More than a Choice

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Choosing God is More Than a Choice

Joshua 24:14

"Now therefore fear the LORD, and serve him in sincerity and in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt; and serve ye the LORD."

To say that you are going to make God the God of your life is an easy thing to say, but to follow through with the choice of serving Him is what shows whether you truly chose God. Joshua presented the children of Israel with the choice of serving God or the gods of the heathen. However, he also showed them that three things would be present if they actually made God their choice. He was trying to show them that choosing God is more than just a choice. If this choice was a reality, there would be other things present in their life that proved that choice to be true.

I often say when I preach that you don't get right with God when you walk down to the altar to make a decision, but you get right with God when you walk out the doors and put into action what you decided to do at the altar. The altar is where the decision is made, but following through with the decision after it is made is when you get right with God. Likewise, choosing God is simply a decision, but you actually choose God when three things are present in your life.

First, you choose God when you begin to fear Him. The verse above says, "Now therefore fear the LORD,..." Fearing God will always be present when you decide to serve God. This is your attitude towards God. When a person decides to make God their God, then their attitude towards God will change. There attitude will change from being flippant towards God speaking to them to an attitude of reverence and respect of what God can do to them and for them. Fearing God is simply respecting what God's power can do to you if you don't obey Him, and what His power can do for you when you do obey Him. When you choose God to be your God, then your attitude towards God will certainly change.

Second, you choose God when you begin to serve Him. The verse above says, "...serve him in sincerity and in truth:..." Choosing God will turn into an action. However, your service to God will have sincerity and truth with it. When you choose God, you will serve God with your entirety. In other words, you will not serve God halfheartedly, but you will serve Him with your entire being. Moreover, you will also serve God in truth. This means when you choose to serve God, you will faithfully serve Him. Serving God in truth means that you won't be in and out with your service, but you will be faithful in your service. Action will follow someone who truly chooses to serve God.

The last thing that will be present when you choose to serve God will be where you place God. The verse above says, "...put away the gods..." When you choose God to be your God, then you will put away anything that would cause God not to be number one in your life. Sometimes what we will have to put away is not bad, but it is something that has taken preeminence in our lives over God. When you choose to serve God, then He will have the proper position in your life.

Have you really chosen God to be your God? If you have, then these things will be present in your life.

Yourself

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Conquering Yourself

Joshua 18:2

"And there remained among the children of Israel seven tribes, which had not yet received their inheritance."

One of the hardest things you will accomplish in your life is that of conquering yourself and bringing your flesh under control. There are too many people in the Christian life who have never learned to conquer themselves, and then they find themselves being up and down in their Christian life. When Joshua addressed the children of Israel about conquering the land of Canaan, he told them several things they must do to conquer that land. The same things that Israel had to do to conquer Canaan applies to you when trying to conquer yourself.

First, learn to study yourself. Joshua 18:4 says, "Give out from among you three men for each tribe: and I will send them, and they shall rise, and go through the land, and describe it according to the inheritance of them; and they shall come again to me." Joshua was telling these men to do a survey of the land and study how they could conquer its inhabitants. Likewise, you will never conquer yourself if you don't learn yourself. You must learn your habits and what causes you to do what you do. One of the greatest reasons why people don't conquer themselves is because they have never studied what makes them do the good and bad that they do. The greatest subject you could study other than God is yourself. If you plan to conquer yourself, then you must learn the habits and trends of your life.

Second, categorize your life. In verse 8, Joshua divided the land by lots. Once you have studied yourself, then you need to categorize each aspect of your life. For instance, some of the categories of my life are my family, my church, my ministry, etc. I believe you get the picture. To conquer one's self, one must have his life categorized so he can make sure each area will be properly maintained.

