Thursday, Jul 03, 2008

TWG - July 3, 2008

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TWG - July 3, 2008
To Listen to Today’s Reading http://timewithgod.mypodcast.com
Exodus 36; Psalm 48; Acts 8:1-25

Today is July 3, this is time with God, I’m Pastor Dennis - I’ve been waiting here for you. Welcome to our life transforming community. We are doing something of eternal significance. We are redeeming the time. That is one of the basic premises of TWG. We believe that what we do every day is so important that we must do the important things each day. That is why we read the word every Day

Well, my allergies are beginning to wind down. No need for decongestant last night! God is good! But I did pick up a souvenir at camp… poison oak! That’s right folks, I have poison oak on my legs. It’s only a little itchy. Yesterday I published our radio broadcast to the net on overcoming your fears to share your faith. Check it out. I spoke with John for quite a while about our need to get serious about the kingdom of God. I spent a bit of time on the phone with Marcia on Awana. Pray for that! She can use it. I spent a bit of time on the backhoe moving dirt around. I finished the road to the amphitheater and added more dirt to one side of the mound. And then, the backhoe decided it no longer wanted to go into reverse! I went to work out with Kyle, David, Marcia and Tye and then spent a quite evening at home doing finances. I put up a picture of Dave and Barb’s short legged Corgi Dogs on the blog at timewithgod.mypodcast.com. check it out. Dr John writes: Funny that this week's verse on your podcast is exactly what we were talking about in a study I do with a small group. It occurred to me that the first sin was the breaking of communion with God - not strictly eating the apple, but wandering far enough away from God that the devil has room to weasel in. Anyhow, love your commentary. Thanks John!

This week’s theme verse is 1 Corinthians 10:12-13 “Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall. No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able to bear, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.”

Grin and bear it! Remember that comic? In a recent strip a couple is in for marriage counseling. They just can’t take it any more. The marriage counselor is deep into the session when he stands and says, “and stop ganging up on me!” Who needs counseling? Who can’t take it anymore? Good news. God will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able to bear! What is a temptation? This word has a dual definition. The first is “an enticement to sin.” The tempter is constantly, craftily, dropping the bomb on us to draw us away from godly living. God won’t allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able. The second meaning of the word is “any trial meant to serve as a test of our love for God.” In the parable of the sower, the seed that fell among the rock died because of “testing.” The hot sun wilted it’s enthusiasm for God. In 1 Peter 4:2 temptation is called a fiery trial of suffering meant to “test” you. The word “temptation” sums up any and every trial or temptation you face. No matter what test you are facing, God will not allow it to be more than you can bear. No matter how great the temptation, God will not allow it to be more than you can bear. Yesterday I heard about a mother who years ago lost a son to cancer. She prayed for his healing, but when he died, she walked away from Christianity! That was a test of her faithfulness! Did she pass? It took years, but now her love for Christ is restored! God won’t give you more than you are able to bear. Write it down. Etch it in stone. Repeat it as often as necessary. Make it your daily mantra: God won’t give me more than I can bear! Is that temptation overwhelming you? You feel like it is too much for your senses and you absolutely have to give in? Not true! This verse is not a general principle for everyone, it is an individualized truth specifically tailored for you! God knows your limits. He knows what you can take! He weighs every test and every trial before sending it your way. If you’ve got it, it’s because God KNOWS you can take it! For example: That’s why your child was born with a handicap and mine was not. You can take it! Or why you have lots of cash and I don’t! I can’t take the temptation. God knows what he’s about. So, thank him for the trials and temptations and come to this realization: God never puts me in a situation where he’s not going to come through for me. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Hang in there baby! Grin and bear it.

Dear Faithful Father. You know me. You know just how much I can handle. Thank you for not giving me more than I can take. I know that the trials and temptations are there to strengthen me, not to destroy me. I need your grace to make it through. I can do all things through Christ!

“Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.”-

Posted by Dennis Kreiss at 9:51 AM |  MAKE A COMMENT  

Wednesday, Jul 02, 2008

TWG - July 2, 2008

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TWG - July 2, 2008
To Listen to Today’s Reading http://timewithgod.mypodcast.com
Exodus 35; Psalm 47; Acts 7:39-60

Today is July 2, 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.

