I heard speaker and author, Dr. Robert Loggins, say at a leadership conference recently that he was grateful for the suffering he and his family have endured. An odd statement, right? But it was because in those times of suffering he began to know Jesus more. What if we are missing the very best parts by pushing away the hardest? Jesus is calling you into the darkest places, because in the darkest places, His love and light burn brightest. - Jennie Allen
If we're honest we would say we don't want to suffer, we wouldn't choose suffering for ourselves or for anyone we cared about. But as Jennie states, Jesus' light shines brightest in the darkest places. Our suffering may show Jesus to someone and bring them to repentance, a loved one's pain may reveal Christ more to them in a way they've never known before. Suffering, pain, and death in our loved ones, children, and servants of Jesus is difficult for us to comprehend. Do we believe God? We can! Jesus gives us assurance and faith, He gives us hope! And hope changes us and we get to live fearless, believing lives and it is worth it.
This week we will study John 11, this is not just a story about Jesus raising someone from the dead, this is a story of Jesus' tender love for us, His light shining in the darkness, glory to the Father, and so much more.
Have you risked this week? I'd like to say that I have...but I don't know that I really have, I did have the opportunity to speak to the guys at prison last night and encourage them to risk. How hard do you think it is for them to risk for Jesus in prison? Yet, some of them are risking, living and sharing the gospel with gang bangers, drug dealers, and more. It humbles me, to see their faith and love for Jesus. I'm going to try to live this next week looking for opportunities to risk, to share Jesus with someone, anyone. I want to live like this every single day! I am so weak...but God! I will simply take it one day at a time, and try to live expectantly and be sensitive to the Holy Spirit's leading.
"Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26
Living with nothing to prove actually makes God-honoring risk a lot more fun. Just as Jesus risked His reputation to set a man free, we are able to more easily see and meet needs around us with less fear when we let go of controlling the circumstances and how our lives appear. - Jennie Allen (NTP) Step into the Stream
What is one small or large risk you could take for the glory of God or the good of people?
Quench Your Thirst
Do you have diverse friendships? If so, how have they shaped you? What kinds of people intimidate you? What kinds of people do you not pursue? What keeps you from being close? Hang out with someone different from you this week.
Simplify (I love this simplify stuff...I long to do it!...see my confession there?)
One night this week, beginning at sunset, do not use any electricity where you live.
Make s'mores
Read by candlelight
Initiate deep conversations
Look at the stars
Consider
What is the thing you most fear right now? Write it down or draw an image that represents it. Now consider how your life would be different if that fear were conquered or overcome.
Consider the following ways to face that fear:
Confess it to a friend
Pray about it
Memorize Scripture that relates to overcoming it
Create an action plan
Now go do that.
"There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear." 1 John 4:18
Create (I'm going to throw this one out there...I, ahem, am a terrible artist but this would be fun to try and share, so do it if you're brave enough)
Buy a canvas, a paint set, and paintbrushes (or even just gather simple stuff around your house)
Sit and observe
Paint or draw something that reminds you of God's beauty
Share your artwork online using the hashtag #ProvenBibleStudy
Jesus shows us the way to freedom, what an example for us to follow!
I want to sink all I have in the field with the treasure that goes on forever because it is the wisest risk of my life. Is there a risk Christ is calling you to take? There is no more secure venture than risking on an eternal, loving, steadfast God. What is holding you back? - Jennie A. (Proven)
This is a risk song...You Make Me Brave, God will equip us and use us and enable us to do what He's called us to do!
Have you ever listened to a missionary's story or someone else's story of faith and been amazed, touched, and overwhelmed with how God used their life for His Kingdom? What about a teenage girl who sparked the great welsh revival? Or Corrie ten Boom who was imprisoned for helping Jews escape the Nazi holocaust? There are many stories like these, many we don't even have names for because they are believers living sold out lives for Jesus in their small towns and neighborhoods in their everyday. See people, love them...risk and tell them about Jesus, show them who Jesus is. These aforementioned stories may seem like the extreme but they all started somewhere, they all started with obedience, risk. I want to believe God, believe that He is all powerful and in control, and live like I believe it heeding to every prompt by the Holy Spirit living in me.
Why are we afraid to risk? Fear of rejection, change, don't think we have the right words, afraid to live outside our comfort zones or are we just plain selfish? I heard an Alaskan missionary speak last year and he said we tell ourselves that it isn't a convenient time to speak to someone (in the grocery store, doctor's office, etc) so we say nothing....but that there is never an inconvenient time to change a life. Look for ways and opportunities for the Spirit to lead you into conversations about Jesus, let's start seeing the people in front of us.
