Take a faith-based risk (1) - All The Word for Today Daily Devotionals for 2026

The Word for Today - Monday, September 2, 2024
by Bob and Debby Gass

Details

Take a faith-based risk (1)

‘The Kingdom of Heaven has suffered violence, and the violent take it by force.’ Matthew 11:12 ESV

Peter gets unfairly criticised. He is the disciple who denied Christ three times, but he is the only one who got close enough to Jesus to get caught. He is the disciple who impulsively cut off Malchus’s ear when the lynch mob came to arrest Jesus, but he is the only one who came to Jesus’ defence. He is the disciple who sank in the Sea of Galilee, but he is the only disciple who walked on water. It’s so easy to criticise people from the comfortable confines of the boat.

Basically, there are two kinds of people: creators and criticisers—those who get out of the boat and walk on water and those who sit in the boat and criticise the water walkers. When everything is said and done, our greatest regrets will be the God-ordained risks we didn’t take. German author Johann Wolfgang von Goethe said, ‘Hell begins the day that God grants you the vision to see all that you could have done, should have done, and would have done, but did not do’. Jesus said, ‘From the days of John the Baptist until now the Kingdom of Heaven has suffered violence, and the violent take it by force’ (Matthew 11:12 ESV). What do you believe God is leading you to do? What is the persistent prompting of the Holy Spirit urging you to do? Do it. Failing to take a faith-based risk is like permanently misplacing a piece from the jigsaw puzzle of your life. It leaves a disappointing hole. When we reach the end of our lives, our biggest regrets will be those missing pieces. So today, go ahead and take a faith-based risk.

SoulFood: Josh 1-4 Luke 19:1-10 Ps 84 Pro 22:24-26

More From Our Daily Devotional Archives

The LORD is near
for Monday, December 9, 2013
by Jacob Redekop, Brian Reynolds, John van Dijk, Eugene P. Vedder Jr

Jehovah appeared to him by the oaks of Mamre. And...

Jehovah appeared to him by the oaks of Mamre. And he sat at the tent-door in the heat of the day. And he lifted up his eyes and saw, and behold, three men standing near him.
(Genesis 18:1)

The spiritual elevation of Abraham in Genesis 18 and 19 is something very peculiar. He seems...More

Open Heavens
for Thursday, December 26, 2013
by Pastor E.A Adeboye

FASTING IS NECESSARY

To relate with the Holy Spirit, you must be holy. You must also exercise a living faith, pray and fast. Some people will tell you that because had finished the work of salvation, there is no need to fast. To them, fasting is completely needless and is some form of self-inflicted punishment. But they forget that...More

Open Heavens
for Wednesday, August 27, 2014
by Pastor E.A Adeboye

REWARD FOR LABOUR

Jacob sojourned with Laban and laboured for him for several years. At first, his host was cheating him at every opportunity, and the years of his hard labour were almost in vain. Down the line, God had to intervene to enable Jacob eat the fruit of his labour. For a reader of this devotional, in every area that you...More

Open Heavens
for Friday, November 20, 2015
by Pastor E.A Adeboye

HOW PROPHETIC ARE YOUR NAMES?

The name you bear is very important because it serves as your identity and your future may be connected to it. The name a person bears is sometimes indicative of the experiences he or she will encounter in life. Take for instance Moses: this name means "drawn out of water"

Bible in one year:
Job...More