Third, schedule your life. In verse 9, they divided the land into seven parts that they were to conquer. What they were doing was scheduling how they would conquer the land. The reason you need to categorize your life is so that you can schedule your life. You must schedule yourself to work on each category of your life. For instance, part of my weekly schedule consists of spending time with my family, doing work for my church, spending time walking with God on a daily basis and doing work for my ministry. If you don't learn to schedule your categories into your life, then those categories will suffer.

Fourth, grow your weak areas. In Joshua 19:47, Joshua told the children of Dan that they needed to conquer more land if their inheritance was too small for them. When studying yourself, you will learn what your weak areas are in your life. When you find those weak areas, work on strengthening them so they don't continue to hinder you from becoming what God wants you to become.

Last, give yourself room for mistakes. In Joshua chapter 20, God told Joshua to set up cities of refuge for those who accidentally killed someone. In other words, you will never conquer yourself if you don't learn to give yourself room for mistakes. You will make mistakes in life, but don't let those mistakes beat you down to the point of discouragement. Get back up and try doing better the next time. Learn to forgive yourself when you make mistakes.

One of the greatest victories you will accomplish in your life is when you conquer yourself. Let these five areas help you conquer yourself so that you can better serve the LORD.

Dream Killers

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Overcoming Dream Killers

Joshua 14:12

"Now therefore give me this mountain, whereof the LORD spake in that day; for thou heardest in that day how the Anakims were there, and that the cities were great and fenced: if so be the LORD will be with me, then I shall be able to drive them out, as the LORD said."

Caleb is one of my favorite characters in the Scriptures. One of the things that I like about him is that he never stopped serving God until the day he died. In the verse above, Caleb was eight-five years of age. Yet, at eighty-five years of age he still had his dream of getting a mountain. Not only was his dream still alive, but he wanted to be part of conquering that mountain. At a time when most people are retired and looking back at life's accomplishments, Caleb was still going strong with a desire to fulfill his dream. However, when you look at Joshua 14, you see there were five things that Caleb had to overcome that tried kill his dreams. If you want your dreams to be fulfilled, then you will have to overcome the same five dream killers.

The first dream killer is age. At eighty-five years of age Caleb's dreams were still alive. Let me challenge the senior saints who read this devotional to never stop dreaming. Yes, your energy level may not be what it has always been, but you must not stop dreaming. When you stop dreaming, then you start existing and life becomes something that you must endure. Don't let age kill your dreams. Show the younger generation that no matter what your age you still need to have dreams. At the writing of this devotional my father-in-law, Dr. Steve Heidenreich, is sixty-two years of age. Yet, when you get around him he still has dreams that he wants to conquer for missions. I love this because his dreams convict many pastors and people who have stopped dreaming. Don't let age kill your dreams.

The second dream killer is time. There are times when your dreams cannot be immediately fulfilled. However, you must not let time stop your dreams. Too many people had a dream years ago that they have allowed time to kill. It took Caleb forty-five years to finally see his dream come to fruition. Whatever you do, don't allow time to dampen or kill the dreams you had years ago.

The third dream killer is people. Caleb had a dream of going into the Promised Land and taking that mountain. However, there were men who almost killed his dream because they wanted to go back to the land of Egypt. Nobody will be as excited about your dream as you will be. There are many people who will try to throw cold water on your dreams when you share them with them. Don't let people kill your dreams. Keep pursuing your dreams even when others tell you it can't be done.

The fourth dream killer is obstacles. Caleb faced the obstacles of walls and iron chariots, but he kept pursuing his dreams. When you start pursuing your dreams, you will find that obstacles will try to discourage you. However, you must expect obstacles to come, and you must not let them kill your dream.

The fifth dream killer is your attitude. I am sure there were times when Caleb had to battle his own attitude of wanting to quit. If you are not careful, your attitude towards your dream can kill it. Keep a positive attitude so that you can still acquire your dream in spite of everything that you face. Don't let your own negative attitude kill your dreams.

What dream killer are you facing today? What dreams have you given up on? I challenge you to push the dream killer aside, pick up your dream, and start pursuing it until it becomes a reality.

