Choose, This Day, this moment!

"But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then Choose for yourselves This day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord." - Joshua 24:15

We are fighting a daily battle that is waged against us with our hearts as the battlefield. Every single moment of every day we are at war. A spiritual war against our flesh (sinful nature) and against Satan. Which means that every single moment of everyday we must choose God.

In This verse, Joshua is clearly telling his people to choose who they will serve. See, when we face life we have a choice, to either choose to face It with God or with out. Either way we have made a choice. God made us to serve Him, to worship Him. Even when we think we have made no choice at all, we have still made a choice. 

Worship is in our Dna. We have to worship. It's part of our genetic makeup. What we worship is up to us. Sometimes we worship money, relationships, things, jobs, kids. Wherever you put the most of your time and energy is what you have decided to worship. 

More often than not, we grow up worshiping the gods of our parents. Rather it be a religious gods or sins of their past also known as generational sins. Alcohol, drugs, abuse, sex, anger, shame, guilt, depression, and the list goes on. The "gods" that our parents worshiped were passed on to us in someway or another. 

We tend to worship "gods" of our own passed as well. Shame for something that we can't forgive ourself for. Guilt for something we did. Abuse, hurt, dread, bitterness, un-forgiveness, hate, malice. You name it.

We also are susceptible to worshiping the gods of our culture. Wherever you live or grew up, each place has its own traditions, fads, customs, religions, and ways. If we aren't careful these too can become "gods" in our lives.

Joshua says "Choose This day whom you will serve" I'm going to take it one step further and say "Choose this day, this moment whom you will serve." I have noticed that on any given moment I have to choose how I am going to act or react to a situation. Let's say I'm driving and someone cuts me off. I have the choice to start road rage or to let it go. "Choose this moment whom I will serve."

I have started asking myself to "Choose" anytime I'm faced with a decision, even the simple ones. It is helping me to pay closer attention to my obedience to God and rather or not I'm behaving in a way that brings glory to Him. It kinda like my accountability partner. I'm forcing myself to stop and think about what I'm doing and if it's pleasing to God.

Check out the amazing book "gods at war" by Kyle Idleman for more on this topic.

Father, thank you so very much for creating us with the drive to serve and worship You. Help us to take a step back and look at what and who we are worshiping. Lord help us to remove all idols from our hearts and place You where You alone belong. Show us how to Choose whom we will serve on a moment to moment, day to day basis. 

In Jesus name I pray,

Amen

Due course for all man-kind until God returns!

"Now this is what the Lord Almighty says. "Give careful thought to your ways. You have planted much, but have harvested little. You eat, but never have enough. You drink, but never have your fill. You put on clothes, but are not warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it."" -Haggai 1:5-6

 In today's world, we are taught:

-"You must have a high paying job to be successful!"
- "More is better!"
 -"The bigger the home the happier you will be!"
 - "The more expensive your toys are the better your life will be!"

 Yet it seems that all of these things still leave us empty. We still feel unsatisfied and wanting more, Why?

 It's not a sin to have the most of all that life can offer. The bigger home, nicer cars, or more toys. But they can rule our lives and take the place of God in our hearts; which is a sin!

When we live to work so that we can provide for our every want, we miss out on so much more. God didn't make us to live to work, He made us to work to live. When Adam and Eve sinned in the garden of Eden, God cursed man by making them work hard to earn a way of life. Food and money, etc...(Genesis 3:17-19) This is the due course for all man-kind until God returns. BUT, we have to keep God in His rightful place in our hearts.

 The harder we work for ourselves the less we end up having because we get so caught up in making our physical lives happy that we ignore our spiritual lives. Our lives can be changed upside down when we put every ounce of our energy into our physical lives. Marriages crumble, kids loose respect for their parents, relationships fall apart. In the end we find ourselves asking, "Was all of this worth it?" More than likely the answer is always, "No!"

