Difficult Times Ahead

Beyond the Present Time
Resurrection Hope
Hope in the Day of the Lord

2 Timothy 3:1-9

The Message

Difficult Times Ahead

3 ^1-5 Don’t be naive. There are difficult times ahead. As the end approaches, people are going to be self-absorbed, money-hungry, self-promoting, stuck-up, profane, contemptuous of parents, crude, coarse, dog-eat-dog, unbending, slanderers, impulsively wild, savage, cynical, treacherous, ruthless, bloated windbags, addicted to lust, and allergic to God. They’ll make a show of religion, but behind the scenes they’re animals. Stay clear of these people.

^6-9 These are the kind of people who smooth-talk themselves into the homes of unstable and needy women and take advantage of them; women who, depressed by their sinfulness, take up with every new religious fad that calls itself “truth.” They get exploited every time and never really learn. These men are like those old Egyptian frauds Jannes and Jambres, who challenged Moses. They were rejects from the faith, twisted in their thinking, defying truth itself. But nothing will come of these latest impostors. Everyone will see through them, just as people saw through that Egyptian hoax. 

For Reflection

Are the times now so very different?  Well the end has not yet arrived.  However, the end of self-absorbed profane and vulgar life styles has arrived.  All one has to do is decide that he or she will live a God centered rather than culture centered life.  That's it!  No magic potions. No mumbo jumbo!  No need for preservation of one's former life.  All one needs is found in the life of Christ. 

Pray

for the courage to participate in God's counter culture.  Pray for the wisdom to listen to the Holy Spirit as He directs you into a life transformed in Christ.

The Power of Small

Beyond the Present Time
Resurrection Hope
Hope through Stewardship

Luke 16:10-13

The Message

God Sees Behind Appearances

^10-13 Jesus went on to make these comments:

If you’re honest in small things,
    you’ll be honest in big things;
If you’re a crook in small things,
    you’ll be a crook in big things.
If you’re not honest in small jobs,
    who will put you in charge of the store?
No worker can serve two bosses:
    He’ll either hate the first and love the second
Or adore the first and despise the second.
    You can’t serve both God and the Bank. 

For Reflection

Every body wants Flash and Dash - the easy fix.  As the Queen song goes, "I want it all and I want it now!"  Cut to the big stuff.
Pay attention to the little things in life and the big things will be fixed.  Choose to wait on the Lord.  Choose God's time over "right now."  Ignore the common place stresses and choose God's path. 

Pray

that you will find comfort and peace in God's counter-culture.  Pray that you will seek God's path to peace, and justice as a guide to human affairs.

The Perfect Gift from Above

Beyond the Present Time
Resurrection Hope
Hope through Stewardship

James 1:12-18

The Message

¹² Anyone who meets a testing challenge head-on and manages to stick it out is mighty fortunate. For such persons loyally in love with God, the reward is life and more life.
^13-15 Don’t let anyone under pressure to give in to evil say, “God is trying to trip me up.” God is impervious to evil, and puts evil in no one’s way. The temptation to give in to evil comes from us and only us. We have no one to blame but the leering, seducing flare-up of our own lust. Lust gets pregnant, and has a baby: sin! Sin grows up to adulthood, and becomes a real killer.
^16-18 So, my very dear friends, don’t get thrown off course. Every desirable and beneficial gift comes out of heaven. The gifts are rivers of light cascading down from the Father of Light. There is nothing deceitful in God, nothing two-faced, nothing fickle. He brought us to life using the true Word, showing us off as the crown of all his creatures. 

For Reflection

If you define sin as separation from God then you realize that the distance between you and God is filled with seductive self-interest and the ethics and morality of the common culture.  Christ calls us to be separate from the common place ethics and morality of this world and respond, rather, to compassion and justice cloaked in love for God and each other. 

Pray

for the strength to respond to God's call.  Pray for the wisdom to follow God's counter-culture path toward a just and compassionate society.

