THE SECRET OF STABILITY!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

 WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 18, 2020.

SUBJECT : THE SECRET OF STABILITY!

Memory verse: 

"

Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and forever.

"

 (Hebrews 13 vs 8.) 

READ: Exodus 3 vs 13 - 15:

3:13: Then Moses said to God, “Indeed, when I come to the children of Israel and say unto them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they say to me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?
3:14: And God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And He said, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’”
3:15: Moreover God said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel: ‘The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. This is My name forever, and this is My memorial to all generations.’

INTIMATION:

Being stable denotes being steady, firm, fixed, not shaky, lasting, dependable, faithful, not susceptible to change, and well-balanced in an emotional manner. Life is full of changes, challenges, and few things remain stable. We are constantly faced with challenges and changing circumstances in our journey of life, and our secret of our stability in the face of all these changes and challenges is to trust on the unchanging God. The secret of stability is to trust in God, because He never changes. He cannot be shaken by the changes in our world, and He endures forever. The fads and ideas of our world, and our world itself will not endure forever. For us, stability does not mean lack of change, but moving with God who controls all circumstances. 

God called Himself”I AM,” a name describing His eternal power and unchangeable character. In a world where values, morals, and laws change constantly, we can find stability and security in our unchanging God. The God who appeared to Moses is the same God who can live in us today. Because God’s nature is stable and trustworthy, we are free to follow and enjoy Him rather than spend our time trying to figure Him out. Christ has been and will be the same forever. In a changing world we can trust our unchanging Lord.

When God brought the Israelites out of Egypt into the wilderness, they were constantly moving through the wilderness. They were able to handle change only because God’s presence in the tabernacle was always with them. The portable tabernacle signified God and His people moving together. When God is with you, He goes before you, and will be with you, and will not leave you nor forsake you (Deuteronomy 31 vs 8). If we experience troubles or difficulties, we must not conclude, however, that we have somehow missed God's protection. God's protection has far greater purposes than helping us avoid pain, it is to make us better servants for Him. He also protects us by guiding us through painful, and difficult circumstances, not only by helping us escape them. 

The secret of our stability is to be securely anchored in God. The Lord God is the beginning and the end. God the Father is the eternal Lord and Ruler of the past, present, and future. Without Him you have nothing that is eternal, nothing that can change your life, nothing that can save you from sin. He is not a man that He can change. Men change in reference to their desires, and even obedience to God. God does not change His commandments in order to comply with the behavior of men. He does not change in reference to His promises. God could have justly cast off His people because they broke the conditions of the covenant. But because He does not change, He maintained the covenant in order to preserve His people. 

Prayer: Abba Father, my trust is in You. Without You I am nothing, I have nothing, and can do nothing. The secret of my stability in my anchor in You. Give me the grace to be steadfast in my trust in You in all things, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD! 

WHAT DRIVES YOU?

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

TUESDAY NOVEMBER 17, 2020.

SUBJECT : WHAT DRIVES YOU?

Memory verse: 

"

Nevertheless I tell you the truth, It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart I will send Him to you.

"

 (John 16 vs 7.) 

READ: John 16 vs 12 - 15:

16:12: I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.
16:13: However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth: for He will not speak of His own authority, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.
16:14: He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mind and declare to you.

16:15: All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine, and declare it to you.

INTIMATION:

How you are guided or driven? Who, and what guides or drives you determines how purposeful your life will be. Everyone is guided or driven in life by something. What guides you determines the driving force in your life. Many of us are driven by life's circumstances they face at a time. Some are driven by a problem, a pressure, or a deadline. Some by painful memory, a haunting fear, or an unconscious belief. 

There are several circumstances, values, and emotions that can drive your life. But your ultimate, and God ordained guide is the Holy Spirit—the Spirit of God Himself. When you are driven by circumstance(s), it unfortunately leads to a life outside God's purpose. The most common ways people are driven, outside God's purpose for their lives include the following:

1. Driven by guilt.

Many people are driven by guilt. They spend their entire lives running from regrets and hiding their shame. Guilt driven people are manipulated by memories. They allow their past to control their future. They often unconsciously punish themselves by sabotaging their own future.