 God wants us to put Him first in our lives. We need to lean on Him to provide for our deepest needs. Every once in a while we need to take a self-survey and ask ourselves, "Do we really need all the toys? The bigger home? the nicer cars?" No, not usually the case. What we need most of all is to have God in our hearts, a husband or wife to love, children to pass our legacy on too, and loving people in our lives. When we put God in any other place in our hearts, all of our efforts elsewhere are futile, and our material possessions will never satisfy us. God's blessings to us will be withheld and we will continue to struggle filling the gaps in our hearts with more stuff and empty relationships.

 Father,

Your loving-kindness is so mind blowing to me. You always have our best interest in mind. We thank you God for showing us what is most important. Help us to take a step back and look at what is necessary and what isn't in our lives, help us to have the courage and strength to say no to ourselves. "No! I don't need that, I need God more!" Show us how to place our trust in You and faith to know that You will always provide for us.

 In Jesus name I pra,y

Amen

Peace like a River

"If only you had paid attention to My commands, your peace would have been like a river, your righteousness like the waves of the sea." -Isaiah 48-18


Imagine; a river running at your feet. Your standing on the bank and you hear the water rushing by. You can picture large rocks standing in the middle. Big enough rocks to possibly halt the waters flow, but instead the water continues to rush on, around, and over them. You can see white foam begin to form and the base of the rocks. A large stick floats by.
OH the sound of the rushing water, such an amazing, peaceful sound. It sounds like the perfect place to relax, No?


Like a loving parent, God has given us boundaries to teach us, direct us, and keep us safe. He promises us peace and righteousness when we obey Him. However, when we reuse to obey His commands, our peace is threatened.


Lysa Terkeurst puts it this way; "God chose such a unique word to describe His peace- a river! A river is not calm and void of activity. It is active and cleansing and confident of the direction it is heading in. It doesn't get caught up with the rocks in it's path. It flows over and around them all the while smoothing out their jagged edges and allowing them to add to it's beauty rather than take away form it."


Beth Moore says "To have peace like a river is to have security and tranquility while melting the many bumps and unexpected turns on life's journey. Peace is submission to a trust worthy authority, not resignation from activity."


When we completely submit to God's authority and obey His commands, He gives us true peace. Not the kind of peace that we think we will achieve when we back out of a commitment because we feel too overwhelmed, But the kind of peace that all of a sudden removes that overwhelming feeling and is replaced with overflowing joy, all the while we move forward and keep the commitment.


God's peace will never allow us to become complacent and inactive. God's peace will give us strength and courage to keep raging on like a river!


Father,
Thank You for empowering us with Your peace. Thank You for blessing us with the gift of peace when we obey You. Thank You for loving us so much that you correct and guide us like Your children. I pray Father that You will help us to submit to Your authority in our lives so that we may have the peace that only You can give.
In Jesus name I pray,
Amen

Patience!

"How long will the enemy mock You, O God?
Will the foe revile Your name forever?
Why do You hold back Your hand, Your right hand?
Take it from the folds of Your garment and destroy them!" -Psalm 74:10-11

Turn on your t.v. and watch anything that comes on. The news, a show, a movie, even advertisements; and you will see numberless amounts of content that mock God. Countless things every minute that go against God's word. Outrageous amounts of actions on a day to day basis no matter where we go that defy God's law.

 As a christian it is very hard for us to understand why God would just "sit back" and continue to let it go on day after day. Our human flesh cries out for God to end it all now!
Isaiah 55:8-9 tells us that God's ways are higher than our ways, and His thoughts are higher than our thoughts. God is a patient god. He tells us in 2 Peter 3:8-9 that to God a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day, and "The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting Anyone to perish but everyone to come to repentance."

See God wants us ALL, every last one of us on this earth to turn to Him and repent (turn away) from our sins. He wants us ALL to accept His gift of salvation. Sin, ALL sin has a punishment that must be paid. That punishment is death. God doesn't want us to die eternally. So He gave us the gift of salvation so that we might live  for eternity.

