Time With God

11-20 It’s that Love Thing

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 10:55:00 +0800

There was a bunch of things that went on yesterday! When I look back, I’m amazed at how busy it was! But let me talk about construction. Yesterday Mike and Bill were up on the roof sealing it. It really did look great once they were done if you are an admirer of black tar! I can’t wait to find out if it stopped the leak. Then they cut me two pieces of plywood which I used to make a few “stage risers” for our Christmas program. In fact I spent a few hours cutting six of them to size. More construction ahead! Today's Scripture reading is 2 Chronicles 15; Jeremiah 1; Acts 28 To Listen to Today’s Reading http://timewithgod.mypodcast.com to subscribe go to http://timewithgod.mypodcast.com/rss.xml Today’s thought comes from 1 Peter 1:8-9 whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, 9 receiving the end of your faith—the salvation of your souls. “All you need is love!” (Beatles) “I will always love you!” (Whitney Houston) “My endless love” (Lionel Richie) “Because you loved me.” (Celine Dion) “I think I love you” (Partridge Family) “It must have been love” (Roxette) “I want to know what love is” (Foreigner). So, did any of those “Unchained Melodies” (Elvis Presley) play in your head as you read them? Foreigner’s song especially interested me. Here’s a few lyrics “In my life there's been heartache and pain. I don't know if I can face it again. Can’t stop now, I’ve traveled so far to change this lonely life. I wanna know what love is..... I want you to show me...... I wanna feel what love is..... I know you can show me......” Our world is enamored with love, but love is an elusive thing. What is love? This is one of the most difficult definitions for mankind! Erich Fromm said that "Love is the only sane and satisfactory answer to the problem of human existence." We may not be able to define it well, but I’m pretty sure everybody wants it. It makes up for the loneliness, heartache and pain of life, doesn’t it? If only to know that I am loved, that makes life worthwhile. And it is nice if you have the ones you love close at hand. I just read facebook and noticed that this Thanksgiving there are a few families who can’t wait to get together and hang out. “Can’t wait to see you next week!” “Miss u too mama!” “Sooooooo looking forward to next week…” But can you really love someone you’ve never seen face to face, can’t talk on the phone to, and can’t text or IM? It happens. It happens all the time. We love Him even though we’ve never seen Him. Does that make our love any less real? To some people it does. Why? Because a relationship takes emotional investment. I’m really not great at the relationship thing. Intimate relationships take lots of up close and personal time, ups and downs, understanding, give and take and lots of change and forgiveness to get closer. I don’t know if I really want to get THAT close to many people. Staying at a distance is good for me. But it doesn’t work if you want love, and it doesn’t work if you want a love relationship with Jesus Christ. To love the one you have never seen, you have to spend time in the dark talking to the guy you can’t see, even though he can hear you. Really. You have to be willing to pay the price of solitude, meditation and reflection. The reason we don’t have a deeper, intimate relationship with Jesus is because we haven’t regularly invested important chunks of time listening to His voice. He speaks though His Word. Listen to it often. He speaks through His Church. Soak it in regularly. He speaks through His Creation. Find some time to connect. He speaks through His still small voice we call the Holy Spirit. Are you listening? If so, then your love will grow. Dear Jesus. I love You. I am ready to invest some important sums of time into our relationship. I don’t want to just walk around the periphery of love, I want to be right in the middle of it. I know You love me and are anxiously waiting for me to dive in. I’m coming. Because Your loving kindness is better than life, My lips shall praise You. Thus I will bless You while I live; I will lift up my hands in Your name.

