Continuing Pastor Herk's message, he states that to receive those blessings of God, we need to serve God faithfully and be obedient to the Lord’s Word, Will and Way. We need to throw away our idols (anything that we love and therefore worship more than God). As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” A good choice for a good destiny. You have a choice, so who are you going to choose? We are warned to be careful with our choice because God is Holy and shall not tolerate other gods. When we forsake God and turn to other gods, God’s anger comes against us. God has been faithful to America, but in a large part, America (founded as a Christian nation) has turned it’s back on God. Then, we don’t understand why He doesn’t bless this nation.
The important things to remember with regards to the choices that we make are each and every day. (1) We need to really work at making the “right” (right in the eye of the Lord) choice. (2) We must prepare for the consequences if we make the “wrong” choice. (3) We must make a commitment to follow through on the “right” choices that we make. We must choose “right”, then do “right”, because our choices with determine our destiny. Now, therefore, fear the Lord and serve Him in sincerity and truth.
We can choose to serve the Lord, our God, faithfully with adoration and reverential fear in their hearts or we could choose to serve our idols. If we choose the Lord then we are to throw away the idols and never bring them out again. Matthew 6:24 tells us, “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. We cannot serve both God and idols; there is no middle ground. It is a commitment to do the “right” thing. In our lives, we are always faced with choices to serve God or something else. Our idols come in all shapes and sizes; they are all around us. 1 John 5:1 says, “Little children, keep yourselves from idols.” The 1828 Webster’s dictionary defines an “idol” as: anything which usurps the place of God in the hearts of his rational creatures. Anything on which we set our affections; that to which we indulge an excessive and sinful attachment.
Sin is what separates us from God’s purposes in our lives. If we truly want to hear God’s purposes for our life, we cannot be in a sinful state. Understand what is “right” and what is “wrong” in the eyes of the Lord, and then choose to do what is “right”. That is why we need to be daily in God’s holy Word and familiarize ourselves with them and have the Scriptures in our hearts. Simple choices of how we use our time, how we use our talents, how we use our finances, or who is number One in our heart. Our thoughts determine the choices that we make. Are we thinking good, clean, pure godly thoughts, focus on the Lord, or are we focused on the ultimately meaningless distractions and idol-making temptations around us which influence us?
Psalm 119:104-106 “From Your precepts I get understanding; therefore, I hate every false way. Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. I have sworn and I will confirm it, that I will keep Your righteous judgments.”
Once our life foundation is established on God’s moral character, we can develop a pattern of righteous living. Our path on this earthly journey is going to be well-lighted and our testimony will be stronger, if we are in God’s Word and God’s Word is in us. The choices that we make are going to determine our destiny. To assist along the way, (1) The indwelling Holy Spirit is our helper and guide. When we hear Him, we need to listen and respond. (2) In our Christian walk, we follow the Lord to establish our steps. Proverbs 16:9 says, “The mind of a person plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps.” (3) Along the narrow road that leads to life, we need to establish a godly thought pattern. Philippians 4:8 encourages us, “Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.” Think of good, productive, positive, godly things as thy determine your direction in life.
We have made a commitment to repent of sin, accept Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord, to be “born again” of the Spirit and become a child of God. We must surrender everything unto the Lord if we desire to succeed in life as a disciple of Jesus. Proverbs 16:3 tells us, “Commit your works to the Lord, and your thoughts will be established.” Everything we plan to accomplish in life must be yielded to God’s overall direction and control. I pray that God will bless us in our desire to make godly choices that determine our destiny.
In Christ, Brian
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