He sent His only son to pay our punishment for us. (John3:16) All we have to do is recognize our sins and believe in our hearts that Jesus died (and rose again) for our sins so that we don't have to!

Father,
Thank You for being a patient God! ThankYou for loving ALL of us so much that You sacrificed Your son's life to pay for our own mistakes. Thank You Jesus for paying our debts so that we can walk away free!
Father, it breaks my heart to see so much wrong in this world, and I am so quick to just pray for Your return and end it all, but God, I know that Your timing is perfect. Your ways are not mine. I also know Your plan is to save as many souls as You possibly can before that time. I thank You for that, as I pray for as many souls as possible to be saved before You return. I also pray that all of us christians will reach out to those who need You still. In Jesus name I pray, amen.

If you are not saved and would like prayer or would like to talk more about salvation, please email me at justlifeisnotenoughblog@yahoo.com I'd love to pray and discuss salvation with you further.

After all, He does a much better job!

"Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths." (Proverbs 3:5-6 NKJV)

Our own understandings can be wrong. We don't see things like God sees them. We play god with our own lives trying to control it or change it or sometimes we think we understand something but we forget to look at the whole picture. God sees it all. The past, present, and future all at once which we are incapable of seeing. Something may seem like a good idea at the time but in reality we may be placing interference before God's plan. It's a good idea to step back and trust God with all of our heart and let Him be God in our lives, after all He does a much better job!

Above Anything and everything else!

"Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and He will give you everything you need." Matthew 6:33 NLT

No matter what we are going through, the good or the bad, we have to remember to seek God's Kingdom first. Maybe ask ourselves, Does this advance God's Kingdom? God knows our struggles. He knows our needs.
Our own worries and agendas will blind us to God's will if we aren't careful and we will end up doing more damage than good. BUT When we seek His Kingdom above anything and everything else ...
He will provide, He will restore, He will heal!

Why the law to begin with?

"Clearly, God’s promise to give the whole earth to Abraham and his descendants was based not on his obedience to God’s law, but on a right relationship with God that comes by faith. If God’s promise is only for those who obey the law, then faith is not necessary and the promise is pointless. For the law always brings punishment on those who try to obey it. (The only way to avoid breaking the law is to have no law to break!) So the promise is received by faith. It is given as a free gift. And we are all certain to receive it, whether or not we live according to the law of Moses, if we have faith like Abraham’s. For Abraham is the father of all who believe. That is what the Scriptures mean when God told him, “I have made you the father of many nations.” This happened because Abraham believed in the God who brings the dead back to life and who creates new things out of nothing." Romans 4:13-17

The law was given to Moses not so that the people would work very hard to follow it and do their very best to up hold it, even though that is exactly what happened. They quickly found out that the law was un-keepable. Impossible even! The Pharisees tried very hard and accomplished in transforming the law into a religion that was impossible for the Jews to live by. Only sinning that much more the harder they tried.

So why did God give them/us the law to begin with if it is impossible to up hold?

We find the answer in Matthew 5:17-18;
“Don’t misunderstand why I (Jesus) have come. I did not come to abolish the law of Moses or the writings of the prophets. No, I came to accomplish their purpose.  I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not even the smallest detail of God’s law will disappear until its purpose is achieved."
Jesus came not to take away the law but to fulfill it. He came because the law was created to be impossible to prove our need for a savior. He came because He is that savior! See God knew that we would keep on sinning and keep on drifting farther and farther from Him. He is holy and perfect therefore He could not look upon us because of our sins. Jesus came to pay for our sins  as the last blood sacrifice so that we can have a personable relationship with God. Jesus came to make salvation reachable and easier.
Look at verse 18 again. God clearly instructs us to not take the law lightly. He still expects us to do our very best to up hold it, and a lack of doing so is a sin. One day we will face God for it. But the law is not the road to salvation. Faith in Jesus Christ is the only way to heaven.
"Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me." John 14:6
The law is to guide us to be more like  Jesus. Jesus is to make us holy and pure to God.