Saturday, Aug 09, 2008

TWG - August 9, 2008

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TWG - August 9, 2008
To Listen to Today’s Reading http://timewithgod.mypodcast.com
Leviticus 20; Acts 24

Today is August 9, 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 covenant to seek the LORD God with all our heart and with all our soul. If you seek Him, He will be found by you.

Happy Birthday to me… tomorrow. It will be a busy day. Sunday services and Vacation Bible School meeting. Yesterday I got the song sheets ready and practiced my drums a little. I spent some time talking to our egg delivery man. Carl & Sonja were there off and on during the day. Jayn, Marcia, Evie, Ken and Susan all stopped in to set up for VBS and I spent a considerable amount of time helping as well. I moved a few telephone poles with the back hoe and smoothed out some of the ground by the amphitheater for our VBS canopies. I also put in a few gabion baskets down on the bank to ready them for filling. - I put a picture of Patricia and my mother on the Blog at http://timewithgod.mypodcast.com. Check it out. She is laughing at something, I know not what!

This week’s theme verse is Luke 6:27-31 27 "But I say to you who hear: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, "bless those who curse you, and pray for those who spitefully use you. "To him who strikes you on the one cheek, offer the other also. And from him who takes away your cloak, do not withhold your tunic either. "Give to everyone who asks of you. And from him who takes away your goods do not ask them back. "And just as you want men to do to you, you also do to them likewise.

Ever heard of the “Golden Rule?” Here it is, “Do unto other as you want them to do unto you.” This is a “self correcting” behavioral rule that results in kindness and generosity when properly applied. My brother had his own made up version. He always said, “do unto others as they want to do to you, only do it first!” In other words, you know that they are going to mistreat you, cheat you or hurt you, so make sure that you land the first punch! He would do some little irritating thing to one of us, quote his fake golden rule and laugh at his own joke. He always thought he was witty though I never saw the humor of it especially when he was picking on me! I was not impressed by his version of the Golden Rule. So why do they call this the “Golden Rule?” Someone suggested that #1 Gold is beautiful. When you follow this rule, your actions are appealing and beautiful. #2 Gold is valuable. Kindness and graciousness are in high demand. We value people who treat us right. #3 Gold is rare. Those who treat others as they want to be treated are in short supply. But among Christians this is supposed to be the norm. We are expected to exhibit a positive attitude no matter the circumstances. Our value system insists that we do regular acts of kindness and generosity (as opposed to random acts). Our goal is to develop a servant’s heart and put others ahead of ourselves. God places a high value on “Golden Rule” behavior; after all it was Jesus who mandated it! If you want to be like Jesus, you must imitate Him. Here is the bottom line for the Christian: If you want to follow Jesus and be His disciple, you must buy into this philosophy of life. Maybe that’s why we don’t see more selflessness, kindness and generosity among us… Maybe we are just giving lip service to it. Maybe we aren’t taking it seriously. Maybe we are rationalizing the truth away. Maybe we haven’t really bought into it. I think it’s time we peel away that layer of Christian veneer and check under the hood to see what’s really there. It’s time to chuck the attitude that is critical of everyone else and replace it with some love. We need to dump the pity “poor me” outlook and substitute in a healthy dose of blessings. We’ve got to reorient our thinking so that stuff means less than people. It’s high time we started living like the Christian we claim to be. That is beautiful. That is precious. That’s rare! That is the “Golden” rule.

Dear Lord Jesus: I have chosen to follow you. I choose to buy into the values and truths that you have for me. I want to be a servant. I want to follow the golden rule. I want to live a selfless life of kindness and generosity so that everyone else can see that you have transformed my life. Please transform me I pray.

“May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.”-

Posted by Dennis Kreiss at 1:17 PM |  MAKE A COMMENT  

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