Wednesday, Apr 30, 2008

TWG - April 30, 2008

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TWG - April 30, 2008
To Listen to Today’s Reading http://timewithgod.mypodcast.com
Genesis 41: 37-57; Ezekiel 47; Matthew 7

Today is April 30, this is time with God, I’m Pastor Dennis - I’ve been waiting here for you. Welcome to our life transforming community. You are part of a devotional community where we put Christ first and our commitment is to spend time with each other and Time with God every day.

Yesterday was characterized by a lot of yawning for me. All day long I yawned and yawned. For some reason, blame it on the phase of the moon or something, I was dog tired. I yawned through my meeting with Carey. I yawned while I worked on the next series of Growing Together for KGRV called lost. I yawned through multiple phone calls (you get the picture) and it seemed like I was not the phone half the day. I spoke for about a half hour to a home schooler in our area. Nice gal. I spoke for about an hour to Sprint… they messed up my bill! They have me owning almost $2000 in two months! I spoke to Berkeley health care, and Wells Fargo, and Zac and Jay and who knows who else! On they way home I stopped off at the insurance company to set things right and spent 45 minutes there watching Rusty work on my policy. Then Rich and Ken and I met last night for “12” our men’s meeting. We had a good old time. I put a picture of Dave on the blog at www.timewithgod.mypodcast.com. I caught him by surprise… 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 your combat boots… have your feet fitted with the readiness to spread the gospel of peace. Good boots are a must in a battle scenario. The field of battle is littered with swords, knives, staves, glass, metal and other sharp and dangerous objects. The Roman battle boot was a sturdy leather sandal made to protect the feet. It was strapped firmly around the ankle. Attached to the bottom were numerous spikes for traction, similar in idea to a baseball or golf cleat. A little extra traction gave the soldier a little extra edge over the enemy. When he had to dig in and make a stand, he would stand firm. When he needed to run across slippery terrain, they would provide firm footing. When our enemy tries to frighten us or cause anxiety we should remember that our combat boots provide a firm and safe stand against his attacks. Our firm footing is the gospel of peace. Because of the good news of Eternal life we have peace with God and can have the peace of God. Now there’s some firm footing. Peace with God means that we are no longer enemies. I am on His side! He is for me! He is my Father and protector. That brings a sense of peace! The Peace of God means that I am in fellowship with Him. I’ve confessed my sins and strapped on my combat boots. He keeps me in perfect peace because my mind is stayed on Him. Ironically, the way we defeat people who are on the enemies side is that we chase them down with the gospel of peace and step on them with the good news that they too can have peace with God! How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news! If you want the peace and joy of the Christian faith, start sharing your hope with others! Pull on your combat boots, start running after lost souls and find peace!

Dear Father and protector. I run to you for shelter, good news and peace when I am frightened. Strengthen and comfort me I pray. I need your love. Please set me on fire so that I am ready to share my precious faith with those you bring my way in the battle of life. They need you as much as I need you, and I have the secret to peace, hope and eternal life. Give me the opportunity to share my faith to day, and then compel me to speak up and share the good news.

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