Take a faith-based risk (1)
Monday 2nd September 2024
'The Spirit gives us power, love and self-control'. 2 Timothy 1:7 CEV
Peter gets unfairly criticised. He is the disciple who denied Jesus three times, but he is the only one who got close enough to Jesus to get caught. He is the disciple who impulsively cut off Malchus's ear when the lynch mob came to arrest Jesus, but he is the only one who came to Jesus' defence. He is the disciple who sank in the Sea of Galilee, but he is the only disciple who walked on water. It's so easy to criticise people from the comfortable confines of the boat.
As we journey in our faith walk, we can choose to be creators or criticisers - creators take a risk and get out of the boat; criticisers are more likely to stay in the boat and criticise those stepping out. When everything is said and done, our greatest regrets will be the God-ordained risks we didn't take. German author Johann Wolfgang von Goethe said, 'Hell begins the day that God grants you the vision to see all that you could have done, should have done, and would have done, but did not do.' What is leading you to do? What is the persistent prompting of the Holy Spirit urging you to do?
Failing to take a faith-based risk is like permanently misplacing a piece from the jigsaw puzzle of your life. It leaves a disappointing hole. When you reach the end of your life, your biggest regret will be those missing pieces. So today, take stock of your faith journey, then go ahead and take a faith-based risk, knowing that 'God's Spirit doesn't make cowards out of us. The Spirit gives us power, love and self-control' (2 Timothy 1:7 CEV) to do what you need to.
After reading today's message I thought about helping people with addictions. I need help with this though, because when I'm face to face with someone I'm afraid to say the truth. Then something pop into my head that I read in the Bible. It was about The Disciple Paul. So I google it and found this ....
AI Overview.....
In the Bible, the Apostle Paul says, "I, Paul, who am 'timid' when face to face with you, but 'bold' when away!" in 2 Corinthians 10:1.
Paul's statement is a response to criticism that he is weak. He asks that when he returns, he doesn't have to be as bold as he expects to be towards some people who think that Christians live by the standards of this world.
Some say that Paul's boldness came from the Lord and His Word. Others say that Paul's timidity was a gift of God's grace that kept him dependent on the Lord.
So I need the boldness of Paul that comes from The Lord And His Word. And I am glad that my timidity is a gift of God's grace that keeps me dependant on Him.
While I was doing this post I noticed a crane fly on the patio door so i looked to see the symbolic meaning of it
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