Because of family illnesses, personal health concerns, and ministry pressures I have been unable to write as frequently as I would like. For the immediate future I will begin resending devotionals written a few years ago. Thank you for your prayers, support and understanding! Please sign the GuestMap at The Burning Bush website. You can plant your country's flag on the map and leave a message. You can find it on the front page at http://www.theburningbush.org The Burning Bush Devotional (Over 13,000 subscribers in 75 countries) 09.15.04 Prepare to Live “Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying, ‘Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. See, I have commanded a widow there to provide for you.’” - I Kings 17:8-9. “So she said, ‘As the Lord your God lives, I do not have bread, only a handful of flour in a bin, and a little oil in a jar; and see, I am gathering a couple of sticks that I may go in and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it, and die.’” - I Kings 17:12. My Dad for the past 10 years or so has been preparing to die. He has been cleaning up the farm. He had some old junk cars that he has sold. He had scraps of metal that he had accumulated to use in repairs. Those scraps have been removed. Things have been torn down and cleaned up. Now he says it will be up to my sister and I to take care of some things after he dies. He has prepared to die. Elijah’s brook had dried up and God told him to go to a widow in Zarephath. But when Elijah arrived in Zarephath he found a widow who was preparing to die. She was planning to eat her last meal. What hope did she have? Just like Elijah’s brook had dried up so had the food supply of the widow. Almost everything was gone except for a very little amount of flour and oil. What hope did she have? She had none. But God came to her through the prophet Elijah and said in effect to prepare to live. There is a choice that we must make in life each day. That choice is whether we will prepare to die or will we prepare to live. For some our situations may be almost as desperate as the widow of Zarephath. But if Jesus is your Savior I believe He wants you to prepare to live. As long as you have breath you should prepare to live. What is true of people is true of churches as well. There are some churches that appear to be on their deathbed. The community may appear to be drying up like Elijah’s brook. The situation appears to be hopeless. I believe God would say to those churches that they should like the widow of Zarephath, following the prophets instructions, prepare to live. Let us prepare to live as individuals and as churches. In the process of doing so we may find as did the widow of Zaraphath that “the bin of flour shall not be used up, nor shall the jar of oil run dry....(I Kings 17:14).” Let us prepare to live!! Copyright © 2004. Ed Wrather. Permission is given for use of the devotionals on a non-profit basis with source credited. On June 8, 1998 the email version of the Burning Bush Devotional was first sent. Ed Wrather is available for revivals, conferences, and other speaking and ministry opportunities as the Lord leads. More information about Ed may be found at http://www.theburningbush.org/28.html. The Crossmap Christian Search and Portal is a wonderful resource. I would like to encourage you to visit this great site at www.crossmap.com. Crossmap has recently added the Burning Bush Devotionals to their site. You may visit Crossmap’s sister website, the online version of the Christian Post at www.christianpost.com. If you have a Christian website you are invited to add the link to my free links at the Burning Bush website. The Bravenet free links is near the bottom of the front page www.theburningbush.org. If you enjoy the devotional please recommend it to your friends. They may subscribe by sending a blank email to burningbushdevo-subscribe@... Streaming Videos of our services including my sermons are posted at: www.theburningbush.org/fbcswvideo.html There is now a webpage available at associate.com where the devotionals are archived http://associate.com/groups/burningbushdevo. There is a complete archive at the Burning Bush website and the address for the archive is http://www.theburningbush.org/33.html. You may subscribe to the pure text group by sending a blank email to burningbushdevo-subscribe@... and you can unsubscribe by sending a blank email to burningbushdevo-unsubscribe@... You may subscribe to the html text group by sending a blank email to burningbushhtml-subscribe@... and you may unsubscribe by sending a blank email to burningbushhtml-unsubscribe@... Subscribe to the Burning Bush Prayer Group. Send and receive prayer requests to over 300 members. Send a blank email to: BBPG-subscribe@... Subscribe to the Burning Bush Inspirational Group. Send and receive inspirational material to over 100 members. Send a blank email to: bbinspire-subscribe@... Subscribe to the Burning Bush Restoration and Recovery Group for those with addictions or recovering from addictions. Receive devotionals and inspirational material directed toward those with addictions. Send and receive prayer requests. Over 200 members. Send a blank email to: tbbrr-subscribe@... Subscribe to the Intercede Life Group and pray for and help in practical ways those who need help. To subscribe send a blank email to interclife-subscribe@.... A closely related website is Peoplefaces which seeks to help those in need http://peoplefaces.ohzone.net/index2.htm