From: takeaminute+noreply@googlegroups.com
Date: Wed, 07 Jul 2010 11:35:16 +0000
Subject: Take a Minute Digest for takeaminute@googlegroups.com - 1
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- -- Wednesday, 7/7/10 -- SHORT TERM VS. LONG TERM BENEFITS --
Judges 2:17 [1 Update]
http://groups.google.com/group/takeaminute/t/427b5526ffca0407
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Topic: -- Wednesday, 7/7/10 -- SHORT TERM VS. LONG TERM BENEFITS -- Judges 2:17
Url: http://groups.google.com/group/takeaminute/t/427b5526ffca0407
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From: "J.R. & Bonnie Ricks" <j-r-and-bonnie@dogwoodministries.org>
Date: Jul 06 05:28PM -0500
Url: http://groups.google.com/group/takeaminute/msg/1bf6749829a4a863
Take a Minute is a daily devotional ministry of
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for Dogwood Ministries addresses
SHORT TERM VS. LONG TERM BENEFITS -- Judges 2:17 NIV
Yet they would not listen to their judges but prostituted themselves to
other gods and worshiped them. Unlike their fathers, they quickly turned
from the way in which their fathers had walked, the way of obedience to the
LORD's commands.
One of the reasons the pagan religions were so appealing to the people of
Israel were the short-term benefits. They were allowed - in fact,
encouraged - to be sexually promiscuous. (Prostitution was one of the ways
to get to the pagan version of heaven!) Increased fertility - for both
crops and childbearing - was another benefit the pagans espoused. As a
matter of fact, pagans could do almost anything and be able to find one of
the gods that approved of it!
The Jews' being attracted to that kind of thinking is not surprising if you
look at our lives today. Short-term benefits are the primary thing to be
desired and achieved.
* Cheat on your income tax to save a few hundred dollars this year.
* Curse when something happens to displease you. It feels good!
* Fly off the handle and scream at your child when he does something
wrong - the catharsis of getting all that emotion out is good for you. If
you didn't explode every once in a while, you'd have a heart attack or
stroke, right?
* Lie to the police officer when he pulls you over. You can't afford
to have a ticket on your record.
* Embellish on the number and type of things that were stolen in the
burglary of your home. That insurance company has been ripping you off for
years, so this is your chance to get back at them.
* Just throw your loose change in the collection plate at church.
After all, you need the "folding" money more than the church does, what with
the cost of living going up so much.
We could continue this list indefinitely, but you get the picture. In each
and every instance of our lives, the short-term benefit always seems so much
better.
With God, it's a different story. The benefits are long term - eternal, in
fact. And in the great majority of things God requires from you and me, we
may not see any short-term benefit at all. or the short-term benefits may
have to accumulate to become obvious. When God tells us to store up
treasures in heaven, He intends for us to be building a storehouse of
eternal benefits through our daily actions. He wants us to look beyond this
moment to the future, to the long-term effect of our lives. He wants us to
turn away from the selfishness of an ungodly life to the selflessness of
living our lives for Him.
Are you ready and willing to do that? You can't take it with you, you know.
So why not start sending those things you can "store up" on ahead?
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Personal correspondence to Bonnie Ricks: bonnie@dogwoodministries.org
Personal correspondence to J.R. Ricks: j-r@dogwoodministries.org
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