And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. (Mark 16:15)

If you were certain your life as you know it would end in a few weeks, what would be your biggest regret? Why?

Today is Day 2 in the 30 days series titled “One Month To Live” and based on Kerry and Chris Shook’s recently released book by that same title. “One Month To Live empowers you to focus on being who God created you to be – passionate, fully alive, living without regrets.”

In Chapter 2 of their book, Kerry and Chris talk about their thrilling rides on an old-time roller coaster called “The Big Dipper.” Unlike today’s modern-day roller coasters, this one was in poor repair and riders were concerned that someday one of the cars or seats might jump the track. Still, they took the risk because the rides were so much fun.

Do you see your life more as a safe ride or a trip on the Big Dipper? What areas of your life are safer than others? For example, maybe you take huge risks to advance in your career, but you overly protect your heart and risk little in relationships.

Many people suffer from “Someday Syndrome.” Their favorite day of the week is “Someday.” Someday. One day. When. If. Then it’s over. This is your life, right here, right now. Someday is right now. Tomorrow never comes. It’s always today. What step of courage is God leading you to take today?

I’m passionate about every day I live and thankful for that. It’s a gift from God to wake up each morning excited about what the new day will bring. Yesterday I went to my first Culpeper School Board meeting in more than a decade at the suggestion of my wife because the new school superintendent was being formally introduced to our community. The meeting was quite good and because of my obedience, God blessed me with some extraordinary connections after the meeting.

This morning I went to the Culpeper Ministerial Association meeting. On a scale of 1-10, that was a 100. God is moving big-time in our community, as well as around the world. I have never seen such passion for Jesus in leaders in our community than at the present. During this meeting, God opened the door to launch the Experiencing God Through Journaling webinars in Spanish. Wow!

Prayer Power
Heavenly Father, thank you the courage to follow you on Your roller coaster of life. Bless those who read this message with greater courage to take risks and trust You as You guide them on their own roller coasters of life. May their lives inspire others greatly. Thank You Jesus. Amen and Hallelujah!

Blessing of the Day
1) “Coaching You To Your Destiny“ 6-week course for only $47. This course will close for good after 15 people register and 10 spots are already taken. I’ve been calling this “the bargain of the decade.” In an email yesterday, Lynne lee referred to it as the “offer of the century.”

Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside, redeeming the time. (Col 4:5, NKJV)
Walk in wisdom towards those without, redeeming opportunities. (Col 4:5, Darby’s Translation)
Make the most of every opportunity. (Col 4:5, another translation)

What mode are you living in – survival mode or prayer mode?

Seeing and seizing opportunities is an underappreciated dimension of spiritual maturity. We are surrounded by God-ordained opportunities – opportunities to love, opportunities to laugh, opportunities to give, opportunities to learn, opportunities to serve, opportunities to give. Seeing and seizing those opportunities is at the heart of what it means to follow Christ and be filled with the Spirit.

Now here’s the catch. The old aphorism is wrong. Opportunity doesn’t knock. The giant Egyptian that Benaiah did battle with didn’t knock on the door. He knocked down the door. And the lion didn’t roll over and play dead. Opportunity roars! When opportunity comes our way, it’s often very scary.

Most of us want our opportunities gift wrapped. We want our lions stuffed or caged or cooked medium well and served on a silver platter. But opportunities typically present themselves at the most inopportune time in the most inopportune place. Opportunities often come disguised as big, hairy, audacious problems, but lion chasers don’t see problems. They see 500 pound opportunities!

Problems are opportunities in disguise! God is in the business of making sure we meet the right people at the right time. He’s also in the business of strategically positioning us in the right place at the right time. But here is the catch: the right place often seems like the wrong place and the right time often seems like the wrong time. Esther is a classic example.

One translation of Colossians 4:5 says, “Make the most of every opportunity.” How do we do that? I think the answer is found in verse 2. Devote yourselves to prayer being watchful and thankful.

There are 2 ways to live your life – survival mode and prayer mode. Survival mode is reactive. Prayer mode is proactive. Your spiritual antenna is up and your radar is on. Prayer puts you in a proactive posture. In fact, the Aramaic word for prayer, slotha, means to set a trap. In other words, prayer helps us catch the opportunities that cross our paths. People who live in prayer mode see opportunities that other people don’t even notice! People who don’t live in prayer mode are opportunity blind.

When you pray providences happen! Prayer is not just an end in itself. It is a means to an end, and the end goal is seeing and seizing opportunities!

When we pray for someone or something, it creates a category in our reticular activating system. Prayer is important for the same reason goals are important. We need to create categories so we will notice anything and everything that helps us achieve those goals or answer those prayers!