2. Driven by resentment and anger.

These category of people hold on to hurts and never get over them. Instead of releasing their pain through forgiveness, they rehearse it over and over in their minds. Resentment always hurts you more than it does the person you resent. While your offender has probably forgotten the offense and gone on with life, you continue to stew in your pain, perpetuating the past.

3. Driven by fear.

Many people are driven by fear. Their fears may be a result of a traumatic experience, unrealistic expectations, growing up in a high-control home, or even genetic predisposition. Regardless of the cause, fear-driven people often miss great opportunities because they're afraid to venture out. Fear is a self-imposed prison that keeps you from becoming what God intends for you to be.

4. Driven by materialism.

Many people are driven by materialism. Their desire to acquire becomes the whole goal of their lives. The drive to always want more is based on the misconceptions that having more will make them more happy, more important, and more secure, but all three ideas are untrue. Possessions only provide temporary happiness. It's a myth that if I get more, I will be more important. Self-worth and net worth are not the same. Your value is not determined by your valuables, and God says the most valuable things in life are not things!

5. Driven by the need for approval.

Many people are driven by the need of approval. They allow the expectations of parents or spouses, or children or teacher or friends to control their lives. Others are driven by peer pressure, always worried by what others might think. Unfortunately, those who follow the crowd usually get lost in it. One known key to failure is to try to please everyone. Being controlled by the opinions of others is a guaranteed way to miss God's purposes for your life.

These aforementioned forces, and many others, can drive your life, but all lead to the same dead end: unused potential, unnecessary stress, and unfulfilled life—life outside the God’s leading. Nothing matters more than knowing God's purposes for your life, and nothing can compensate for not knowing them; not success, wealth, fame, or pleasure. 

It’s only God, through His Holy Spirit indwelling the believer, that will reveal His purpose for your life. The Spirit-driven life is a purposeful life in accordance with the will of God for you. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God who knows the things and thoughts of God, and only Him can lead you accordingly. If your life is not driven by the Holy Spirit, you are completely walking toward a dead-end, away from the will of God for you. Therefore, we should be concerned of much of us the Holy Spirit has. Submit yourself daily to His leading and draw constantly on His power to be in tune with God’s purpose for your life. 

Prayer: Abba Father, thank You for the gift of the Holy Spirit. I call Him my senior partner because He is my Helper, Intercessor, Advocate, Standby, Strengthener, Counselor, Comforter, Empowerer, and Encourager. Strengthen in my inner man through the Holy Spirit to live for You, dedicated to You in all aspects of my life, in Jesus’ great Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

GOD DESIRES OUR CONSISTENT OBEDIENCE!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

MONDAY NOVEMBER 16, 2020.

SUBJECT : GOD DESIRES OUR CONSISTENT OBEDIENCE!

Memory verse: "And you will be hated by all for My name's sake. But he who endures to the end shall be saved." 

(Mark 13 vs 13.)

READ: Philippians 2 vs 5 - 11: 

2:5: Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, 

2:6: who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God,

2:7: but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men.

2:8: And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even death of the cross.

2:9: Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given him the name which is above every name,

2:10: that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and those on earth, and those under the earth,

2:11: and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. 

INTIMATION:

God demands our obedience to His commandments. We do this by obeying God with (1) Our heart— by loving Him more than any relationship, activity, achievement, or possession; (2) Our will—by committing ourselves completely to Him; (3) Our mind—by seeking to know Him and His Word, so His principles and values form the foundation of all we think and do; (4) Our body—by recognizing that our strengths, talents, and sexuality are given to us by God to be used for pleasure and fulfillment according to His rules, not ours; (5) Our finances—by deciding that all of the resources we have ultimately come from God, and that we are to be managers of them and not owners; (6) Our future—by deciding to make service to God and man the main purpose of our life’s work.

We should strive to be consistent in our obedience. Heroic spiritual lives are built by stacking days of obedience one on top of the other. Like a brick, each obedient act is small in itself, but in time the acts will pile up, and a huge wall of strong character will be built—a great defense against temptation. God requires lifelong obedience. Spurts of obedience are not enough, and we can’t please God by spurts of religiosity. Real spirituality takes a lifetime of consistent obedience. Only "he who endures to the end" will be rewarded. Be remembered for your consistent faith, being consistent in your faith every day; that way you will build a lifetime of obedience. Otherwise you may become more famous for your downfall than for your success. 

