BBD 08.08.08 In the Middle
Posted by: wrather <wrather@...>
The Burning Bush websites have received visits from more than 150 countries.
Celebrating 10 years online since January 31, 1998. Since June 8, 1998 the
Burning Bush Devotional has been spreading the truth of God's Word to more
than 11,000 subscribers across the world.
The Burning Bush Devotional
Welcome to the 937 new subscribers since January 1, 2008!!
08.08.08
In the Middle
Then He said to them all, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny
himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me." - Luke 9:23.
And to the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write."I know your works,
that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. So
then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you
out of My mouth. Because you say, 'I am rich, have become wealthy, and have
need of nothing'-and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor,
blind, and naked.As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be
zealous and repent." - Revelation 3:14-19.
As Christians we should periodically examine our commitments. Our
determination to be faithful to commitments makes up the true Christian
life. Before we can become a Christian, we must commit ourselves to turn
from sin (repentance) and commit ourselves to have Jesus as our Lord and
Savior. Out of the continuation of those commitments flows the Christian
life.
Too often after a few years of being a Christian (If not long before), we
see people begin to back away from those original commitments. They begin to
try to find a middle ground between the world and the Lord. We see many
living exactly that way with their lives. They come to church just on Sunday
morning if they come at all. They put on their happy faces and know all the
Christian things to say. But through the week their Christianity has very
little real value to them.
There's an old saying that is still very true: "If you sit in the middle of
the road you will be run over!" If we sit in the middle of the road with our
Christianity we will be run over by life. We may try to blame the Lord for
it, but we really have no one to blame but ourselves. The Bible often warns
and challenges us to living completely, totally for God. Joshua said, "And
if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day
whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on
the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you
dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord (Joshua 24:15)."
Elijah said, "How long will you falter between two opinions? If the Lord is
God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him (1 Kings 18:21)." And our Lord says
to many who make up His church, "I know your works, that you are neither
cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. So then, because you are
lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth
(Revelation 3:15-16)."
As human beings we like to think that there are no absolutes, and that we
can have a little of God and little of the world. However, God thinks in
terms of absolutes. You are either totally for God, or you are totally
against Him. Here is how Jesus puts it, "No one can serve two masters; for
either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to
the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon (Matthew
6:24)." The result of living in the middle is a lack of life. Instead of the
"abundant life" that Jesus came to give (John 10:10) you will have a sorry
substitute and the substitute life will give you very little peace, and very
little joy. Living in the middle will result in your being like a ship
without a rudder being blown this way and that because the Lord will not be
guiding you and directing your steps. What happens to a ship without a
rudder? Eventually, it will be blown into the rocks or capsized by the waves
and destroyed.
Has life run over you? Maybe it is time to get out of the middle of the
road!!
Copyright © 2008. 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 and Cody who are young boys with
cancer. 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. I believe that God is speaking to me
about a change in the ministry He has given to me.).
If you enjoy the devotional please recommend it to your friends. They may
subscribe by sending a blank email to
burningbushdevo-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 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.