If you want to see and seize God-ordained opportunities, you’ve got to live in prayer mode. You’ve got to lay your requests before the Lord. One way to share your faith is to wear your faith!

The Greatest Opportunity: Spiritual maturity is all about seeing and seizing opportunities. And that is how our spiritual journey begins. It begins by seizing the greatest opportunity we’ll ever be offered—the opportunity to spend eternity with God. John 1:12 says, “To as many as have received him, to them he gave the power to become the children of God.” All we have to do to seize the opportunity is to receive Christ. In a sense, we agree to terms. What a deal. The way we receive Christ is by accepting the offer that is on the table. We simply put our faith in who Christ is and what Christ has done.

Prayer Power
Heavenly Father, we praise You as the God of opportunities. Every day a miracle comes to each of us and every day a miracle passes by. Bless and guide each of us to live in prayer mode to notice and seize the opportunities you place before us. Thank You Jesus. Amen and hallelujah!

Link of the Day
Chase the Lion: Seizing Opportunities – Flash video by Mark Batterson

Blessings to seize God-ordained opportunities!

Again, it (the Kingdom of God) will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his property (opportunities) to them.

What small act of courage is the Holy Spirit prompting you to take?
When are you going to take it?

Announcement:
I apologize for not being able to write and send out devotionals on Thursday and Friday of last week. God has the floodgates of heaven open right now for me and I’ve run out of room to store all the blessings. I’ve had to prioritize and re-prioritize over the past week to keep up with all that’s new.

CLICK HERE [www.yourdailyblessing.com] to see photos and some newspaper articles concerning the Culpeper Sprint Triathlon 2008 that took place yesterday morning (Aug 3). My wife place 2nd in her age group.

Culpeper Star Exponent newspaper articles about Culpeper Sprint Triathlon 2008

• Athletes Will Brave Elements  
• Culpeper Sprint Triathlon 2008
• Sprint to the Finish

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Today we continue with the 5th of 7 messages in the Chase the Lion series, namely “taking risks.” During this series, we’re exploring seven lion chasing skills: defying odds, facing fears, overcoming adversity, embracing uncertainty, taking risks, seizing opportunities, and looking foolish. The bulk of today’s messges comes from sermon notes by Mark Batterson, author of Chase the Lion.

The Domino Effect
On October 31st, 1517, a monk named Martin Luther walked up to the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany and posted a piece of paper on the church doors. His 95 theses attack the practice of indulgences–the selling of forgiveness by the church. Luther was put on trial. He was excommunicated from the church. But that one act of courage had a domino effect—it ignited the Protestant Reformation.

On April 18th, 1945, a factory owner named Oskar Schindler had a list of 1097 names manually typed—297 women and 800 men. He rescued them from Nazi Concentration Camps. Schindler lost everything. He died broke. But that one act of courage had a domino effect—a half-century later, there are more than 6,000 descendants of the Schindlerjuden.

On December 1st, 1951, a seamstress named Rosa Parks got on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama. Segregation laws required black passengers to give up their seat for white passengers. Rosa Parks refused to do it. She was arrested. She lost her job. But that one act of courage had a domino effect–it inspired a citywide boycott and a court battle. Within two years, bus segregation was ruled unconstitutional.

It is small acts of courage that change the course of history. Someone takes a risk and it has a domino effect. Now here’s the thing. We think about people like Martin Luther and Oscar Schindler and Rosa Parks in heroic terms. But they didn’t know they were making history when they were making history! They were just ordinary people taking risks! But when you take a risk you never know what kind of domino effect it is going to have.

During the Chase the Lion series we’re looking at one of the most courageous acts recorded in Scripture. An ancient warrior named Benaiah chased a lion into a pit on a snowy day and killed it.

Scripture goes on to list his military achievements and they are pretty impressive. He was one of the most decorated and celebrated warriors in Israel’s history. He was the captain of King David’s bodyguard. He was one of David’s thirty mighty men. In fact, Scripture says he was more honored than the other thirty. And Benaiah goes on to become Commander-in-Chief of Israel’s army.

But the genealogy of success can always be traced back to the risks we take. II Samuel 23 records three dominos. Benaiah took on two Moabites despite being outnumbered; he chased a lion despite snowy conditions; and he fought an Egyptian despite the fact that he was out armed. And those three risks had a domino effect.

As I reflect on my own life, I realize that most of the good things that have happened are the byproduct of a few risks. And the bigger the risks the bigger the rewards!

Buried Talent
Let me try to put risk in biblical context. We don’t tend to think of risk in spiritual terms, but risk is one dimension of righteousness.

