BBD 08.03.05 Hold Your Horses
Posted by: wrather <wrather@...>
make this transition and during this time the old website will remain at the
current url http://www.theburningbush.org and the new website will be at the url
http://www.theburningbush.net. Both websites will remain active until the
transition is complete and new devotionals will be posted at the new and old
websites. All of the devotionals written during 2005 are available at the
new site. One of the new features is the ability to post your prayer
requests and praise reports automatically to the site.
The new website url is http://www.theburningbush.net
Join the Burning Bush Prayer Group! Send and receive prayer requests and be
a part of a great ministry. More than 400 wonderful people make up this
group. To join send an email to: BBPG-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
Please sign the GuestMap at The Burning Bush website. You can plant your
country's flag on the map and leave a message. You can find it on the front
page at http://www.theburningbush.org
The Burning Bush Devotional
1,417 New Subscribers since November 2004
08.03.05
Hold Your Horses
(Originally sent 02.27.03)
Teach me Your way, O LORD, and lead me in a smooth path, because of my
enemies. Do not deliver me to the will of my adversaries; for false
witnesses have risen against me, and such as breathe out violence. I would
have lost heart, unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the
LORD in the land of the living. Wait on the LORD; be of good courage, and He
shall strengthen your heart; wait, I say, on the LORD! - Psalm 27:11-14.
In Kansas a while back the cities of Lawrence and Dodge City experienced
runaways. In Lawrence the stage coach, which they use as a tourist
attraction, crashed when the horse pulling the stage veered into a ditch. In
Dodge City a horse pulling the stage slipped and when it got up it was
frightened and took off like a runaway. As a result the stage slammed into a
parked car, overturned and injured five passengers. They should have held
their horses.
Horses have a tendency to do the unexpected, even those that have been
around people for years. My great-grandmother's nephew was killed and his
father injured when the horses pulling their wagon took off and control was
lost of them. "Hold your horses" used to be a term with serious meaning.
Whoever was holding on to the horses had control and it meant the difference
sometimes between life and death. Sometime in the 1800s "hold your horses"
began appearing in print in reference to humans. As applied to people "hold
your horses" means to "be patient and wait."
When you read the word "wait" in the Bible; God is saying, "hold your
horses!" When God says to wait it is serious business. King Saul found out
the hard way that to launch out when God says, "wait" can be very costly. In
fact it cost him the kingdom (1 Samuel 13), which God then gave to an
unknown shepherd boy named David.
An example of what can happen when you are obedient to the Lord's command to
wait can be seen with the disciples just after the ascension of Christ. In
Acts 1:4 we read, "And being assembled together with them, He commanded them
not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father.."
They waited and we know what happened! "When the Day of Pentecost had fully
come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a
sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole
house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues,
as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the
Holy Spirit.(Acts 2:1-3a)." They waited and the Holy Spirit came upon them
empowering them to be the Lord's witnesses as He had promised (Acts 1:8). On
the day of Pentecost alone about 3,000 people came to a saving knowledge of
Jesus Christ (Acts 2:41).
When God says to "wait" there is always a good reason. When God says to
"wait" it will always be to your benefit. When God says to "wait" it will
always be better later. "Wait on the LORD; be of good courage, and He shall
strengthen your heart; wait, I say, on the LORD!" It may be that God is
saying, "Hold your horses." It may be hard to do but it is a very important
and at times courageous thing to do. So, "hold your horses!"
Copyright © 2003-2005. 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.
The Crossmap Christian Search and Portal is a wonderful resource. I would
like to encourage you to visit this great site at ww.crossmap.com. Crossmap
has recently added the Burning Bush Devotionals to their site. You may visit
Crossmap's sister website, the online version of the Christian Post at
http://www.christianpost.com.
If you have a Christian website you are invited to add the link to my free
links at the Burning Bush website. The Bravenet free links is near the
bottom of the front page http://www.theburningbush.org.
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 our services including my sermons are posted at:
http://www.theburningbush.org/fbcswvideo.html
There is now a webpage available at associate.com where the devotionals are
archived associate.com/groups/burningbushdevo. There is a complete
archive at the Burning Bush website and the address for the archive is
http://www.theburningbush.org/33.html.
You may subscribe to the pure text group by sending a blank email to
burningbushdevo-subscribe@welovegod.org and you can unsubscribe by sending a
blank email to burningbushdevo-unsubscribe@welovegod.org
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
Subscribe to the Burning Bush Prayer Group. Send and receive prayer requests
to over 400 members. Send a blank email to: BBPG-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
Subscribe to the Burning Bush Inspirational Group. Send and receive
inspirational material to over 100 members. Send a blank email to:
bbinspire-subscribe@welovegod.org
Subscribe to the Burning Bush Restoration and Recovery Group for those with
addictions or recovering from addictions. Receive devotionals and
inspirational material directed toward those with addictions. Send and
receive prayer requests. Over 200 members. Send a blank email to:
tbbrr-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
Subscribe to the Intercede Life Group and pray for and help in practical
ways those who need help. To subscribe send a blank email to
interclife-subscribe@yahoogroups.com. A closely related website is
Peoplefaces which seeks to help those in need
peoplefaces.ohzone.net/index2.htm