Pastor Jones.
Joshua 24:1515 But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”
Desires dictate our priorities, priorities shape our choices, and choices determine our actions.” - Dallin
Western union story
God has given us freewill to make choices.
We don't have a choice when we are palace born, where to be born, to whose parents we should be born.and
even as a kid, we don't have much choice. its the parents who feed the baby what to eat and what not to eat. But as we grow, we get this freedom to make choices.
But the choices we make have a great impact on our lives.
Turn to Romans 12:1-2
“Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect” (Romans 12:1-2).
Do not be conformed to this world-
There is a model/pattern in the world where what majority people will do , the rest will follow that.
For example: The worlds pattern is that it goes with majority. After i finished my 10th standard. i used to have a desire to become an IAS officer, because they allot a big bungalow to IAS officers, but since all my friends are going for computer science engineering, i also studied computer science engineering.
The Word says don't blindly follow the worlds pattern of living. But let there be renewal of mind.
When there is renewal of mind , and when we are always faced with options, we can make godly choices.
This world offers a lot in every aspect.
choosing a career - engineer or medicine or you want to go for ministry or missionary.
if you are looking for a job - job 1 or job 2
choosing a life partner for marriage - you will get many matches with rich, attractive,poor.
you want to buy a car - you have 25K car, 30kcar, 40k car, 50k car.
The world offer you lots of choices.
Everyday , in one way or other you will be facing to choose between options to make decision of your life.
but are you making godly choices?
Jacob and Easu:
Genesis 25:29 - 34
In a Hebrew family, a first born is very significant, especially in the old testament times.
First born significance:
1)opener of the mothers womb
2)the one who starts the paternal lineage and maternal lineage.
3) double portion inheritance.
4) Successor head of the family ( royal family then successor king)
A first born clearly knows what his blessing are.
Esau was very hungry and was almost fainting when he came home he saw this red hot soup.
you show biryani to Indian when he is hungry , you know all the feelings and how you respond to it. you will put aside all the spoons and you will start eating happily with hand.
Esau here came with so much of hunger and Jacob is saying this
"First sell me your birthright"
I was thinking how did Jacob got this idea of asking for birth right.
He was cooking his stew. How come i missed Gods double portion of blessings just by being born after my brother. Oh, how to get these blessings. Even though he is cooking, his mind is deeply set on things of God.
"Church, Whatever you do , constantly set your mind of things of God"
I dont know how many sisters here think of Gods blessings,Gods inheritance while cooking.
Here is Jacob constantly thinking of God , and when brother asked for stew, he asked for blessings.
See the reply of Esau."What use this birthright is when iam so much in hungry "
Esau is faced with 2 options:
either stay hungry until your mother gives food and have the birthright
or
sell birth right or have your stomach full.
Sadly, Esau chose to sell birthright, he thought what is the use of birthright when iam so hungry.
he chose for a temporary satisfaction and lost eternal blessings.
Turn to Genesis 27:30-34, v38
Hebrews 12:16,17
Esau wept aloud.
The choice you make for temporary things would rob of eternal blessings.
A person who cannot make God as priority is being called godless.
Sometimes, we are faced with lots of temptations for temporary enjoyment.
for some it might be drinking,
for some it may be making fun of others.
for some it is pornography
all these give temporary pleasure, and they cause long term effects.
Eskimos Trap
Church, When you are faced with temptation of temporary satisfaction, do you give in like Esau or make a Godly choice.
Noah and sonsGenesis 9:20
Noah drank wine and has no clothes.
Ham the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father and told his brothers outside.
Noah is inside his tent, so when Ham might accidentally stepped in and saw his fathers state,
now Ham has two choices
a) cover his father
b) go and tell it outside.
But he chose to go and tell to his brother.
A private matter of a person became public news.
Many of us have this tendency to talk about the private matters of others or gossiping about others private matters.
If a brother or sister has weakness in some area, and you go tell to other people, you are just like Ham , exposing the spiritual nakedness of that person to public world.
Shem and Japheth did, the turned backwards and covered their father.
What a character is not to look at or point out at the weakness of the other person, but to just cover the persons weakness with love.
Love covers multitude of sins.
When Jesus did not accuse a woman who was caught in the very act of adultery who are we to accuse others.
When we have little bit of knowledge from bible, we start judging other people. But the knowledge of God should always makes us humble and relate to other people.
