BBD 08.22.13 Intentional Discipleship (Classic)
Posted by: theburningbushdevotional <theburningbushdevotional@...>
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The Burning Bush Devotional
14,000 Subscribers
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Classic from 2006
08.22.13
Intentional Discipleship
Today’s devotional was written by my son, Clark Wrather, who is the pastor
of the First Baptist Church of Yukon, Oklahoma.
Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the
form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself
of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness
of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became
obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. - Philippians
2:5-8.
I have noticed something over the years of my life. I am
either getting fatter or I’m becoming slimmer. It would be nice if my body
would stay constantly at one perfect weight, but this has not happened. I
imagine that it has not happened for you either.
I realize I am influencing the process all the time. The
total often rises when I leave Pizza Hut with the satisfaction that comes from
knowing they lost money on me after my performance at their buffet. This type
of influence is on a subconscious level, but occasionally I try to directly
influence the rise and fall.
A couple of years ago, after having a freak inspiration
around New Year's, I decided to stop the steady rise and see if I could make my
weight take a drastic downturn. Part of my action plan included paying for a
month of membership at our local gym. The membership was around $30.00, but
guess what? I never went to the gym.
I never went despite my desire to lose a few pounds. I
never went, despite, making a commitment to do so. I never went even though I
had paid for it. In retrospect, I have to admit I’m somewhat ashamed of myself.
Your spiritual life is very similar to your physical
life. You are either growing closer to God or you are moving away from Him.
Your relationship with Him does not stay the same everyday. Like your weight,
unless you decide to influence the process, you will probably move away from
God instead of growing closer to Him.
I know that some of you have never gotten intentional
about growing closer to God. You would like to be. You would like to walk
closely with God, possibly as much as I might like to look like a guy on the
cover of Men’s Health magazine. If I’m honest, I can admit to myself that I
must not care all that much about my weight, because I have done nothing about
it. How much do you really care about being close to God if you are doing
nothing about it?
Copyright © 2006-2013. 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.
Ed Wrather has retired from
pastoring full-time and has more time to pursue other ministry opportunities.
No matter what the size your church, Ed will come on a love offering basis for
a revival or to share his testimony in the continental United States. You can
make contact at edwrather@yahoo.com or WratherEd@gmail.com
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