Situation ethics

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What's Wrong with Situation Ethics

Joshua 2:4

"And the woman took the two men, and hid them, and said thus, There came men unto me, but I wist not whence they were:"

Someone recently asked me about the story of Rahab hiding the spies and her lying to keep them from being killed. They asked me if it was right for her to lie because she ultimately saved their lives. On the surface this seemed to be the right thing to do, but when you look at the whole picture, you will see that what she did was wrong. She allowed situation ethics to determine what she should do instead of allowing God to work. In all reality, she replaced God by determining what she thought was right.

We live in a day where situation ethics seems to determine what is right and wrong. You will often hear commentators in the news media justify a wrong because of the situation. Sadly, I have watched many men of God justify wrong for the sake of trying to salvage lives. On the surface it seems like it's the right thing to do, but situation ethics will guide you down a wrong path the majority of the time. Let me give you a few thoughts about this story and situation ethics.

First, lying is never right! Rahab justified lying about the men being in her house to save their lives. She felt it was right because they were servants of God. However, when you look at the Scriptures, you will see that lying is always wrong. Proverbs 12:22 says, "Lying lips are abomination to the LORD: but they that deal truly are his delight." God does not change His stance on lying just because it seems as though it will do good. I have never seen a lie have good results. Oh, it may produce good results immediately, but when you look at the end picture you see that lying always hurts more than it helps. If anything, you are teaching a younger generation who is watching that they should lie if it keeps them from being hurt. 

Second, situations should never dictate whether you should tell the truth, God's Word should be the determining factor in telling the truth. God's Word is the measuring stick of right and wrong. When you take right and wrong into your own hands, then you have replaced God with yourself, making yourself an idolater. When someone is willing to tell a lie in one area, then they will be willing to tell a lie in another area. People who justify lying for a situation cannot be trusted. Always remember that God's Word should dictate what you should do.

Last, situation ethics take the opportunity away from God to show His power and perform miracles. The saddest part about this story with Rahab is that we will never know what God would have done to save the lives of these men. Because one woman took the situation into her own hands, she took away the opportunity for many generations who followed to see God's power work. Any time you allow situation ethics to determine right and wrong you are taking opportunities away from God to show His power. Maybe one of the reasons why this generation doesn't know much about the power of God is because too many people live by situation ethics. God can only show His power when we wait long enough on Him to come through.

Christian, don't be guilty of allowing situations to determine right and wrong. When it comes to right and wrong, always obey God's Word. When you obey the Word of God, you will then give God the opportunity to prove to you that He is still God. It is then that you will see God come through and your faith in God will grow.

Blessings

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What God's Blessings Don't Mean

Deuteronomy 9:6

"Understand therefore, that the LORD thy God giveth thee not this good land to possess it for thy righteousness; for thou art a stiffnecked people."

Many of the sermons you hear are about getting the blessings of God upon your life. There is no doubt that getting God's blessings are a motivating factor in people living right. However, many times when someone starts to receive the blessings of God, they can have the wrong idea of why they received these blessings. In the verse above, God told the children of Israel that He wasn't blessing them because they deserved it. On the contrary, He blessed them because of His goodness and because of their forefathers. God didn't want these people to start thinking higher of themselves because He was blessed them. If we are not careful, we will get the wrong idea as to why God blesses us. Let me show you what God's blessings don't always mean.

First, they don't always mean that you are a great Christian. If you are not careful, you will start looking at the blessings that God is giving you and think that you are a great Christian. When this happens, pride sets in and you will set yourself up for God's judgment. Just because God blesses you does not make you a great Christian. God's blessings are given to us because we obeyed one of His principles for blessings. Follow my thinking. If I obey one principle and am blessed because of that action, yet I disobey three other principles, just because God blessed me for obeying the one principle does not make me a great Christian. God blesses people when they follow His principles. Yet, those blessings don't make you a great Christian.

