BBD 10.02.07 Turn Back

#1 · October 2, 2007, 1:18 pm

Quote from Forum Archives on October 2, 2007, 1:18 pm
Posted by: wrather <wrather@...>

Visit the Burning Bush websites:

www.theburningbush.net

www.theburningbush.org

Join the Burning Bush Prayer Group! Send and receive prayer requests and be
a part of a great ministry. More than 300 wonderful people make up this
group. To join send an email to: BBPG-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

Be a part of the Burning Bush Community! Share prayer requests,
inspirational material, find help for addictions, and help others. Find out
more at the Burning Bush Community webpage:
www.theburningbush.net/pages.asp?pageid=37647

Several devotional booklets are available for free download in PDF format at
the new site. Just click on the "Free Book Downloads" link.

The Burning Bush Devotional

Welcome to the 1331 new subscribers since January 1, 2007!!

10.02.07

Turn Back

And the Lord said, "Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he
may sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not
fail; and when you have returned to Me (when you have turned back - NIV),
strengthen your brethren." But he said to Him, "Lord, I am ready to go with
You, both to prison and to death." Then He said, "I tell you, Peter, the
rooster shall not crow this day before you will deny three times that you
know Me." - Luke 22:31-34.

Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am,
that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me
before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father! The world has not
known You, but I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me. And
I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with
which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them. - John 17:24-26.

In 1975, I began working in the oilfield in pipe inspection. The money was
good but it was the most miserable job that I had ever had. I was still
praying every day and before long, I was asking God to give me a different
job because I hated the one that I had. It was as though God was not
listening. He knew exactly what I was asking and thinking and doing and
feeling but He was not answering because sin had entered into my life.

The oilfield for the most part was filled with many forms of evil. Alcohol
and drug abuse was rampant along with other forms of immorality. The hard
work seemed to be used as an excuse to go out and live like the devil. Party
all night and work hard all day. Every month or so we would have a job out
of the area and would have to spend a week or two living out of a motel. Of
course, this only increased the availability of all of the above that I
mentioned. After work, we would go eat and before going back to the motel,
we would all go to the bar. It was the expected and accepted thing to do in
that environment.

Now I knew that what I was doing was wrong and every night I would ask God
to forgive me and to give me another job. But I kept on doing what I wanted
to do and kept on missing out on what God had for my life. God surprised me
with His amazing grace and demonstrated that He knew right where I was and
what I was doing and that He still cared enough about me to warn me.

One night when we were working out of town and having to stay in a motel, I
called my wife. Jeanie told me that I had gotten a letter. I had a small
mail order business and apparently, the woman that wrote me the letter had
seen my ad. It was an anonymous letter and began, "Dear People." the woman
that wrote the letter obviously had some mental problems but God was able to
use her anyway.

The letter was some seven or eight pages long, Jeanie read every word, and
with every word the conviction of my sin grew. The letter told about how sin
had destroyed this woman's life and it was a warning to others to flee from
sin. By the time Jeanie had finished reading the letter I knew that this was
not a letter from some mentally deranged person, this was a message STRAIGHT
FROM THE HAND OF GOD TO ME.

I had a choice at that point I could listen to God or continue my rebellion
even in the face of His warnings and love for me. It was enough for me to
immediately fall to my knees and begin crying out for my Lord's forgiveness.
The next day I left my driver's license at the motel and after work as usual
we ate and then I tried to get them to take me back to the motel room but
they wouldn't do it. They took me with them and tried to force me to go in
the bar with them, the same one we had been in the night before. However,
they would not let me in because I looked so young and didn't have an ID.
So, I sat out in the truck for several hours until they finally decided to
go back to the motel, and that is what I continued to do the rest of the
time we were away from home.

I believe that God wants to bless us and I have experienced God's blessings
upon my life when I do what He wants me to do. Two weeks later after my
encounter with God through the letter, I suddenly had a job like paradise
compared to the one that I had before. (An excerpt from "Journey to
Fruitfulness" my online testimony and you can read the whole story at the
Burning Bush website.)

Isn't it time for you to turn back to God? He's waiting. He's prayed for you
just as He prayed for Peter and He has a life better than you ever believed
possible waiting for you.

Copyright © 2007. 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 a young boy with cancer. The cancer
in Malachi's bone marrow has reoccurred and he will soon return to
California for additional treatment. 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.).

Join facebook dot com and be my friend. Visit my page at
www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=649161254

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 some of my sermons are posted at:
www.theburningbush.org/fbcswvideo.html

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.

