No Risk No Reward!
It’s no shock that the most successful people seem to be those who take significant risks. They jeopardize their personal comfort. They challenge the status quo. They put their money and time at stake.
Taking a Risk is a Creative Act.
What Are The Characteristics Of Risk-Takers?
Remember that the fear of failure is the most paralyzing of human emotions. The fear of failure stops us from trying, from daring, from succeeding. It must be confronted. Don’t grow old saying, “I wish I had. I should have. Why didn’t I?” failure is not to be dreaded, but to confront, reject, and overcome.” ~Mark Shields
On June 6th 1944 thousands of American paratroopers jumped into Normandy. Four men refused to jump. Can you imagine, can anyone imagine the rest of these lives? What prodigies of self-excuse, rational, or repression they must have had to employ? Their lives, in effect, ended the moment they refused to leave the plane. As would the lives of the Jews, had they refused to step into the Red Sea. As will yours and mine if we refuse the challenge to change…we stagnate and perform ever greater acts of repression and hypocrisy, to explain to ourselves why we don’t immerse ourselves in the mysteries of life. We all die in the end, but there is no reason to die in the middle. ~David Mamet
What is it that God wants You to Do? Needs You to Do?
The Problems You Solve Determine The Rewards You Receive!
What are you afraid to Try?
Progress Is What Happens When Impossibility Yields To Necessity.
Deb & I Believe In YOU!
You Can Do It!
See You In Church.
Great Bible Study this week from a Guest pastor…Click the Title below:
The Kind of People God Invests In!
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8 comments:
Wow! Another great challenge to take risks and not be afraid to overcome fears and step out in obedience with God's help.
Equally powerful for me was today's Selah; it was the perfect week and perfect day for me to read it. I'm looking forward to a rewarding day... I'm not quite sure what it entails or how it will enfold, but praise God, He is with me!!
Thanks PM, I really needed that encouragement today!
-Christine
Wow, Pastor Phil... this bible study was great! Just when we think we have nothing to really offer, because we don't feel equipped, God shows us through His Word, that we don't always have to have it all together for Him to be able to use us. THANK YOU LORD!!!
In the midst of my weaknesses, you are my strength, you're the supplier of ALL my needs, and You have GREAT plans for me!
I can picture it in my mind, (Pastor Vinny) The shadow that my life has been under for years. I am so glad I am one of God's children, protected by the "shadow of the Almighty" and guided by His tender loving mercy. Great "tag team" this week. Thanks for sharing your hearts with us!
You all have been an encouragement to me this week!!!
Nichole T
Pastor Mark, I loved the Quote in the blog by David Mamet...
"We all die in the end, but there is no reason to die in the middle"
Good word, gave me a little kick in the butt...(hope this is alright Blog talk)
I am going after new risks in my life! Time is now, change is good, looking forward to the rewards!!!
Nichole
The dictionary defines risk as...
"the variability of returns from an investment"
So many times in peoples lives, they mistake a "risk" for what is really defined as a hazard. The dictionary says a hazard is...
"the chance of being injured or harmed; danger"
I know I'm still fairly young (25) and there's a WHOLE lot I could still learn in alot of areas of life, but if there's one thing I've been blessed to learn at an early age is.....
Coming to a future point in your life, full of "I wish I had" or "I cant believe I didn't" or "If only I had" is one of the saddest and worst points of life a person could reach.
"Every man dies.... not every man Lives"... - Braveheart
I have a couple of quotes from Saint Mark (oops, Pastor Mark)... one of my favorites is "learning to live life with a capital "L"
My hope this week is that someone reads this blog and perhaps even this long winded comment, and starts to see life with all of its TRUE RISKS (opportunities for greatness, both small and great) instead of HAZARDS (full of fear and uncertainty)
Johnathon Muniz
P.S. Perhaps today
Risk is good and sometimes necessary, provided it is prudent and calculated and not reckless. I'll be 63 years old in two months. My flesh tells me "Grinder you're too old to take risks, this stuff is for younger people." Yet the Holy Spirit tells me "Grinder, remember, Abraham, Moses, and Caleb." Great men of God who took great risks in their later years. Risk taking is a part of life no matter what age. My wife has told me "I'm 62 going on 16!!!" May it always be so Lord, may it always be so. "Not by might, not by power, but by my Spirit says the Lord of hosts. Who are you O great mountain, before(insert your name here) you shall become a plain". In conclusion great Bible study Pastor Phil. Thanks for reminding a guy like me, who never was or ever will be a superstar, that I'm an important part of God's kingdom called to do whatever He bids me to do.
Two great back to back Selah's + this study on Risk PM....
I love the idea and the confident feeling of being in my Father's shadow..wheeewww....man I love that. I need that...Im so thankful for that every day.
It's all tied to some risk I took in the past that was not born from heaven....it was when I had my back towards Him....it was when I was worshiping an idolic dream without God's blessing attached to it....that was a Risk I took and LOST.
So yes Risk is good as long as it's ordained by our Father!! Lessoned learned the hard way. I believe you can apply what John said to our asperations or zeal and whether it's "born of God"...
1 John 5:3-5
3This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, 4for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. 5Who is it that overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.
So if our zeal and asperations as well as ourselves are born of God, they will be fruitful.
