Thursday, May 01, 2008

TWG - May 1, 2008

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TWG - May 1, 2008
To Listen to Today’s Reading http://timewithgod.mypodcast.com
Genesis 42:1-24; Ezekiel 48:1-12; Matthew 8:1-13

Today is May 1, this is time with God, I’m Pastor Dennis - I’ve been waiting here for you. Welcome to our life transforming community. We are doing something of eternal significance. We are redeeming the time. That is one of the basic premises of TWG. We believe that what we do every day is so important that we must do the important things each day. That is why we read the word every Day.

We broke another record with Time with God. We had over 2000 downloads last month! Incredible! That’s over 65 in one day! And our most listened to episode had nearly 80 downloads. That is truly amazing! Who’s out there listening anyway! Welcome to TWG. Yesterday I finished editing our radio broadcast, and last night Kyle recorded the intros to it. I also prepared for Bible Study on the 5 Sacrifices of Leviticus. We talked about the burnt offering and the meal offering… both of them demonstrate gratitude to God for his goodness. The burnt offering was unusual in that they burnt up the whole thing. And the picture is one of us giving our whole life as a sacrifice to God. The meal offering was thanksgiving that God had given Jesus, “the bread of life” to us. I put a picture of Dale on the blog at www.timewithgod.mypodcast.com. You can tell if you’re a redneck if you use a logging chain to secure a chop saw in the back of your pickup! Yup, Dale’s a redneck. Can’t see it too much in this picture, but Dale even has stuff growing in the back of his pickup!

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 shield of faith. The Romans had two shields to choose from. One was a small, mobile, round one used for hand to hand fighting. The shield of choice, however, was the large rectangular infantry shield. It was large enough that a soldier could crouch down behind it and be shielded from the arrows of the enemy. It was covered in leather hide so that when an arrow stuck to it, the leather would extinguish the flame. It was made so that an entire line of infantry could advance side by side with shields locked… that way they could approach the target with the least amount of danger. This large “riot shield” gave the soldiers confidence and courage in the face of a dangerous barrage of flaming arrows. In battle if you didn’t have confidence in your weapons, it would make for an unstable and fearful army. There is another name for soldiers who loose courage… casualties. When a soldier gives in to fear, turns tail and runs, that’s when he’s vulnerable to the flaming arrows. You are the weakest link, goodbye! Our shield is faith. Trust in God and His Word. Faith is the weapon that will keep the flaming arrows of doubt from burrowing deep into your back side causing spiritual death. Even though you don’t know it all or don’t understand it all, you’ve got to believe. Faith is the lone light in the darkness that will keep you from loosing your way. Faith will bring stability. This brings new meaning to the phrase, “we walk by faith not by sight.” When you are crouching behind the large rectangular shield of faith, making slow progress toward the enemy… you may not be able to peek over the top and see where you are going… you just have to obey orders to “march” until your captain shouts “engage!” Walk behind the shield by faith! When you don’t understand, when you can’t see his hand, trust his heart.

Dear Jesus: I believe in you. You are my captain and commander. I have faith that you know what your are doing. When the barrage of flaming arrows of doubt are whistling by, wounding those around me, causing fear… I will trust in you. Even if you slay me, yet will I trust you. I know that you have a wonderful plan for my life and I am willing to let you lead me step by step through the battlefield of life until I reach that glorious shore of heaven and my faith is turned into sight. I can’t wait!

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