Friday, Nov 20, 2009

11-20 It’s that Love Thing

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There was a bunch of things that went on yesterday! When I look back, I’m amazed at how busy it was! But let me talk about construction. Yesterday Mike and Bill were up on the roof sealing it. It really did look great once they were done if you are an admirer of black tar! I can’t wait to find out if it stopped the leak. Then they cut me two pieces of plywood which I used to make a few “stage risers” for our Christmas program. In fact I spent a few hours cutting six of them to size. More construction ahead!

Today's Scripture reading is 2 Chronicles 15; Jeremiah 1; Acts 28
To Listen to Today’s Reading http://timewithgod.mypodcast.com
to subscribe go to http://timewithgod.mypodcast.com/rss.xml

Today’s thought comes from 1 Peter 1:8-9 whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, 9 receiving the end of your faith—the salvation of your souls.

“All you need is love!” (Beatles) “I will always love you!” (Whitney Houston) “My endless love” (Lionel Richie) “Because you loved me.” (Celine Dion) “I think I love you” (Partridge Family) “It must have been love” (Roxette) “I want to know what love is” (Foreigner). So, did any of those “Unchained Melodies” (Elvis Presley) play in your head as you read them? Foreigner’s song especially interested me. Here’s a few lyrics “In my life there's been heartache and pain. I don't know if I can face it again. Can’t stop now, I’ve traveled so far to change this lonely life. I wanna know what love is..... I want you to show me...... I wanna feel what love is..... I know you can show me......” Our world is enamored with love, but love is an elusive thing. What is love? This is one of the most difficult definitions for mankind! Erich Fromm said that "Love is the only sane and satisfactory answer to the problem of human existence." We may not be able to define it well, but I’m pretty sure everybody wants it. It makes up for the loneliness, heartache and pain of life, doesn’t it? If only to know that I am loved, that makes life worthwhile. And it is nice if you have the ones you love close at hand. I just read facebook and noticed that this Thanksgiving there are a few families who can’t wait to get together and hang out. “Can’t wait to see you next week!” “Miss u too mama!” “Sooooooo looking forward to next week…” But can you really love someone you’ve never seen face to face, can’t talk on the phone to, and can’t text or IM? It happens. It happens all the time. We love Him even though we’ve never seen Him. Does that make our love any less real? To some people it does. Why? Because a relationship takes emotional investment. I’m really not great at the relationship thing. Intimate relationships take lots of up close and personal time, ups and downs, understanding, give and take and lots of change and forgiveness to get closer. I don’t know if I really want to get THAT close to many people. Staying at a distance is good for me. But it doesn’t work if you want love, and it doesn’t work if you want a love relationship with Jesus Christ. To love the one you have never seen, you have to spend time in the dark talking to the guy you can’t see, even though he can hear you. Really. You have to be willing to pay the price of solitude, meditation and reflection. The reason we don’t have a deeper, intimate relationship with Jesus is because we haven’t regularly invested important chunks of time listening to His voice. He speaks though His Word. Listen to it often. He speaks through His Church. Soak it in regularly. He speaks through His Creation. Find some time to connect. He speaks through His still small voice we call the Holy Spirit. Are you listening? If so, then your love will grow.

Dear Jesus. I love You. I am ready to invest some important sums of time into our relationship. I don’t want to just walk around the periphery of love, I want to be right in the middle of it. I know You love me and are anxiously waiting for me to dive in. I’m coming.

Because Your loving kindness is better than life, My lips shall praise You. Thus I will bless You while I live; I will lift up my hands in Your name.

Posted by Dennis Kreiss at 10:55 AM |  MAKE A COMMENT  

Thursday, Nov 19, 2009

11-19 Believing is Seeing

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I am a rich man. Though you’d never know it by inspecting my balance sheet! But there’s more to wealth than cold cash, or so I’ve been told! Yesterday Mike phoned me up just to pray with me, that was rich! He read a passage from Joel 2:11-17 that God had laid on his heart to share with me… great stuff! You ought to read it! And then Larry stopped by to talk and pray with me, and Ken joined us. It doesn’t get any better than this, until eternity! Thanks guys and keep praying!

Today's Scripture reading is 2 Chronicles 14; Isaiah 66; Acts 27:27-44
To Listen to Today’s Reading http://timewithgod.mypodcast.com
to subscribe go to http://timewithgod.mypodcast.com/rss.xml

Today’s thought comes from 1 Peter 1:8-9 whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, 9 receiving the end of your faith—the salvation of your souls.

Seeing is believing… or is it? I’ve seen a lot of things I don’t believe in. In fact our society programs us to see things we know are not and can not be true. Every night, most of you watch television shows that portray imaginary scenarios that have never and will never happen. Yet there they are, day after day, carefully acted out before your very eyes! We see far out fantasies like flying monkeys, transformers, superheros that can do gravity defying stunts, flame on, turn into a stack of bricks, gain spidey sense… and don’t forget the mind bending, physics defying, special effects that simply have no basis in the real world at all! Seeing is not believing. Believing is seeing! Ask anyone, “Do you believe in UFO’s? Ghosts? The Loch Ness Monster? Black Helicopters?” Next ask, “Have you ever seen one?” Probably not, but don’t let that stop you! I’ve seen it on TV! Or, my brother has seen one, or my second uncle’s great nephew’s girlfriend’s fiancé’s neighbor has. We expect to see what we believe in! Ask any evolutionists you happen to see, what’s the best tuna soon to be? A Chicken from the sea! Has anyone ever seen a tuna turn into a chicken? Has anyone ever seen evolution occur? No way José! But since believing is seeing, evolutionists all over the world have created an immense library of theories, charts, museum’s, documentaries and teaching tools all meant to convince themselves that it must be true! If you believe it, you have the expectation of vindication. Every real belief you have has real world implications. I believe that love will make me happy, so I seek love. I believe that money will give me the stuff I need so I seek profitable employment. I believe that taxes and big government are good / bad so I either become a tax and spend liberal or a fiscal conservative. I believe that discipline means I love / don’t love my children, so I become a firm disciplinarian or I let my kids do as they please. Believing is seeing. Unfortunately that means some of the stuff we believe is just wrong. But it also means that some of the stuff that we’ve never seen is spot on! Like Jesus. Have you ever seen him? But you believe He is God come in the flesh? Why? Well, we’ve got a library of charts, theories, museum’s, documentaries and teaching tools that tell us it is so. But there are a lot of people who don’t believe? They claim to have evidence to the contrary. How do you determine what to believe about what you have not seen? Examine the evidence. Use some common sense... and then take a leap of faith. Faith is just as necessary for atheists as it is for theists, for the godless and for the godly. At some point you must choose what you believe. Not to choose is to choose. But here’s the hitch. To choose erroneously is to believe a fantasy that, in the end will not only be laughable, but is downright dangerous to your health, life and future. I’ve chosen Jesus. Whom having never seen I love. And though I have never seen him I still believe in him and expect to receive His promised gift of eternal life. That’s worth a hoorah! It’s also something I’m willing to live for!

Dear Lord Jesus. I believe in you. I’ve read the stories. I’ve checked out the evidence. It is overwhelming. I believe. I place my faith in you with the expectation that reality will triumph in the end! I stake my life on it!

There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus

Posted by Dennis Kreiss at 11:07 AM |  MAKE A COMMENT