BBD 09.14.10 Be Friendly (New)

#1 · September 14, 2010, 1:01 pm

Quote from Forum Archives on September 14, 2010, 1:01 pm
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 more than 300 prayer warriors. Send prayer requests and receive
prayer requests. To join send an email to: bbpg-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

If you love to send and receive inspirational emails the Burning Bush
Inspirational Group is for you. To join send an email to
bbinspire-join@welovegod.org

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

The Burning Bush Devotional
Welcome to the 1611 new subscribers since January 1, 2010!!
There were 1367 new subscribers during 2009!!

09.14.10

Be Friendly

A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity. - Proverbs
17:17.

A man who has friends must himself be friendly, but there is a friend who
sticks closer than a brother. - Proverbs 18:24.

Hide me from the secret plots of the wicked, from the rebellion of the
workers of iniquity, who sharpen their tongue like a sword, and bend their
bows to shoot their arrows - bitter words, that they may shoot in secret at
the blameless; suddenly they shoot at him and do not fear. - Psalm 64:2-4.

Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his
friends. - John 15:13.

But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still
sinners, Christ died for us. - Romans 5:8.

Indians in the state of Rondonia in western Brazil have had a difficult
existence in the last part of the 20th and into the 21st Century. They face
pressures from those who want their land for various reasons. Several tribes
are extinct or close to being so because of those pressures which from what
I read may have even been murderous massacres. It is no wonder that one
remaining member of a tribe that digs rectangular holes in the center of
their tents (or used to) is reluctant to make contact with the outside.
There was found what appeared to be a campsite of about 14 huts with the
same rectangular holes in the center that had been bulldozed. Did I say that
the remaining tribe member was reluctant to make contact with the outside
world? The last government agent who came close to the lone tribesman was
shot with an arrow that hit him in the chest. That last near contact was
back in the 1990s.

There are lessons here for individuals and for churches. One of those
lessons is that there have always been and always will be those who would
harm us if they could for their own reasons. Sometimes those reasons are
financial, sometimes those reasons may be that they simply enjoy hurting
others, sometimes it is because of their prejudices, and other times it may
be for some unknown reason. There are those who hate Christians and who hate
the church, and they will cause us harm if they have the opportunity.

Having in mind the known possibility of there being some people who are
hostile to us and hostile to the church, how do we continue to move forward
in fulfilling the Great Commission? As Jesus says in Matthew 28:19-20, "Go
therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name
of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to
observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always,
even to the end of the age. Amen." There must be some balance in that we do
not completely throw away caution; however, there will always be some risk
involved in doing anything our Lord calls upon us to do. God may not call us
to go to the lone member of this lost tribe in Brazil, but He may call us to
go to our neighbor who lives next door.

Another lesson for us as individual Christians and churches is that we will
not gain more friends, and we will not grow as churches by shooting arrows
at people. When you have people who visit your church, or you visit them in
their homes you must yourself "be friendly." We may not shoot people with
arrows today, but we may shoot off our mouths with words that are almost as
deadly. When did Jesus lay down His life for us? He did it while we were
still sinners, still enemies as one translation puts it. Our neighbors, our
guests at church are likely not to be "perfect people" and they are likely
not to be just like us. But Jesus still died for them, just as He died for
us.

What do you think Jesus would have us to do? What does Jesus want you to do?

Copyright © 2010. 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. 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.

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.

For information about how to hear my testimony in your church visit this
link: www.theburningbush.net/pages.asp?pageid=22160

If you enjoy the devotional please recommend it to your friends. They may
subscribe by sending a blank email to burningbushdevo-join@welovegod.org

Two videos of my sermons are posted on GodTube (now Tangle) at:
connect.tangle.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-leave@welovegod.org and then respond to the
confirmation email.

You may subscribe to the html text group by sending a blank email to
burningbushhtml-join@welovegod.org and you may unsubscribe by sending a
blank email to burningbushhtml-leave@welovegod.org and then respond to the
confirmation email. If the link does not work, copy and paste the link.

