2024: Grab Your Parachute!

 

“Maybe sometimes it’s riskier NOT to take a risk. Sometimes all you’re guaranteeing is that things will stay the same.” Danny Wallace

 

In 2024, I want to be like Dorothy Hoffner. Last October 4^th this 104-year-old Chicago woman jumped 13,500 feet from a plane to take a chance of becoming the oldest person to tandem skydive. She ditched her walker to skydive, and it wasn't even her first freefall. She first skydived four years ago on her 100^th birthday, but she wanted a redo because, she said, she didn’t want to be pushed out of the plane…she wanted to lead the jump. On October 4^th, she did just that. Hoffner tumbled out of a plane while 13,500 feet in the air, strapped to an instructor. White hair billowing in the wind, she parachuted down to a grass landing area. “Age is just a number,” Hoffner told a cheering crowd. After cheers and congratulations from friends and family, she was handed back her red walker.  

  Unlike Dorothy Hoffner, too many of us essentially live in a rut. Someone defined a rut “as a grave with both ends kicked out.” Here are some risks that I wish people would consider taking in 2024.  

  Get out of your safe zone and check out if what the Bible says about God and going to heaven is true. I have many friends who’ve decided that they don’t believe there is a God, and that this world is basically a machine. They believe that this life is it…when you die, you die. Many of them are well educated and very intellectual. Most of them are good people who sincerely care about others.

  Maybe they have but if they haven’t, in 2024 I wish that they’d check the evidence out for themselves. What I’m asking isn’t big, it’s just reading the four biographies of Jesus in the New Testament for themselves – Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. My concern is that so many have swallowed what they have been taught and never checked it out for themselves. If they did, maybe they’d come to the same conclusion…yet I know of so many that once they actually read the Bible for themselves with an open mind, were overwhelmed with who Jesus is, how much God loves them and that He cares for them and their deepest needs. So, if you’re a skeptic, in 2024, please take a risk – take the time and check out the evidence for yourself.
  Get out of your safe zone and check out whether what you believe about going to heaven is what God says in the Bible. One of the most frightening statements you’ll ever hear is: I think that God is like… And when someone dies, most of their friends and family aren’t honest about where they actually are. Someone could have blown off God all of their lives. Often the only time they mention God’s name is as a swear word but in the end, according to the conventional wisdom no matter how you live, everyone goes to heaven. Listening to these conversations, you’d almost think that they’d give Hitler a pass.
  Yet, since heaven is God’s Home and He created it, shouldn’t He set the standards for who lives in His Home. God is loving but He’s not stupid.
  What Dad would sacrifice his only child for someone else, particularly an enemy. Yet, that’s exactly what God did when He sacrificed His Son, Jesus, on the cross for the sins of the world. Do any of us really believe that we could somehow pay God back for such an unbelievable sacrifice by being good, going to church, being a nice person…at our best we’re all still a big mess. So, if you’re religious but trusting what you think or have been taught, yet never checked out what God actually says in His Word about going to heaven, check out whether you are right.
  The Book of Romans was written by Paul, a very religious guy who believed he was going to heaven because he was so religious. He found out he was dead wrong. Why not check out what Paul wrote and see if you’re right? In 2024, do some biblical fact checking for yourself.
  Get out of your safe zone and take a step forward spiritually. Isn’t it amazing that those of us who know that we’re going to live with Jesus for eternity are often focused on temporal changes rather than spiritual and what are eternally significant changes? Perhaps it’s a sinful habit that you’ve been rationalizing about. Clinging to it is causing you to limp spiritually and withholding God’s best for your life. This is the year to repent and replace it with what God wants you to do.
  Perhaps there are some spiritual habits that you know that you need to make part of your daily life, yet you keep procrastinating. Maybe it’s regularly reading your Bible, instead of just on Sundays when you’re at church. Maybe it’s committing to increase your prayer life or becoming more faithful in your church attendance or even joining a small group Bible study. So, if your spiritual life is like a rocking chair and not really going anywhere because some things need to change, make 2024 your year!
  Get out of your safe zone and make what for you is a leap of faith. One of my heroes in the Bible is Caleb. When everyone else was shaking in their sandals in fear of the giants, Caleb with Joshua was singing a duet of “We can do it! We can do it!” When God finally brought Israel into the Promised Land, Caleb was 85-years-young. Rather than sitting out and saying, “I’m old. It’s someone else’s turn,” Caleb is biting on the bit to take new territory. Even though there were giants there, Caleb said, “I want that mountain.” Caleb was a man of faith who’d have gone after Moby Dick in a rowboat with a bottle of tartar sauce.
  That’s who I want to be. That’s what I long for our church to be. Maybe for you it’s inviting that neighbor or co-worker to church? Maybe it’s sharing the gospel with that one you’ve been praying for that they will come to Jesus…and God is sending you? Maybe it’s giving so it tightens your budget a bit? Maybe it’s serving in a ministry where you’re not a natural or you’re nervous? It’s time for the people of faith to step out in faith. It’s time to dream big because we have a BIG God and go big!
  In 2024, I’m packing my parachute! How about you? Let’s stop playing it safe and take some risks!

Can we help you spiritually? Please check out more resources on our church's web page, Gracechurchwi.org. Or call us at 262.763.3021. If you'd like to know more about how Jesus can change your life, I'd love to mail you a copy of how Jesus changed my life in "My Story." E-mail me at Carson@gracechurchwi.org to request a free copy. Please include your mailing address. 

 

Why trust when you can worry!?!