I think there should be a God-honoring, obedient risk in our lives every single day. I'm not saying I want that to be true. I'm just saying I believe that Jesus lives on the other side of our comfort. And that when we get comfortable for too long, we start to miss our need for God. We tend to make most of our decisions based on our fears rather than on our faith. Obedient risk will simply be us leaning into His abundance, leaning into His love, simply believing that He will work, believing that He could take any situation and any boring day and cause life change to happen in it. This isn't just random risk, throwing caution to the wind. This is you stepping out of the boat toward whatever risk God puts in your path, no matter the cost. I want to love Him more than I want to appear religious. I want to love people enough to lead them to the One who can heal them. I want to be healed myself. I want to initiate for the good of those around me rather than pad my existence with comfort and ease. - Jennie Allen (NTP)
Some of my greatest "risk" moments have been with my own family members, my own children...uncomfortable conversations that I knew needed to happen, to honor Jesus and point them to Him. I don't always do this well and sometimes I fail and stumble over my words or get strange looks (especially from strangers) and that's ok. Lost people especially will think we are odd for loving Jesus wildly and even some of our Christian brothers and sisters will shake their heads at our risk. When I quit my job last Summer and gave up half our income I thought I would get the "she's crazy" and maybe I did. But I knew I was being obedient and clung to God's promise of never leaving, nor forsaking me and then I would ashamedly bawl and whine and feel like I was giving up too much or this was too hard and God would gently remind me that this was His plan for me, that He was in control, that He is bigger than all of these piddly things I was concerned about. The risk...on paper looked completely ridiculous (our tax return even more so), how did we survive? We serve a big and mighty God, that's how. And can I tell you that we, my hubby and I, are having the time of our lives!?! We are!! My husband and I get to do ministry together and we are closer to Jesus and each other than we ever have been. God really does know what He's doing. Risk, He's worth it.
There is no safer risk than throwing the weight of your life on an eternal, loving, steadfast God. - Jennie Allen (NTP).
Risk for the Glory of God...is He worth it to you? The weeks prior have been leading up to this...RISK, anything for Jesus! I cried watching this week's video, if you haven't watched any sessions watch this one...please.
This week we are going to be studying Jesus healing the blind man on the Sabbath, Jesus' risk and the blind man's risk. When we build and move for the glory of God we have nothing to prove and nothing to fear! The rhythm of the world is safety, the rhythm of grace is risk. Risk your comfort and step out in compassion, compassion for a lost and dying world. What price are you willing to pay so others can see? Can see the Savior and be free?
Risk forces us to need Him, to need Jesus! I am so inadequate, I need Jesus, I can do nothing on my own. Jennie talks about humility and pride this week as well...pride keeps us passive and not willing to risk. God put music in my heart for a reason, to use it for His Glory! My pride kept me stagnant, it wasn't humility. My pride kept me passive and I sat on my gifts for a long time calling it being content with what God had given me but really not doing what He called me to do. Let me be real, I have moments of insecurity when I lead people in worshiping Jesus, I feel unsure of myself and sometimes like a bumbling idiot. BUT, I am secure in who I am in Christ (most days), my risk forces me to rely on Him, on His Spirit in me to do whatever He wants, whatever He has called me to. Here's an example: I do prison ministry, to most that is probably a risk but I have never been afraid or thought it "risky" at all, I love it! Here's the risk... We were at a prison service last Spring and I told my testimony and led worship, at the end a man told me his sister had a TV ministry in North Carolina and that I needed to meet her. So, I risked, I called her and we talked and prayed together and she asked me to come to a conference, she flew me and another woman to North Carolina last December; I flew with a woman I had never met, I sat on a panel with 7 black women who were all amazing and confident and yes, I felt inadequate and maybe even out of place but most of all... I felt peaceful...because I knew who I was to Jesus and in Jesus. And I immediately loved these women and they loved me. God has let me experience amazing things because of risking, the most amazing is seeing the lost come to faith in Him.
Let's not go through our Christian lives and risk very little for the cause of Christ. Risking for Jesus is worth it. What is your greatest hindrance in risking for Christ? Let's not settle for comfortable but be willing to give up everything to follow Jesus. Let's pray "Anything you want me to do, Lord, I'll do it for you!"
Rest...we really can rest. Our confidence comes from believing God can do anything, then stepping back and letting Him.
There's no need to worry about anything this world may throw at us, there's no need to fear, no need to strive for things that are beyond our control. God's got this, He has us in His hands, in His care and if we will just stop and think about this big God and His power, love, sovereignty...we will feel silly worrying about anything at all.
Trust and rest in the grace and goodness and provision of God. From Nothing to Prove: Step into the Stream
On a scale from 1 to 10, how worried are you today?
Name what you are most worried about right now.
Wade in Deeper
Dream a little. What would you do if nothing was holding you back?
Tell one person about the dream.
Commit to pray for the dream.
Identify and take one step toward that dream.
Quench Your Thirst
Invite a woman who loves Jesus and is older than you to lunch. During your conversation, ask her these questions:
How have you seen Jesus be faithful in your life?
When has God provided in abundance even though you doubted He could?
What is one thing you would tell your younger self?
Maybe you feel like you don't even know what to dream, maybe you're struggling with striving, or trusting, or resting in the Lord. Give it over to Him, He loves you, He sees you, He has you.
