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

2009 – Day 96.Apr. 7 – Three Secrets Revealed

2009 – Day 96.Apr. 7 – Three Secrets Revealed

Passage of the Day: Deuteronomy 34: 1 – 12 … Link to study today’s passage …

My Journal for Today: Today Swindoll helps his readers, like me, to see three secrets of life which are revealed by the life of Moses.

# 1. The secret of fulfillment in life is INVOLVEMENT. Do you look forward to the world’s stereotype of “retirement” some day where you kick back your life and go into auto-pilot, relaxing, playing a lot of golf or bowling, and joining a cool village of retirees focused on selfish living? If so, the stats say that you’ll live about 17 months after your 65th birthday. But cold, hard stats also tell us that those who are into others and living out Phil. 2: 3 – 4, will live a lot longer than those who live for self. I just turned 65 a few months ago. And I “retired” from my “professional” career of 33 years a few years ago; but I didn’t call it a “retirement.” I called it a “commencement,” because God has shown me His will for my life; and that plan involved reaching out to help others find what Jesus spoke of as His mission statement in Luke 4: 18. I exhort you to read that statement of INVOLVELEMNT and find yourself in that truth somewhere. So that’s life secret #1; … INVOLVEMENT in God’s work gives life length for His glory.

#2 . The secret of reality in life is HUMILITY. Moses discovered a humble surrender to God’s will and His way produced the realness which could be used by God for His kingdom purposes. So, as Swindoll points out, if involvement gives life length, HUMILITY gives it breadth. By being totally available to God, Moses was given opportunity to reach out in God’s Name and be His servant. Such HUMBLE surrender and availability gives life direction and purpose – Godly purpose. When we’re surrendered into the center of God’s will, His Spirit can use us in ways we could never imagine within our own flesh. So, we must ask if we are walking in our own will or God’s. If it is the latter, and we’re using our God-given gifts in a God-directed life, we will find life secret #2 and the Lord opening doors and giving us His power to serve Him with His purpose for His glory.

#3. The secret of happiness in life is PERSPECTIVE. I just went to three funerals in the past two weeks; and all of them were for Christian brothers who had lived with great, Godly perspective. Like Moses, these men learned that death was inevitable; but life is not. We have no choice about when we die; but we do have a choice as to how we live – while we live. Moses learned that lesson wandering for 40 years as a shepherd in the wilderness. I learned that lesson wandering 40 years in habitual selfishness and sinfulness. We both learned that turning our lives over to God gives us the purpose and power to be used for His glory. And seeing life (i.e., having that PERSPECTIVE) is life secret #3 and makes for joy that can never be found in living for self.

What about you? Are you living with [#3] Godly perspective in [#2] humble surrender, [#1] involving yourself in the lives of others rather than self? Because … if you are, you are not just a man or woman of God; … you are a Godly man or woman. [#1] Godly INVOLVEMENT in life is empowering you to live longer. [#2] Godly HUMILITY in life is enriching you with purpose. And [#3] Godly PERSPECTIVE is providing you with the joy of knowing that you are serving God in His will and in His way.

If, however, you are pursuing life for yourself, you will find only YOU and what you pursue will be for YOU. That kind of narrowness and pride will – I promise you – lead nowhere but into yourself and unto yourself. Live for God and others, however, and you’ll be living for eternity. And as with all things life, that is our choice.

My Prayer for Today: Lord, help me to live for You, … searching always for Your will and living in Your way. Amen