2009 – Day 185.July 15 – Risk It!

2009 – Day 185.July 15 – Risk It!

Passage of the Day: Esther 4: 12 – 14 … 12 So they told Mordecai Esther’s words. … 13 And Mordecai told them to answer Esther: “Do not think in your heart that you will escape in the king’s palace any more than all the other Jews. 14 For if you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”

My Journal for Today: When you read and meditate on that short passage, does it shake you up a bit? Does it cause you, as it does me, to ask if we are doing enough with the gifts and talents we’ve been given by God at this time in God’s redemptive history to stand for the right or do what is necessary to relieve suffering in the world?

Oh, God’s truth about His plan and His will are clear in this passage. God’s will … WILL be done. He can use others to accomplish His purposes in the world. But when we don’t step forward and do what Christ said in Luke 9: 23, … to deny self, take up our crosses daily, and to follow Christ, we are the losers, not God. When He chooses to use someone else because we, whom He has shaped for this moment in time, back off and refuse to act as He had prepared us to act, we become Satan’s loser instead of God’s winner.

So, you may be saying, “But there is so much evil in the world and so much need!” And you are so, so right! But with all there is to be done for God’s kingdom, can we pick just one area of need or one issue to be God’s Esther … God’s agent at this moment in time? And Swindoll’s list of possibilities in his devotional for today tugs at the heart of anyone who reads his challenges.

Where do you stand on the pro-life crisis in the world? What are you doing about it? What about the gay marriage issue? Are we standing up and being heard on this issue as it becomes VERY politically incorrect to fight against the gay agenda? Do you feel a call, as my wife and I do, to fight against the onslaught of pornography in our culture? … Sure, there are other touch point issues in our day where evil is swirling out of control. Are we being heard by our congressmen or senators? Are we signing petitions or demonstrating, legally and peacefully, but forcefully, to make our views known? Are we giving our time, talents, and treasures so that we can be the mouths, arms, and legs of Jesus, fighting for what is right in the world today? Are we willing to become, as Ester did in her time, God’s person for just this moment it time?

What about the needs of others less fortunate or hurting in our world? Are we giving all we can to reputable ministries or missionary organizations to help meet the needs of others … the poor, the hungry, the dying? Are we doing something to help those caught in the prisons of addiction to alcohol, drugs, or sex? Are we being a light of Christ in the arena of ethnic prejudice, showing our hatred for bigotry and bias? Do you, as I do, do all you can, to stand for CHRISTIAN manhood or womanhood in a world that seeks to emasculate men? And above all are we responding to the Great Commission of God to go and make disciples of the world, teaching them to do what God has commanded?

So many issues … so many causes!!! Can’t we pick just one where God has prepared us with the resources, the talents, and/or the Spiritual gifting to be in the game, rather than as I said yesterday, sitting on the bench or up in the stands as an observer? My dear one, as He did with Esther, God has prepared you and me for just such a time such as this. It’s up to us to RISK IT and get in the game.

I don’t normally do this in my devotionals, which are almost exclusively based in information from God’s word and the devotional book I’m using. But God’s word is His truth; and just recently I was led to research a project being carried out by the wonderful ministry, Focus on the Family. It is called “The Truth Project;” and it has everything to do with what I’ve been given to share in this journal entry. So, if you read this and you’d like to learn more about how/where you might get involved in the struggle for truth in this world, I exhort you to go to this link - http://www.thetruthproject.org/ - and view either of the short promo trailers on The Truth Project. And then if you can, choose to go to one of the project training sessions being held around the country each year. You’ll be glad you did! My wife and I just went to one; and the four hours we invested and the registration fee to purchase a set of training DVDs was more than worth it. RISK IT; and find out more about The Truth Project. Again … you’ll be glad you did.

My Prayer for Today: Lord, help me to be a Truth seeker and a Truth spreader in this world. Help me to RISK IT ALL for You. Amen