Monday, Aug 11, 2008

TWG - August 11, 2008

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TWG - August 11, 2008
To Listen to Today’s Reading http://timewithgod.mypodcast.com
Leviticus 21; Acts 25

Today is August 11, 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.

Yesterday was my birthday, and Susan made it a special day for me. It seems like most people brought helium filled balloons to the morning service. So I got a balloon bouquet. They also gave me a 5th place trophy for the faster pastor race. That was fun. Thanks for all the cards! David preached in the morning service and did a great job! Then we had a bbq for him. That was a blast. After that we did our VBS preparation. I interviewed Sara for our child safety program and shared the Gospel with her. She received Jesus as Savior! Then we set up the marketplace for VBS. We had some great help! Last night we saw our final video in the Q & A on creationism. I put a picture of Sara on the Blog at http://timewithgod.mypodcast.com. Check it out.

This week’s theme verse is Mark 8:34-38 "Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels."

What do you want out of life? When you get right down to it, Jesus is the desire of the ages. A lot of people appear to want to follow Jesus… at least a lot of people go to church searching for God. But just what does it really take to get close to God? How about a burning bush like Moses encountered? That would be cool. Or how about a bright light from heaven and the voice of God speaking like He did to Paul? If either of those happened to me it would really rock my world. I have never had the experiences that some of the prophets and men of God of the ages past have had. The Voice of God has not thundered from the mountain down at me. No angels. No bright lights. But I have had the still small voice of God speaking to my heart all my life. He’s in there. Heaven is a free gift, but knowing God comes with a price tag. There is a tremendous responsibility that comes with His Presence. God is not just there to tickle our fancy and give us a nice roller coaster ride to heaven like he was a candy machine or an amusement park. God never reveals himself to anyone without asking for something monumental in return: your heart, soul, life and everything you’ve got! There is a price to pay for a close personal bond with the Almighty. It is called “self denial.” “If you want to follow Jesus you must deny yourself!” What is “self denial?” Imagine two paths leading through life. One is God’s Will and it leads upward to a deeper life with Christ. The other path is man’s will. Both paths once ran parallel to each other, but in our present state our path now aims in a different direction altogether; it is directly contrary to God’s path. If we want to walk the one, we must get off the other! We cannot walk both. Self denial is a rejection of my path and an acceptance of His. It is an abandonment of my own interests in favor of following His Will. It requires that I say “no” to self and “yes” to God. It demands self discipline. I must come to the place where I control my own impulses and desires in favor of following God’s path to life. This is the requirement for a deeper life! No wonder we have so many curiosity seekers in church, but few who lay themselves completely on the altar of self denial. The price is too high! We want to add a pinch of God to our lives without giving up our personal ambitions and passions. If you want to follow Jesus, you must deny yourself and walk the path to the cross.

Dear Father. I want to follow you. I choose the path of self denial. I want to know you intimately. I realize that this means a total change of the way that I do business. Not my will, but your will be done in my life. Please give me the self discipline and victory over my human nature so that I can truly follow you.

“Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD.”

Posted by Dennis Kreiss at 9:18 AM |  MAKE A COMMENT  

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