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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 more than 300 prayer warriors. Send prayer requests and receive
prayer requests. To join send an email to: bbpg-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

If you love to send and receive inspirational emails the Burning Bush
Inspirational Group is for you. To join send an email to
bbinspire-join@welovegod.org

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

The Burning Bush Devotional
Welcome to the 1611 new subscribers since January 1, 2010!!
There were 1367 new subscribers during 2009!!

09.14.10

Be Friendly

A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity. - Proverbs
17:17.

A man who has friends must himself be friendly, but there is a friend who
sticks closer than a brother. - Proverbs 18:24.

Hide me from the secret plots of the wicked, from the rebellion of the
workers of iniquity, who sharpen their tongue like a sword, and bend their
bows to shoot their arrows - bitter words, that they may shoot in secret at
the blameless; suddenly they shoot at him and do not fear. - Psalm 64:2-4.

Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his
friends. - John 15:13.

But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still
sinners, Christ died for us. - Romans 5:8.

Indians in the state of Rondonia in western Brazil have had a difficult
existence in the last part of the 20th and into the 21st Century. They face
pressures from those who want their land for various reasons. Several tribes
are extinct or close to being so because of those pressures which from what
I read may have even been murderous massacres. It is no wonder that one
remaining member of a tribe that digs rectangular holes in the center of
their tents (or used to) is reluctant to make contact with the outside.
There was found what appeared to be a campsite of about 14 huts with the
same rectangular holes in the center that had been bulldozed. Did I say that
the remaining tribe member was reluctant to make contact with the outside
world? The last government agent who came close to the lone tribesman was
shot with an arrow that hit him in the chest. That last near contact was
back in the 1990s.

There are lessons here for individuals and for churches. One of those
lessons is that there have always been and always will be those who would
harm us if they could for their own reasons. Sometimes those reasons are
financial, sometimes those reasons may be that they simply enjoy hurting
others, sometimes it is because of their prejudices, and other times it may
be for some unknown reason. There are those who hate Christians and who hate
the church, and they will cause us harm if they have the opportunity.

Having in mind the known possibility of there being some people who are
hostile to us and hostile to the church, how do we continue to move forward
in fulfilling the Great Commission? As Jesus says in Matthew 28:19-20, "Go
therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name
of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to
observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always,
even to the end of the age. Amen." There must be some balance in that we do
not completely throw away caution; however, there will always be some risk
involved in doing anything our Lord calls upon us to do. God may not call us
to go to the lone member of this lost tribe in Brazil, but He may call us to
go to our neighbor who lives next door.

Another lesson for us as individual Christians and churches is that we will
not gain more friends, and we will not grow as churches by shooting arrows
at people. When you have people who visit your church, or you visit them in
their homes you must yourself "be friendly." We may not shoot people with
arrows today, but we may shoot off our mouths with words that are almost as
deadly. When did Jesus lay down His life for us? He did it while we were
still sinners, still enemies as one translation puts it. Our neighbors, our
guests at church are likely not to be "perfect people" and they are likely
not to be just like us. But Jesus still died for them, just as He died for
us.

What do you think Jesus would have us to do? What does Jesus want you to do?

Copyright © 2010. 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. 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.

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.

For information about how to hear my testimony in your church visit this
link: http://www.theburningbush.net/pages.asp?pageid=22160

If you enjoy the devotional please recommend it to your friends. They may
subscribe by sending a blank email to burningbushdevo-join@welovegod.org

Two videos of my sermons are posted on GodTube (now Tangle) at:
connect.tangle.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-leave@welovegod.org and then respond to the
confirmation email.

You may subscribe to the html text group by sending a blank email to
burningbushhtml-join@welovegod.org and you may unsubscribe by sending a
blank email to burningbushhtml-leave@welovegod.org and then respond to the
confirmation email. If the link does not work, copy and paste the link.

=======
Email scanned by PC Tools - No viruses or spyware found.
(Email Guard: 7.0.0.18, Virus/Spyware Database: 6.15870)
http://www.pctools.com/
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