Monday, Jan 12, 2009

TWG - January 12, 2009 - Avoiding the Pitfalls of Life

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TWG – January 12, 2009
To Listen to Today’s Reading http://timewithgod.mypodcast.com
Deuteronomy 33; Psalm 122; 1 Timothy 5

Today is January 12, 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.

Now it’s Monday, oh boy. Had a great weekend. Saturday I did the usual; garbage run, tennis, football, music practice and who knows what else. Sunday we came to church to find that the new hallway is opened up! And is it ever great! Thanks Bill. We talked about the Elder and greed. I learned some things. Then we ran over to Doris’s house for lunch with several visitors from the church. Marnie, Stan, Elana, Darryl and Connie. We had a great time! Thanks Doris! Sunday afternoon we had a CE meeting and made some decisions on some of our needs. Boy do we need lots of prayer about doing the ministry. Sunday night was our health seminar – and it was great. We learned a lot about handling stress. I put a picture of Evie in Sunday School on the blog at http://timewithgod.mypodcast.com. Check it out.

Today’s thought comes from 1 Timothy 6:20 O Timothy! Guard what was committed to your trust, avoiding the profane and idle babblings and contradictions of what is falsely called knowledge— 21 by professing it some have strayed concerning the faith. Grace be with you. Amen.

Life is full of pitfalls. One misstep and you could be off the path for a very long time. There are dozens of interests clamoring for our attention; work, church, sports, love, recreation, clubs, dancing, drinking, sailing, skiing, bowling, friends, family, the internet… They reach out for us from the dark like a thousand grasping hands, ready to pull us in a hundred directions. We all have voices that call to us and choices we must make. Choose carefully. Life is a “trust.” Your time, talents and treasure are on loan by God. What you do with them is of considerable interest to Him. We are managers of this “brain trust.” Manage well. I have two suggestions for you and one warning. Suggestion #1 Guard your “trust” carefully. Keep a wary eye on what you have. Don’t let it be stolen away by disuse or misuse. Reputation takes years to develop and only 5 minutes to lose. When you’ve got it, guard it carefully. Guard the truth and keep the faith. They are your best ally in this life. Suggestion #2 Avoid error. Be very wary of what you listen to and even more wary of what you buy into. If you are too open minded your brains will fall out. There are two classes of ideas that you ought to avoid. The first is fruitless discussions. Some things are pointless to discuss, but there are sure a lot of people who like to discuss them. We get together and argue about stuff that doesn’t matter. We grouse about the problems of the world and attempt to “solve” them in one sitting. So often, no one goes away happy and often people leave nursing hurt feelings. The second is so called science. This is more insidious than the first. There is much in our world that passes itself off as science which has absolutely no basis in fact. Sadly, millions are mislead by it. They are into highly technical discussions which lead to skepticism. Avoid it. Stick with the truth you can count on… tested, tried and dependable; God’s Word. …And finally a Warning. If you choose not to avoid erroneous ideas, they may suck you in and you may one day find yourself professing that you believe what you once denied, and denying what you once believed. That has happened to more than one sincere individual. It could happen to you. If you and I are not carefully guarding the trust and avoiding the fuss one or the other of us could stray from the faith. I pray that you will hang in there baby and let the grace of God be your guiding principle.

Dear Lord Jesus. I pray for wisdom to make good choices and good friends. Remind me to be wary and guard the trust you have given me. And help me to avoid false teaching and meaningless discussions that rob relationships of their joy. I rest myself on your grace. Fill me with your wisdom.

He who testifies to these things says, "Surely I am coming quickly." Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

Posted by Dennis Kreiss at 10:55 AM |   

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