God Requires Risky Obedience

“Risk your life and get more than you ever dreamed of.” (Luke 19:26 MSG)

 

If God tells you to take a step of faith but you hesitate to take it until he shows you what the second step will be, you’re not waiting on God. He’s waiting on you.

 

God uses risks, large and small, to push us into a deeper faith. And so he wants us to step forward in faith, even if we don’t know where the second step will take us. The not knowing is what requires faith, and the not knowing compels us to rely on God to guide us forward.

 

Regardless of what we see on the other side of a God-directed risk, the reality is God is there. What seems to be a no-guarantee situation actually comes with the greatest guarantee of all — a God-guarantee — that he’s working in your life.

 

With this guarantee from God, you can enter into the risky obedience of attempting things that are impossible unless God gives you his strength to do them.

 

With this guarantee from God, you can enter into the risky obedience of loving other believers so deeply and so richly that you prove to the world that God’s love is flowing through you.

 

With this guarantee from God, you can enter into the risky obedience of loving your unlovable neighbors just as God loved you, even when you seemed unlovable.

 

With this guarantee from God, you can enter into the risky obedience of changing your priorities to match God’s priorities, sacrificing, in faith, what you cannot keep for the things that can never be taken away.

 

With this guarantee from God, you can engage in the risky obedience of making disciples of all peoples, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them that the risky obedience of following Jesus comes with a God-guarantee (Matthew 28:19-20).

 

What task is before you that seems impossible?

How should your approach to that task change when you believe it comes from God?

 

Jon Walker’s new book, Breakfast with Bonhoeffer, is a story of God’s faithfulness during struggles with bipolar disorder, divorce, and economic uncertainty.

 

This devotional © Copyright 2012 Jon Walker. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

The post God Requires Risky Obedience appeared first on Grace Creates.

Talk about "Restraint" ...

Citing multiple meanings to one word as well as nuances or implied meanings, Non-English speakers often categorize English as one of the most difficult languages to learn. Take the word restraint, for example what does it really mean? Well, depends on the setting or circumstance.

In healthcare, a restraint may be a straitjacket to restrict the movements of a violent patient or to keep a frail, demented patient from crawling out of bed. It can be chemical, a sedative, offering protecting after a delicate surgery. For parents it’s the car seat restricting the movement of a child; for the battered spouse it’s the law setting geographic boundaries the abuser may not cross. Governments exercise restraint by ensuring diplomacy trumps aggression so war is not the inevitable result of all conflicts.

This however, is far from the end of the story on restraint. Romans chapter 14 portrays yet another level of meaning – spiritual restraint powered by agape love. Surely it is no accident that a-gape means wide open and agape‘s very life force is self-sacrifice.  Jesus best epitomizes this kind of love and by his empowerment; Christ followers are admonished to practice the same kind of love, from which restraint inevitably flows.

But to get to yet another shade of meaning, i.e. exercising restraint or a conscious call to be ever aware how our words and actions affect those around us. The Apostle Paul zeroed in on the question of the new freedoms Christ-followers were exercising in the area of dietary laws and communal association. Many Jews were taking quite literal Jesus’ words that one is defiled by what comes out of the heart as expressed by words and actions, versus what one eats. Others believed the Jewish dietary laws were to be held inviolate and struggled to accept Christians as “real believers” if they ate foods that had always been forbidden.

Paul called the believers to exercise restraint because of love.  He said, “If you are hurting others by the foods you eat, you are not guided by love. Don’t let your appetite destroy someone Christ died for (Roman 14:15, Contemporary English Bible). Let’s take this a little further and ask, what about words? What if we changed that text to read, (If you are hurting others by the [words you speak], you are not guided by love. Don’t let your [words] destroy someone Christ died for? Think about that for a moment. I may be able to shrug off deep hurts caused by cutting words. But what about the person on whom I want to unload a verbal barrage? How might their life be affected by my words, and for how long?

Do I have the right to knowingly so injure someone for whom Christ died?

My best definition of restraint today would include words like: an object, a protective device, a law, or a behavior employed for the protection and wellbeing of another. I better make sure I have mine on today. What about you?

Talk about the way god works ....

Once again I am sharing with you what my friends share with me. Today my WINIndia partner Elaine Colvin reminded me, "God is seldom early, never late and always on time." What agony we endure when we allow ourselves to forget, God works off his own schedule!

You may want to consider subscribing to some of the sites I will be featuring this month. Here's another. Be Blessed!