Story of person in Alaska and son and faithful dog
Jesus went to tax collecters house, he spoke to Samaritan woman who was divorced five times,
i really thank Jesus Christ because he is not like us, He humbles himself so much that he sits with people of different weaknesses and shares the Love of God and forgives them.
You come across lots of people with various weaknesses,
and you face these options of choosing
whether to point out their weakness/spiritual nakedness
or
Like Shem - Dont look at the weakness of the other persons, But share the love of Christ, that Love that is shown on the cross removes every stain.
Abraham and Lot
Genesis 13: 8-13
Choice of Lot.
Abraham asked Lot to make a choice of where he wants to live.
So, what options does Lot have? Abraham clearly told him if he wants to go right he will go left and vice-versa.
a) Sodom
b) Hebron where Abraham later went
c) He could have pleaded Abraham to live with him only.( Ruth had pleaded Naomi )
So in verse 11, Lot chose for Himself Jordan. which is like Land of Egypt,garden of the Lord.
Can you imagine whats going on in Lots mind when he has to make a crucial decision of his life.
He was thinking where he can be without any problem. He saw the plain was well watered.
A well watered plain shows that there will crops all the time throughout the year. No fear of famines.
no fear of lack of food.
Lot related happiness is related to where there is more wealthy and full of food.
you know why there is so much sin in Sodom .
Turn to Ezekiel 16:49 - abundant food was one of the sins of Sodom.They neglected God in so much abundance.
And lot choose to go there.
You know before you decide to go to a place, you will enquire about that place , how it will be, how are the people there. like that.
if you have to goto Las vegas , you know that it is full Casinos and the world gathers there for gambling.
But Lot pitched his tent near Sodom.
Lot when making his choice he did not think of godly things. but he thought about his comfort.
He did not realize that if God is with him, even if he lives in a famine land, God would have provided food for him. He was Abraham for some years and he has clearly seen the providence of God to Abraham.
I always wonder, if Lot could have said, Dear Abraham uncle, i dont want any posessions, but let me be like a servant in your household. that would be great for me. because God is with you.
When Naomi asked her DILs, Ruth pleaded with her that she would not leave her. you know what the result is Ruth came into the lineage of Jesus Christ.
Lot chose an option and went nearest to the sin city. and you know what hapenned later.
many times we all make decisions like Lot just looking at worldly things about her jobs, our place of living , our friendships and ends up in disasters.
you know there are plenty of examples in bible who made best choices and worst choices.
you can say, brother all this is fine, but how to make a godly choice. there are somethings that I will share with you which helped me i think will help you also. Trust me, i made lot of bad choices in the past and i confessed it, but over the years God taught me so patiently by disciplining me.
1) All things are lawful, but not all things are profitable.
1 Corinthians 10:23
this is one verse that has encouraged me whenever i am in confusion to take a decision.
All the choices that are presented before you might look legal. but question yourself, whether the choice you are making is it profitable to your soul.
lot of people have these questions whether i can do this or dont do this.
ask yourself- whether its profitable for my soul.
2) Stewardship
Check if you are good steward of the choice you are making. what that means are you good caretaker of the choice you are making.
Sometimes you ask God for something and God blesses you in that and you are lazy in taking care of that blessing. be it children or be it your job. some people are lazy and sluggish in taking care of what God has blessed with. if you are one of those who is lazy to take care, be careful with choices you make.
3) Spending quality time with God.
exploring scriptures, quality prayer time.
there is no shortcut for godly lives.
Invest quality time in Word, and prayer.
The Holy Spirit God looks at genuinely seeking people and guides them.
if you are not interested in seeking HolySpirit help whats the use then.
Deligently seek Holy Spirits guidance and you will see making wonderful choices in life which moulds you into Image of Christ.
Story of a boy who asked God:
what is million years for you - Just a sec
what is million dollars for you - just a penny
Can I have a penny - just a sec
God is looking for people who will standup to the world and say, I wont be conformed to the pattern of the world.
He is looking for people to build His kingdom.
He is looking for people who make Godly choices like Daniel who gave up kings food.
When the world offers so many temptations in the form of TV,laptops and gadgets.
When the rest of the world tries to accuse and point out others weakness like Ham did ,God is looking for people like Shem who will cover others sins with the love of Christ.
even when the world says this is okay to do, you get up and say like Joseph,
Iam King's Son , Iam Kings daughter, I will live like prince.
Thank you Jesus