Oh what a night. My bod refused to shut down until midnight, so I’m a bit groggy this morning. Yesterday I spent the day in the office gearing back up for ministry. I worked on my Discipleship Matrix some more. Carl, Sonja and Helen were at church canning strawberries. Boy are they good this year! Bill and Mike stopped in to check things out. Ken came by to say he wouldn’t be at men’s meeting last night. He had a migraine. He can use your prayers. Marcia called to talk Awana. We are making slow progress toward the goal. I played a few sluggish games of tennis with Phil and got beat in both sets. Then I went to Men’s meeting. It was just Rich and I. We had a great time. We talked about the need to do something significant in life. I challenged him with a statement Steve Jobs gave when recruiting the CEO of Coke to Apple Computer, “Do you want to go on selling sugar water for the rest of your life, or do you want to change the world!” I put up a picture of Evie at Camp on the blog at timewithgod.mypodcast.com. check it out.

This week’s theme verse is 1 Corinthians 10:12-13 “Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall. No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able to bear, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.”

God is faithful! That could well qualify as the understatement of all time. God is always faithful! God never fails! For those of us who can’t see the big picture we don’t always see that from where we stand… but there has yet to be a promise unfulfilled, a mistake ever made or a failure to come through on God’s part – Ever! God is always faithful. The problem has never been on God’s side. If there has ever been a disappointment or failure you can bet it has come from our side. One of the classic accusations is when we get ourselves into a jam and then blame God for not getting us out of it! God is still faithful and that proves it. God promises that we will pay the consequences of our sin, so how is it that we have the right to blame God for our screw ups? Yet even in the dark night of failure there is a ray of hope because God will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able to bear. A more troubling charge against God’s faithfulness is this: “How could a good God allow evil to go unchecked? Like child rape! Or the starvation of helpless women and children! Where was this faithful God when millions of Jews were incinerated in WWII?” There are horrors perpetrated on humanity by humanity that are beyond comprehension. And there are some natural disasters like hurricanes and earthquakes that beg the question as well. Where is the faithfulness of God now! Where it has always been. I don’t know if those asking the question truly understand the implications of what they wish. Do we wish God to step in every time someone steps out of line? I don’t think so. The same people who complain that God does not do anything don’t want him to interfere in their private lives! They want to live permissive and immoral lives and they hope that God is not up there somewhere watching and keeping an account! If God were to set all wrongs to right it would mean the end of the world as we know it. It would be judgment day. That would mean a premature end for folks who have never made the decision to trust Christ! There is another option. God could just turn us all into mindless drones. That way there would never be a malfunction or sin. Is that what we want? Is that what God wants? God created us with the freedom of choice. He apparently gets more pleasure out of one person who chooses to worship Him in the chaos of this world out of their own free will, than a million, million robots who jump to do his bidding at the flick of a switch. And by the way, did I mention that it was the “original sin” that led the world into chaos in the first place! Before that, all was perfectly in balance. Once again it is zero points for man and infinity points for the faithfulness of God. God never fails.

Dear Faithful Father. Thank you for your great faithfulness. Your mercies are new every morning. Forgive me for baseless accusations against your character. Help me to trust you even thought I can’t see things from your perspective. I know that you have my best interest in mind. Thank you Jesus!

Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am

Posted by Dennis Kreiss at 10:02 AM |  MAKE A COMMENT  

Tuesday, Jul 01, 2008

TWG - July 1, 2008

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TWG - July 1, 2008
To Listen to Today’s Reading http://timewithgod.mypodcast.com
Exodus 34; Psalm 46; Acts 7:20-38

Today is July 1, 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

Yesterday was Monday. Not a lot going on around the Kreiss household. I lounged around until about nine in the morning before trying to get some stuff done. I had some accounting to do and that took me most of the afternoon. Then I mailed a few letters and went to work out. Not an eventful day. After that I spent some time on the computer working on some ideas to help me be more effective in discipleship. If you are interested in them, let me know and I’ll share them with you. Then I watched an hour or so of the Olympic trials. That was fun. I haven’t watched track and field in years! I put up a picture of our “snipe hunt” on the blog at timewithgod.mypodcast.com. check it out. While we were at camp, Dave and Ken spearheaded a night time snipe hunt. It was great fun but, as usual, we didn’t catch anything.

This week’s theme verse is 1 Corinthians 10:12-13 “Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall. No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able to bear, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.”

