Taking Action NOW
”Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them. ”
John 13:17
As you all know by now I am a little bit crazy!
Ok if you ask Jenna I am extremely crazy!
And if you ask my kids they say, nope he’s not crazy, it’s just dad.
Then if you ask my brother and parents, they constantly say, what are you thinking? No one in their right mind would do that!!
Right now, you are probably thinking, Dan where are you going with this?
Well, hang tight because I promise this is going to be an amazing devotional that you will want to read again and again.
Let me start with a quick story..
I looked at my messenger account and there was a new message from Ian.
It said, Hey dude, I’ll be available if you’re interested either Sunday or Monday. If you can make it out then id be happy to take you up and maybe we can strike up a deal.
So, I looked at my calendar and it was FULL. I mean FULLLLLLLLLLLLL.
The week before on Monday, I left for Montrose, CO to meet with customers, then Tuesday morning we were hosting an event there, Monday at noon I was speaking at another event, then that afternoon we were hosting another event.
That evening we had to drive a couple of hours to Cresta Bute, CO because the next day I was speaking at another event.
Then that evening I had to be back in Durango, CO for our son’s school play.
The next day I had a full day of CDL testing (5 to be exact, and each test takes 2 hours).
Then Friday I had a flight lesson in the morning in Farmington, NM, pickup up snacks for the youth night we were hosting, and at 12:30 we got to pick up Dr. Gary Chapman from the airport for the youth night and Couples Day.
Did I forget to mention that I had 2 meetings scheduled that afternoon too?
Then Saturday was our AMAZING Couples Day!
And now I was looking at one-way tickets to CA Sunday afternoon!
Wait, did I just read that right?
ONE-WAY TICKETS TO CA!!!!!
What the heck????
Is Jenna finally kicking him out of the house?? And why the heck would he choose California???
Anyways..
Here I was looking for tickets to fly out Sunday afternoon, I shot Mick a quick text and said, “Hey bud wanna go CA on Sunday afternoon and Monday to check out a plane?
His response was, “Heck yeah, let’s go!
So, I booked the tickets!
Of course, not until AFTER I talked to Jenna (maybe I booked the tickets and then talked to Jenna, I can’t really remember it all happened so fast! Thank goodness she knows just how crazy I am!!!!)
I was officially flying on a one-way flight to CA to look at a plane for our family!!!
I was stoked, scared to death, and super excited.
God blessed the entire week.
I didn’t get sick. All of the events went off GREAT! I was on FIRE every time I spoke. Bringing excitement and encouragement to most of the crowds. I didn’t crash the plane that I fly on Friday. Sam’s club had all the snacks I wanted for the youth night. Gary’s plane landed a few minutes early. Kids actually showed up for the youth night. The couple’s day was great. We had great help from the River Church (their team is AMAZING!).
God was definitely with us!
Here is the whole point of this entire story.
TAKE ACTION!!!!
When God gives you an idea, you have to take action!
If we would not have taken action when he told us to contact Dr. Chapman we would have never had an amazing Couples Day!
If I would not have taken action when he told me to start flying lessons, I would never have been introduced to certain people.
If we had not taken action when he told us to book all of these events, then we would not have been able to touch as many lives as we did.
If I did not buy ONE-WAY tickets to CA then we would not have a plane right now!
Sometimes taking action is scary.
It’s okay that it is scary, but I still want you to take action!
Do you think that David was scared when went up against Goliath?
You bet he was! (well we have several teenagers, and about the only thing that scares them is the opposite sex, so maybe that’s a bad example. Lol)
Do you think that Jesus was scared before he was crucified?
You bet he was. He even prayed for help! Matthew 26:39
Do you think I was scared when I bought one-way tickets?
You bet I was!
When we take action, that is when amazing things happen. The bible is full of truths about taking action.
Take Action
Here is what I want you to do.
TAKE ACTION!!!!
Do it on at least one thing today.
If you get the gut feeling that you need to call someone, DO IT!
If you get the thought that you need to tell your partner how much you love them, DO IT!
If you get the feeling to buy a one-way ticket to go buy a plane, Ask your wife first, lol
I think you get the point.
If you don’t take action NOW, you might never take action. Then you are missing out on what God has in store for you.
Last thought before we pray.
The more you take action, the easier it gets. So don’t wait to take action right now and share this devotional with at least 5 people. Even better share it with all of your friends and tag #GodFirstLife in the post!
Let’s make #GodFirstLife our moto1
Prayer
Lord God, Father in heaven, we are so grateful that you gave us the ability to think. We are grateful for the opportunities that you place right in front of us. We are thankful that you give us the opportunity to take action.
We are filled with gratitude that you sent your son as an atonement for our sins. We might never truly understand the real sacrifice that he and you paid for us because of your love for us. God today we pray that you would give us the encouragement to take action on everything that you need us to.