	Free On-Line Spiritual Gifts Analysis On-Line Catalog Church Signs Team Ministry Spiritual Gifts GROUP Database More Information Spiritual Gifts Inventory Printed Version More Information Ten Different Discovery Tools More Information Team Ministry PowerPoint Presentation More Information Visit Prime Time With God on Facebook athttp://www.Facebook.com/PrimeTimeWithGod OR CLICK HERE to see the page, like the page, share it with your friends and post your comments. From there, anyone can click to view the devotion of the day or can click to sign up to receive their own daily devotional e-mail! Follow us on TWITTER @PTWGdevotions OPPORTUNITY OF A LIFETIME Join Billy Graham in the "My Hope" nationwide outreach November 2013. Did you know on average 7 of your neighbors struggle with depression, 7 have substance abuse problems, 8 are unemployed, and 60 do not profess to know Jesus Christ as Savior? Imagine what God will do in your community if you and your church partner to offer hope through a massive, yet personal, outreach in November 2013! FOR MORE INFORMATION–CLICK HERE. Online GivingFor information on making a tax-deductible one-time contribution or a monthly automatic gift to support the ministry of Prime Time With God daily devotional, Click Here.			Today's Prayer God, I have heard that you are never late, seldom early, but always on time. When I think back through the experiences of my life, I can see the truth in that statement. Thank you for always being on time. Thank you for the lessons you have taught me through waiting, through suffering, through the storms and valleys and for your faithfulness always. Thank you for the rays of sun that peaked through the clouds in the way of a praying spirit and helping hand from other Christians.  Thank you for the sun that shone brightly after the storms and cloudy days, and for your son who is my sun and shield, the Lord Jesus Christ. If you had always been on my time schedule, I wouldn't have learned much in life, so I am thankful that you are always on time according to your schedule. I praise you for who you are and all you've done. May I be found worthy in your sight through the blood of the Savior. In His name I pray, amen. Understanding What God Has Given TGIF Today God Is First Volume 1, by Os Hillman 10-06-2012"We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us." 1 Corinthians 2:12 God desires for us to know what He has freely given to us. One of the responsibilities of the Holy Spirit is to reveal His plans and purposes to us. They may be hidden for a time, but if we seek Him with our whole heart, we can know what He has given to us. John the Baptist understood this principle. When asked if he was the Messiah, he replied, "A man can receive only what is given him from heaven" (Jn. 3:27). John understood his role in the Kingdom of God. He came to pave the way for the Messiah; he was not the Messiah himself. His ministry on earth was very brief, yet Jesus described his life in this way: " 'I tell you the truth: Among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he' " (Mt. 11:11). Once we understand what God has given to us, we can walk freely in our calling. However, if we strive to walk in a role that He never gave us, it will result in frustration and failure. God wants to reveal His plan to us by His Spirit. This requires a willingness to seek and accept what He gives us. It may be different from what we thought. It may require adjustments to follow His path for our lives. As we learn from the life of John the Baptist, obedience requires death to our own wills. Ask God to reveal what He has freely given to you. Pray that you receive and embrace only those things He has reserved for you to receive and to accomplish in your life. Then you can be assured of a life full of meaning and purpose, and you can look forward to hearing those all-important words someday, "Well done, My good and faithful servant." Today God Is First (TGIF) devotional message, Copyright by Os Hillman, Marketplace Leaders.  Share Prime Time With A Friend

Cec Murphey's October Newsletter

Here's an article I hope many of you, who are not on Cec's mailing list will enjoy.

"Busy, Very Busy"

 

Six months after George's retirement, I asked, "How are you doing these days?"

 

"I'm busy, very busy. I'm busier now than before I retired."

 

His words shocked me. I thought retirement meant cessation of work and an opportunity to relax and enjoy sitting on the porch or taking a daily nap. I've since heard those same words from others.

 

Those statements imply the significance of productivity—of usefulness—of having value because of what they accomplish. Some of us hold the secret fear that if we don't keep doing something practical we're worth nothing. Therefore, we keep proving we're significant by our output.

 

For most of my life, that's been true of me. It's taken me years to say that staying constantly on the go doesn't make me a more worthwhile person. It means I've missed out on simple pleasures because I didn't want to "waste" time, and every minute had to count for something.

 

Maybe that's why God created our bodies to wear out—we're forced to slow down, to do less, and to appreciate the quiet moments of life.

 

Some may laugh that I'd talk about retiring and relishing life because I stay busy. Some days that reality saddens me because I'm not apt at doing nothing.

 

By contrast, the first question and answer of the Westminster Shorter Catechism, written in 1647, goes this way: "What is the chief end of man? [We'd say humanitytoday.] The answer: "The chief end of man is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever." 

 

Most of us don't grasp that second part. To enjoy God certainly means to find pleasure in being alive. Many of us are too busy to delight—regularly—in the things of life.

 

I don't know when I'll retire, but I already have an answer I want to give when someone asks, "How are you doing since you retired?"

 

"Not very much."

 

The more I value who I am,

the less I have to prove who I am.