Monthly Archives: March 2015

Decision

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As we celebrated our anniversary yesterday it was brought home to me again that love is a choice.  You do not fall in love and you do not fall out of love.  Love is a choice.  We make choices every day.  Some of them are good choices and some of them are not.

Look at the well worn exhortation in Joshua 24:15, “And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.”

We must be like Joshua and make up our mind ahead of time how we are going to choose.  Our decisions need to be based upon the Word of God.  We must decide ahead of time to serve God.  If we do not then we will not.

I. It is a pointed decision.  Notice he says, “choose you”.  As much as I would like to make choices for other people, I cannot.  It is possible that I might make the wrong choice for them just like I have made multitudes of wrong choices for me.  To live for God or to serve God is a personal decision.

II. It is a pressing decision.  Notice again he says, “this day”.  It is not a decision that can be postponed.  We must make the decision now, or sooner.  We need to make our mind ahead of time that we will serve God no matter what.  Then we need to stick to this decision.

III. It is a parting decision.  Notice he says, “whom ye will serve;”.  We have a choice of who we will serve.  If we choose not to serve God we will find ourselves living a life without purpose.  We will be unfulfilled.  Oh, we can fill our lives with “stuff” and whatever; but, we will not be truly happy until we are wholeheartedly serving God.  This means that we have to part with things that are against Christ.  We need to the the best and not settle for good.  We have choices of good, better or best.  We must choose best everytime.

IV. It is a perpetual decision.  Notice he says “or”.  They were told that they would be tempted to serve the false gods that snared their fathers and they would be tempted to serve the gods of the land that they lived in.  They would have to daily and even moment by moment choose to serve God.  It is no different for you and I today.  We must choose each moment to serve God.  It is a daily, moment by moment  choice.  We need to do as the songwriter penned, “I Have Decided To Follow Jesus’.

V. It is a personal decision.  Notice he says, “but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.”  This man had made up his mind ahead of time and I believe that his family was just as committed as he was.  Not only was this personal decision Joshua’s; but, it was his whole family’s decision.  This is what we need today are whole families that will commit to serve God not matter what.  It is going to take men, women, boys and girls that will stand up like Joshua and his family and make the necessary decision to serve God no matter what.

So, how are you doing?

 

A Command Rejected

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Today is a day that will probably not stand out in history to many at all.  Twenty-on years ago today my wife Tara and I were married.  Happy anniversary Tara!

As we continue with out thought on the commands of God to Jeremiah let’s look at the last thought I had in the verse.  Jeremiah 6:16, “Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein.”  Notice the reaction of God’s people.  “… But they said, We will not walk therein.”

God’s commands are just that.  Commands.  They are not divine suggestions at all.  If you do not obey them you will suffer the consequences.  Here is the thing.  If we will follow God’s commands we will be happier because we obeyed them and because we will prosper spiritually.  It is just better all the way around to obey God’s commands.

As I was thinking about being married for twenty-one glorious years I thought about some of the times our marriage was not smooth sailing.  We have had many rough spots.  The toughest is raising one of God’s special people.  This has not been easy, I promise you.  Yet, we can both say that we would not change it.

When we were married all those years ago we took the commands of God seriously.  Marriage is one man and one woman until death do us part.  Now, this could be murder or suicide.  This is not what God intended!  God instituted marriage to fulfill us.  If we are going to have the marriage that God intends for us then we are going to have to take His commands seriously to heart and obey them.

So, how are you doing?

A Command To Walk

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We celebrated my Grandmother’s 90th birthday recently.  I took upon myself to set up the festivities.  The day of the party we arrived early to her apartment and began to set up in the community room.  By the time the party started I was exhausted and sweating profusely.

By the time we arrived back home I was so tired that I could hardly stand up, let alone walk.  Yet, I had to get out of the van and walk in the house.  Not only that; but, I had to help my wife; who was exhausted too and more so, unload the van.  I kept telling myself, “Left foot.  Right foot.”

