Decide your future today

 

The mind of Christ . . .

 

What or who is leading us into tomorrow?

 

Kingdom life here on earth

 

To do or not to do

 

Make a decision today!

 Choose today.

It takes effort.

Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded . . . .(James 4:7-8)

It takes effort! Yes.....we still have some work to do. This is what Paul says in Philippians 2:12, as he instructs us to work out our salvation. 

(https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Philippians%202%3A12-13&version=NKJV) 

You see, Jesus did the work as far as our sacrifice and redemption. However, now we must give the Holy Spirit reign in our lives and decide to follow Christ and deny Satan daily. 

Christianity is an active faith and an interactive relationship with Jesus Christ. It is NOT a religion. It takes effort!

A heart not loyal to the Lord God

But King Solomon loved many foreign women, as well as the daughter of Pharaoh: women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians, and Hittites from the nations of whom the Lord had said to the children of Israel, “You shall not intermarry with them, nor they with you. Surely they will turn away your hearts after their gods.” Solomon clung to these in love. And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines; and his wives turned away his heart. For it was so, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned his heart after other gods; and his heart was not loyal to the Lord his God, as was the heart of his father David. (1 Kings 11:1-4)

Where are our hearts today? It shows in the choices we make. Solomon did not follow after the teachings of his father David. God was clear to the children of Israel: Do not marry outside of your faith. Solomon did not heed the instruction and as a result he turned toward other foreign gods and worshipped them.

We read further that Solomon would keep his kingdom as God promised David, but his children would lose it. The Kingdom of Israel would be torn apart as a result of the choices of Solomon . . . pleasing his desires over pleasing his God.

How are our choices impacting our lives?
Do we even realize the results, or are we so caught up in this world that we cannot even see it?
Have we turned from our God and began to worship the gods of this world?

With all that wisdom . . . Except. . . .

Solomon made an alliance with Pharaoh king of Egypt and married his daughter. He brought her to the City of David until he finished building his palace and the temple of the Lord, and the wall around Jerusalem. The people, however, were still sacrificing at the high places, because a temple had not yet been built for the Name of the Lord. Solomon showed his love for the Lord by walking according to the instructions given him by his father David, except that he offered sacrifices and burned incense on the high places. (1 Kings 3:1-3)

In the verses following, God would grant Solomon all the wisdom he needed for life as a king. Except, he began to stray to foreign women and foreign gods! With all that wisdom . . .

We too can make some dumb decisions, even though we know better. We like to say how ridiculous the Jewish people were in their decision making, yet we do the same day after day. After all, we have eternal salvation in Christ . . . He died on the cross for us . . . yet we still sin! We say we love the Lord and we are His children, except we still choose sin.

Grace is not to be abused! We have work to do!

The stories of the Bible are not fairy tales!

Now the days of David drew near that he should die, and he charged Solomon his son, saying: “I go the way of all the earth; be strong, therefore, and prove yourself a man. And keep the charge of the Lord your God: to walk in His ways, to keep His statutes, His commandments, His judgments, and His testimonies, as it is written in the Law of Moses, that you may prosper in all that you do and wherever you turn . . . (1 Kings 2:1-3)

As Solomon took over for David, there was much blood shed and violence. Decisions had to be made and lives were in the balance. There was no time for compromise or back room deals to be made. God's will needed to be carried out swiftly.

The violence in these verses makes them difficult to read. Revenge was the order of the day. But we must remember that the stories of the Bible are not fairy tales! Battles were fought, men and women died. God had given Solomon the throne, but that did not mean he would be exempt from the challenges that came with possessing it.

We face at work or at home that are sometimes challenging and even distasteful. Our challenges are not fairy tales either. They are real and life changing to us, even if not to others.  

Rather than seeing them as a burden, what if we viewed them as God’s appointed work? Let's ask God for His wisdom as we engage in these difficult situations, that He will help us act in obedience to Him.

Anything really new?

“….assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.” (Ephesians 4:21-23)

So here we are, a few days into 2023 . . . anything really new? He is the same God . . . thankfully. We are still the same people we were in 2022. So what has really changed but the calendar?

If we really want to change, it must be our decision making! As Paul wrote in the passages above, we must do away with old habits! We must decide to follow God more closely . . . to spend quality time with Him rather than other activities and people. If our one resolution or goal in 2023 is to be a better me, than it has to include the One who made me!

So as we go into 2023, let's start with time with God. Decide to make it better . . . not necessarily longer, but better. Make it more personal. Make it real. Make it genuine. Treat God and especially the person of Holy Spirit, like a real person . . . because He is! 

Let's give God the time and attention He deserves and we need in 2023.