“Life is either a daring adventure or nothing.”–Helen Keller
I love this quote. I don’t believe God created anyone to just be a “warm body.” What I mean by this is I believe wholeheartedly that everyone has a created purpose. There are things each one of us was designed to do and accomplish, not just exist!! The one thing I think holds many people back from being all God created them to be is a lack of COURAGE! The antonym for courage is fear. So I believe in order to have courage, fear has to diminish in our lives.
The Bible gives many scriptures about having courage. My favorite one is found in Deuteronomy 31:6, “Be strong and courageous, do NOT be AFRAID, or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you, he will never leave you nor forsake you.” As I read and study the Bible and people who accomplished much in scripture, everyone of them had to leave the “familiar.” I believe God calls us all out of our COMFORT ZONE. We have to be willing to “undress” by taking off the familiar and trust Him to accomplish much. I love the quote I have read so many times, “Courage is the power to let go of the familiar!” This is so right on!!!!!! But where does the Power come from???
The power to STEP UP AND STEP OUT comes from knowing Jesus and the power of God in our lives. We have to understand that to have courage and to allow fear to drain from our lives we have to accept the “PERFECT LOVE” that Jesus has for each one of us. In 1 John 4:18 it says, “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear; because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.” We have to come to a realization that accepting God’s love and sacrifice of his Son, Jesus, is PERFECT LOVE.
That kind of love is hard to believe in our own human understanding. We have to muster just a tiny bit of faith, the Bible calls it a “mustard seed” of faith, to believe in Jesus. The power lies with inviting Jesus into our hearts. His indwelling and allowing His perfect love to permeate our lives is the true source of COURAGE. Romans 8:15 states, “The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again, rather the spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship, and by him we cry ‘Abba Father’. The spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.” When you decide to receive Jesus into your heart, you are free, not slaves. You then have access to the power of the ALMIGHTY GOD, the Creator of the universe. With that access comes the power to accomplish with courage all He created you to be!
To accomplish much in life, we have to make the decision to not just exist as a “warm body”. We have to make the decision to be a “HOT BODY”. Be willing to do RADICAL THINGS FOR CHRIST. I have found if you want to be RADICALLY BLESSED, you have to have RADICAL COURAGE, which is impossible without accepting God’s RADICAL LOVE! (RADICAL OF ALL RADICAL IS SENDING YOUR SON TO DIE FOR MY SIN AND YOURS!)
The enemy would like for you to get wrapped up in what other people might think of you, thus keeping you “warm”. He would want you to live your life in such a way as to avoid criticism, do nothing, say nothing, and be nothing………
God wants you to ACCOMPLISH AND THRIVE AND HAVE COURAGE. He makes this promise to me and to you in Isaiah 41:10.
So do not fear, for I am with you;
do not be dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you;
I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
Radical courage exists in the lives of people who accept God’s radical love and experience His radical help!