Another of God’s commands to Jeremiah was to walk.  Look at Jeremiah 6:16, “Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein.”  The word “walk” means to walk or carry.  Some days it seems to be easy to walk with God.  Other days it seems nearly impossible to walk with God.

It does not matter how we “feel”.  We have been commanded to walk with God and to carry the message of the gospel to the world around us.  Our problem is that we allow things to cloud our thinking and perspective and then we get knocked off course and we sit down and quit walking and carrying.  We have to remember it is a command and not a suggestion.

So, how are you doing?

A Command To Ask

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As I have written recently, you know that my Aunt passed away.  As we cleaned out her apartment there were so many memories.  She had saved so many things as mementos over the years.  With each memory came a few tears also.

As we were cleaning things out different relatives wanted different things.  You would ask about some particular thing and someone would say that someone else got it.  If you wanted something you had to ask for it.  If you did not ask for it then the item was either sent to the trash dumpster or it was sent to the mission.

In our verse for today God is telling Jeremiah to tell the children of Israel to “ask”.  Look at Jeremiah 6:16, “Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein.”

The word “ask” means to request; by extension, to demand.  James tells us in James 4:2, “Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not.”  We need to ask.  We refer to Him as our Heavenly Father; but, we do not treat Him that way.  As a father I want my children to come to me and ask for things.  This way I can teach them valuable lessons for life.  If they never ask then I might not be able to teach them these lessons.  God does the same for us too.  This is why He commands us to ask.

So, how are you doing?

A Commanded To See

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I enjoy reading the book of Jeremiah.  I came across the verse quoted yesterday and found there was a lot there so I decided to break it up and spread it out over a few days.  Yesterday we saw that we are “Commanded To Stand”.

Today we are going to look at the next command of this verse. Look at Jeremiah 6;16, “Jeremiah 6:16, “Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein.”

We are commanded to see.  If you are like me you can look at something and not see it.  We don’t perceive it.  this is not good.  It is like eating a meal with someone and they have a crumb or something on them and you or I don’t say anything.  We see it; but, we will not do anything about it.   We see it; but, we are not motivated to do something about it.
This is the problem with too many Christians today.  We will sit comfortable in our padded Church pews while the world goes to Hell and we do nothing about it.  God is exhorting Jeremiah and the nation of Israel to open their eyes and see.We as God’s children need to open our eyes and see.  We need to see as God sees.  That is the problem. we let our sight be skewed by a host of things.  We do not see men and women as God does, lost and on their way to eternity in hell.  Jesus taught more about hell than He did heaven so why do we not attempt to warn people about it?  We have lost our vision.  We have given up the mission.  We have set aside compassion.  In other words we are no longer living like Christ.  God help us!So, how are you doing?

Commanded To Stand

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As our nation becomes increasingly anti-Christ we will be called upon to take a stand for God.  Some Christians do not want to do that.  Well, there is no room for wishy-washy Christians in our day any longer.  Our numbers are being beheaded for their faith and killed in various ways.  There is no time for us to be sitting on our padded Church pews singing “Blessed Assurance”.

In the Word of God we are charged, challenged and called to do many things. God gives a command to Jeremiah to God’s people.  Look at what that was.  Jeremiah 6:16, “Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein.”

First of all God exhorts His children through Jeremiah to “Stand ye in the ways,”.  If we are not careful we will fall for the schemes of the devil.  This is one of those exhortations that is good for you and I to take note of and obey.  God has called each of His children to stand.

If you and I take a stand for God we will be targeted for sure.  The world will laugh at us.  They will make fun of us.  They will ridicule us terribly.  They might even go so far as to take our lives.  Rest in the knowledge that God knows all of this.  You and I need to just simply keep standing for God no matter what the world or anyone else does.

So, how are you doing?

 

Friends

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When I was growing up my Dad was a truck driver and was seldom home.  Because of this I suffered as a boy growing up.  My Grandfather was a carpenter above all carpenters.  He build an addition in our town and the house he and my Grandmother lived in when I was growing up.