The God of Second Chances

Beyond the Present Time
Resurrection Hope
Hope through Stewardship

Luke 12:41-48

The Message

⁴¹ Peter said, “Master, are you telling this story just for us? Or is it for everybody?”
^42-46 The Master said, “Let me ask you: Who is the dependable manager, full of common sense, that the master puts in charge of his staff to feed them well and on time? He is a blessed man if when the master shows up he’s doing his job. But if he says to himself, ‘The master is certainly taking his time,’ begins maltreating the servants and maids, throws parties for his friends, and gets drunk, the master will walk in when he least expects it, give him the thrashing of his life, and put him back in the kitchen peeling potatoes.
^47-48 “The servant who knows what his master wants and ignores it, or insolently does whatever he pleases, will be thoroughly thrashed. But if he does a poor job through ignorance, he’ll get off with a slap on the hand. Great gifts mean great responsibilities; greater gifts, greater responsibilities! 

For Reflection

I guess that answers it, "What about people whom have never heard of Christ?"  God does not hold those with out knowledge of God's attempt at reconciliation to the same standard as those who have the knowledge and are not moved to act accordingly. But our God is a compassionate God.  Our God is the God of unlimited second chances.  Be comforted in the knowledge that God is not the "Holy Gotcha," waiting for you to make a mistake.  He is the Holy Encourager having as His first interest your best interest. 

Pray

that you will be moved to act in ways consistent with the knowledge of God in Jesus Christ.  Pray that you will be humble in your imperfection and seek the out the God who comforts you and always offers a second chance.

Be Alert and Ready

Beyond the Present Time
Resurrection Hope
Hope through Stewardship

Luke 12:35-40

The Message

When the Master Shows Up

^35-38 “Keep your shirts on; keep the lights on! Be like house servants waiting for their master to come back from his honeymoon, awake and ready to open the door when he arrives and knocks. Lucky the servants whom the master finds on watch! He’ll put on an apron, sit them at the table, and serve them a meal, sharing his wedding feast with them. It doesn’t matter what time of the night he arrives; they’re awake—and so blessed!

^39-40 “You know that if the house owner had known what night the burglar was coming, he wouldn’t have stayed out late and left the place unlocked. So don’t you be slovenly and careless. Just when you don’t expect him, the Son of Man will show up.” 

For Reflection

How alert are you to the call of God?  How alert are you the hand of God in your life and in the lives others? Are you prepared to follow God's next opportunity? 

Pray

that you will prepare to respond to God's call.  Pray that you will be up to any task.  Pray that you will be both willing and able perform in grace.

In the Knowledge of God There is no Cause to Worry

Beyond the Present Time
Resurrection Hope
Hope through Stewardship

Luke 12:29 - 32

The Message

^29-32 “What I’m trying to do here is get you to relax, not be so preoccupied with getting so you can respond to God’s giving. People who don’t know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep yourself in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met. Don’t be afraid of missing out. You’re my dearest friends! The Father wants to give you the very kingdom itself.

For Reflection

"Be happy, don't worry!"  Ah, the island life.  Why are you so upset? Why do you worry?  What good is done by agitation and worry?  Very little.  As a matter of fact, medical researchers tell us that a lot of physical ills may be traced to stress and worry.  You not only carry the knowledge of God but you also carry Him inside you.  So as Luke advises, " Steep yourself in God-reality." 

Pray

that you remember the knowledge of God that guides your every perception.  Pray that you will take life as God intended you to, quietly, in unreasonable confidence in the good resolution of all things.

Suffer for Good

Beyond the Present Time
Resurrection Hope
Equipped with Hope

1 Peter 3:8-12

The Message

Suffering for Doing Good

^8-12 Summing up: Be agreeable, be sympathetic, be loving, be compassionate, be humble. That goes for all of you, no exceptions. No retaliation. No sharp-tongued sarcasm. Instead, bless—that’s your job, to bless. You’ll be a blessing and also get a blessing.

Whoever wants to embrace life
    and see the day fill up with good,
Here’s what you do:
    Say nothing evil or hurtful;
Snub evil and cultivate good;
    run after peace for all you’re worth.
God looks on all this with approval,
    listening and responding well to what he’s asked;
But he turns his back
    on those who do evil things. 

For Reflection

Read the passages again and again.  Make them your mantra. 

Pray

that you will be agreeable, be sympathetic, be loving, be compassionate, and be humble.  Pray that what you say and do is not hurtful.  Pray that you will be a peace-maker.  Pray that you will snub conventional wisdom and embrace God-centered wisdom.