Your Choice

Who do you choose?

Joshua 24:15 “But if you refuse to serve the Lord, then choose today whom you will serve. Would you prefer the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates? Or will it be the gods of the Amorites in whose land you now live? But as for me and my family, we will serve the Lord.”

Choose today – and everyday – who you will serve. Will it be God, or money, or popularity, or television, or drugs, or sex, or food?
We have many gods in many shapes and sizes, but they do not look like the gods the ancient Hebrews faced. However, WE must still face them and make a decision. I want to serve God, my father, the maker and ruler of the universe.

God does not force us to serve Him. He gives us a choice because He loves us and because He loves us He will lovingly allow us to choose.  The one thing He will not allow is for us to ride the fence(we must choose God or Satan, Life or death). But, be very careful how you choose; choices are long lasting and life changing.
That applies to every choice we make in this life but unfortunately, we really don’t think about our choices or their consequences. When it really comes down to choosing…..God is the only choice.
**Our relationship with God should not be based on any man, BUT on the Lord alone, and that we will serve God no matter what anyone else says or does. We must check all programs, teachings
and book writings with the word of God to make sure it lines up with what God has written.
Some say the Bible “contains the word of God.” No. The Bible IS the Word of God.
ALL TRUTH is God’s truth; but the Bible is the recorded truth of God like no other book and like no Private revelation anyone might receive.

The idea that the Bible is the Word of God is from Jesus. Jesus constituted the Christian faith as one of Biblical authority.
That means that Bible/Scripture IS the AUTHORITY for Christian belief and practice.

Genesis 41:51 Joseph named the firstborn Manasseh (Forget), saying, “God made me forget all my hardships and my parental home.”
52 He named his second son Ephraim (Double Prosperity), saying, “God has prospered me in the land of my sorrow.”
Joseph named his second son Ephraim. Ephraim was given to him after he had been delivered from his suffering of 13 years. Joseph said that he named him this because God had made him fruitful in the land of his suffering. Ephraim means “twice fruitful.”
Naming his firstborn Manasseh (Forget), like he did would remind him for the rest of his life “to forget”.

*God can help us forget all the horrible wounds of our past, guilt, shame  as we let God work through our service now.

Joseph was fruitful in two instances.  He was fruitful during his time of adversity and in his prosperity.
When God brings us into a time of suffering, it can be a fruitful time.
It’s rare for us to see the fruit during the suffering period. But know that the roots are going deep into the spiritual soil of our soul because of our pressing in to God during our time of suffering.
This is producing a work in our character that cannot be seen until it finishes the process. Such was the case for Joseph.

It was not until several years after such a time of suffering that I began to see the fruit of the trials that the Lord allowed me to experience.
*How grateful I am to understand some of the “why” that has led to a new life in Him that I would never have had without this period of trials and suffering. These are what produces Character.

If you find yourself in a time of suffering, now is the time to press into God.
Choose to let your roots grow deeper. Whenever there is a famine, tree roots are forced to drive deeper into the soil to find water. These times are designed to create such a deep-rooted FAITH that our natures will be changed forever.

We must not look at circumstances, trials and suffering and argue with Jesus when His instruction seems to contradict what we have seen or experienced already.
We must obey the Lord.

When we obey the Lord we might just see Jesus use us for His glory and bless our obedience.

Hebrews 5: 8 Though he was God’s Son, he learned trusting-obedience by what he suffered, just as we do.

Most of us have had recent spiritual attacks which send us reeling and caused us to feel off balance and unsteady.  But, the Lord tells us  that you will gain the victory over the enemy and the Lord will bring restoration, healing and renewal to your body, soul and spirit.  Allow these circumstances, trials, sufferings  to strengthen rather than weaken your faith.
These are perilous times, but when your trust is only in the Lord, you are unshakeable.

Psalm 107:23-30   Those who go down to the sea in ships, who do business on great waters, they see the works of the LORD, and His wonders in the deep. For He commands and raises the stormy wind, which lifts up the waves of the sea. They mount up to the heavens, they go down again to the depths; their soul melts because of trouble.  They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits’ end. Then they cry out to the LORD in their trouble, and He brings them out of their distresses.  He calms the storm, so that its waves are still. Then they are glad because they are quiet; so He guides them to their desired haven.

This may remind us of the terrors and distress of conscience many of us experience, and of those deep scenes of trouble which many pass through, in our Christian course. Yet, in answer to their cries, the Lord turns their storm into a calm, and causes their trials to end in gladness.

Psalms 107:1-43: There are some things that are worth repeating! The story of God’s amazing grace is worth repeating over and over again – ‘Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, and He delivered them from their distress’(6,13,19,28).
* The call to praise the Lord is also something we need to hear again and again – ‘Let them give thanks to the Lord for His unfailing love and His wonderful deeds for men’(8,15,21,31). *Let us ‘consider the great love of the Lord’. Let us ‘give thanks to the Lord’(43,1).
**‘The great love of God is revealed IN the Son, who came to this earth to redeem every one. That love, like a stream flowing clear to the sea, makes clean every heart that from sin would be FREE… It’s yours, it is ours, O how lavishly given! The pearl of great price, and the treasure of heaven!
1 JN 4:10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.

Remember we fight FROM Victory-not for victory.
1JN 4:4 My dear children, you come from God and belong to God. You have already won a big victory over those false teachers, for the Spirit in you is far stronger than anything in the world.

Dear Lord, may we be ever mindful there are others looking to us for an example of how to shape our lives according to Your ways.  Teach us to look beyond all of the suffering and choose to  be thankful in all circumstances, fill our heart with thanksgiving instead of bitterness, strengthen our faith in You so we may praise You even before we see the changes around us, for You always turn OUR HEART FIRST and give us a whole new perspective so that we may choose to live our short life here on this earth to serve You and  glorify Your name.
JN 16:22 So with you: Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and NO one will take away your joy.
We are Children of God and we ARE complete IN CHRIST!!! In Jesus’ Name, Amen