Wednesday, Jul 02, 2008

TWG - July 2, 2008

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TWG - July 2, 2008
To Listen to Today’s Reading http://timewithgod.mypodcast.com
Exodus 35; Psalm 47; Acts 7:39-60

Today is July 2, 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.

Oh what a night. My bod refused to shut down until midnight, so I’m a bit groggy this morning. Yesterday I spent the day in the office gearing back up for ministry. I worked on my Discipleship Matrix some more. Carl, Sonja and Helen were at church canning strawberries. Boy are they good this year! Bill and Mike stopped in to check things out. Ken came by to say he wouldn’t be at men’s meeting last night. He had a migraine. He can use your prayers. Marcia called to talk Awana. We are making slow progress toward the goal. I played a few sluggish games of tennis with Phil and got beat in both sets. Then I went to Men’s meeting. It was just Rich and I. We had a great time. We talked about the need to do something significant in life. I challenged him with a statement Steve Jobs gave when recruiting the CEO of Coke to Apple Computer, “Do you want to go on selling sugar water for the rest of your life, or do you want to change the world!” I put up a picture of Evie at Camp on the blog at timewithgod.mypodcast.com. check it out.

This week’s theme verse is 1 Corinthians 10:12-13 “Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall. No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able to bear, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.”

God is faithful! That could well qualify as the understatement of all time. God is always faithful! God never fails! For those of us who can’t see the big picture we don’t always see that from where we stand… but there has yet to be a promise unfulfilled, a mistake ever made or a failure to come through on God’s part – Ever! God is always faithful. The problem has never been on God’s side. If there has ever been a disappointment or failure you can bet it has come from our side. One of the classic accusations is when we get ourselves into a jam and then blame God for not getting us out of it! God is still faithful and that proves it. God promises that we will pay the consequences of our sin, so how is it that we have the right to blame God for our screw ups? Yet even in the dark night of failure there is a ray of hope because God will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able to bear. A more troubling charge against God’s faithfulness is this: “How could a good God allow evil to go unchecked? Like child rape! Or the starvation of helpless women and children! Where was this faithful God when millions of Jews were incinerated in WWII?” There are horrors perpetrated on humanity by humanity that are beyond comprehension. And there are some natural disasters like hurricanes and earthquakes that beg the question as well. Where is the faithfulness of God now! Where it has always been. I don’t know if those asking the question truly understand the implications of what they wish. Do we wish God to step in every time someone steps out of line? I don’t think so. The same people who complain that God does not do anything don’t want him to interfere in their private lives! They want to live permissive and immoral lives and they hope that God is not up there somewhere watching and keeping an account! If God were to set all wrongs to right it would mean the end of the world as we know it. It would be judgment day. That would mean a premature end for folks who have never made the decision to trust Christ! There is another option. God could just turn us all into mindless drones. That way there would never be a malfunction or sin. Is that what we want? Is that what God wants? God created us with the freedom of choice. He apparently gets more pleasure out of one person who chooses to worship Him in the chaos of this world out of their own free will, than a million, million robots who jump to do his bidding at the flick of a switch. And by the way, did I mention that it was the “original sin” that led the world into chaos in the first place! Before that, all was perfectly in balance. Once again it is zero points for man and infinity points for the faithfulness of God. God never fails.

Dear Faithful Father. Thank you for your great faithfulness. Your mercies are new every morning. Forgive me for baseless accusations against your character. Help me to trust you even thought I can’t see things from your perspective. I know that you have my best interest in mind. Thank you Jesus!

Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am

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