Tuesday, Apr 14, 2009

4-14 Don't be caught unprepared!

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It’s snowing in Roseburg! Can you believe that? But I want to say a few things about yesterday’s email just in case you got the wrong impression. Yesterday’s email was not meant to imply that the “us” and “them” of America’s politics is equivalent with the us and them of prophecy. There are Christians with an interesting variety of ideologies. It was meant to be illustrative rather than divisive. The “us” of prophecy is all genuine believers regardless of their political leanings. And I do want to say something about my politics. Over the years I have become less and less of a “party” guy and more and more of a cultural commentator. As time marches on I have a reduced identification with any party. The party is a broad secular mindset which often strays from solid ground. I don’t care which party you like, what I care about is the values and truths of God’s Word. And it is precisely God’s Truth that every one of us should line our lives up with. After all, God’s Truth is the only truth that will last into eternity! “Your Word O Lord is settled for ever in heaven.” Psalm 119:89

Today is April 14, this is time with God, I’m Pastor Dennis - I’ve been waiting here for you. Welcome to our life transforming community. This is your invitation to take one step forward every day in your relationship with Christ. We invite you to do something unbelievably radical. We invite you to deny yourself, take up your cross daily and follow Jesus

Today's Scripture reading is 1 Samuel 1; Proverbs 22; Luke 22:39-71
To Listen to Today’s Reading http://timewithgod.podbean.com - Archives can be found at http://timewithgod.mypodcast.com

Today’s thought comes from 1 Thessalonians 5:1 But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you. 2 For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. 3 For when they say, "Peace and safety!" then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape. 4 But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief. 5 You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness. 6 Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober.

The prophetic future is full of deadly and dangerous pitfalls for the unsuspecting. That is the idea of the words “sudden destruction.” The Day of the Lord will prophetically bring sudden destruction on the earth. The Greek word for sudden means unexpected, unforeseen and therefore sudden! For most of us, the mortgage meltdown was just that; sudden, unforeseen and unexpected. If we had only had a broader “bird’s eye view” we might have seen it coming. The warning signs were all there! We might have known that many thousands of homeowners were all going to have substantial increases in their house payments at the same time due to the ARM loans they took out, and scores of them would not be able to make up the difference. Sudden destruction cometh! I don’t know when the Day of the Lord will begin, no one does! Trying to predict it is a fool’s game. Don’t jump the gun and assume we are there yet! But don’t discount its reality! It will happen! There is a doomsday for earth that is a-comin’. I don’t relish this. I honestly wish that it wasn’t so. I don’t want anyone to suffer! I don’t wish bad times on anyone. I wish that “good times” would roll on forever! Doomsday and Final Judgment don’t fit well for my personal psyche. But don’t shoot the messenger! In the olde days when a messenger from the enemy camp brought bad news, sometimes an angry general or king would insult him or even kill him! That happened to King David when he sent messengers with a message of peace to the king of Ammon… but he shaved off half of their beards, cut off their garments in the middle of their buttocks, and sent them away humiliated! That didn’t go over very well! Instead of peace, David brought the army! Sudden destruction is coming in the future… how can you be prepared? I suppose you could store up food in your pantry or buy up gold or silver for use when paper money is worthless, or build an underground bunker or lock and load a chest full of guns and ammo. Those things might help and they might not. Thieves could break in and steal! The only substantial way I know of is to trust Christ and to share Christ with others so they can trust Him. Be prepared! Pass it on.

Dear Lord. I pray that we would truly be prepared for the future. I pray that we would put You first in our lives. I pray for repentance and a return to God. Lord heal our land. We have strayed far from you and have even used Your Word to justify our waywardness and sin. Lord grant that we might be passionate in sharing the greatest news ever… salvation, hope and peace in the death and resurrection of Christ!

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and all your soul and all your mind and all your strength. This is the greatest commandment

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