Choose Well!!

Then Joshua said to the people, “Now respect the Lord and serve him fully and sincerely. Throw away the gods that your ancestors worshiped on the other side of the Euphrates River and in Egypt. Serve the Lord. But if you don’t want to serve the Lord, you must choose for yourselves today whom you will serve. You may serve the gods that your ancestors worshiped when they lived on the other side of the Euphrates River, or you may serve the gods of the Amorites who lived in this land. As for me and my family, we will serve the Lord.”

Joshua 24:14-15 

 

Every morning when we wake up, we have choices to make.  What shall we have for breakfast or should we have breakfast at all?  Should we workout in the morning or evening?  Should we eat those dozen donuts or go for something healthier?  Is today going to be a good day or will it be one where I am grouchy and unapproachable?

 

We make choices!  We must learn to actually make CONSCIOUS choices rather than revert to our automatic responses!  God gave us the gift of a mind, and He expects us to use it wisely.  So....who will you choose today? 

Choose

Shout with joy to the Lord, all the earth!
    Worship the Lord with gladness.
    Come before Him, singing with joy.
Acknowledge that the Lord is God!
    He made us, and we are His.
    We are His people, the sheep of His pasture.
Enter His gates with thanksgiving;
    go into His courts with praise.
    Give thanks to Him and praise His name.
For the Lord is good.
    His unfailing love continues forever,
    and His faithfulness continues to each generation.

Psalm 100

As a youngster, I had to memorize Psalm 100 for Sunday School.  I learned to recite it back in a robotic way merely parroting the words I had learned and, in so doing, this passage meant nothing to me except I was rewarded for memorizing it.  Years later, I re-read this passage and saw it with new, hopefully more learned, eyes and I realized that this is meant to inspire us!  It is meant to draw us closer to God with our thanksgiving and praise!  When we truly begin to acknowledge and are thankful to Him for who He is, our spirits will soar!  We don't praise and thank God for His benefit....we do it for our benefit.  

Abba,

Thank you for reminding us to be grateful and thankful for who You are, all You do, and for loving us.  Forgive us when we forget to acknowledge You.  Teach us how to be truly Thankful.  Teach us how we can show gratitude to others.  Teach us, Abba, so we will learn.

What Can I Do?

For once you were full of darkness, but now you 

have light from the Lord. So live as people of light!

Ephesians 5:8

 

Over and over, I hear the same concern: "With all the c*&p that's going on in the world, what can I do?"  This is a valid concern and it's not exactly an easy question to answer.

 

Think about this:

     *  "There's a lot of things happening in the world that we don't like."

     *  "Can I do anything about all that I don't like?"

                     *  No you cannot change everything you don't like about world events.

                     *  BUT you are not helpless!

 

Mohandis Gandhi once said, "You must BE the change you want to see in the world."  And he was not wrong!  If we want the world to be a better place, start with the face you see in the mirror.  Is there anything you see (or know) that you can change about that face in the mirror?  Most likely.  

 

You see, somewhere along the line of time, we have been told that WE can change others to make the world a better place.  But here's the thing, if we try to control other people, that has never ever worked in the past because we aren't robots.  The only person I can change is me!  And in changing me, I will change how I treat others, which may spark them to make changes about themselves, and the circle gets bigger and bigger.

 

We have to decide whether we want to be part of the problems or part of the difference.

Brains.....They're Actually Useful!

And “don’t sin by letting anger control you.” Don’t let the sun go down while you are still angry, for anger gives a foothold to the devil.

Ephesians 4:26-27

Remember Paul and Barnabas?  They spent years traveling together taking the Gospel message of Christ to places who had never heard such news before.  Barnabas was the one who actually got Paul and the Disciples in the same place to talk, because Paul, after all, had been Saul and had been going about the countryside terrorizing and punishing Christians.  And after years on the road together, Paul and Barnabas had a rather strong disagreement (Acts 15:39).

Paul was like a snapping turtle in the regard that once he set his mind to something, nothing was going to stop him.  He was, how can I say this politely, STUBBORN and hard-headed.  Which might explain why God chose to blind Saul in order to get his attention and turn him into Paul.

Have you ever been so angry with someone that you couldn't think of anything else?  Couldn't enjoy any activities?  Turned your whole mood to that of a rabid badger in a bad mood without coffee?  So angry that you couldn't sleep which made things worse the next morning because you were still ticked off AND now you're extra irritated because you're tired.  I have.  And there was not enough coffee in the world to make it any better.

Notice that Paul reminds us to not let our anger control us.  Anger, in and of itself, is not wrong.  BUT when we choose to hang on to the anger....that is when we get into trouble.  

Try this: next time you get angry, pick up a rock and squeeze it as hard as you can.  Eventually, you will get tired of squeezing and let it go.  

We can do the same thing with our anger.  Squeeze it....look at it from every perspective.....and then ask yourself, "Is my getting angry REALLY going to resolve this issue?"  You see, anger is a reflexive reaction and is an easier response.  A proactive action would be to see a situation, accept that we don't agree with it, and make a plan to find a peaceful resolution, which makes it unpopular because we have to actually think.

Remember, God gave us brains to actually use for something other than a way to keep our ears apart!  

Let's Talk About Gratitude, Shall We?

So God expelled them from the Garden of Eden and sent them to work the ground, the same dirt out of which they’d been made. He threw them out of the garden and stationed angel-cherubim and a revolving sword of fire east of it, guarding the path to the Tree-of-Life.

Genesis 3:23-24

We like to be appreciated.  We like for our efforts to be noticed.  We like to be rewarded for doing our best.  Let's face it, go to any restaurant and the servers who truly want to a good gratuity will prove themselves worthy.  What would happen if you were only paid a gratuity based on proving your gratitude?  Some days, I would rack up...but, sadly, there would be many days I would have nothing but pocket lint.

Here's a little equation that might be helpful (yeah, and here I thought Algebra was pointless):  g*h = r 

Think about it for a moment.  It's not that difficult, Gratitude times Honor equals Respect!  But we are an ungrateful lot!  We take things for granted constantly!  We seem to have the mindset that, for some reason, we are OWED simply for existing!  Look at today's passage.  Adam and Eve took the Garden of Eden for granted!  They had THE perfect life and could do whatever they wanted EXCEPT to eat from the tree in the middle of the garden.  Had they been grateful for all that had been provided for them (and no effort from them was required), and honored God by following His SINGLE rule, the Garden would still be their dwelling place.  But they chose to be ungrateful and take all God's provisions for them for granted. 

I cannot emphasize this enough: Gratitude, Honor and Respect are CONSCIOUS DECISIONS we make every day.  Now.....also keep in mind that the opposite is also true: Ingratitude, Dishonor and Disrespect are also CONSCIOUS DECISIONS we make.  

Our words can NOT hide what is in our hearts!  We can speak the right words and get what we want from others (abusing the relationships and trusts), but eventually our actions will reveal the true person we are!  Are you truly a grateful person who honors God by respecting others and you don't have to "fake it 'til you make it"?  Or are you full of manure and you're busy trying to hide the flies?

God Don't Play!  And He holds us accountable!  Disrespect, Dishonor and an Ungrateful person will not be a happy camper!