BBD 11.11.13 The Grudge (Classic)
Posted by: theburningbushdevotional <theburningbushdevotional@...>
Visit the
Burning Bush websites:
The
Burning Bush websites have received visits from more than 170 countries. Celebrating
15 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 14,000
subscribers across the world.
You can
leave comments/feedback about the devotionals at http://www.theburningbush.net.
There is
a translation tool on theburningbush.net website in the top left hand corner of
all of the pages.
The Burning Bush Devotional
14,000 Subscribers
to the Email Devotional
Classic from 2005
11.11.13
The Grudge
And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone,
forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses. -
Mark 11:25.
And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as
God in Christ forgave you.- Ephesians 4:32.
In 1978, James Michael Evans (Who is now 52 years old.)
checked into Hyatt Regency Hotel in Lexington, Kentucky. However, he left
without paying his bill and ended up being arrested, convicted, and spending
nine months in jail. This same James Michael Evans has now been charged 27
years later with calling the same hotel, and threatening to blow it up with
three bombs he said he had planted at the hotel. FBI Agent Steven Gurley said this
about Evans, “Evidently he has harbored that grudge since
1978.”
Yourdictionary.com defines grudge as, “A deep-seated feeling of resentment or rancor.” To further understand the word, rancor, is defined as, “Bitter, long-lasting resentment; deep-seated ill will.” Also, resentment is defined as, “Indignation or ill will felt as a result of a real or imagined
grievance.” I think we can agree that James Michael
Evans must be the embodiment of a grudge. You can look at what he has done and
know what having a grudge is like. Evans not only had a grudge, but he nursed
that grudge, reminded himself of that grudge, held onto that grudge, and loved
that grudge until we see the end result of the grudge having consumed him.
If you hold your grudge out at arms length and try to
take an honest appraisal of it, you will see that it surely is not the most
important thing in your life. Try to put your grudge into its proper
perspective. What are some of the truly important things in your life? Things like
your family, your faith, and when you put your grudge in this perspective, it
is probably not even in the top ten of the most important things in your life.
In fact, your grudge is a little thing that you should put behind you and
forget about.
In a book about Robert E. Lee, Charles Flood tells the
story about Lee visiting a woman in Kentucky. The woman shows him what is left
of what had been a beautiful old tree in front of her house. She bitterly
related that the tree had been ruined by Union artillery fire. She then looked
at Lee expecting some sympathy and condemnation of the North. But Lee responded by saying, “Cut it down, my dear Madam, and forget it.” If you do not forgive and forget those injustices, they
will take root in bitterness and poison the rest of your life.
I love the story about Clara Barton who was the founder
of the American Red Cross. She was reminded one day about how she had been
terribly wronged years before. However, she acted as if the incident had never
occurred. Her friend asked, “Don’t you
remember it?” Clara then made this wonderful statement,
which is a great word of advice to all of us, “No, I distinctly remember forgetting it.”
The grudge - James
Michael Evans has let it ruin his life. Don’t let it ruin yours! Forgive
and forget it and then move on to the really important things in life.
Copyright © 2005-2013. Ed
Wrather. 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.
Ed Wrather has retired from
pastoring full-time and has more time to pursue other ministry opportunities.
No matter what the size your church, Ed will come on a love offering basis for
a revival or to share his testimony in the continental United States. You can
make contact at edwrather@yahoo.com or theburningbushdevotional@gmail.com
View LinkedIn profile with endorsements at
http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=92988105
Prayer Requests: Please pray for
Scott who is having severe headaches caused by a cyst. Many prayer needs are
posted at the Burning Bush website on the Prayer Request page. You can also
post your prayer requests there (Of course, I am always in need of prayer -
please pray for me.).
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
If you enjoy the devotional please recommend it to your friends. They may
subscribe by sending a blank email to burningbushdevo-join@welovegod.org
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 burningbushdevo
devotional group 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 (Because of time constraints the devotional is
only being sent now in html format) 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.
--
To unsubscribe, send ANY message to: burningbushdevo-leave@welovegod.org