11-19 Believing is Seeing

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 11:07:00 +0800

I am a rich man. Though you’d never know it by inspecting my balance sheet! But there’s more to wealth than cold cash, or so I’ve been told! Yesterday Mike phoned me up just to pray with me, that was rich! He read a passage from Joel 2:11-17 that God had laid on his heart to share with me… great stuff! You ought to read it! And then Larry stopped by to talk and pray with me, and Ken joined us. It doesn’t get any better than this, until eternity! Thanks guys and keep praying! Today's Scripture reading is 2 Chronicles 14; Isaiah 66; Acts 27:27-44 To Listen to Today’s Reading http://timewithgod.mypodcast.com to subscribe go to http://timewithgod.mypodcast.com/rss.xml Today’s thought comes from 1 Peter 1:8-9 whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, 9 receiving the end of your faith—the salvation of your souls. Seeing is believing… or is it? I’ve seen a lot of things I don’t believe in. In fact our society programs us to see things we know are not and can not be true. Every night, most of you watch television shows that portray imaginary scenarios that have never and will never happen. Yet there they are, day after day, carefully acted out before your very eyes! We see far out fantasies like flying monkeys, transformers, superheros that can do gravity defying stunts, flame on, turn into a stack of bricks, gain spidey sense… and don’t forget the mind bending, physics defying, special effects that simply have no basis in the real world at all! Seeing is not believing. Believing is seeing! Ask anyone, “Do you believe in UFO’s? Ghosts? The Loch Ness Monster? Black Helicopters?” Next ask, “Have you ever seen one?” Probably not, but don’t let that stop you! I’ve seen it on TV! Or, my brother has seen one, or my second uncle’s great nephew’s girlfriend’s fiancé’s neighbor has. We expect to see what we believe in! Ask any evolutionists you happen to see, what’s the best tuna soon to be? A Chicken from the sea! Has anyone ever seen a tuna turn into a chicken? Has anyone ever seen evolution occur? No way José! But since believing is seeing, evolutionists all over the world have created an immense library of theories, charts, museum’s, documentaries and teaching tools all meant to convince themselves that it must be true! If you believe it, you have the expectation of vindication. Every real belief you have has real world implications. I believe that love will make me happy, so I seek love. I believe that money will give me the stuff I need so I seek profitable employment. I believe that taxes and big government are good / bad so I either become a tax and spend liberal or a fiscal conservative. I believe that discipline means I love / don’t love my children, so I become a firm disciplinarian or I let my kids do as they please. Believing is seeing. Unfortunately that means some of the stuff we believe is just wrong. But it also means that some of the stuff that we’ve never seen is spot on! Like Jesus. Have you ever seen him? But you believe He is God come in the flesh? Why? Well, we’ve got a library of charts, theories, museum’s, documentaries and teaching tools that tell us it is so. But there are a lot of people who don’t believe? They claim to have evidence to the contrary. How do you determine what to believe about what you have not seen? Examine the evidence. Use some common sense... and then take a leap of faith. Faith is just as necessary for atheists as it is for theists, for the godless and for the godly. At some point you must choose what you believe. Not to choose is to choose. But here’s the hitch. To choose erroneously is to believe a fantasy that, in the end will not only be laughable, but is downright dangerous to your health, life and future. I’ve chosen Jesus. Whom having never seen I love. And though I have never seen him I still believe in him and expect to receive His promised gift of eternal life. That’s worth a hoorah! It’s also something I’m willing to live for! Dear Lord Jesus. I believe in you. I’ve read the stories. I’ve checked out the evidence. It is overwhelming. I believe. I place my faith in you with the expectation that reality will triumph in the end! I stake my life on it! There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus

11-18 Coming Soon

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 10:36:00 +0800

Drip, drip, drip… Bill brought me outside. “I’ve tried to patch this roof, and it’s not working!” That’s not good! Water always seems to find a way. We stared up at the roof, crawled on top of it, scrutinized it from every angle and even prayed over it… it still leaks! Bill is such a hard working guy. Always doing for the Lord. He’s here at church so often, by himself hammering away. “Dear God, send someone who knows how to fix our roof!” That would encourage him. Today's Scripture reading is 2 Chronicles 13; Isaiah 65; Acts 27:1-26 To Listen to Today’s Reading http://timewithgod.mypodcast.com to subscribe go to http://timewithgod.mypodcast.com/rss.xml Today’s thought comes from 1 Peter 1:6-7 In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, 7 that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ It has been estimated that about 1 in 20 verses in the New Testament speak either directly or indirectly about the Second Coming of Jesus Christ! His coming is our hope. Christians hold to the view that this same Jesus who walked the earth 2000 years ago and ascended into heaven will come back one of these days. In His first coming, He entered into history in a way similar to every other child: He was born. But that’s where the similarities end. He was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of a virgin, unlike the rest of us. He lived a sinless life, unlike the rest of us. After he was certifiably dead for three days, he resurrected and then he ascended into heaven, unlike the rest of us! While the disciples were staring up at Him, an angel stopped in and told them that Jesus would come back in the same way he left. The second coming of Christ will be even more dramatic than the first coming! There are some six Greek words that describe Jesus return. They tell the story of what we can expect when He comes. The first one is used in Acts 1:11 Erchomai – which simply means to come from one place to another. The disciples were told that Jesus would come from heaven and come to the earth. Zech 14:4 indicates that He will set down on the Mount of Olives. If you want to have a front row seat, move to the Holy Land. The second word is used in 1 Peter 1:7 Apokalupsis – It means a revealing or unveiling. The second coming begins when Jesus enters our physical world and uses the sky and clouds like a curtain call. First there is nothing there but a few clouds and blue sky, and then there is! Jesus is suddenly revealed to the world with all His mighty angels in tow. The next two words are similar to Apokalusis in meaning. Phaneroo – means to make oneself visible or to expose oneself to view. When Jesus shows up in the all his glory, good news! we will be with Him! Col 3:4. Optanomai means to allow one’s self to be seen. If you haven’t seen Jesus lately, it’s because he is playing “hide and seek.” Olly Olly Oxen Free day is the day He returns. Heb 9:28 says that when he came the first time, he took our sin with Him, and when he comes the second time, he will come without our sin because he has disposed of it! That’s good! The next word is Parousia – which emphasizes His arrival plus His "personal presence." This is a word which means “I’m here!” Again, the good news is that Jesus is “coming with His saints” 1 Thes 3:13. The last word is Epiphaneia from which we get our English word epiphany. This word means “the glorious manifestation of his magnificent presence. 2 Thess 2:8 talks about “the brightness of His coming!” This is no anticlimactic event which gets only a passing sentence on the 11 O’clock news. This is riveting and unavoidable. It is the culmination of human history! When Jesus comes, every eye will see! Dear Lord Jesus, come quickly. We are waiting. As men waited for your first coming for thousands of years in hope that you would take our sins away, so we wait patiently for your return now that you have disposed of our sins! Help us to love, desire and anticipate your coming! To God be the glory, great things he has done

11-17 Me? Pleasing to God?

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 11:07:00 +0800

Dave called me last night. He sounded very concerned. He had just tuned into Family Radio and Harold Camping was answering questions on his program “Open Forum.” Mr. Camping said some very confusing and disturbing things that prompted Dave to call me. My answer was and is simply this: Harold Camping is a False Teacher and his station Family Radio which he founded and runs is also in apostasy. Camping falsely predicted Christ’s return in 1994, when that didn’t happen he said he missed the date by 7 years. The new date is 2011. He predicted the beginning of the Tribulation in 1988. Among other weird and false beliefs, he says that Michael the Archangel is Jesus (Like the JW’s). He teaches that people should leave all churches and instead should go to “Family Radio Meetings” where his strange doctrines are taught (like a cult!). He claims to use the Bible as his own authority, but his viewpoints supersede the Bible. My suggestion? Tune him out. The Bible says don’t even listen to false teachers – Rom 16:17, 2 Tim 3:5, 2 John 1:10 Today's Scripture reading is 2 Chronicles 12; Isaiah 64; Acts 26 To Listen to Today’s Reading http://timewithgod.mypodcast.com to subscribe go to http://timewithgod.mypodcast.com/rss.xml Today’s thought comes from 1 Peter 1:6-7 In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, 7 that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ Is your life to the “praise, honor and glory… of Jesus Christ?” Maybe on a good day it is, or maybe not. Perhaps you just had an argument with your spouse. You can still feel the anger and venom in the pit of your stomach. Or perhaps you just “slipped up” and took “the name of the Lord in vain.” Or maybe you like to gossip about the faults of others, or you struggle with jealousy over how much other people have and how little you have, or maybe you have trouble keeping away from online porn. There’s a long list of reasons why God could not possibly be pleased with us! The works of the flesh are evident in your life and you are living in shame! The goal of the Christian is to have a genuine faith that pleases Jesus, but how do I get that? I have such a struggle with the flesh! I find it difficult, almost impossible to live life the way I wish it could be lived! Paul admitted that he had the same problem in Galatians 5:17. Every Christian fights the same battle against various fleshly problems. I want to see if I can lay out a few Scriptural principles that will help. #1 Watch yourself! Matt 26:41 - Set out “early warning” boundaries so that you catch the temptation early on when it is manageable. #2 Pray hard! “Watch and pray.” Engage in fervent prayer. I’d dare say that most of us haven’t really experienced the power of earnest prayer and fasting. #3 Cleanse your conscience. In the Old Testament when a person was considered unclean he would have to go through ritual washing, and then he was clean. In the New Testament we are to wash ourselves with “Confession to Jesus” and then we are clean. 1 John 1:9. Never fail to admit your faults to one another and to God – James 5:16. #4 Walk in the Spirit Gal 5:16. What this means is that you need to set your mind on spiritual things. Stop focusing on those sins, going over and over them in your mind and instead begin praising God, memorizing Scripture, singing praise songs etc Rom 8:5. This is primarily a spiritual battle and can only be won by living in the Spirit. We gain the victory, not so much by avoiding our sins, but by embracing and pursuing God with all our heart. …And that is what makes us pleasing to him! That’s what brings him Glory! Praise Him, Think about Jesus, Focus on God, live out your day in fellowship with God and like a giant spiritual transformation, you are to the praise of His glory. Dear Father, I want to be pleasing to You! Please remind me to keep my mind focused on things that are spiritual so that I don’t slip back into the sad state of temptation. I choose to think on Jesus. I choose to think on things that are true, right, just and honorable and avoid thoughts that drag me down. Cast your burden on the LORD, And He shall sustain you; He shall never permit the righteous to be moved.