Consider Jesus Christ who actually became a human to identify with our sins; He voluntarily laid aside His divine rights and privileges out of love for, and obedience to His Father. Christ died on the cross for our sins, and God glorified Him because of His obedience; consistent obedience to the end. God highly exalted Him  and gave Him the name above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth.

Therefore, if we say we follow Christ as believers, we must also say we want to live as He lived, and strive to live as He lived. He is our role model, and we are expected to be Christlike. To believe in Jesus "to the end" will take perseverance because our faith will be challenged and opposed. Severe trials will sift true Christians from fair-weather believers. Enduring to the end does not earn salvation for us but marks us as already saved, and an evidence that we are really committed to Jesus. The assurance of our salvation will keep us strong in times of persecution. Persistence or consistency is the by product of a truly devoted life.

Obedience to God begins with humility. We humble ourselves by renouncing other masters, identify ourselves with Jesus, discover His will and live according to it, and consciously turn away from conflicting interests, even if these interests have been important to us in the past. We must believe that His way is better than our own. We may not always understand His ways of working, but by humbly obeying, we will receive His blessings. We must remember that (1) God’s ways are best; (2) God wants our obedience more than anything else; (3) God can use anything to accomplish His purposes. 

Prayer: Abba Father, my utmost heart desire is to have the mind of Christ and live humbly as He lived; consistent in my obedience to the end. Strengthen me in my strive, and help me in my daily life to live like Christ, and live for You, in Jesus' Name I have prayed. Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD FOR US!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

SUNDAY NOVEMBER 15, 2020.

SUBJECT : THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD FOR US!

Memory verse: 

"

For I say to you, that except your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.

"

 (Matthew 5 vs 20.) 

READ: Romans 3 vs 21 - 26:

3:21: But now the righteousness of God without the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets;
3:22: even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference;
3:23: for all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God,
3:24: being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,
3:25: whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed,  

3:26: to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

INTIMATION:

Righteousness is the character or quality of being right or just. It is formerly spelled ‘rightwiseness’ which clearly expresses the meaning. It is used to denote an attribute of God. The righteousness of God means essentially the same as His faithfulness, or truthfulness, and it is consistent with His own nature and promises. The righteousness of God as manifested, is the justification of God that is revealed in order to save men regardless of their inability to keep law. It is the righteousness (justification) that is accredited to those who seek God by faith. 

The righteousness of God is the justification of those who obediently respond to the grace of God that was revealed on the cross. It was through Jesus’ faithfulness to go to the cross that the righteousness of God was accomplished because of the faith of those who believed in the cross. The righteousness of God that leads to the justification of man, therefore, was not accomplished through the keeping of the law. 

Our righteousness must (1) come from what God does in us, not what we can do by ourselves, (2) be God-centered, not self-centered, (3) be based on reverence for God, not approval from people, and (4) go beyond keeping the law to living by the principles behind the law. We should be just as concerned about our attitudes that people don’t see as about our actions that are seen by all. 

The righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ is the righteous dealing of God with sin and with sinners on the ground of the Death of Christ. God’s righteousness is exhibited in the Death of Christ, which is sufficient to show men that God is neither indifferent to sin nor regards it lightly. On the contrary, it demonstrates that quality of holiness in Him which must find expression in His condemnation of sin. Righteousness is not said to be imputed to the believer save in the sense that faith is reckoned for righteousness. The faith thus exercised brings the soul into vital union with God in Christ, and inevitably produces righteousness of life, that is, conformity to the will of God.

The man who trusts in Christ becomes the righteousness of God in Him. (Second Corinthians 5 vs 21), that is, becomes in Christ all that God requires a man to be, all that he could never be in himself. When we trust in Christ, we make an exchange: He takes our sin and makes us right with God. Our sin was laid on Christ at His crucifixion. His righteousness is given to us at our conversion. This is what Christians mean by ‘Christ’s atonement for sin. God offers to trade His righteousness for our sin—something of immeasurable worth for something completely worthless. How grateful we should be for His kindness to us. 

