Joshua 24:14-15 ESV

14 “Now therefore fear the Lord and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness. Put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. 15 And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

Many people want to believe (subconsciously or not) that once they make their initial choice to be a follower of Christ, that the choice is forever settle. However, this is a misconception. We must choose the Lord daily.

Why? Because every day of our lives – and sometimes several times a day – we are faced with life choices that can takes in the right or the wrong direction.

Everyday we must choice Christ, everyday we must choose what is right. This sounds simple. However, must of the time doing what is wrong is easier. Many times, doing what is wrong seems to work in our favor.

Doing what is right requires integrity. It is challenging to make appropriate choices.

For a believer, choices require strong faith in God. We have to make decisions that will take us in directions that do not make sense to others. We make choices that seem like the long way around. But walking by faith rarely make a straight line, it often requires a lot of twists and turns. But the destination is always where we need to be. That is where our faith comes into play. We must allow the Lord to lead us in the path he would have us to take. To be able to successfully do this we must give the power over to God, and truly be his follower. We must choose to allow him to lead our lives.

Choices are the hallmark of being an adult. But it is also the hallmark of a believer – faith choices. We must choose to follow as the Spirit leads – always. As Joshua said above “this day” is every day. Every day, with every choice, we must choose to “serve the Lord.”

Trust me, there are choices that take us away from the Lord. Although God promised never to leave us, he did not say we couldn’t leave him. We do this by making the wrong choices, and then by choosing to live with them rather than choosing to correct our error.

If this is you, repent, and choose the Lord all over again. Then allow him to strengthen you to go through what you must because of your poor choices. For the word of God is sure, you will reap what you sow. But when God is with you, he will enable you to make it through.

What a great God we serve.

Then moving forward Make wise, godly choices which garner the favor of God.

Be blessed.

Matthew 15:23-28

“23. But he answered her not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away; for she crieth after us.

24. But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

25. Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me.

26. But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children’s bread, and to cast it to dogs.

27. And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.

28. Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour. ”

Have you ever sought the Lord for something and did not get an answer?

Have you ever sought the Lord but felt like God was not listening to your prayer?

If you are like me, you have. Many times this lack of response would lead us to feel like we have displeased God or that we have done something wrong. Most of the time God is just testing us to see what our next move will be.

Will you give up? Will you get mad at God? Will you turn your back on him? Or will you try to go about making your own miracle? By the way, doing this usually makes matters worse.

When we are seeking God, we cannot afford to be impatient. Being impatient shows a lack of faith and leads to poor decisions. These poor decisions will place us in a place of desperation. If we are not careful desperation can cause you to have a sense of hopelessness. The foundation of all these types of emotions are a lack of faith and trust in God.

The believer must have confidence in God. We must be persuaded that “he is, and he is able…”. This confidence in God will cause us to exhibit the same perseverance as the woman with the issue of blood, and as the mother in the scripture text. In the face of what looked like rejection, she did not give up. She knew what she needed from God, and she kept after it until she received it.

Notice Jesus remained silent. He did not send her away as the disciples wanted. He allowed her to stay. His silence was more of an invitation or opportunity, if you will.

The mother seized the opportunity. She worshipped God. She the responded to Jesus’ comments, showing her faith. Jesus, knew who she was, the mother knew the Jewish customers. But she would not allow that to stop her. She knew this was her daughter’s opportunity to be delivered.

What about you? Are you having conversation with God in prayer? Where you speak and give space to God to speak? Are you listening to what he is saying? Or are your prayers one sided?

Are you worshipping God before bringing your petitions to him? Or are you rattling off what you want and getting up and moving on with your day?

Are you in a place where you have not been answered. Are you patiently waiting (passively, with no actions)? Or are you waiting in worship (persevering in faith)?

Don’t mistake silence for rejection. Continue to pursue God for what you need. Put some works with your faith.

In the end, the mother got just what she needed for her daughter. You can have a successful outcome too. As long as you don’t give up on God.

Remember, delay is not rejection. It is an opportunity to show God you are in it to win it.

Have a blessed day.

(Feel free to leave your comments below)

Matthew 15:15-20

“15. Then answered Peter and said unto him, Declare unto us this parable.

16. And Jesus said, Are ye also yet without understanding?

17. Do not ye yet understand, that whatsoever entereth in at the mouth goeth into the belly, and is cast out into the draught?

18. But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man.

19. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies:

20. These are the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man. ”

Responsibility is a heavy word in every sense. We must take responsibility for the things we utter from our mouth. Things don’t just “slip” out of your mouth. You said it because It was in your heart, so it had no choice but to come out.

We must be careful in what we allow to make into our hearts. The things we allow ourselves to constantly think on, obsess over, or become fascinated with – whether they are good or bad – are the things in our hearts.

The Bible tells us whatsoever things are true, honest, just, pure, lovely, are of good report, think on these things (Philippians 4:8). Things that fall into these categories will not produce harm to the hearers. They will produce life in you. But it is still your choice, your responsibility.

What you think about, you will speak about.

What you speak about will either defile you or build you (and the hearer) up.

Feed your self and your spirit things that will keep you free, make you healthy, and be a blessing to all. You are the one who chooses what you will eat. People are depending on you. What will you pour into them?

It’s your choice, your responsibility – watch what you say.