So Im glad Im now in His shadow every day. Im doing my best to stay connected to his hip in everything I do. I am at His mercy and walking in His grace...praise God !!! \0/
Before I wasn't even thinking of Him, now I need Him...and Im so glad I know this with all my heart....and so, I can be more zealous in Him, with Him and through Him....With His spirit working in my life, I will never make that mistake again.
in Jesus name, amen...\0/\0/
Hello Fellow Bloggers!
I can't help but wonder why we have 30 comments posted last week on the subject of "Stuff Happens" and only 6 so far this week when the topic is "Risk"! Does that mean that we're all more aware of stuff happening and how we deal with it, too much stuff, how we have all realized that we have to deal with 'stuff'!!!
So what about risk? Is risk spelled "f-e-a-r"? The fear of failure....as quoted...."the most paralyzing". Is there a fear of posting on this blog because we don't want to sound silly...what might people say or think about us? If you read through previous weeks, you'll see some people really put it all out there!There's no spell check and no grammer check either...I'll not bother because I'm afraid. I'm not risking my reputation for a blog post....no way Jose!!! What would people think of me?
I have a friend who has failed quite a bit in his lifetime. He is someone who has admitted his failures publicly quite often. He's not proud of his failures but.....it is amusing to hear him tell the funny side of the stories years later. He's one of the few people I know who has screwed up parts of life almost as much as me!!! (forgive the modesty).
However....this man is one my heroes. I admire and respect him more than many others. I love him for who he is...warts n' all. He is my friend, and like most people, I don't have too many of these. Here's why: failing (risking) has turned him inside out...not upside down. He has learned from his mistakes and shares the experience so I don't make the same mistakes. He keeps trying. He knows where to go when life fails, when the risk goes wrong. He's a confronter, he doesn't run. AND....because of his failures and taking the wrong risks sometimes, I have learned from him that the more times he fails, the closer he gets to success.
Today...this man is one of the most successful people I know. He loves his wife and family, and they love him dearly too. He loves God more than anything or anyone. He can pray with great power. He has great peace in his heart. He can encourage people like no one I know. He can turn a cold rainy day into summer just by putting up his umbrella. He loves me in spite of all my oddities, my accent, my warts, and my stupidities. He's a real friend you know. I'm so thankful that I know him. I'm very proud of him and all his accomplishments. He's a real success. But I also know he isn't who he is because life was good to him. He took a lot of risks, (which means he failed a few times) and some of them paid off. His failure coupled with his determination and perseverence has made him a success.
I don't like failure. I've had my fair share of it in life. But I know that if I am to succeed, I have to risk the failure. What I have learned from life and from my friend is this: take the failure...learn from it...try it again...never give up...keep God first in everything...and eventually the ratio of successes to failures will turn in my favor. This is what happened for my friend....and he's my hero.
Shane
Man... this is some good stuff! I'm sorry I waited this long to finally download and read the Bible Study! :)
I remember a sermon that Pastor Evans preached, lo these many years ago, when I was still a baby Christian: "What do you have in your hand?". Pastor Phil's message expounded upon that!
Here is a quote that really nailed me: "So often we question God because we don’t understand our lives. Circumstances
don’t make sense to us. We’re looking out through the little knothole of our human
viewpoint, and we don’t see very well. But God sees perfectly. We need to trust Him,
and wait on Him to get HIS sight."
I am one of those people who is VERY LOW on the "risk-taking" scale. From 1 to 10, I'm probably a 2... I take only very careful steps, launching out only when it appears the path is right, or when I truly sense God's hand guiding-leading me in that direction.
What do I have in my eye? Whew... I have been carrying a wonderful Vision from the LORD for over 22 years, now, for a 24 hour FM radio station to FILL the airwaves of Fairfield County with Christ-Centered Music!
To see a conceptual drawing of this Vision, please check this out: www.wphafm.org/concept
That's a HUGE vision... and to tie it into Pastor Mark's message, today (3/29) it's absolutely IMPOSSIBLE!!! BUT!! I know that GOD WILL make this happen in HIS way, and in HIS time!
This foolish vessel (yours truly) is here to be HIS hands, HIS voice on that station.
I don't know HOW or WHEN the LORD will raise this up... but SO MANY things have been pointing in this direction for SO LONG, that it can't be much longer. :)
Back to Pastor Phil's message, right now, though, I feel like Moses in the desert. After losing my beloved job at WFIF in Aug of 2007, I have been "On God's shelf", so-to-speak. He provided me with a job working with electronics, and I am thankful! I like it, and it pays the bills... but I don't get ANY spiritual fulfilment from it at all. :'(
At WFIF, the Lord so often moved and blessed people through that music and also via the prayer time, that it was a nearly constant souce of blessing! In the very MOMENT I opened that microphone and began to pray, hundreds (if not thousands) of people were INSTANTLY and simultaineously UNITED in prayer... and God did wonderful, amazing things in response to those Precious prayer Warriors' prayers! \o/
So, missing that ministry is hard for me. I miss the fellowship of my Christian co-workers there. I miss the POWER of the Holy Spirit moving through the music and prayers that went through the airwaves and into people's radios.
I expect God to do something so amazing, so great... my heart's desire is to see His people drawn closer to HIM. That is my all-consuming, driving goal! That was what I strove for every day with my former radio ministry, and it is what I will again strive for when God finally does raise-upWPHA! \o/
God bless!
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