BBD 10.23.07 Nothing Left
Posted by: wrather <wrather@...>
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The Burning Bush Devotional
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10.23.07
Nothing Left
Now it happened, when David and his men came to Ziklag, on the third day,
that the Amalekites had invaded the South and Ziklag, attacked Ziklag and
burned it with fire, and had taken captive the women and those who were
there, from small to great; they did not kill anyone, but carried them away
and went their way. So David and his men came to the city, and there it was,
burned with fire; and their wives, their sons, and their daughters had been
taken captive. Then David and the people who were with him lifted up their
voices and wept, until they had no more power to weep. And David's two
wives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the widow of Nabal the
Carmelite, had been taken captive. Now David was greatly distressed, for the
people spoke of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved,
every man for his sons and his daughters. But David strengthened himself in
the LORD his God. - 1 Samuel 30:1-6.
The fires are still burning in California and we need to pray for God to
intervene and help all those affected. I watched and heard so many heart
breaking stories yesterday on the news - sadly there are many more today.
Many have been injured, and two have died in the fires. I received an email
today to pray for a family of nine that had lost everything except for the
clothes they are wearing.
Yesterday, one family told of how they were able to load up their cars and
barely evacuate in time before the fires burned it to the ground. They
thought they were safe when they stopped their cars but the wife's car
caught on fire and burned up with everything in it that they had tried to
save. Ten minutes late the husband's car also burned up leaving them
thankful just to be alive and together.
Of course, we need to remember that the rain falls upon the just and the
unjust (Matthew 5:45). It appears that the fires in California are doing the
same - burning down the homes of those living for God and those who are not
living for God. Why? Because bad things have happened on Planet Earth ever
since Adam and Eve sinned. God loves us so much that He has a plan to
correct everything but that plan required Jesus Christ to suffer and die on
the cross for our sins. Someday, everything again will be perfect like it
was in the Garden of Eden for those who know Jesus as their Savior. No
matter what may happen to us here on this Earth we must always remember that
God cares and He has proven that by what was done on the cross.
What do you do when you lose everything? David had lost everything. He had
lost his possessions, his home, and his family. He had nothing left. How
could he recover from such a loss? The Amalekites had taken everything but
God was just using them to bring David back to Him. David had lost his
focus. We can understand. He had been the hero of the nation but had become
a hunted man. David had begun to listen to his own voice instead of to the
Voice of the Lord. As a consequence, David was living among the enemies of
his people, the Philistines. Fighting in some ways against his own people,
the people of God.
We see people doing the same kind of thing today. Things get a little tough,
they become discouraged and instead of moving closer to the Lord, they move
further away. They blame the Lord for their problems. They stop praying,
they stop coming to church, they stop reading God's Word, and they stop
doing anything for the Lord. Some actively oppose the work of God's people.
But for many it becomes even worse. So many times people turn to alcohol, or
drugs or they gamble, or they become angry and bitter and they too end up
losing everything.
David had a similar situation. He had lost everything. What would he do?
Give up? Take some sleeping pills? Drink some wine? No! David did what we
need to do if we have lost it all. David we are told in 1 Samuel 30:6,
"...encouraged himself in the Lord his God." This was while the people were
talking about stoning him!! David turned to God and asked God what to do.
God gave him a plan and as a result, in verse 19 we read, "...David
recovered all!"
If you have lost it all, why not turn to God? Ask God what His plan is for
your life at this point in time. Ask God how you too can recover. He's
waiting.
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in Malachi's bone marrow has reoccurred. Malachi is now in San Francisco for
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