BBD 08.27.09 Leaving it all Behind

#1 · August 27, 2009, 9:19 am

Quote from Forum Archives on August 27, 2009, 9:19 am
Posted by: wrather <wrather@...>

Visit the Burning Bush websites:

www.theburningbush.net

www.theburningbush.org

The Burning Bush websites have received visits from more than 170 countries.
Celebrating 11 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.

Please join the Burning Bush Prayer Group. The group began in 1998 and is
made up of over 300 prayer warriors. Send prayer requests and receive prayer
requests. To join send an email to: bbpg-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

You can now leave comments/feedback about the devotionals at
www.theburningbush.net.

I'm now on twitter and you can find me at http://www.twitter.com/edwrather.

The Burning Bush Devotional

(A Devotional Classic from 2003)

Welcome to the 928 new subscribers since January 1, 2009

08.27.09

Leaving it all Behind

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. For whoever desires to
save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save
it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and is
himself destroyed or lost? For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, of him
the Son of Man will be ashamed when He comes in His own glory, and in His
Father's, and of the holy angels. - Luke 9:23-26.

My hospitalization in 2003 began suddenly as the onset of my illness was
unexpected. Arriving at the emergency room, we were unprepared for a long
stay but that was the least of our concerns. When I was transported to a
larger hospital in Oklahoma City, my wife hurriedly packed a few things to
take with us. During my stay in the hospital, I came to appreciate some of
the things I had left behind. When I was finally able to brush my teeth, I
did so with a toothbrush the hospital furnished, and it was very flimsy and
I was always thinking that it was going to break. The first day I was
allowed to take a shower, there was no shampoo but the shower was still
wonderful. Of course, there were so many things that were suddenly left
behind. Things like the concerns of the pastorate, Internet ministry, so
many friends, and unfinished projects. When I arrived finally back home and
was able to walk through the house without all the wires and tubes it was a
special joy.

In order for us to be a true disciple of Jesus, it is necessary for us to
leave some things behind. We must deny ourselves our previous sinful way of
life. This may include friends who would drag us down into sin again. It may
include places that we know would bring temptation into our lives that would
be hard to resist. It may include access to the Internet if we are unable to
resist the temptations that are available online. It will include those
things that enabled us to sin in the past like drugs, alcohol, memberships,
telephone numbers, and a multitude of other things. It is important to leave
behind those things that would lead to future sinful behavior (Romans
13:14). Deny yourself and leave them behind.

In order to deny ourselves, we must take up our cross. The cross is an
instrument of execution, and we must put our selfish, sinful desires to
death. When we have died to self, we will be able to deny ourselves and
follow our Lord. To do this we must lose our lives and take on the life of
Christ.

Someday we will all face death. Death may come suddenly for some and slowly
for others, but it will come at some point. It is important for us to face
the reality of this fact. By doing so we can be prepared and our loved ones
can be prepared. Someday we will have to leave behind every material thing
that we have accumulated over a lifetime. We will also have to leave behind
our family and friends at least temporarily. There will be no returning to
the physical life we know now at that point.

When we contemplate the leaving of everything here on earth behind for
eternity, the words of Jesus have much greater meaning. Jesus says, "For
whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life
for My sake will save it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the
whole world, and is himself destroyed or lost?" Yes, we may gain great
wealth and material possessions but of what value are such things when we
depart from this life to the next leaving everything behind?

Copyright © 2002 - 2009. 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, Cody, and Mica who are young boys
with cancer. Malachi is very ill and in much pain. He is paralyzed on one
side because of a tumor pressing on his brain. 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.).

If you are not my friend on facebook or myspace you can be, just add me. The
devotionals are posted in my blogs on those two social networks and you can
leave comments, feedback about them there. There are other social networks
designed just for Christians, however, this is an outreach project to reach
those who may not know the Lord or may have wandered away. You can help me
reach out to them.

