Quote from Forum Archives on October 4, 2011, 4:18 pm

Posted by: edwrather <edwrather@...>

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The Burning Bush Devotional
Welcome to the 7617 new subscribers since January 1, 2011!!
There were 4010 new subscribers during 2010!!

10.04.11

Found!

Then he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country, and he sent
him into his fields to feed swine. And he would gladly have filled his
stomach with the pods that the swine ate, and no one gave him anything. But
when he came to himself, he said, "How many of my father's hired servants
have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!" - Luke 15:15-17.

Now the LORD had prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah. And Jonah was in
the belly of the fish three days and three nights. Then Jonah prayed to the
LORD his God from the fish's belly. - Jonah 1:17 - 2:1.

Then Saul arose from the ground, and when his eyes were opened he saw no
one. But they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. And he was
three days without sight, and neither ate nor drank. - Acts 9:8-9.

A scuba diver has been found in South Africa in the wrong place, at the
wrong time. A rescue operation was mounted after a report from a friend of a
scuba diver, that his friend was missing. The search was called off, after
the mother of the diver, called to say that her son had been located. The
diver had called his mother to let her know that he was in jail at a police
station. He had been arrested, because he was diving "without a permit in a
protected marine environment." (Orange News 09.16.11)

The scuba diver's problems began when he chose to dive illegally in a marine
environment protected by law. While everyone was searching for him, he found
himself locked up in jail. He was safe, but still in uncomfortable
circumstances because of the choice that he had made to break the law.

In the Bible, there are several individuals who found themselves in
difficult circumstances because of the choices they had made. The Prodigal
Son chose to take his inheritance early, and went off to a "far country" to
party it away. The Prodigal Son found himself in a condition so terrible
that he was ready to eat what the pigs were eating if he could have done so.
We all know that Jonah's refusal to respond to God's call resulted in his
finding himself in the belly of a great fish. Nothing pleasant about that!
Then, there is Saul, aka the yet to become apostle Paul, who found himself
struck blind by the Lord Jesus.

The Prodigal Son, Jonah, and Saul all had decisions to make after finding
themselves in these terrible predicaments. They could have chosen to remain
as they were, and see things grow even worse. The Prodigal Son could have
stayed there and eaten pig food if he could have found some. Jonah could
have refused to change his mind, and rotted away in the belly of the big
fish. Saul could have refused to give up his hatred of those who believed in
Jesus, and remained blind for the rest of his life. Those would have been
terrible decisions, but they could have decided to keep going in the same
direction that had brought these terrible situations upon them. I think we
all know people, or have heard of people who are just that stubborn, who are
just that addicted to their drugs, or their beliefs, or their ideas, or
their way of doing things; that refuse to change, even when they know they
are wrong.

The thing that we see in the lives of the Prodigal Son, Jonah, and Saul is
that people can change the direction of their lives. They may not want to
change, but they can turn around anyway. The Prodigal Son surely did not
want to go home, and face his father, or his brother. We know Jonah still
hated the Ninevites, even after he preached to them. Saul had to turn his
back on everything that he had believed, even his friends to change from the
direction his life had been headed.

People can change the direction of their lives. You can change the direction
of your life. It begins with a decision. A decision has to be made. A
decision to be obedient to your Lord Jesus. If that decision needs to be
made in your life, there is no better time than now to make it.

Where did God find you today?

Copyright © 2011. 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.). Please pray for our grandson, Mason
Wrather, as he recovers from surgery. Please pray a member of our church who
is battling cancer, Connie Bryan.

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