Furthermore, just because God blesses a church doesn't make it a great church. When a church follows a few commands from the Scriptures, God's blessings are going to follow. However, that same church could be disobeying other commands. Do the blessings of God for the few commands that are being obeyed make this church a great church? NO! It only means that they followed some principle that resulted in God's blessings. If I press the accelerator on a car, I will be blessed with speed. However, pressing an accelerator does not make me a great driver. Likewise, receiving God's blessings does not always make me a great Christian.

Second, God's blessings don't mean that you deserve them. God made this principle very clear in the verse above. Sometimes God chooses to bless us because He is merciful and gracious. In fact, let's just be honest with each other, nobody deserves the blessings of God. Just because God blessed you does not mean that you deserved those blessings.

Third, God's blessings don't always mean that you received them because of your actions. Often in the Scriptures God blessed someone because of someone else. You could be receiving the blessings of God because you are under the umbrella of someone else. For instance, there are many people receiving God's blessings because of their pastor, spouse or parents. Don't always think that God's blessings come to you because of you. Many times God blesses us because of others.

Finally, God's blessings come upon us because of the goodness of God. Don't ever forget this! God's goodness is what causes Him to bless us. Nobody deserves the blessings of God, but God chooses to bless us out of His desire to make us happy. Be careful about thinking higher of yourself because of God's blessings than you should. Keeping God's blessings on your life in proper perspective will help you to keep yourself in a proper perspective as well.

Second generation

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A Spiritual Second Generation

Deuteronomy 5:3

"The LORD made not this covenant with our fathers, but with us, even us, who are all of us here alive this day."

When you think of second generation Christians, you mostly think of Christians who are not very dedicated to the work of the LORD. Sadly, most second generation Christians are not very spiritual. I am personally a sixth generation Christian. I believe that second generation Christians can be spiritual, and in fact, do more than the previous generation.

In the verse above, the generation of the children of Israel were second generation. Their father's were the one's who refused to go into the Promised Land, so this generation wandered forty years in the wilderness because of the sins of their fathers. However, when Moses addressed this generation, he addressed them as a spiritual generation. There were several things that made this second generation a spiritual generation.

First, they made their Christianity personal. Notice that they said that the LORD made this covenant "with us." They understood that they couldn't live off of mom and dad's spirituality. They realized they had to make it their own. Spirituality is not inherited. Just because your parents were good Christians does not make you a good Christian. Too many young people believe they are spiritual because of their parents. The only way you will make it as a second generation Christian is to make your Christianity personal.

Second, they learned from the previous generation. These people realized the mistakes of their fathers, and they did all that they could to avoid making the same mistakes. One of the blessings of being a second generation Christian is that you can learn from the successes and failures of previous generations. If you are wise, you will avoid the mistakes your fathers made and follow their patterns of success.

Third, they made God's commands personal. This generation understood that God's commands were for them. They didn't pass it off as something they didn't need to do, but they understood that the commands God gave were to them as well. Second generation Christians must be careful about thinking that the commands from God for the previous generation do not apply to them. God's warnings apply to you as they did to your fathers.

Fourth, they made God's promises personal. You will never be successful as a second generation Christian until you make the promises of God personal. The same promises that your parents claimed are the same promises you must claim. God's promises are multi-generational. In other words, they apply to every generation. Take the same promises that your parents claimed and make them personal by claiming them as your own.

Finally, they made God personal. This is the most important thing you must do to be successful as a second generation Christian. You should not serve God because your parents served Him, but you must serve God because you choose to serve Him. Joshua made that very clear in Joshua 24:15. Every generation must make God their personal God if they are going to succeed in the Christian life.

You will fail as a Christian if you live off your parents Christianity. You need your own victories. You need your own answered prayers. You need your own personal experiences with God. You will never be successful as a second generation Christian until you make God and the Christian life personal.