We know that when we take action sometimes, we might stumble, or even fall. But you are always there to help us get back up again. You are there holding out your hand to help us. And we appreciate that. God, lastly, we pray that you help us to spread your word.
Help us to share your message with the WHOLE world. You know the one you created. The one person that you made for the dust. We are all family through you. God today we pray for everyone in this world. We pray that you would open their ears to hear you.
We pray that you would open their eyes to see you. We pray that you would open their hearts to accept you.
God, we pray all these things in your precious son’s name.
Amen
PS. Jenna was not upset that I bought one-way tickets to CA. She was EXCITED that I took action to move forward on one of our dreams.
Amen
A little more
Oh boy, I have sure enjoyed writing these devotionals for God first, Blogs for Eclipse DOT and especially this section, A Little more.
You see, when I was in school, I was never told that I was a good writer.
And I definitely was not a fast reader.
You see, I didn’t fit the mold that our government and people, in general, have chosen to accept as the normal.
I was out-spoken, sometimes.
And I defied authority, quite often really.
And I’m 100% sure that I drove my parents crazy.
In grade school, the principal knew me by my first name.
In middle school, Mr. Giddings (the principal) and I were on a first-name basis.
But you see in high school, I never got to know the principal.
That’s because.
I had a GREAT relationship with.
The VICE PRINCIPAL!!!!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH
I wasn’t really a bad kid. I mean I had some issues. Ok, a LOT of issues.
But that didn’t mean that I was. It just meant that I had a harder time than some.
You see my brother, while not the best kid in the world. Was considerably better than me when it came to not getting in trouble.
Or at least not getting CAUGHT!!!
I think that most of my problem was that I was TOO honest. And I kind of liked confrontation. (Not a great thing. liking confrontation, honesty is always a good habit)
There was this one time in high school when the vice-principal had a wonderful conversation in the hall.
You see I had a t-shirt that had the saying Backdraft When you lean your ax back against the keg and have a nice cool draft. Then it had a picture of an axe leaning against a silver barrel with a tap coming out of the top (not a keg, lol).
Well, he kindly asked me to turn my shirt inside out.
So I took action and took my shirt off. Right there in the middle of the hall.
Then I asked if that was better?
He politely responded that was not what he meant.
If I remember correctly Jenna (we were dating at the time) was there right next to me turning a new shade of red that I had never seen before, from embarrassment I’m sure. Because she did not quite have the same relationship with the vice principal that I had. Have I mentioned that Jenna doesn’t like confrontation, especially not in public? Oh yeah, she hated it then and still hates it! lol)
Anyways.
I turned around still holding my shirt in my hand and took Jenna’s hand and walked down the hall away from the vice principal.
I still remember the applause in the senior hallway as we walked away while he was trying to talk.
He had been bested by a high school kid. I knew that at the time there was not a dress code for guys saying that they had to wear a shirt, just something covering the bottom portion of their body and it had to be so long and not show any belly button. (I’m pretty sure that they changed the dress code later that year to ensure that all guys wore some kind of shirt after that, lol)
At the time I was pretty happy with the way that I handled the situation. I didn’t get upset, I didn’t holler, I simply took off my shirt and walked away.
Looking back at the situation, I would have handled it considerably differently.
Here is the best part of the story though.
One of my teachers, an English teacher, saw the whole thing.
He cared so much about me that later that day he went back to his office and called my mother to ask her if everything was alright at home.
He genuinely cared about me and wanted to know if anything was going on.
You see because most of the time I showed a massive amount of respect to everyone.
The thing was that this was a STUPID rule, and I knew that the vice principal was having a rough day and he chose to take it out on me. I don’t really tolerate that kind of stuff.
This is what my mom did.
After we talked about it, (being a parent, I am 150% sure that she laughed on the inside while not showing any emotion to me the child) she casually did laundry and just removed the shirt from my wardrobe selection.
She knew that I was GOING to WEAR that shirt AGAIN, just to stir the pot.
So she took care of it. Folding it nicely so that you couldn’t see the design, and then she hid it from me.
YEP, you heard that right she HID IT FROM ME.
Do you know where she put it?
Right there on top of the dryer!
HOW DARE SHE. lol
The funny thing is that I walked past the dryer every morning, every evening, and multiple times a day.
But it took me months to find that shirt.
The moral to this story is that not everyone fits the same mold. Some of them are different and that’s a good thing. God designed us each to have a purpose.
Moral number 2. If you ever want to hide something from a man or child, leave it in plain view! We will NEVER find it. lol
Have a GREAT week
And may God Bless you and your entire family!
Dan Greer
Will you pray with us?
Mankind throughout the world throughout our current situation
All Law enforcement and emergency response personnel
For all military personal serving our country and their families
Those in Leadership positions throughout the world