In Matthew 25, Jesus describes the Kingdom of Heaven in terms of risk.

Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his property to them. To one he gave five talents of money, to another two talents, and to another one talent, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. The man who had received the five talents went at once and put his money to work and gained five more. So also, the one with the two talents gained two more. But the man who had received the one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.

If you really want to appreciate this parable you’ve got to realize that one talent was the ancient equivalent of twenty years of a day laborer’s salary. I don’t know about you, but if someone gives me a hundred years wages I don’t know if I ever take another risk. I’ve got enough money to last the rest of my life. You know what I’m saying? It had to tempting to play it safe. He had more to lose! But he also had more to gain!

Prayer Power
Loving Father, thank You for the measure of faith You have given to each of us. Guide each of us into a closer relationship with You so that our challenges will pale in comparison to how big our God is. Bless each of us with courage to take risks when Your Holy Spirit prompts us to action. Thank You Jesus. Amen and hallelujah!

Link of the Day
Chase the Lion: Taking Risks – video by Mark Batterson

Blessings to have the courage to take risks – big and small!

“For to you it has been granted on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake,” (Philippians 1:29)

How does someone like Charles overcome adversity?
How do you overcome adversity?

This week we continue with our series about seven lion chasing skills: defying odds, facing fears, overcoming adversity, embracing uncertainty, taking risks, seizing opportunities, and looking foolish.

In his video sermon message about “Overcoming Adversity,” Mark Batterson shares a story about Charles, a poor man who could barely walk or talk because of a stroke. One day when Mark went to pick up Charles from his miserable housing tenement, Mark was overwhelmed by the conviction of the Holy Spirit when he saw Charles wearing a hat stating “God is good” despite all his adversity. And Mark thought “What right do I have to complain about anything?”

A lot of people going through circumstances like Charles would have become bitter. Their spirit shrivels until nothing is left but bitterness or anger or pride. What is it that enables someone like Charles to overcome that kind of adversity?

Mark says, “Who you become is not determined by your circumstances! The outcome of your life will be determined by your outlook on life… Our greatest problems aren’t circumstantial. Our greatest problems are perceptual. And when we look at life through the frame of Scripture we begin to see things the way God sees them. And that is the key to overcoming adversity.”

Reframing: Think of the Bible as a frame. When you look at other people through the frame of Scripture, you begin to see them as invaluable and irreplaceable. You begin to love people when they least expect it and least deserve it! When you look at life through the frame of Scripture, this will begin to reframe your life and help you see it differently!

Here are a few examples.

Matthew 5:11 reframes persecution: Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

James 1:2 reframes trials: Consider it pure joy whenever you face trials of many kinds because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

And I Corinthians 15:54 reframes death: Death has been swallowed up in victory. Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting? The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Scripture is all about reframing. When adversity comes your way, remember this: God uses adversity to expand our capacity to serve Him! No adversity = no opportunity. Adversity is the seedbed of opportunity.

Prayer Power
Heavenly Father, thank You for being in the reframing and encouragement business. Thank You for the opportunity to live in these days of great trials and to be a light for You in this world of darkness. Thank You that Your holy Scriptures allow us to overcome adversity when we choose to believe You rather than the world and the devil. Coach each of us to reframe our circumstances in the light of Scripture. Thank You Jesus. Amen and hallelujah!

Link of the Day
Chase the Lion: Overcoming Adversity

Blessings to overcome adversity by looking at life through the frame of Scripture!

There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love. (1 John 4:18)

Are you living your life in a way that is worth telling stories about?

Today we continue our Chase the Lion series with the topic “Facing Fears.” Once again, much of today’s content in excerpted from Mark Batterson’s teaching.

Fear Factor: It is so easy to read about a lion encounter that happened three thousand years ago and totally underestimate the fear factor. I wonder if Benaiah suffered from Post-Traumatic Stress Syndrome. Sure, he killed the lion. But not before it scared the living daylights out of him. He was inches from thirty bared teeth. I don’t think he ever forget the smell of the lion’s bloody breath. And the sound of the roar had to echo in his mind’s ear forever!

I don’t care how battle-tested or battle-scarred you are. I don’t care how crazy or courageous you are. You don’t come face-to-face with a five-hundred pound lion without experiencing sheer terror or pure fear! But one thing sets lion chasers apart. They don’t run away from the things that scare them! Normal people don’t chase lions, but lion chasers aren’t normal.

Lion chasers chase their fears!

Rooster’s Crow
If you look at Scripture through the filter of Ivan Pavlov, there are some fascinating conditioned reflexes. All four gospels record the story of Peter denying Christ. Luke 22:60 says that right as Peter was denying Christ the third time, a rooster crowed. The Lord turned and looked straight at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word the Lord had spoken to him: “Before the rooster crows today, you will disown me three times.” And he went outside and wept bitterly.