Posted by: wrather <wrather@...>

Visit the Burning Bush websites:

http://www.theburningbush.net

http://www.theburningbush.org

Join the Burning Bush Prayer Group! Send and receive prayer requests and be
a part of a great ministry. More than 300 wonderful people make up this
group. To join send an email to: BBPG-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

Be a part of the Burning Bush Community! Share prayer requests,
inspirational material, find help for addictions, and help others. Find out
more at the Burning Bush Community webpage:
http://www.theburningbush.net/pages.asp?pageid=37647

Several devotional booklets are available for free download in PDF format at
the new site. Just click on the "Free Book Downloads" link.

The Burning Bush Devotional

Welcome to the 1331 new subscribers since January 1, 2007!!

10.02.07

Turn Back

And the Lord said, "Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he
may sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not
fail; and when you have returned to Me (when you have turned back - NIV),
strengthen your brethren." But he said to Him, "Lord, I am ready to go with
You, both to prison and to death." Then He said, "I tell you, Peter, the
rooster shall not crow this day before you will deny three times that you
know Me." - Luke 22:31-34.

Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am,
that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me
before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father! The world has not
known You, but I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me. And
I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with
which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them. - John 17:24-26.

In 1975, I began working in the oilfield in pipe inspection. The money was
good but it was the most miserable job that I had ever had. I was still
praying every day and before long, I was asking God to give me a different
job because I hated the one that I had. It was as though God was not
listening. He knew exactly what I was asking and thinking and doing and
feeling but He was not answering because sin had entered into my life.

The oilfield for the most part was filled with many forms of evil. Alcohol
and drug abuse was rampant along with other forms of immorality. The hard
work seemed to be used as an excuse to go out and live like the devil. Party
all night and work hard all day. Every month or so we would have a job out
of the area and would have to spend a week or two living out of a motel. Of
course, this only increased the availability of all of the above that I
mentioned. After work, we would go eat and before going back to the motel,
we would all go to the bar. It was the expected and accepted thing to do in
that environment.

Now I knew that what I was doing was wrong and every night I would ask God
to forgive me and to give me another job. But I kept on doing what I wanted
to do and kept on missing out on what God had for my life. God surprised me
with His amazing grace and demonstrated that He knew right where I was and
what I was doing and that He still cared enough about me to warn me.

One night when we were working out of town and having to stay in a motel, I
called my wife. Jeanie told me that I had gotten a letter. I had a small
mail order business and apparently, the woman that wrote me the letter had
seen my ad. It was an anonymous letter and began, "Dear People." the woman
that wrote the letter obviously had some mental problems but God was able to
use her anyway.

The letter was some seven or eight pages long, Jeanie read every word, and
with every word the conviction of my sin grew. The letter told about how sin
had destroyed this woman's life and it was a warning to others to flee from
sin. By the time Jeanie had finished reading the letter I knew that this was
not a letter from some mentally deranged person, this was a message STRAIGHT
FROM THE HAND OF GOD TO ME.

I had a choice at that point I could listen to God or continue my rebellion
even in the face of His warnings and love for me. It was enough for me to
immediately fall to my knees and begin crying out for my Lord's forgiveness.
The next day I left my driver's license at the motel and after work as usual
we ate and then I tried to get them to take me back to the motel room but
they wouldn't do it. They took me with them and tried to force me to go in
the bar with them, the same one we had been in the night before. However,
they would not let me in because I looked so young and didn't have an ID.
So, I sat out in the truck for several hours until they finally decided to
go back to the motel, and that is what I continued to do the rest of the
time we were away from home.

I believe that God wants to bless us and I have experienced God's blessings
upon my life when I do what He wants me to do. Two weeks later after my
encounter with God through the letter, I suddenly had a job like paradise
compared to the one that I had before. (An excerpt from "Journey to
Fruitfulness" my online testimony and you can read the whole story at the
Burning Bush website.)

Isn't it time for you to turn back to God? He's waiting. He's prayed for you
just as He prayed for Peter and He has a life better than you ever believed
possible waiting for you.

Copyright © 2007. 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 a young boy with cancer. The cancer
in Malachi's bone marrow has reoccurred and he will soon return to
California for additional treatment. 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.).

Join facebook dot com and be my friend. Visit my page at
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=649161254

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 some of my sermons are posted at:
http://www.theburningbush.org/fbcswvideo.html

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.