Friday, Jul 18, 2008

TWG - July 18, 2008

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TWG - July 18, 2008
To Listen to Today’s Reading http://timewithgod.mypodcast.com
Leviticus 5; Psalm 57; Acts 13:13-52

Today is July 18, this is time with God, I’m Pastor Dennis - I’ve been waiting here for you. Welcome to our life transforming community. TWG is a complete turn of events; it is a 180 degree turn around. God is changing us and turning us around as a community. This is not business as usual, this is transforming, this is spiritual, this is essential.

Yesterday was not normal at all. Is any day normal for me? I don’t know. As soon as I got to church I was late for a Christian Ed meeting. That turned into a VBS workday. John stopped in and we talked for a long time and prayed together. I stepped outside and Jayn was watering. She told Marcia and me that Don has a mass on his lung – what a concern! We prayed with her! Back inside Carl, Sonja, Mary, Brad, Karen and John were hard at work on VBS stuff! What a great crew! Thanks! Kate and Christy stopped in to help. They also picked out music for the youth service coming in August. I finished up the VBS flyer and made and Awana flyer. Then it was out to Redeemers and Living Hope Books to put up posters. After that I played tennis with Phil. Whew! What a day! I put a picture of some of Susan’s handiwork on the Blog at http://timewithgod.mypodcast.com. She has too much time on her hands! She made these stand up Velcro dolls of our grandkids! Wow!

This week’s theme verse is 1 Corinthians 3:11-15 “no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one’s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is. If anyone’s work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.”

Why should I be concerned about rewards! Isn’t heaven itself a big enough reward? How could something be better than just being there? Over the years I have heard this type of response / objection to rewards over and over. I think the questioning is often genuine, but sometimes it’s a way of saying “Me? live for Jesus with all my heart, soul and mind? Are you kidding! I already have a fire escape! What could possibly motivate me to live all out for my Savior?” Rewards are biblical. They are apparently motivational. “If anyone’s work endures he will receive a reward! If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss.” But let’s answer the objection. “If heaven is a wonderful place filled with no tears, no sorrow, no sadness, pure joy etc, how could I possibly even care about anything extra like rewards?” Let’s rewind the tape! If you are reading this, you are NOT in heaven yet! This is not meant to motivate the dead, but the living. Right now I do want better things. I would rather live in a mansion than a hovel! If I was to put my dream vacation on the refrigerator it would be in the Caribbean not in a prison in Siberia. Let’s be honest with ourselves. Better things motivate us NOW! And that is the point. This is not meant to spur us on later, but it is meant to spur us on now. GET THE BEST ETERNAL VACATION SPOT AVAILABLE! Call 1-800-SERVE-JESUS-TODAY! If you love Him, you WILL want to be closer to Him in the future as well as in the present. If you don’t love Him, go ahead, just laugh at the concept of rewards, because HE thought of it! One of the greatest rewards He will offer is the simple statement, “Well done you good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of your Lord!” I really don’t want him to look at me and say, “Dennis you made it by the skin of your teeth, and by the way, I’m not happy with you!” Fast forward past your life a bit to the “Judgment Seat of Christ.” Now this is a good reason to be concerned about rewards. At the Blessing Ceremony, some of us will be rewarded, others will barely make it. We will “suffer loss” and “smell like smoke!” Those words trouble me. I won’t be in heaven YET. Is it possible that I will feel the emotions of loss and shame at the judgment seat? It seems like a very real likelihood. And that will be magnified by the seeming reality that it is a public ceremony! OUCH! Negative motivation works sometimes! Fast forward once again to Heaven. Maybe we can express it this way. Perhaps we can understand the rewards like this: Presently, a person who has some form of mental retardation can be happy. I’ve seen them. Some of them have lots of love and smiles. And I’ve noticed that people with all kinds of mental capacities can be happy. Perhaps our joy in receiving rewards is along those lines. In heaven even though our joy will be full, perhaps we can understand it by saying that if you only make it by the skin of your teeth, your happiness may be like the down syndrome child compared to a happy person with all his facilities. Both will be happy. One will be all there. Which reward do you want?

Dear Lord Jesus. I must confess that I have not taken rewards seriously enough. You understand Heaven, I do not. You say rewards are important, I don’t have a great grasp on that, but I do know that if it makes you happy, that’s good enough for me. That is what I want to do with my life: serve you. I want to do all I can to be just like Jesus.

It is God who works in you both to will and to do his good pleasure

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