25 | February | 2020 | You Are Not the Only One

#Choose #Jesus

I choose Jesus., how about you?

We make choices every single day of our lives.

What time to wake up.
What to eat for breakfast.
Whether we are going to eat breakfast or not.
Will we study God’s word first, or will we pray first?
Can we pray while studying?
Will we listen to God while we are studying his word and praying?

Here is a good one. Will we scour social media for memes that have scripture written on them and read those instead of becoming engaged in personal Bible study? It is easier to join every Bible touting social media club and read and comment about what others have experienced instead of feeding on the words God has chosen for us from his word. Isolated scriptures are great sound bites, but we do not fully comprehend the beauty of God’s communications until we delve into the context of what the verse is about. Look at the verse posted above. Read Joshua’s story surrounding the scripture.

Joshua 25: Joshua is recounting why the people did not enter into the promised land. He is telling the children of the original people who refused to enter into the promised land because they saw the giants instead of seeing the enormity of their God. Every person who survived the plagues, the crossing of the red sea, the plague of the serpents, etc., died in the wilderness because they chose their fears instead of choosing God. They wanted what they saw. Yes, there were giants in the land.

Joshua saw that God was mightier than the giants.
The people saw that they were too small for the giants.
They choose the gods of fear and intimidation.
Joshua chose the Lord God Almighty.

What gods are we serving today? The question that I must ask myself regularly is this one, “What consumes most of my time every day?” It’s not the big things that shift us. It’s the insurmountable number of little things that steal our time every day and shifts us from the path that the Lord has mapped out for us.

It never happens all at once. It’s a little here and a little there, before we know it we are completely off course! Avoid the shift! Choose Jesus! My pastor, Ken Cox, talked about avoiding the shift on Sunday. He ended his sermon with the point below.

If I do not remember God’s faithfulness and spend my days relying on God’s people while releasing the power of “his story” in my life, I am not connecting with others, and I am not choosing Jesus. When I want Jesus, I also choose his calling on my life. I have shifted to other pursuits that may well make me feel good for the time being, but they are not keeping me on track with God. Choose Jesus. Choose to spend time with “Jesus followers” as much as you can, and choose to share what he is doing in your life with others.

Prayer; Lord, it is you, I adore. No one but you. Please give me the strength to choose you every time. You alone are my protector and provider. I know what it feels like to cry out on my bed in the wee hours of the morning, only to wake up with signs of your protection and provision. I thank you for being my all-in-all. Lord, thank you for making me the way you made me, and thank you for being my waymaker.