Life is full of temptations! The tempter is lurking just around the next corner, waiting to spring his latest enticement on us. If you walk into it blind and unprepared it will snare you! Temptation will overtake you like an oblivious fly droning mindlessly about on a summer day. He never sees that spider web until it’s too late! He’s caught! The spider is a master at his craft of deception, placing the web right where he is sure to catch the fly. And struggle as we may, once we have entered the spider’s lair, we won’t leave without a little poison in our system. But don’t think for an instant that you are the only person ever to get sucked into that sin. In that respect, you are not unique. There is a common theme that runs through the blood of every man, woman and child. It caught Adam in its web, and every man and woman since. We all have similar weaknesses. Lust, greed, covetousness, addiction, pleasure seeking, hatred… different spins, similar sins. James 1:14-15 explains how the temptation game works. 1st each one of us is tempted when we are drawn away by our own desires and enticed. Temptation is like the worm on a hook to a fish. The tempter is fishing. You’ve heard the saying Flip Wilson made famous, “The Devil made me do it!” Not true. All the tempter has to do is bait the hook and hang it in a conspicuous place. Then he yawns, stretches, lazily pulls his straw hat down over his head and lays back against a comfortable tree waiting for the fish to bite. But the fish (that’s us!) swims by and oh that lure looks good. It flashes in the sunlight. It alluringly dances for us. We want what it has got. It is our own weakness that draws us in and entices us. The tempter would have nothing on us if it wasn’t for the fact that we are our own worst enemy! So we strike the lure and we are caught up in the temptation. That’s step 2. When desire is conceived it gives birth to sin. It takes time for temptation to run its course. It has to germinate, ruminate and percolate in our mind a bit. If we refused to allow conception, temptation would never give birth to sin. The key to fighting temptation is to turn our thoughts away from our fantasies and replace those thoughts with Scripture and every other good thought. If you do not, you are on the hook. And that leads us to step 3. When sin is full grown it brings forth death. You may think that you can get away with your sin once, twice, even dozens of times… but eventually giving in will be your Waterloo. You will be so trapped by its enticements, so hooked by its pleasures that you won’t notice that the tempter has reeled you in, netted you, and has his knife out to gut you to the gills. By that time, you are done, washed up, used up and caught. Before that happens, you and I had better find a way of escape! Good news! There is always a way of escape into the arms of God.

Dear Father in Heaven. Please keep me from temptation. I want my mind to be stayed on you. I want my heart to be in perfect peace. Please make the way of escape from temptation clearly marked so I don’t miss it. I want to gain strength and so live a godly life.

Come unto me all you who are weary and heavily burdened and I will give you rest.

Posted by Dennis Kreiss at 10:04 AM |  MAKE A COMMENT  

Monday, Jun 30, 2008

TWG - June 30, 2008

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TWG - June 30, 2008
To Listen to Today’s Reading http://timewithgod.mypodcast.com
Exodus 33; Psalm 45; Acts 7:1-19

Today is June 30, 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.

Well, our church camp weekend is over. And what a great time we had relaxing in the sweltering heat, swimming, singing around the campfire, and of course our Sunday Morning Service at Whisters Bend. I spoke on “Bad Start – Great Finish” the story of Levi – how it is never too late to turn your life around by giving in to God. You too can have a great finish. I put up a picture of the winning golf team on the blog at timewithgod.mypodcast.com. check it out. We all went to Sutherlin golfing Sunday night. It was perfect weather and we had a great time. On a sad note for us left on planet earth, Don Z went to be with the Lord. It is a great thing for him. He was a faithful servant of Christ’s. Keep Doris in prayer

This week’s theme verse is 1 Corinthians 10:12-13 “Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall. No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able to bear, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.”

Proverbs 8:13 says that God hates pride. Pride is one of the primary sins of the flesh. It is an over inflated view of self. It is a dangerous vice we should shun. But… a worldly person sees it quite different. The world defines pride as a healthy self respect and feeling of self worth. In fact the world system says that pride is the solution to many of our emotional problems. “Feel good about yourself!” “Celebrate yourself!” God says that we should deny self and take up our cross and follow Him, Man says we should congratulate self. God wants us to humble ourselves; man applauds those who exalt themselves. So why is pride desirable to men but repugnant to God? Throughout scripture we are regularly told about the consequences of pride. Satan was cast out of heaven because of pride. God resists the proud. Why is pride so sinful? Because pride is giving yourself the credit for something that God has accomplished. Pride is essentially “self worship.” Pride keeps us from admitting our failings and sins. In the context of 1 Corinthians 10, pride puts us in danger of succumbing to temptation. Here’s the basic problem. After the “fall of man” we all became flawed. We are now incapable of perfection and unable to please God. But part of the flaw is that we are able to blind ourselves to our flaws. We are like a man who has just emerged from the sewer and is not aware that he stinks! His flaw is obvious to us but he is immune to the smell. In fact he enjoys the smell that others loathe. Imagine the man from the smelly sewer trying to introduce himself to the queen of England! He may take pride in himself and imagine himself to be quite a handsome, talented cesspool maintenance engineer, but to queen he’s disgusting! We aren’t well aware that our sins stink to the Living God. Nor are we aware that the cesspool that we live in is filled with diseases that burrow deep into the flesh. One of those diseases is pride. Pride is the arrogance to think that we are able to live on our own without the need for God! Blinded by our own insolence, we swell up like a peacock and revel in how we “don’t have problems with _______ (lust, greed, hatred, anger…) like other people. “I quit smoking cold turkey!” we hear ourselves say, implying I’m better than you. “I worked hard to get where I am!” Implying you are a lazy bum! What we fail to realize is that we are simply made of flesh. Apply the right pressure to the flesh and every one of us caves like a house of cards. A little poverty, a little lusty temptation, a little bug called cancer, and we are as helpless as a baby. Beware of pride. Fight it with a good dose of humility or it will get you when you least expect it!