“God has great things in store for His people; they ought to have large expectations.”   Charles Spurgeon

  If you’re like most people, you probably worry about your weight.  That might not be at the top of your list, but according to a recent survey, that’s the #1 concern for most people. Here are the Top Ten Worries (counting down from #10 to #1) according to this survey: #10 Diet. #9 Job security. #8 Rent/mortgage payment. #7 Credit card debt. #6 Low energy level. #5 Overdrafts and loans. #4 Overall fitness. #3 Lack of savings/financial future. #2 Growing old. #1 Being overweight.

  Yet, notice something about this list. First, these concerns primarily fall into two categories – health and finances. Second, these are universal human concerns. Finally, these are issues which will be with us as long as we live. You’re going to have to die in order to stop being concerned about your money and your health.

  Have you ever wondered how much time you spend worrying? It’s probably more than you think. That same survey asked people how much time they spend worrying and here’s what they discovered. Each week, we spend 14.31 hours worrying. That equals 744 hours of worry each year, which turns into 45,243 hours of worry over a lifetime, which equals 1885 days in a lifetime spent doing nothing but worrying. Ultimately, we spend 5.2 years of life enslaved by worry. Is it any wonder that we have trouble sleeping? Or, that we feel under so much pressure and often find it so hard to concentrate? For most of us, it’s not just one thing, it’s multiple concerns all wrapped up together. It’s our job, school, money, work, health, bills to pay, your husband, your wife, your ex, the in-laws, the kids…on and on it goes. Any one issue we could handle or even two, but when you get three or four together, your knees start to buckle.

  To worry is to “give way to anxiety or unease; allow one’s mind to dwell on difficulty or troubles.” The word comes from the Old English wyrgan, which means “to strangle or to seize by the throat.” That’s a helpful image, because we’ve all felt the pressure of worry choking us, squeezing the life out of us. Some folk who are consumed by worry will wonder if they’re possibly having a heart attack because of a tightness in their chest.

  Yet, God has called us to be the people of faith. Faith and worry are arch enemies. Worry is the enemy of a relationship with God. You can’t go to heaven without taking God at His Word, that the death of His Son, Jesus was sufficient to pay for all of your sins. If you want God’s blessing, His approval on your life…if our church wants His blessing, then we must trust Him. Hebrew 11:6 admonishes us that “without faith it is impossible to please Him.” What does it mean then to live by faith, to truly trust God? The consistent pattern of God’s Word is that….

  Trusting God means that we’re obedient. The life of faith isn’t complex. It begins with obeying the truth we already know. It means repenting of sin and doing what we know the Bible teaches is right. It means consistently reading the instruction manual, the Bible.

  And true faith always leads to decisive action. Noah believed God and built an Ark. Abraham left everyone and everything he knew because God told him to. The early church shared a message that cost them, not just their livelihood, but often their lives. So what are the areas of obedience that you’re neglecting? You won’t be free from worry until you first obey. God’s blessings are on those who obey.

  Wonderfully, those who trusted God left behind an inheritance of faith. Each of us is given just one life. We leave behind an abundance of memories for those who love us. So what will your family and friends, your children and grandchildren know about a life of faith by their memories of your life? How will you be remembered? Will you be remembered for your faith?

  Living by faith can be like driving in a fog. When driving though a heavy fog, you can’t see that far in front of you but you keep on driving anyway, believing that what you can’t see, you will see once you get there. When you move forward one hundred feet, you can see one hundred more feet than you could not see before. Thus, you keep going until you reach your destination, driving by faith.

  Trusting God means that we’re patient. Many believers in the Bible and even throughout Church History didn’t see the fruition of their faith in their lifetime. God promised Abraham that he’d be the father of a great nation. When he died, he only had Isaac…not exactly a great nation. But God kept His promise.

  Satan tempts us to live for the here and now, to focus and worry about today. We spend money and time seeking to ward off poor health and death. We save for retirement and build up our 401Ks…and there’s nothing wrong with that, as long as you’re not a fool and living only for temporary healthy and wealth. When our focus is just on the possessions of the here and now, they distract us from the walk of faith. Living for this world is like preserving and storing up the leaves which are going to fall off the trees in a few weeks. If you’re a believer, this world is not your home. You’re just a leaf on a tree, here today…gone tomorrow. Wise people in faith live for the eternal Home built by God. But it means waiting, not as long as most of us think, yet it still means waiting in faith, trusting God.

  Sometimes we feel like our lives have been put on hold. Waiting is one of the godly life’s greatest disciplines. As we wait in faith for the fulfillment of God’s promises, we must remember that “waiting time is never wasted time.” God is working even while we wait. Sometimes He’s testing us and growing us spiritually. True faith is waiting for the fulfillment of God’s promises in His timing, and He always keeps His promises.

  Trusting God means that we’re willing to sacrifice. True faith is always willing to sacrifice. Abraham demonstrated that willingness when he laid on the altar the most precious thing in his life, his son. What’s the most important thing in your life? God will never settle for being second place in your life. He’s only interested in being in first place in your life and won’t settle for anything less.

  Corrie Ten Boom said that she’d learned to hold the things of this world loosely in her hand, because she knew that if she grasped them tightly, the Lord would have to pry her fingers away and it would hurt. Is there anything you’re clinging to, trying to withhold from God? Is there anything that it’s going to hurt if God has to pry it out of your hands?

  Jesus must be Lord of all or He’s not Lord at all. You and I will never give up anything for God that God will not repay many, many times over. True faith means that we’re obedient, patient and willing to sacrifice. 

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