Choose God Everyday

Proverbs 27:1 Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring forth. (NKJV)

James 4:13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit”; 14 whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. 15 Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.” 16 But now you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. 17 Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin. (NKJV)

Joshua 24:14 “Now therefore, fear the LORD, serve Him in sincerity and in truth, and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the River and in Egypt. Serve the LORD! 15 And if it seems evil to you to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.” (NKJV)

Read Joshua 24

I was talking to a lady today about walking with the Lord and that it can be hard sometimes.  Then we had a celebration about the power of the Holy Spirit that enables us to choose God over our fleshly desires, or whatever the enemy is tempting us with at the moment.  The bible says that today is the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it.  Every day is a gift from God.  Whether we choose to take advantage of it or not, God’s grace and mercy has touched us and allowed our eyes to open and see a new day.  What do you do each day with your gift?  Are you rejoicing?  The Lord did not have to do it.  That is what we see in the book of James chapter 4.  We always have to be mindful that “if the Lord wills” we will see our loved ones again.  If the Lord wills we will have the house we are living in.  If the Lord wills we will get that job or promotion.  But you know what is more important than that?  If the Lord wills there will be another day for us to choose God and the salvation of Jesus Christ. 

What does choosing God mean to you?  Does it just mean that you say the words and give others and God lip service?  Or have you made a declaration that you have and will live by the Word of God like Joshua did before the children of Israel.  See regardless of what other people say or do, what are you going to do?  Regardless of what the world portrays as right and acceptable, what are you going to do?  Do you choose what the bible says, or what your friends do?  Do you choose what God is speaking to you in that moment, or are you too embarrassed to stand for God so you yield to temptation and sin?  Ask yourself TODAY who you will choose. 

Others see your profession as you go throughout the day.  What are they seeing?  A person who walks humbly yielding to God by His Holy Spirit, or a prideful disobedient person who has made a choice and fallen away from God?  See you can’t walk in the Light and in darkness at the same time.  You have to choose. 

Our gracious and heavenly Father.  Lord God almighty.  King of kings and Lord of lords, we bless Your holy Name.  We profess to rejoice in this day, for You have given us the opportunity to choose You.  You have allowed us to acknowledge Your sovereignty and grace.  Forgive us, with a repentant heart we ask You to receive us into the light and love of Your Son Jesus Christ.  Thank you Jesus.  AMEN. 

Justice, Mercy & Faithfulness

Matthew 23:23 “Woe to you, [self-righteous] scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you give a tenth (tithe) of your mint and dill and cumin [focusing on minor matters], and have neglected the weightier [more important moral and spiritual] provisions of the Law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these are the [primary] things you ought to have done without neglecting the others. 24 You [spiritually] blind guides, who strain out a gnat [consuming yourselves with miniscule matters] and swallow a camel [ignoring and violating God’s precepts]! (AMP)

Read Matthew Chapter 23

God is amazing in how He says so much in just one verse. If you think about the history of God’s people throughout the Old and New Testament, you see great stories of faith and disappointing stories of unbelief and sin. We see how God has been faithful for generations to those who love, obey and serve Him.  We also see how the Lord has been merciful at times, but then has had to judge those who continuously disobeyed and sinned against Him. You would think the Lord would be tired of man by now.  But just as He admonished the Pharisees above to show mercy, in His faithfulness His mercy endures forever toward us!

Jesus’ choice of words in verse 23 put you in the mind of someone who is fed up or disgusted? The Lord is speaking to the Pharisees about their religious behavior and poor choices in failing to totally obey Him in the whole counsel of His Word. He proclaims to them that they have done some of the things that He requires, but have omitted the weightier matters of justice, mercy and faithfulness in His law (v23).  These three are essential to living our life for God in spirit and in truth?  Without faith it is impossible to please God according to Hebrews 11:6. If it has not been for God’s mercy on us, where would we be besides dead bound for hell?  In Matthew 5:7 Jesus teaches that blessed are the merciful, and that they shall obtain mercy. Now justice, which is really lacking these days and seems to be very misunderstood, is necessary if we are to understand our own salvation.  Acts 17:31 tells us that For he has set a day for judging the world with justice by the man he has appointed, and he proved to everyone who this is by raising him from the dead. God gives us His holy law in order that we might see our sin, and by faith in Jesus know that the Lord God in His Word is the great and only judge, who by His Son Jesus we might obtain mercy unto salvation.  Have you addressed these weightier matters in your life in relationship to the Word of God through Christ?

Alleluia to the Lamb of God who was slain before the foundations of the world.  Jesus you are the great and merciful judge of all things.  We plead mercy from you and pray that we might obtain mercy as we grow in Your Word seeking You in spirit and in truth.  Your testimony is amazing, and by this we have faith so that we might overcome the evil one in Your Name Jesus.  Lord by Your precious Holy Spirit we desire to persevere to the end so that we might receive our crown in Your glorious salvation.  Forgive us, help us and save us in Jesus name we pray, AMEN.  

The Best Laid Plans

1 Thessalonians 5:24 He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it.

Sometimes the best laid plans, and the best intentions have no bearing on how things go. In times like these there is an opportunity to stay the course, exercise faith and trust God. Monday I made my plans to drive back to Nashville from Washington DC. I would get up early…4:30 am and be on the road by 5ish to beat any beltway traffic and get out of the city early. I needed to get back to Nashville and make some business calls on appointments I had coming up this week. This would not be an issue for me because I like to get up early and drive with sunlight.

Sooooo……I did not get in bed as early as I wanted. When my phone went off, I started my process. All of a sudden I heard what sounded like thunder! No way….  But of course I had not checked the weather. Did I mention I hate driving in the rain? Needless to say it was not just thundering it was raining, windy and thundering. As I stopped to fill up the gas tank the wind picked up. It did not matter that I was under the covered area, the wind managed to blow just in the right direction to soak me. The gas tank was full and I was on my way to the interstate at 5:30…check. As I get on the beltway I was feeling good until the blinding water started blowing up unto my windshield….I guess my car is too low. So after about an hour and a half, I decide to pull off the interstate because I am sleepy, it was dreary and I was worn out fighting the torrential rain. The good news is that I had made pretty good time in spite of the highway fun. I stop at a Starbucks, parked and slept for about 45 minutes. Then I got my dirty Chai and a breakfast sandwich, and hit the road with a new attitude. I had prayed, napped and was believing God that the rain would let up soon. I even texted some prayer warriors to pray my strength….10 hours is no joke to drive alone. Needless to say about 51/2 hours in, the sun came out and it was a beautiful drive the rest of the way! Where the five hours prior to that pretty miserable, yes, but I made it through.

See sometimes life is just like that. Even though the best plans are made, even though we do everything we can to prepare, and even when we have done nothing wrong.  Even though there are things to do when we get to our destination, the storms of life still come. As I hit the 6^th hour of the drive, the sun came out. The rain stopped and it was smooth sailing the rest of the way. The same is true for life, the day and hour will come when the dark clouds will part, the rain will stop and the Son will shine on your situation. And sometimes just as you planned you will make it to your destination in time to do just what needs to be done….as long as you keep going. See it is by faith that we overcome the storms of this world. God reminded me as I saw the beautiful clouds and felt the sun shine and the wind blow, that He is faithful to get us to our destination if we just press forward trusting Him. I am so thankful not just to have made it back to Nashville, but that I serve a God who promises to ALWAYS bring me through the storms of life to victory through faith in His power! Amen.