Thursday, Aug 14, 2008

TWG - August 14, 2008

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TWG - August 14, 2008
To Listen to Today’s Reading http://timewithgod.mypodcast.com
Leviticus 24; Acts 27:27-44


Today is August 14, 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

Well… we are over half way finished with VBS! Yesterday went well! We had an excited group of kids just having a great time in our Jerusalem Marketplace. One parent told me that they are Vacation Bible School connoisseurs – they do at least four VBS’s every year, and ours is tops! After VBS I was exhausted! But I did some lowly work in the office anyway. I contacted Doris about Bible Study. I ran over to visit Jim and Irene. They looked good, and then I spent a quiet evening at home. I put a picture of another of our VBS shops 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."

Just what kind of a call does Christ really have on your life? Let’s say that you decide that the price is too high. You decide that you don’t want to take a trip to the cross. Giving up your life for Jesus is just not on your agenda. You want to live your life your own way. You want to do your own thing. Or perhaps you only want a few bucks worth of Jesus… not the whole package. Can you get away with that? The answer is that whoever wants to save his life will loose it in the end! Jesus does have a right to call us to radical discipleship. He is the Lord of the universe. He created us and He has the right to call us into service. And just so that we are clear on all that jazz, one of these days He WILL call us into account and “judge” us based on our response to His call. If you decide that you want to save your life for yourself and you do not want to pay the price of discipleship, in the end, you will be a serious loser. There are terrible consequences for choosing against Jesus Christ. And that is exactly what is at stake here in discipleship. It is all about the choices that we make. We may think that we are just doing what is best for us… you know, self preservation and finding personal fulfillment, but in reality it’s a much bigger decision than that. The unvarnished reality of it is that it is a choice AGAINST Jesus. Every time I sin, rebel, go my own way, overlook God’s call, or only choose partial obedience, I am deciding to “save my own skin.” That decision creates a weight of disobedience that may pull us right out of the mainstream of God’s will and into serious chastisement! On the other hand if you willingly lay down your life for Jesus and for the Gospel, in the end you will be rewarded. You can have your rewards now on this earth when you choose to “save your life,” or you can have your rewards later. But know this; God does have the right to call you to discipleship. The call is out there. God’s got your number. And God will hold you accountable in the end for how you did or did not respond to His call. So now, my friend, it’s all up to you. Softly and tenderly Jesus is calling, calling for you and for me. It’s your turn to choose Plan A or Plan B, your way or God’s way, to save your life, or to give it up, reward now, or reward later, self preservation or God glorification… it’s time to vote! Pick up your pencil and mark your ballot. God is waiting.

Dear Lord Jesus, I give you my life. I will make the choice. I have decided that you are the one thing that matters most in life. I want to please you. I want to obey you. I am willing to lose my life for the sake of the Gospel in order to save it for you on judgment day.

“I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints,”-

Posted by Dennis Kreiss at 9:50 AM |  MAKE A COMMENT  

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