John's Friend

Imagine this: your best friend tells you He is the truth and the only way to God. Then you see Him die on a cross only to see Him alive again three days later. He then commands you to teach others and to care for them like He did for you. Imagine your best friend is a guy named "Jesus."
This is what true of John and also is true of us, as John says:

whom I love in the truth—and not I only, but also all who know the truth -
because of the truth, which lives in us and will be with us forever

Today's Risk: Know the truth: Jesus is my best friend.

Mentor Me

Have you ever met someone who sincerely impressed you by their godliness?
Have you ever wondered where it came from?
People like that can point you to someone, a spiritual parent, a mentor, an older man or woman who poured into their life from God's Word.
Where did they find that person?
I don't know, but I bet that you have just found yours, and if you ask them, they'll tell you who it was.
Today's risk: Pay someone the highest compliment...ask them to mentor you.

Secret Pain

Almost everyone carries with them a secret pain. Someone once hurt them and that pain is now buried deep in their souls. If you are one of these people, emotions have already begun to bubble to the surface, reminding you of your pain. My pain whispers doubts to me, "Are you really good enough to be loved by your Dad...by your God?"
Jesus came to heal that broken place in our hearts, to set our pain free from the deep darkness of our souls. And the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, is our Compassionate Father and the God who is the source of all comfort. He wants to bring that pain out of the darkness into the light, so He can heal that pain. And when we come to the place where we can praise Him as our Healer, we can share our pain as well as the comfort that He gave us to all those who carry within their souls a secret pain.
Today's risk: Ask God to bring healing to your secret pain so you can praise the God of all comfort.

The First was Last

It had been 400 years...400 long years of silence since the last time God spoke saying, "I will send you a messenger, who will prepare the way before me."
So the first time God spoke again, the person who God used could have thought of himself as someone special. But instead he said:

After me will come one more powerful than I, the thongs of whose sandals I am
not worthy to stoop down and untie. I baptize you with water, but he will
baptize you with the Holy Spirit.

Part of being God's messenger is realizing how unimportant you are - it is He that is important (His Spirit, His Son, His Message, His Power).
Today's risk: In humility, try the spiritual discipline of silence - listen more than you speak.

Return

About 520 years Before Christ, God was about to do something. His people had been taken out of their land and were living in what is modern day Iraq. They were wondering, "When is God going to let us return to our land?" but before God would do that, He demanded something of them:

This is what the LORD Almighty says: 'Return to me,' declares the LORD Almighty, 'and I will return to you,' says the LORD Almighty.

God knows that what we need most is Him, so before He'll give us what we want, He gives us what we need.
Today's risk: Before you ask God to fix your situation, ask Him to fix you.

Teddy Ruxpin

There is this freaky talking teddy bear called, "Teddy Ruxpin." It's freaky because you put a cassette tape in his back and his mouth moves to the words...like he's talking to you. This must be a toy for kids who don't have any friends...or at least who want to control what their friends say.
There are times that I become uncomfortable with God who is... as Nahum says:

The LORD is a jealous and avenging God; the LORD takes vengeance and is filled with wrath.
The LORD takes vengeance on his foes and maintains his wrath against his enemies.
The LORD is slow to anger and great in power; the LORD will not leave the guilty unpunished.
His way is in the whirlwind and the storm, and clouds are the dust of his feet.

God isn't Teddy Ruxpin. I don't get to put words into God's mouth, instead I must accept every word that come from His mouth, and love Him.
Today's risk: Get to know the God who makes you uncomfortable.

Otherwise Employed

When God sent a message to the people of Israel, He had groups of prophets who had the know-how and the experience in delivering God's word. Yet when he sent a message to Israel and its neighboring countries, he used Amos. Amos' resume consisted of fig-picking and shepherding.
God often uses the underqualified so that when they realize they are in over their head, He can mold that person into the image of His Son.
Today's risk: Allow God to use you to do something outside your knowledge and experience.

Man Down

It is easy to kick a good man when he is down; "You deserve it." is easy to say:

• Lost your job? "You should've worked harder."
• Wife left you? "You could've been a better husband."

That is easy to say. It is even easier to say nothing. The hard thing to do is to rescue someone who is suffering. Take 1 Chronicles 10 for example. Saul had definitely gotten "What he deserved." - lost life, three sons, and a kingdom all in one day. But the men of Jabesh Gilead risked their lives, passed enemy lines, and deliverred Saul's corpse from its disgrace.
Today's risk: Stand up for the good man down.

Indecisio...

Too often when asked a direct question, I will say, "I don't know." When asked to do something difficult, I respond, "I'll try." That way I don't have to give my whole effort. What is it about human nature that prevents me from committing to the hard truth?
When John's Gospel opens with, "The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it." he sets us up for chapters 6-10 during which no one wants to make a commitment to the hard truth of who Jesus is.
Today's risk: Stop "trying" and "don't knowing" and let your "Yes" be "Yes" and your "No" be "No."