Since we cannot establish our own righteousness on the basis of perfect keeping of law or meritorious good works, then all men must be drawn to the cross in order to be justified from sin. It is at the cross we are justified by the grace of God (Ephesians 2 vs 8). This is the only way to be declared not guilty, that is, by trusting Jesus Christ to take away our sins. Trusting means putting our confidence in Christ to forgive our sins, to make us right with God, and to empower us to live the way He taught us. God’s solution is available to all of us regardless of our background or past behavior.

Prayer: Abba Father, thank You for all did for us in redemption, imputing Your righteousness to us through the sacrifice of Your Son Jesus Christ on the cross. Endue me with the spirit of obedience to Your will that I may lead a life acceptable to You, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD! 

ATTRACTING GOD’S CARE!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

SATURDAY NOVEMBER 14, 2020.

SUBJECT : ATTRACTING GOD’S CARE!

Memory verse: 

"Casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you."

 (First Peter 5 vs 7.) 

READ: Psalm 103 vs 8 - 14 & 17:

103:8: The Lord is merciful and gracious. Slow to anger, and abounding in mercy. 

103:9: He will not always strive with us, nor will He keep His anger forever. 

103:10: He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor punished us according to our iniquities. 

103:11: For as the heavens are high above the earth, So great is His mercy toward those who fear Him; 

103:12: As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us. 

103:13: As s father pities his children, So the Lord pities those who fear Him. 

103:14: For He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust. 

103:17: But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Him. And His righteousness to children's children.

INTIMATION:

God is concerned about every human being He has created, and He is not willing that any should perish. God is concerned and interested in you personally and in every detail of your life. Too often we focus on God as Judge and Lawgiver, ignoring His compassion and concern for us. When God examines our lives He remembers are human condition. His mercy takes everything into account. God will deal with you compassionately. We are fragile but God's care is eternal. 

God is so caring that when He forgives us our sin, He separates it from us and doesn't even remember it. East and west can never meet and this is a symbolic portrait of God's forgiveness when our sin is forgiven. We need never wallow in the past, for God forgives and forgets.

Subjects of the Kingdom are the objects of God’s care. He 

will take care of those who seek Him first. Therefore, we attract God’s care when we put Him first in our lives. Putting Him first means 

to fill your thoughts with His desires, to take His character for your pattern, to serve and obey Him in everything, and 

to turn to God first for help

. Subjects of the kingdom 

desire that the will of the Father be done on earth in their hearts as it is done in heaven. God’s righteousness comes through one’s submission to His will. Seeking the kingdom of God, therefore, must always be first. 

If you desire to attract God’s care, He should be first in all things. You must desire to commit yourself to the Lord and delight in Him. To commit yourself to the Lord means entrusting everything—your life, family, job, possessions—to His control and guidance. It’s to trust in Him, believing that He can care for you better than you can yourself. We should be willing to wait patiently for Him to work out what is best for us. To delight in the Lord is to experience great pleasure and joy in His presence. This happens only when we know Him well. Thus, we must know Him better. Knowledge of God’s great love for us will indeed give us delight. 

One must take the initiative to keep oneself in the love of God. Those who have made their hands dirty by becoming a friend of the world, must repent. If one loves the world, the love of the Father is not in his heart. Those who love activities and possessions of this world do not love the Father, for they are obsessed with the things of this world. 

God wants us to yield completely to Him; being totally devoted to Him. He desires that we daily lay aside our own desires to follow Him, putting all our energy and resources at His disposal and trusting Him to guide us. This is because He has good, pleasing,  perfect, and best plans for us. Therefore, devoting yourself to Him is reasonable, and the most proper thing to do. 

Prayer: Abba Father, my utmost heart desire is an intimate relationship with You, with total commitment to Your will, and putting You first in everything in my life. 

Give me the grace 

to serve and obey You in everything, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

THE LAW OF LOVE!

EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

FRIDAY NOVEMBER 13, 2020.

SUBJECT:  THE LAW OF LOVE!

Memory verse:  "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.” (John 13 vs 34.) 

READ: First John 4 vs 7 - 11:

4:7: Beloved, let us love one another for love is of God, and everyone that loves is born of God and knows God. 