The problem with this is that none of these skills were passed on to me.  I have no mechanical ability at all.  When thing break I am at the mercy of someone else to get it fixed.  This is a real bummer for sure.

My wife and I needed a new garbage disposal and dishwasher.  Thanks to our income tax refund we were able to purchase both of these and were able to get quality appliances for both.  Then comes the problem.  After I purchased these appliances I took a look on the internet for videos on how to install them.  Well, there was no way that I was going to do these jobs on my own.  I had delusions of granduer thinking that I could do it.  No way!

I called a brother from Church.  He came over and brought his brother-in-law and together they whipped out the installation in four and one half hours.  It would have taken me four weeks, I am pretty sure.  As I thought of their kindness I was reminded of what the Bible says.  Look at Proverbs 18:24, “A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly: and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother.”  It would very difficult for me to repay the debt I owe these men.  Until then, all I can say is God bless them real good please.

So, how are you doing?

Find Rest

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As I shared yesterday, this has been a busy week.  It has been mentally and physically draining and tiring.  As I sat in the recliner trying to catch up on some rest a thought came to me.

That thought was, “ye shall find rest for your souls.”  Then I looked it up in the Word of God.  The only place it came up when searching my computer Bible is in Jeremiah 6:16.  Take a look at Jeremiah 6:16, “Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein.”

Did you notice anything in this verse?  I noticed that we are exhorted to stand in the ways, see, ask for the old paths and walk in them.  This is an act that is tiring.  It is not easy to serve the LORD.  He never promised us a bed of ease.  What the LORD did promise us was that He would be right there with us.

So, if we are going to live a life that pleases God we must stand up, speak up, follow along and walk on.

So, how are you doing?

Memories

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This week has been a tough week to say the least for me and my family.  On Thursday last week we said good bye to my aunt who was a godly woman.  It was truly a celebration of her life.  This was a life well lived for sure.  There is no doubt that when my aunt stepped out of this life she stepped into the presence of Jesus.

My wife and I were discussing what of my aunt”s personal effects that we would like to bring home with us.  We also discussed what of her things did we want to share with others that loved her like we do.  We began to talk about the homemade hot pads and afghans.  Then it hit me like a brick.  I remembered her making one particular afghan.  Se worked on it for a long time.  It seemed to me like a couple years.  Then as the memories flooded my mind so the tears began to roll out of my eyes.

As I was able to share in the celebration of her life I shared one thought with those gathered there.  I told them that the best thing they could do for their loved ones is to live a life so dedicated to Jesus Christ that there will be no doubt at the end of our lives.

This reminds me of the first part of Proverbs 10:7, “The memory of the just is blessed: but the name of the wicked shall rot.”  “The memory of the just is blessed:…”   This is talking about the little mementos that we leave behind in the minds and lives of those we leave behind.  I pray that I leave good and godly memories or mementos..

So, how are you doing?

We Need To Be 4

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As we watch the Church become increasingly more powerless and less prominent there is a reason.  Actually, there are multiple reasons that we do not have time to discuss even in an arena such as this.

Yesterday we took note that Jesus challenged us to be an example to others.  I think of this as a picture.  It causes me to think of a copy of something that I can look at and copy.  Today I want to go a little deeper.

We need to be an ensample.  Look at Philippians 3:17, “Brethren, be followers together of me, and mark them which walk so as ye have us for an ensample.”  The word “ensample” means a die, a stamp or scar.

You see, an ensample is different from an example.  An example is a pattern to look at and copy; but, an ensample goes deeper.  There is an impression made like a scar.  In other words we need to be having a deep impact on people.

If someone allows you to have influence on them you are a leader to them.  I wonder how many of us are effective leaders that are also ensamples?  Well, if you are an effective leader then you are an “ensample”.  You are making an impression on those you lead no matter how or why, you are.  This to me is a humbling truth and thought.

There have been many people in my life that have been examples; but, there have been too few that have been actual “ensamples”.  You and I need to quit trying to be an example like our favorite sports icon or whomever.  We need to be “ensamples” of Jesus Christ.

So, how are you doing?