Dangerous License

In those moments when I am tempted to do something that I know I shouldn't, it is easy for me to justfy myself, "Well, if I do sin, I know I am forgiven." While that maybe true, it is dangerous to use God's grace as a license for sin. Jude 1:4 says it this way,

For certain men whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly
slipped in among you. They are godless men, who change the grace of our God into
a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord.

Today's risk: Don't justify it, call it what it is...a sin, and confess it.

Labels Hurt When They Stick

Whoever wrote, "Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me." must have been in denial. Because words do hurt, and sometimes the scars they leave last a lifetime. Take for instance Hosea 1:4-9.
Hosea was told by God to marry a wife who had a repuation for adultery, and when his wife had three children (it's unclear if two of them were biologically Hosea's), God named them, "Judgment," "Not Loved," and "Not my people." God knew these words would hurt. I am sure, Lo-Ruhamah would have willingly traded her name for some "sticks and stones."
Their pain allows us to see the pain in God's heart so that we will be drawn back from our shame; so it could be said of us,

Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not
received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

Today's risk: Remove that old label that someone placed on you. Replace it with 1 Peter 2:9-10

Saint Samuel's Day

March 18th, 2006 could have been one of the darkest days of my life. It was the day that our church had decided to close its doors. We were sad, but the time had come. We sang our favorite songs, rememberred the good times, packed everything up and then closed the doors for the last time. It was a dark day.
Yet that is not why I remember March 18th. I remember it as the day that my son, Samuel, first trusted Christ as His Savior saying, "Mom, I'm a believer. I believe that Jesus died on a cross for me, and then he came back to life again!" It was a great day.
Today's risk: Allow Christ to bring redemption to those darkest days of your life.

Wear Green

Today, whether they be Irish or not, people will celebrate the life of Saint Patrick, who introduced Ireland to Christianity and drove the snakes out of Ireland (which is probably a symbolic reference of freeing them from the dark religon of the druids).
And whether you celebrate saint's days or not, every day we can celebrate as a saint's day for Christ gave us new life, making us green (alive) from the inside out. He calls us to be His saints, rescuing us from the darkness of the present evil age. That's reason enough to wear green every day.
Today's risk: Ask a green wearing person if they are green on the inside.

Love Love

It is easy to celebrate the love that I get from others. Yet, when I was single, every time I heard someone had gotten engaged, part of me became jealous. I didn't even notice my jealousy until after I was married, and oddly enough, that same jealousy still appeared.
In Song of Solomon 1:4(b), the friends of the loving couple say, "We rejoice and delight in you; we will praise your love more than wine."
Jealousy denies the image of God in others; it says, "That person does not deserve the joy God has given them. That should be my joy."
Today's risk: Celebrate the love that others receive.

How to Kill a King

In ancient kingdoms when the emperor died an untimely death and a foolish boy happened upon the throne of a great empire, the king's advisors knew how to put a quick end to the child's reign of folly. They would give him whatever he wanted. The child would be depressed to the point of suicide within a few years.
Even more tragic is a parent who gives a child whatever he or she desires, for that road does not lead to happiness. King David learned that the hard way with his third son, Adonijah (whose selfish requests led to his own demise):

His father had never interfered with him by asking, "Why do you behave as you
do?" - 1 Kings 1:6

Todays' risk: Confront selfishness. Don't just give in to it.

Small + Weak

Who thought up the name "Microsoft®"?
Is it just me, or is that a combination of the words "small" and "weak."
Imagine Bill Gates is stepping down from his duties and hands the reigns of his tech-empire to you or to me - I'd be feeling very small and weak. When God handed the care of His people down from Moses to Joshua, God spoke the affirming words we need to hear whenever we face a daunting task:

Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the
LORD your God will be with you wherever you go. - Joshua 1:9

Today's risk: Rely on the strength and courage that God has given you.

Fasting or Distracting?

A week ago, my computer died - no lights, no sounds, no hope - a short circuit on the motherboard. A week without Google™ and Wikipedia (how do you spell "omniscience"?) has me reminded that God is the source of all knowledge.

For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. - 1 John 3:20

Today's risk: Today declare a fast from all sources of knowledge except God and His Word.

Déjà vu?

Perhaps it was just a familiar-looking face on the side of the street, receiving a friend suggestion on facebook, or stumbling upon a picture of someone I haven't seen in years - I don't know why people come to mind at times. Perhaps God is bringing that person to our mind so we would pray for them...or perhaps just for us to say "Thanks" to God for the memory.