This had to be the most painful failure of Peter’s life. And I have to wonder if Peter felt a twinge of guilt every time a rooster crowed! You know how certain stimuli trigger certain memories?

Imagine what it was like for Peter every morning. It was a daily reminder of his failure! The rooster’s crow was a conditioned reflex just like Pavlov’s ringing bell.

Now let me tell you what the enemy wants to do: Satan wants to remind you of your worst failures over and over and over again. He wants to crow like a rooster every morning!

I think Jesus calls us to be revolutionaries. Satan wants to turn us into reactionaries! He wants to condition our reflexes with guilt and fear! But Jesus came to recondition our reflexes!

Instead of hating our enemies we pray for those who persecute us. Instead of trying to be first we go last. Jesus said that whoever keeps his life will lose it and whoever loses his life will keep it. And when we get slapped on the cheek we don’t slap back. We turn the other cheek.

For what it’s worth, I think it’s easy to act like a Christian. It is much more difficult to react like a Christian.

I think Jesus reconditioned Peter so that the sound of a rooster’s crow was no longer a reminder of his guilt. It was a daily reminder of God’s grace! The grace of God turns final mistakes into single mistakes! Peter messed up. But Jesus didn’t give up! God wants to recondition our guilt with grace. And He wants to recondition our fear with faith!

Prayer Power
Heavenly Father, You teach us that perfect loves casts out all fears. Take each of us to a deeper abiding in You that we may know how deep and how wide is your love so that we may face and overcome our fears. Reprogram our minds and reflexes that we may react like Christians, not just acts like them. Thank You Jesus. Amen and hallelujah!

Link of the Day
Chase the Lion: Facing Fears – Flash video by Mark Batterson

Blessings to face your fears!

There was also Benaiah son of Jehoiada, a valiant warrior from Kabzeel. He did many heroic deeds, which included killing two of Moab’s mightiest warriors. Another time he chased a lion down into a pit. Then, despite the snow and slippery ground, he caught the lion and killed it. Another time, armed only with a club, he killed a great Egyptian warrior who was armed with a spear. Benaiah wrenched the spear from the Egyptian’s hand and killed him with it. These are some of the deeds that made Benaiah almost as famous as the Three. He was more honored than the other members of the Thirty, though he was not one of the Three. And David made him commander of his bodyguard. (2 Samuel 23:20-23)

How big is God?

In yesterday’s devotional, I shared that we are currently in a Chase the Lion series about grabbing life by the mane. The series is based on the book “In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day” by Mark Batterson. Over the next seven devotionals, we’ll look at 2 Samuel 23:20-23 from seven different angles. Today we’ll take a look at it from the perspective of an odds maker. Today’s message contains an excerpt from Mark’s sermon titled “Defying Odds.”

In that message, Mark starts by talking about the curiosity of his 4 year old son and how he keeps asking his parents how big God is. A.W. Tozer said it best: “A low view of God is the cause of a hundred lesser evils.” But a person with a “high view” of God “is relieved of ten thousand temporal problems.”

It is also the difference between scaredy-cats and lion chasers! If your god is smaller than a 500 pound lion you’ll run away! But if you’re God is bigger than a 500 pound lion you might just muster the moral courage to chase lions!

Impossible Odds: What odds would an odds maker have given Benaiah in the three encounters mentioned in 2 Samuel 23:20-23 above. Not too good. Benaiah was the underdog in all three. He was doubled-teamed by two mighty Moabites. He had to be a two-to-one underdog. If I’m placing bets on an average size Israelite with a club or a giant Egyptian with a spear I’m going to put my money on the sharp pointy thing! And I don’t even know how you begin to calculate the odds of man vs. lion.

Not only do fully grown lions weigh up to 500 pounds and run 35 mph, their vision is five times better than a human with 20/20 vision. This lion had a huge advantage in a dimly lit pit. And I guarantee that a sure-footed lion with cat-like reflexes certainly gains the upper paw in snowy, slippery conditions.

Now zoom out. Doesn’t it seem like Benaiah is choosing his battles poorly! He’s out-manned and out-sized! And yet this guy goes on to become Commander-in-Chief of Israel’s army. And if you’re Commander-in-Chief you better know how to choose your battles wisely!

Most of us don’t like being in pits with lions on snowy days, but those are the stories worth telling. Those are the experiences that make life worth living! So lion chasers don’t try to avoid situations where the odds are against them. Lion chasers know that impossible odds set the stage for amazing miracles!

