Category: Faith Lived Dangerously

Let Go And Let God

Leave a comment

I ride horses at Carousel Ranch. It’s a place that does equestrian therapy for people with disabilities.
One time my instructor took me on a trail ride. Everything was going fine until we got to a tree. It was kind of hot and the horse decided that it was time to eat. He started to nibble on a leaf. The spotter who was in charge of controlling my horse in front pulled on the bit. She was saying, “No, not now it’s time to work. “ The horse was determined. He went for it again. My spotter pulled on the bit. This time, the horse backed up very strongly. Startled, I let go quickly and fell toward one of the side walkers. After I landed with my feet safely on the ground, I laughed and said, “Well, there’s a first time for everything.” We drove in a truck back down to the arena.

In many ways, we are very similar to the horse. Many times we want something so bad we will do anything to get it. We don’t want to listen to God until we fall flat on our backs. If you’re using something someone else created, don’t you think that person knows more about the product than you do? When God says no to something, shouldn’t we trust the judgment of the one who made us?

Dear Lord,
Help me to give you complete control of my life.
Amen

Faith Lived Dangerously

Camp Capernaum 2008

One comment

Here’s a letter that I wrote to God at Young Life camp last year. Enjoy!

Dear God,
Thank you for your unending love. Thank you that you don’t make mistakes. Thank you that you saw our souls as disabled so you came to save them. Thank you for the promise of a new body someday. Thank you for being there during the tough times. Thanks for putting me into a family that cares about you and sends me to camps like Young Life.

I’m looking forward to the day when I get to heaven and I get to ask you why I had to have CP– then I get to throw my chair in the fires of hell. I look forward to seeing you. Come back soon!

Love,
Rachael

Faith Lived Dangerously

R.S.V.P.

One comment

By Rachael Benson
”I stand at the door and knock.  If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.”
Revelation 3:20
Have you ever gotten an invitation to a party and on the bottom it says, “R.S.V.P. By” and It’s got a date, with the person’s name and number next to it? It means please let me know if you’re coming.  Usually you get an invitation because you have a close relationship with that person – they consider you valuable.  While the invitation costs you nothing at all, it costs the person putting on the party —the cake, the decorations, the invitations, etc.
In the same way, God considers us so valuable that He gave up the one thing that meant the most to Him— His son Jesus. God should’ve turned His back on us and said, “Forget it.” Instead, He sent His son Jesus to die on the cross for us because He wants to have a relationship with us. 
By sending Jesus, God sent us a personalized invitation to heaven with our name on it. A written invitation from God might say something like this:
   To: Rachael
From: God
You’re invited to a homecoming party.
Where: Heaven
When: Today
Directions: Accept my son Jesus into you’re heart.
What to Bring: Yourself
R.S.V.P.  Today
Will you R.S.V. P.?
Dear Jesus,
I invite you to come into my heart.
Amen
Faith Lived Dangerously

Footprints im the Butter

2 comments

“If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself take up his cross and follow me.” Matthew 16:24

How do you know when an elephant has been in the refrigerator? You’ll see its footprints in the butter. My pastor shared that joke in a sermon. How many times have you heard a non-believer say, “Why should I become a Christian? They’re a bunch of hypocrites.”

Unfortunately, in today’s world, most of the time, the non-believer is right. I’ve seen a lot of Christians who tell me they’ve been saved for many years, but yet they act like they’re new. Every other word out of their mouth is a swear word, they constantly yell at the store clerk who accidentally overcharged them on their grocery bill, they’re heavily into witchcraft, they enjoy getting drunk at a bar, etc. Pretty soon a Christian is defined as someone who goes to church. Anyone can do that.

I believe that God calls us to be elephants. He wants us to leave footprints that lead others to Him. “I’m going to get laughed at,” you say. Jesus got laughed at while dying on the cross. He left us the footprints to heaven because He loves us. What kind of footprints are you leaving for Christ? Are they the footprints of an elephant?

Dear Lord,
Please help me to lead a life that leaves footprints for you.
Amen

Faith Lived Dangerously

“See You Tomorrow”

Leave a comment
“For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.”
1 Thessalonians 4: 16-17
            Usually when you say,  “See you tomorrow” to someone it literally means see you tomorrow. Did you ever think that the same phrase might have another meaning?
            My family and I used to go to church on Saturday night. After church, our favorite tradition was to get a Baskin Robbins milkshake. When people went there just as they were heading out the door, the workers would say,“ See you tomorrow.” I’m sure people thought they were nuts. “What do they mean see you tomorrow? I’m not coming back tomorrow. Those people are weird.”
            Finally, one of us asked, “What do you guys mean by “See you tomorrow?”
The manager replied, “We’re Christians. We have the assurance that when we die we’ll see each other again in heaven.”   
            The phrase “See you tomorrow” was their clever way of sharing the Gospel.  How about you? Is your eternal future secure?
Dear Lord,
Please give me a heart that always longs to see your face.
Amen
I’ll see you tomorrow.
Faith Lived Dangerously

Capernaum Idol

8 comments

Worship the Lord with gladness;
                     Come before him with joyful songs.” Psalm 100:2 (New International Version).
Recently, I went to a Young Life summer camp called Capernaum. Young Life is a ministry for teens and young adults.  Capernaum is the camp designed for people with disabilities.   It seems no matter how hard I try to be ready, the week never goes exactly as planned.
             Everyone was getting ready for Capernaum Idol. I got to the clubhouse, and my leader took the CD out of my backpack. “What number Rachael?”  He asked as he handed it to the DJ.
“Number seven.” I replied.
He opened the case. “Rachael?”  “There’s no CD in there.”
“What?” I replied.
He came down and showed me.  The case was empty. The CD— got left at home!  “That’s it. I thought. It’s over.”  Suddenly, another leader said,“Rach, this is Hollywood we make it work.” I sang the song acapella.
“I can do all things through Christ who strengths me.
Oh I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me
In anything and everything I’ve learned to be content
Oh I can do all things through Christ who strengthens you and me.”
At the end, the audience gave a standing ovation. I realized that while I have one plan, God has another. Whose show is it anyway?
Dear Lord,
Please help me to have a heart of worship for you in everything I do.
Amen
              
Faith Lived Dangerously
1 … 11 12 13