages.asp?pageid=37647
The Burning Bush Devotional
Welcome to the 2,049 new subscribers since November 1, 2005!!
07.25.06
The Law of Pain
For the wages of sin is death. - Romans 6:23a.
Now Jabez was more honorable than his brothers, and his mother
called his name Jabez, saying, Because I bore him in pain.
And Jabez called on the God of Israel saying, Oh, that You
would bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory, that Your hand
would be with me, and that You would keep me from evil, that I
may not cause pain! So God granted him what he requested. - 1
Chronicles 4:9-10.
There are many natural laws including the Law of Gravity.
Gravity is defined as a fundamental physical force that is
responsible for interactions which occur because of mass
between particles, between aggregations of matter (as stars and
planets), and between particles (as photons) and aggregations
of matter
. A practical definition for us who live on Planet
Earth could be, What goes up must come down. If you throw
something up in the air here on Earth, it is going to come back
down. Even a bullet shot into the air is going to come down
somewhere. Step off a roof or a cliff and it will hurt when you
hit the ground because gravity forces you to go down and not
up. We may not like the law of gravity but gravity does not
operate in accord with our personal preferences.
There is a spiritual law which operates whether we like it or
not and that is the Law of Pain. Whenever we sin whether in our
eyes, it is large or small, it results in pain. Sometimes the
pain is very obvious and immediate. Other times the pain is not
so obvious and may be delayed or spread out over time. The
Bible is clear that sin results in death (Romans 6:23a). Jabez
was aware of this Law and prayed,
and that You would keep me
from evil, that I may not cause pain!
When Adam and Eve sinned (Genesis 3), it caused great pain for
them and all of us. God described the pain that was to come
upon them and us to Adam and Eve in this way: (To the woman He
said) I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception;
in pain you shall bring forth children; your desire shall be
for your husband, and he shall rule over you. (Then to Adam He
said) Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have
eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, You
shall not eat of it: cursed is the ground for your sake; in
toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life. Both thorns
and thistles it shall bring forth for you, and you shall eat
the herb of the field. In the sweat of your face you shall eat
bread till you return to the ground, for out of it you were
taken; for dust you are, and to dust you shall return.
When Cain killed his brother Abel it caused immediate pain for
Abel and delayed, but continuing life long pain for Cain. God
said to Cain, So now you are cursed from the earth, which has
opened its mouth to receive your brothers blood from your
hand. When you till the ground, it shall no longer yield its
strength to you. A fugitive and a vagabond you shall be on the
earth (Genesis 4:11-12).
Throughout the Bible when someone sinned, committed an evil
act, it caused pain for them and for others. Yes, we can be
forgiven. David was forgiven but there were long-term
consequences and pain that resulted from his sin with Bathsheba
and the killing of her husband. In the New Testament Ananias
and his wife, Sapphira, lied about their gift (Acts 5). The
immediate pain that resulted was their both being struck dead
by God.
We can rejoice that we have forgiveness for our sins through
Jesus Christ (Romans 6:23b; 1 John 1:9). However, we should
always remember and take into consideration that when we sin we
will cause pain. That pain will affect us personally and it
will affect those around us. We should make the prayer of Jabez
the cry of our heart for every day,
that You would keep me
from evil, that I may not cause pain!
Copyright © 2006. 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.
No devotionals were written last week. Last week was a
difficult week personally but God provided the strength for it.
You can read more on my blog "Wrather Thoughts" at
wratherthoughts.blogspot.com
NEW WEBSITE UPDATE: Posting of the 2002 devotionals has been
completed and posting of the 2001 devotionals has begun. A
Prison Ministry page has been added with information for
Chaplains and others involved in prison or jail ministries on
obtaining free material to distribute to inmates in bulk
quantities.
The new Burning Bush website is hosted by NetMinistry. Check
out their services at http://www.netministry.com/?
affiliateid=819
If you enjoy the devotional please recommend it to your
friends. They may subscribe by sending a blank email to
burningbushdevo-subscribe@welovegod.org
Streaming Videos of some of my sermons are posted at:
http://www.theburningbush.org/fbcswvideo.html
There is a complete devotional archive at the old Burning Bush
website. Here is the URL: http://www.theburningbush.org/33.html.
You can unsubscribe to the pure text version of the devotional
by sending a blank email to burningbushdevo-
unsubscribe@welovegod.org and then respond to the confirmation
email.
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.