I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I
always pray with joy. - Philippians 1:3-4

Today's risk: Pray for someone you haven't seen in years.

Too Busy to Pay Attention

I am busy, are you?
I seem to never run out of stuff that has to be done. It is easy for me to see God as a task that I will get to on my to-do list, and if I don’t get to check off that box on my list today, well I will get there tomorrow…perhaps the next day. God ends up getting the dregs of my life. “And God understands,” I think to myself, “because God is also busy; He is too busy to pay attention.”
The truth is that I have become complacent. The truth is that I desperately need God and that God is not complacent when it comes to searching for me…

At that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps
and punish those who are complacent,
who are like wine left on its dregs,
who think, 'The LORD will do nothing, either good or bad.'
Zephaniah 1:12

Today’s risk: Do the important things first, before you get “too busy.”

Hungry...for Mercy

Driving to the mall, I always see them…the guys with the “Hungry: Will Work for Food” signs. I find it easy to ignore those sign holding guys – after all their choices led them to that life.
But would my choices lead anywhere less? My sins are just as repulsive to a holy God, and the only reason why I’m not holding that sign is by God’s mercy (mercy is when we don’t get what we deserve). Then Lamentations 1:12 strikes my heart with compassion for those who are hungry and homeless:

Is it nothing to you, all you who pass by?
Look around and see.
Is any suffering like my suffering
that was inflicted on me,
that the LORD brought on me
in the day of his fierce anger?

Today’s risk: Show mercy on others as God has shown mercy to you.

Wonderful Things

When we hear David say, “Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in Your law.” I usually don’t think of what David had in mind – Exodus, Numbers, Leviticus and Deuteronomy. I usually think of books like Leviticus as stuff God might tell me it is OK to skip over. “It is not as inspiring as Psalms and Proverbs,” I say to myself. But when Timothy says, “All Scripture is inspired by God…” I start to wonder where the disconnect lies. Perhaps that is why David prayed what he did – I too need my eyes opened to see wonderful things that are in God’s law.
Today’s risk: Read Leviticus and ask God to show you wonderful things in His law.

Someone To Talk To

When something happens that makes me frustrated, I want to talk about it. Sure the person I talk to can’t fix it any more than I can, but at least I can get it off my chest. Do you have that person you can unload to like that?
When Nehemiah was frustrated, he had someone to talk to - he talked to God. The great thing about God is that not only can we get it off our chest, He can do something about it.
Today’s risk: Instead of taking your frustrations and just dumping them on a friend, take them to God.

What It Takes

“Do I really have what it takes?” That question bounces around in my head like a SuperBall® of my own insecurity. For that matter, has anyone ever had “what it takes.”
OK, Jesus did. He had a divine nature (He was God) and He had all that divine power, of course He had “what it takes.” So then 2 Peter 1:3-4 answers all my insecurities:

His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil
desires.

The divine nature and divine power of Christ gives us everything we need.

Today’s risk: Make every effort, you have what it takes.

Share Pain; Share Comfort

When someone is in pain, we are scared to get to close to their pain. We offer, “Let me know if there is anything I can do.” but we know that they are never going to ask. We think we have done our part and escape without having to feel their pain.
Yet the law of Christ calls us to bear their pain, to join them as Ruth did for Naomi when she said to her:
Don't urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the LORD deal with me, be it ever so severely, if anything but death separates you and me.
Today’s Risk: Do what Christ did for us, join someone in their pain, share their pain and in doing so you will both find comfort.

Freedom Is a Gift

The freedom to choose is a wonderful thing that God gives us. Yet when God tells us to do something, we use that gift against him. This is what Jonah did when God told him to go to Nineveh. Ironically, God then used a storm and a whale (two things that had no freedom to choose) to bring Jonah to a place of surrender.
Today’s Risk: Thank God for your freedom: choose to obey God.

Tell It Like It Is

Slavery is an evil thing. It is as evil today in China and the Sudan as has always been. Slavery denies the dignity of God’s image in humanity. It is an offense to the truth that we are brothers in Christ. We all agree to this today, but there was a time when most people did not think of slavery that way.
In the book of Philemon, Paul stood against the popular culture and risked it all when he pointed Philemon to the truth, saying Onesimus is “no longer as a slave, but better than a slave…as a man and as a brother in the Lord.”
Today’s Risk: Tell it like it is. If you see a friend in error, point him to the truth.

Don't Go There.

I feel passionately about some things, so I expect others to be like me. But when someone else seems absolutely uninterested, the temptation is to think, "Why aren't they as excited as I am?" "They must not be as spiritually mature as me." But Matthew 7:1-3 stands in my way like a red DO NOT ENTER sign:

Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?

Today's risk: Don't compare others to myself. Start with "Why am I not more like Christ?" I'll have plenty to work on without pointing fingers at others.