Monday, Apr 28, 2008

TWG - April 28, 2008

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TWG - April 28, 2008
To Listen to Today’s Reading http://timewithgod.mypodcast.com
Genesis 40; Ezekiel 45; Matthew 6:1-15

Today is April 28, this is time with God, I’m Pastor Dennis - I’ve been waiting here for you. Welcome to our life transforming community. Together we are strong. As we walk though the word together we help each other grow.

Here we are once again at Monday… we’ve been here before in the seemingly endless cycle of weeks. Yesterday was the Lord’s Day, and we had a great time talking about “a Ministry you can believe in!” In discovery Class 1 we talked about the nuts and bolds of how the church works. In the evening we saw a fascinating video on Creationism, the flood and the ice age. Shaphen was supposed to come over for lunch, but he had to work, so at last minute, we invited Dave and Barb over. That was fun. Saturday I reffed two soccer games and came away unscathed. So that turned out well. I put a picture of Barb trying to hide her face from the camera on the blog at www.timewithgod.mypodcast.com. She was only somewhat successful. Check it out.

This week’s theme verse is Ephesians 6:14-18 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.

Put on the full armor of God. This is how you can stand firm against the onslaught of life’s circumstances and the enemy’s attacks. The armor of God will make you a stable individual. The first piece is the “belt of truth.” This is the equipment belt. In Paul’s time, every Roman Legionnaire wore one of these. They hung their sword from it. The belt was essential if you wanted to keep your weapon close at hand. And that was a good idea in case of a surprise attack in the countryside from anti-Roman guerrillas. “Oh yeah! I set my sword down at lunch time and forgot to pick it up again… that’ll be the last time I ever do that!” The equipment belt also had another important function: it held the armor together. It was hung snugly around the bottom of the breast plate and the pants where securely attached to it. Without the belt, you were virtually “naked.” One military campaign even had a covert group of special ops sneak into camp at night and cut all the belts. When the surprise attack commenced in the morning and the waking soldiers pulled their pants on, there was nothing to hold them up! They stumbled around like a bad western comedy with their pants falling to their ankles. They lost. TRUTH is the belt that holds life together. Don’t leave home without it! Your life should be surrounded by this powerful protecting gear belt. If you uphold the truth, the truth will hold you up!

Dear Lord. I put on the belt of truth. I have chosen to base my whole life on it. You are the way, the truth and the life! I realize how important truth is to my personal protection… so I commit myself to it wholeheartedly! I don’t always know what the truth is in every situation, so I ask you to teach me from your word, and give me the insight to recognize it. Thanks for this powerful defensive weapon!

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