Wednesday, Jan 07, 2009

TWG – January 7, 2009

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TWG – January 7, 2009
To Listen to Today’s Reading http://timewithgod.mypodcast.com
Deuteronomy 31; Psalm 119:169-176; 1 Timothy 2

Today is January 7, 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.

Yesterday was a productive day for me. At least it felt that way. I got Power Point finished for the late service. Carl & Sonja, Susan and Marcia stopped in to do various things. The Christmas stuff got put away, Sonja worked on church finances. Carl helped Bill work on the hallway. The walls and ceiling are now framed in. I buzzed by to help Bill every so often when he needed an extra set of hands. Cary dropped by to talk for an hour or so. And I went about setting up our new Prayer Room. We hope to have 7 warriors sign up to pray for the church and our community. After work I worked out. Then it was back to church to meet with Dave after which we held our men’s meeting. We had a good old time. Dave brought me some “noise making” putty. Hmmmmm.

Today’s thought comes from 1 Timothy 6:11 But you, O man of God, flee these things and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, gentleness. 12 Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.

One of the most grueling series of events in the Summer Olympics is the Decathlon. A Decathlete can’t specialize. He has to compete in 10 different events over the course of two consecutive days. Some of the events are sprints, long distance run, the javelin, shot put and long jump. Winners are determined by the combined performance in all events. The winner is considered the “world’s greatest athlete!” The Christian also has a decathlon of his own to compete in. And the events are listed in 1 Timothy 6. Here they are: #1 Flee. Sometimes we are told to run away from our problems. Flee temptation. Flee from greed. It sounds chicken, but it’s a wise man who runs from sin. If you have a weakness, don’t stare it in the face and try to learn self control… flee! We must always flee from sin on the one hand and stand firm in our resistance against the Devil. #2 Pursue. We may be running from one thing, but we are chasing another. We are to pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience and gentleness. It is not enough just to avoid sin. Human nature hates a void. You can’t just empty yourself of sin and hope that you’ll be ok. It won’t work. We weren’t made to be “neutral.” You must fill yourself with godliness. If you don’t you’ll soon be back with some new sin. #3 Fight. Us Christians would rather fight than switch! At least when it comes to the essentials of the faith. Maintaining our faith is a battle. Doubt assails us. Problems endeavor to derail us. And we have to come out swinging if we want to maintain our faith in difficulty. We need resolve and spiritual toughness to maintain faith through times of dryness and through the fiery trials of life. #4 Grasp. Lay hold of eternal life. Get a grip on what it means to receive the reward of the believer. Eternal life is our crowning hope. Set your mind on things above. Think of heaven where you are already seated with Christ. Let the prospect of heaven fill your thoughts and dreams. #5 Confess. Jesus has called you. You responded. The appropriate response is to “confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord.” If you confess him on earth, He’ll confess you in heaven. To live a successful Christian life, you need to speak up and let people know that Jesus Christ is your Savior. That public confession will solidify your commitment. So get in the games and begin to compete.

Dear Jesus, my Savior, I want to compete well as a Christian. I want to win your approval. That is more important to me than all the accolades the world has to offer. Help me to know when to flee, when to pursue, when to fight and may I lay hold of the hope of eternal life. I want everyone to know that You are my Lord.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they shall be filled

Posted by Dennis Kreiss at 9:59 AM |  MAKE A COMMENT  

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