11-16 The Gold Standard

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 11:23:00 +0800

Cody and Alyssa went to lunch with us. It started with Vacation Bible School. Ten or fifteen years ago Alyssa and her sister went to our VBS! Now she’s a mom and her son came to our VBS this year! From there it was a nice transition to Awana. And yesterday the three of them were in church, so we invited them out to lunch! Cody and I talked about Lacrosse and Soccer. He played and coached Lacrosse in Roseburg. We talked about his church background. He grew up in a good church in Roseburg, the only contact that Alyssa had was our VBS! Now that they have their own family they are seeking God! What a great testimony to the faithfulness of God! Today's Scripture reading is 2 Chronicles 11; Isaiah 63; Acts 25 To Listen to Today’s Reading http://timewithgod.mypodcast.com to subscribe go to http://timewithgod.mypodcast.com/rss.xml Today’s thought comes from 1 Peter 1:6-7 In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, 7 that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ Fools Gold! A 2004 investigation revealed that more than half of jewelry stores around the US were selling "fool's gold" and passing it off as real! Who would have guessed? I’m looking at my wedding ring, and there are some tiny markings on it, but I can’t read them. Even if it said 24K there is no guarantee that an honest person did the job. How do you know if your gold jewelry is real or fake? There are several ways. If you have owned it for a while, the easiest test is to see if it tarnishes. Real gold does not tarnish. Anything 10K or less is considered fake. A 10K gold piece is only 42% gold! So if it is only plated, sometimes you can use a magnet to detect fool’s gold. Gold is not magnetic. If it’s attracted to a magnet, forget it! …or you can take it to a jeweler. The jeweler can do an acid test to determine the gold content. However, the most accurate method is assaying or testing gold by fire. First you weigh the gold. Melt it at 1100 degrees C. All other metals will be removed at this heat. Now you have pure gold… sorry that you don’t have your original wedding ring anymore, but at least you’ll know it’s pure! Gold that has been “tried by fire” is pure gold! That’s the guarantee of purity. Our faith is compared to pure gold. Gold has always had intrinsic value since the beginning of human history. Gold has been the measure of wealth and prosperity. It has been the metal of choice for trading, buying and selling. It is the Gold Standard. There is something intrinsically valuable about faith. Fidelity or faithfulness is the slogan of the Marines; “Semper Fidelis,” Always Faithful. Who can calculate the worth of someone you can always depend on? A solid rock, an unmoving bastion of faithfulness. If you have a faithful friend, you are a wealthy individual. God is looking for faith in his children. Faith is not simply holding fast, it is holding fast to the truth. There are two things that make it genuine. #1 It’s ability to persevere and #2 it’s genuine content. They are related. If the content is not genuine, sooner or later the perseverance will fail. But when genuine faith is tested by various trials… the death of a loved one, a debilitating sickness, loss of all earthly possessions, or heated persecution… certainly we may waver, that’s human. But in the end, genuine faith will persevere! When we are melted down so that we have nothing left but our faith and our character, and though we lie stripped, naked and bleeding beneath the torturers blows, if your faith is genuine, nothing can take it from you. It is what is left over when all the niceties of life are melted away. And genuine faith, like gold is priceless! It is to the praise, honor and glory of God! Dear Lord. When through the fiery trials of life my pathway shall lie, your grace all sufficient will be my supply. The flame will not hurt me, You only design the dross to consume and the gold to refine! I believe that. I don’t relish it, but I do relish the value of genuine faith! He shall regard the prayer of the destitute, And shall not despise their prayer.