4:8: He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.

4:9: In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him.

4:10: in this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

4:11: Beloved, If God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

INTIMATION:

The law of love is the new commandment that Jesus gave to His disciples; “love one another; as I have loved you.” The new law of Christ is for those recreated in Him. The new creation is a love creation, and the man that is not born again can't understand this love life. And you can't know the things that are freely given to us of the Father until you are recreated and the law of the new creation becomes a part of your very being; the law of love becomes instinctive in you so that you do it just as a hungry man eats, as a thirsty man drinks. It is the spirit of the law of love that dominated Jesus—the spirit is love. That spirit drove Jesus to the cross, and no man that does not walk in love and live the love life, and who is not governed by love, has any knowledge of the things of the new creation.

To love others was not a new commandment. The Sinai law taught that one was to love His neighbor as himself (Leviticus 19 vs 18). One’s love of his neighbor, therefore, was based on his love of himself. However, Jesus emphasizes an intensity of love that is different. It is a love that has no conditions. It is self-sacrificing love that extends beyond any conditions of one’s environment, and thus, simply acts out a selfless attitude of appreciation for all that God has done in one’s life in reference to salvation.

To love others as much as Christ loved us was revolutionary. Now we are to love others based on Jesus’ sacrificial love for us. Jesus meant that love in action would be the identifying characteristic of His disciples that would separate them from the rest of the world. Such love will not only bring unbelievers to Christ; it will also keep believers strong and united in a world hostile to God. Jesus was a living example of God’s love, as we are to be living examples of Jesus’ love. Such Christlike love will show we are His disciples (John 13 vs 35).

Love is more than simply warm feelings. It is an attitude that reveals itself in action. How can we love others as Jesus loved us? By helping when it’s not convenient; by giving when it hurts, by developing energy to others’ welfare rather than our own, by absorbing hurts from others without complaining or fighting back. This kind of loving is hard to do. That is why people notice when you do it and know you are empowered by a supernatural source.

Jesus said in John 8 vs 12; "....I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life." The light of life is love. That is why when you love you don't walk in darkness. God is light because God is love. In Him there is no darkness because God is love. When we receive the love nature in new creation the love is to dominate us. When it does, the mind becomes renewed, comes into harmony with the recreated spirit. The recreated being walks in love, and the Word governs such person that the mind is recreated. 

The love nature is summarized in the counsel of Jesus: “But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven: for He makes His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.” (Matthew 5 vs 44 - 45.)

Jesus wasn’t talking about having affection for enemies, He was talking about an act of the Will. For instance, by loving and praying for your enemies you can overcome evil with good. Loving our enemies means acting on their best interests. We can pray for them, and we can think of ways to help them. If you love your enemies and treat them well, you will truly show that Jesus is Lord of your life. You can’t just “fall into” this kind of love—it takes conscious effort. 

God with His Son, Jesus, so love the whole world, and this love culminated in the Son making the “Supreme Sacrifice” ever known and ever will be; “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son...” (John 3 vs 16.), even though the world is in rebellion against God. God is the source of our love. He loved us enough to sacrifice His Son for us. Jesus is our example of what it means to love; everything He did in life and death was supremely loving. 

Jesus asks us to to follow His example by loving our enemies. Grant your enemies the same respect and rights as you desire for yourself. The Holy Spirit gives us the power to love; He lives in our heart and makes us more and more like Christ. God’s love always involves a choice and an action, and our love should be like His.

Prayer: Abba Father, You are my loving Father and ever Faithful Companion. Even in my unfaithfulness, You have always remained faithful. You have poured out Your love in my heart by the Holy Spirit whom You have given to me. I pray for the enabling of the Spirit to live in Your fullness and express my completeness in Christ, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

 

MAKE RIGHT AND WISE CHOICES!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

THURSDAY NOVEMBER 12, 2020.

SUBJECT : MAKE RIGHT AND WISE CHOICES!

Memory verse: “And if it seem evil to you to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves this day whom 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.”

 (Joshua 24 vs 15.) 