Oh Father! I need you! I humble myself before you. I am poor and needy. You are the almighty God. Deliver me from pride. Help me to have a sober assessment of self. And most of all, I place myself in your hands, for without you, I can do nothing.

The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon Me, the LORD has anointed Me To preach good tidings to the poor; to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, To comfort all who mourn, To give them beauty for ashes, The oil of joy for mourning, and The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness;

Posted by Dennis Kreiss at 12:11 PM |  MAKE A COMMENT  

Friday, Jun 27, 2008

TWG - June 27, 2008

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TWG - June 27, 2008
To Listen to Today’s Reading http://timewithgod.mypodcast.com
Exodus 32; Psalm 44; Acts 6

Today is June 27, 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 complete turn of events; it is a 180 degree turn around. God is changing us and turning us around as a community. This is not business as usual, this is transforming, this is spiritual, this is essential.

It was tough to wake up this morning… that PM decongestant I took really knocked me out! But here I am, and still a bit stuffy. Yesterday I spent the day working on the bulletin, getting ready for camp, doing Sunday’s message called “Bad start, Great finish.” Wayne and Cathy stopped in. I put up a picture of them on the blog at timewithgod.mypodcast.com. check it out. Phil dropped by. We spent several hours talking about the ministry. What a great time we had. And we spent some time in prayer. After work I ran to Whistlers Bend. Kyle & Marcia were there, as were Connie and Karri. Carl & Sonja, Terri & Vicki also showed up to visit with us. Then I took off home because we forgot the decongestant. So here I am.

This week’s theme verse is Jeremiah 29:11-14 “For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you," declares the LORD”

God’s plans for you are directly related to your prayer life. If you want to find God’s plan for your life you must first find God. There is no such thing as discovering God’s plan without finding God. In life you can get most any map without ever knowing the map maker. In fact most of us will never meet a map maker. But in God’s world you must get the map directly from The map maker Himself or you don’t get it at all! No God, no plans. Know God, know His plans. It all begins with an honest cry of the heart. It is a cry of desperation. “God I need you! I want to know you!” When you call on God, He is always ready to answer. He eagerly waits to hear from you, ready in an instant to reveal Himself. If you were to hear God speak I believe He would say, “I’m listening! I’ve been waiting here for you! I have always loved you!” But don’t stop with one call. The reason we don’t connect is because we are not desperate or persistent enough. When you are serious about finding God, you will come to him in concerted and intense prayer... The kind of prayer that is willing to seek Him with all your effort, time, intensity and all your heart. In the Hebrew, there are two words used for “seek” in this verse. The first one means “to seek” in the sense of a needy request or inquiry. It might be understood like this: “Lord are you there? I’m crying out for you. I need you! Please show yourself.” The second word used for “seek” is one which means “to search.” And it is a term which implies frequent investigation. We don’t just search once, we come again and again seeking God. Knowing God and His plan demands that I lay my heart out before God every day. The picture I conjure in my mind is a black and white drawing of a man sprawled across a chair, kneeling in prayer. His clothes are disheveled, his hair is a mess. His face is contorted with emotion. He is intense. His eyes are tightly shut and he is mouthing passionate cries from the heart. Day after day he has been here. The clock ticks incessantly. But he has lost all sense of time, nor does he pay it mind, because this man is desperate for God. He will not leave until his heart touches the heart of God. How can we expect our prayers to move the heart of God if it does not first move our hearts? When you seek God with all your heart, he will be found by you.

Oh Father! I need you! Here I am seeking you with all my heart, soul and might. I do want to know you. I do want your will for my life. My heart cries out. You are my crying need. Please fill me with your presence. Forgive me for not putting enough intensity and concerted effort into my prayer life. I am willing to come as often and stay as long as need be to find you and your plan for my life.

If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me

Posted by Dennis Kreiss at 10:32 AM |  MAKE A COMMENT