How big is your God? Is He bigger than your biggest problem? Is He bigger than your worst failure? Is He bigger than your greatest fear? Chase the lion!

Prayer Power
Heavenly Father, the Bible is full of stories of people who overcame incredible odds because they had faith in You and You fought their battles. Coach each of us to defy the odds – to live a life of faith that brings glory to You. Thank You Jesus. Amen and Hallelujah!

Link of the Day
Chase the Lion: Defying Odds – Flash video by Mark Batterson

Hint: You don’t have to watch the entire video. You can play it and listen to the message while working on something else at your computer.

Blessings to defy the odds!

“Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 18:3)

What if the life you really want is hidden in your biggest problem, your worst failure?

Yesterday I talked about how my God connection to GW Dameron led me to Mark Batterson’s personal blog and then to the Chase the Lion website. The slogan for Chase the Lion is “How to grab life by the mane.”

As I spent more time on the Chase the Lion website, I was so inspired by Mark’s messages and his child-like faith that I have decided to dedicated the next week and a half of my devotionals to these topics that Mark discusses:

Defying odds
Facing fears
Overcoming adversity
Embracing uncertainty
Taking risks
Seizing opportunities
Looking foolish

In today’s Flash video Link of the Day, Mark discusses “The Chasing Gene.” Kids love chasing things. Something happens as we get older – we stop chasing and start settling. We stop chasing our dreams and start surrendering to our fears, our adversity, and uncertainty.

Each of us has certain childhood memories that are unforgettable. These are moments in our lives where we really come alive. A lot of times they are obscure experiences, almost like screen savers in your mind. My question for you is:

What lion do you need to chase?
What fear do you need to face?
What uncertainty do you need to embrace?
What risk do you need to take?
What opportunity do you need to seize?

God is calling us out and calling us to more than just running away from what’s wrong. God is calling us to chase those God-ordained lions in our life. And when we do, there is no telling what God can do. Chase the lion!

Prayer Power
Heavenly Father, thank You for the “Chasing Gene” You have placed within each of us. Coach each of us to chase the lion – to grab life by the mane as we defy odds, face fears, overcome adversity, embrace uncertainty, take risks, seize opportunities, and sometimes look foolish in the process. Bless us to live adventurous lives manifesting child-like faith. Thank You Jesus. Amen and hallelujah!

Link of the Day
The Chasing Gene – Flash video by Mark Batterson

Blessings to grab life by the mane and manifest your chasing gene!

Everyone helped his neighbor, And said to his brother, “Be of good courage!” (Isaiah 41:6)

What lion in your life do you need to chase down?

In yesterday’s devotional, I shared how God connected me with GW Cameron, who is starting a new church in Culpeper called “City on a Hill Church.” In the process of visiting GW’s personal blog, I was led to visit his favorite blogs. That led me to Mark Batterson’s personal blog called “Evotional.com – Spirit Fuel.” Mark blogs almost daily in an authentic manner and has lots of interesting posts.

Mark is author of “In a Pit, With a Lion, on a Snowy Day.” That book is about having courage – courage to overcome your fears to live a life of adventure – doing what God has called you to do. I wrote a devotional about that on May 11, 2007, my son’s birthday.

Two of Mark’s posts from July 18 particularly caught my attention. In the one titled “Chase the Lion,” Mark says:

“I’ve gotten hundreds of emails from hundreds of churches that have done a Chase the Lion series. But this one is unique. To close out the series, Westchester Church has invited the entire church to go skydiving! How crazy is that? Now that is what I call extreme fellowship. You know what would be really cool? Celebrate communion in mid-air!”

In his post titled “Four Values,” Mark shares this valuable life lesson:

“Over the past year, Parker and I have identified four values that will be part of our coat of arms. It was so hard to narrow down the list. So many things we value. And we could have used so many different words. And why not three or five or seven? But these are the four values we landed on as values that we want to define our lives: gratitude, humility, generosity, and courage.

Each value is multi-dimensional. For example, I think humility has degrees of teachability and curiosity. And generosity isn’t just a money issue. It’s an open-handed approach to life that believes that the more you give up the more you get back. It’s all about eternal rewards. I think gratitude for everything is the goal of life. Gratitude is far more important than happiness. In fact, it determines our level of happiness. And we want to live courageously for the cause of Christ.”

Prayer Power
Heavenly Father, thank You for the people you put into our lives who model a life of courage, faith, and adventure. Bless each of us with the courage and faith to be willing to get out of the boat to “walk on water.” Thank You Jesus. Amen. 

Link of the Day
Evotional.com – Mark Batterson’s blog

Blessings for the courage to chase down the lions in your life!