Good Morning!
It was a hot day yesterday and another one cooking for today. You may find it odd, and I do, that I have started to like hot nights. I opened my windows last night and enjoyed the night air, listening to all the sounds of the night. I never used to like this weather. Maybe it’s a sign of getting old. Or, maybe it’s a sign that I’m appreciating all the conditions God puts us through. Besides, if I have the right attitude, I can find great pleasure in any condition. Isn’t that what Paul said?
Philippians 4:11-13 Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me.
I left off Tuesday with the whole concept of choice, that we must choose God, all-or-nothing, before we can make claim to any of his promises. We don’t get this message in the majority of churches, yet it cannot be stressed enough to those who aren’t born again. David Jeremiah wrote about this today in his Turning Point. Here are verses he used to stress this point.
Joshua 24:14-15 “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. 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.”
1 Kings 18:21 And Elijah came near to all the people and said, “How long will you go limping between two different opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him.” And the people did not answer him a word.
Matthew 6:24 “No man can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.
Acts 4:19-20 But Peter and John answered them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge, for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard.”
While the two alternatives may seem inconsequential in the short term, they are infinitely distant from one another in the long term. Don’t miss this point.
Matthew 25:34 Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
v. 41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.
Finally, let us not fool ourselves about the magnitude of those choosing wrongly.
Matthew 7:13-14 “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.
Choose wisely.
Father, there are so many I know who are choosing eternal destruction. Put workers in their path to share the good news of Jesus Christ, that all their sins may be forgiven in a moment, and that they may dwell securely for all of eternity in your home. Amen.
Copyright © 2018 Scott Powers