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:
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
www.kkbifm.com/

There is a complete devotional archive at the old Burning Bush website. Here
is the URL: 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. If the link does not work, copy and paste the link.

Posted by: wrather <wrather@...>

Visit the Burning Bush websites:

http://www.theburningbush.net

http://www.theburningbush.org

The Burning Bush websites have received visits from more than 170 countries.
Celebrating 11 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.

Please join the Burning Bush Prayer Group. The group began in 1998 and is
made up of over 300 prayer warriors. Send prayer requests and receive prayer
requests. To join send an email to: bbpg-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

You can now leave comments/feedback about the devotionals at
http://www.theburningbush.net.

I'm now on twitter and you can find me at http://www.twitter.com/edwrather.

The Burning Bush Devotional

(A Devotional Classic from 2003)

Welcome to the 928 new subscribers since January 1, 2009

08.27.09

Leaving it all Behind

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. For whoever desires to
save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save
it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and is
himself destroyed or lost? For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, of him
the Son of Man will be ashamed when He comes in His own glory, and in His
Father's, and of the holy angels. - Luke 9:23-26.

My hospitalization in 2003 began suddenly as the onset of my illness was
unexpected. Arriving at the emergency room, we were unprepared for a long
stay but that was the least of our concerns. When I was transported to a
larger hospital in Oklahoma City, my wife hurriedly packed a few things to
take with us. During my stay in the hospital, I came to appreciate some of
the things I had left behind. When I was finally able to brush my teeth, I
did so with a toothbrush the hospital furnished, and it was very flimsy and
I was always thinking that it was going to break. The first day I was
allowed to take a shower, there was no shampoo but the shower was still
wonderful. Of course, there were so many things that were suddenly left
behind. Things like the concerns of the pastorate, Internet ministry, so
many friends, and unfinished projects. When I arrived finally back home and
was able to walk through the house without all the wires and tubes it was a
special joy.

In order for us to be a true disciple of Jesus, it is necessary for us to
leave some things behind. We must deny ourselves our previous sinful way of
life. This may include friends who would drag us down into sin again. It may
include places that we know would bring temptation into our lives that would
be hard to resist. It may include access to the Internet if we are unable to
resist the temptations that are available online. It will include those
things that enabled us to sin in the past like drugs, alcohol, memberships,
telephone numbers, and a multitude of other things. It is important to leave
behind those things that would lead to future sinful behavior (Romans
13:14). Deny yourself and leave them behind.

In order to deny ourselves, we must take up our cross. The cross is an
instrument of execution, and we must put our selfish, sinful desires to
death. When we have died to self, we will be able to deny ourselves and
follow our Lord. To do this we must lose our lives and take on the life of
Christ.

Someday we will all face death. Death may come suddenly for some and slowly
for others, but it will come at some point. It is important for us to face
the reality of this fact. By doing so we can be prepared and our loved ones
can be prepared. Someday we will have to leave behind every material thing
that we have accumulated over a lifetime. We will also have to leave behind
our family and friends at least temporarily. There will be no returning to
the physical life we know now at that point.

When we contemplate the leaving of everything here on earth behind for
eternity, the words of Jesus have much greater meaning. Jesus says, "For
whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life
for My sake will save it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the
whole world, and is himself destroyed or lost?" Yes, we may gain great
wealth and material possessions but of what value are such things when we
depart from this life to the next leaving everything behind?

Copyright © 2002 - 2009. 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, Cody, and Mica who are young boys
with cancer. Malachi is very ill and in much pain. He is paralyzed on one
side because of a tumor pressing on his brain. 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.).

If you are not my friend on facebook or myspace you can be, just add me. The
devotionals are posted in my blogs on those two social networks and you can
leave comments, feedback about them there. There are other social networks
designed just for Christians, however, this is an outreach project to reach
those who may not know the Lord or may have wandered away. You can help me
reach out to them.

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. If the link does not work, copy and paste the link.