READ: First Chronicles 21 vs 9 - 13:

21:9: Then the LORD spoke to Gad, David's seer, saying,
21:10: “Go and tell David, saying, “Thus saith the LORD: “I offer you three things; choose one of them for yourself, that I may do it to you.
21:11: So Gad came to David and said unto him, “Thus said the LORD, ‘Choose for yourself
21:12: either three years of famine; or three months to be destroyed before your foes, with the sword of your enemies overtaking you, or else for three days the sword of the LORD—the plague in the land, and the angel of the LORD destroying throughout all the territory of Israel.’ Now consider what answer I should take back to Him who sent me.”

21:13: And David said to Gad, “I am in a great distress. Please let me fall into the hand of the LORD; for His mercies are very great; but do not let me fall into the hand of man.”

INTIMATION:

All of us make hundreds of choices every day. Most choices have no right or wrong attached to them—like what you wear or what you eat. But we always face decisions that carry a little more weight. We don’t want to do wrong, and we don’t want to cause others to do wrong, so how can we make such decisions? Right and wise choices made in accordance with God’s laws, which is His will. God has, in His Word, defined the right and wise path of life for us. Still God gives us choices, and we, too, often choose wrongly. These wrong choices may cause pain, but they can help us learn and grow and make better choices in future. Living with the consequences of our choices teaches us to think and choose more carefully.

Every choice for good sets in motion other opportunities for good. Evil choices follow the same pattern, but in the opposite direction. Each choice you make in obedience to God’s Word will bring a greater sense of order to your life, while each choice made in disobedience will bring confusion and destruction. The choice you make will shape your integrity. Obedient choices will bring the greatest safety and security. It is amazing that God set before the Israelites a choice between a blessing and a curse (Deuteronomy 30 vs 1). It is even more amazing that most of them, through disobedience, chose the curse. We have the same fundamental choice today. We can live for ourselves or live in service to God. To choose our own way is to travel on a dead-end road, but to choose God’s way is to receive eternal life (John 5 vs 24).

We must learn to make choices, not on the basis of flashy appeal or short-range pleasure, but in view of the long-range effects: having eternity with Christ in mind. When we don’t know Christ, we make choices as though there were no afterlife. In reality, this life is just the introduction to eternity. How we live this brief span determines our eternal state. What we accumulate on earth has no value in getting eternal life. Even the highest social or civic honors cannot earn us entrance into heaven. Always evaluate your lifestyle and choices from eternal perspective, and you will find your values and decisions changing.

In the passage we read today, God gave David three choices. Each was a form of punishment God had told the people what they could expect if they disobeyed His laws (plague, famine, war). David wisely chose the form of punishment that came most directly from God. He knew how brutal and harsh men in war could be, and he also knew God’s great mercy. He made the very wise and right choice to fall into the hands of ‘All-merciful’ God. This brilliant choice is for us to make today. When you sin greatly, turn back to God. To be punished by Him is far better than to take your chances without Him.

Any choices outside wise counsel of the Word of God is sinful. And sin is enticing because it offers a quick route to self-satisfaction and makes us feel like “one of the crowd.” When we go along with others and refuse to listen to the truth, our own appetites become our masters, and we’ll do anything to satisfy them. But, sin, even when attractive, is deadly. God does not usually stop us from making wrong choices. He lets us choose independence from Him, even though He knows that in time we will become slaves to our own rebellious lifestyle and lose our freedom not to sin. There is no worse slavery than slavery to sin. We can’t be friendly with sin and expect our lives to remain unaffected. Turn and run—this is not cowardly; it is extremely brave.

There are very necessary evaluations you need to make when you are making a choice. Ask yourself, “If I choose one course of action, does it: (1) help my witness for Christ Am I motivated by a desire to help others know Christ? (3) Does it help me do my best? (4) Is it against a specific command in Scripture and would thus cause me to sin? (5) Is it the best and most beneficial course of action? (6) Am I thinking only of myself, or do I truly care about the other person? (7) Am I acting lovingly or selfishly Does it glorify God? (8) Will it cause someone else to sin? Finally, the question, “What would Jesus do?” may help us make the right choices because He is never wrong.

Prayer: Abba Father, endue me with the spirit of obedience to Your Word, that it will rule my decisions in all things, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!