Joshua 24:14-28-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.”

Joshua was using this opportunity requesting the people to give their undivided loyalty to God, and this was the only way to experience His presence and blessing in the future. When Joshua said “choose” whom you will serve, his intention was not to encourage idolatry. Instead that it would cause such an abhorrence among them that they would take a stand against all such worship. Joshua goes on to proclaim what he and his household will be doing, and that is to serve Yahweh, the only one and true living God.

Likewise, friends do you have remnants of your sinful past that you are hiding and carrying with you? Like Joshua, you need to ask yourself this question. Choose today whom you will serve? You have been delivered from captivity to sin, yet you are hiding some idols that can impact your walk with the Lord.

So what are some forms of idolatry in our modern age? It could be materialism, pride, ego, self-indulgence, alcohol, drugs, food, the lust of the flesh, lust of the eye and the pride of life. If you love the Lord, then there will be no room in our hearts for such idolatry.

Likewise, friends choose whom you will serve today, even if it means to suffer temporarily in this world. Just like it was said about Moses in Hebrews11:25 “By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin.”

In closing, I urge you to choose life and to choose whom you will serve. Choose the Lord Jesus Christ, rather than enjoying the fleeting pleasures of sin, which is idolatry even if this means that you may be mistreated for it or to suffer in it. The outcome of doing so is having a relationship with Christ and receiving the crown of eternal life.

God bless.

Matthew 4:17-From that time, Jesus began to preach saying, ‘Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.’”

This is the central message that we see all throughout the gospels. It’s summarized here in one short, simple verse, Matthew 4:17, Jesus came preaching. And what was he preaching? First word, repent. Turn. This is the essence of Jesus’ message to you, to me, to everyone on earth, turn. Turn from your sin, turn from yourself, turn from all your attempts to earn your way to God, your attempts to find fulfillment, turn in all these ways from sin, self, from even your good deeds.

Matthew 4:17 Reminds Us to Turn From Sin

Father, help us from the moment we wake up in the morning to turn from sin and self and trust in You. May we be marked by a posture of repentance.

So this is the starting point of Christianity, of what it means to follow Jesus, and it is the daily reality for everyone who is a follower of Jesus. Every single day is waking up in the morning and saying today, I want to turn from sin and from myself to follow Jesus as savior and Lord of my life, as the King over every facet of our lives. That’s why we see language in all throughout the New Testament when it talks about repentance of bearing fruit in keeping with repentance, of a life that reflects repentance, because it would make no sense to turn from sin and self, trust in Jesus as savior and Lord, and then move on with our lives focused on sin and ourselves. No, it misses the essence, the very fundamental message of Jesus

Matthew 4:17 Leads Us to Pray For Unbelievers

So God, we pray, one, God, I just pray for anyone who is reading this right now, who has never come to the point in their life where they have repented, where they have turned from their sin and their self and all their attempts to earn their way to you, and trusted in Jesus alone as savior and Lord. God, I pray there might be people reading who do that right now.

This Verse Leads Us to Pray for Help Repenting.

And then for all who have come to that point, help us to live out that reality everyday. Help us from the moment we wake up in the morning to turn from ourselves. Help us to turn from our sin. And help us to trust in you as our savior, as our Lord, as the one who loves us and leads our lives. And God, we pray that you would cause this posture of repentance to mark us all day long. Also, help us to live all day long, trusting in you, believing in you as the Lord of our lives. You are the one who alone is worthy of all of our trust.

God help us daily to die to ourselves to turn from sin and to follow you as our King. And in this, to experience the essence of what it means to belong to you. Let us experience the essence of what it means to know you, to follow you, to worship you, to be your children. In Jesus name, we pray. The name of our King who calls us to repentance and saves us from our sin and ourselves. We pray this in his name. Amen.

God bless

As Paul wrote to the church in Rome: “Since the creation of the world, God’s invisible qualities, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood from His workmanship, so that men are without excuse” (Romans 1:20).

Others will point to the Cross, which shows how He demonstrated His power in conquering death and sin to give us the gift of life.

Both of those are accurate, but have you ever considered that the power of God can just as clearly be seen from what He doesn’t do?

Consider the Cross again. Though the world sees a Man broken and betrayed, Jesus Himself resists all calls to avoid the cross. He even tells Peter to “put away the sword,” saying that, if He wanted, He could appeal to His Father, who would “at once put at [Jesus’] disposal more than twelve legions of (Matthew 26:53)

He didn’t, as we know, because of His love.

According to Solomon, the ability to withhold yourself from impulsive action and command your spirit is the greatest strength of all. 

“One who is slow to anger is better than the mighty,

And one who rules his spirit, than one who captures a city.” (Proverbs 16:32)

God’s greatness can be shown in a myriad of different ways, but perhaps the greatest is in what He chose not to do.

What Happens When We Think About Why God is So Great

When we consider God’s handiwork, it should cause us to do one thing: reflect. We can reflect on His majesty, we can reflect on His power, but most importantly, we should reflect on our relationship with Him.

In reality, there is no comparison. He is Jehovah, we are humans, and we need to remember our place in this world. 

In Psalm 19:13, David asks God to keep him from “presumptuousness,” which is the “great transgression.”

Why is it the “great transgression”? Because when we think more highly of ourselves than we ought, it forces God out of the picture. There’s no room for God’s greatness when we’re too busy pondering our own.

Songs like How Great Thou Art remind us of this fact. No matter how often we consider God’s greatness, we should always take a few moments to reflect on ourselves in comparison to Him.

Once we do, everything falls neatly into place.

How Great is our God

God Bless

God is the original definition of good.He is good in and of Himself.

If you want to see God for Who He really is, here’s a good starting point. “Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good” (I Chron. 16:34). “Taste and see that the Lord is good!” (Ps. 34:8) “Enter His gates with thanksgiving, and His courts with praise! Give thanks to Him and praise His name! For the Lord is good and His love is eternal, and His faithfulness endures to all generations.” (Ps. 100:4-5)

When Moses boldly pleaded with God, “Please, show me Your glory,” he was asking to see God for who He really is. “Show me as much as I can stand, Lord.” So what did God show him. Exodus 33:19-20 gives us God’s response: “I will cause all My goodness to pass in front of you and I will proclaim the name Yahweh before you.” Moses wanted to see God’s glory. God showed Him something so wonderful and accessible that it caused the skin of Moses’ face to glow with the radiance of God’s presence. He showed him His goodness.

Rest in His goodness when adversity comes

We live in a world where bad things happen to good people and good things happen to bad people. Sometimes, our circumstances argue with us about how good God is. Sometimes God’s good plan for us means going through trials and losses and heartache and death.

But hear me: He is there for you. Ps. 31:19-20 says, “How great is Your goodness that You have stored up for those who fear You, and accomplished in the sight of everyone for those who take refuge in You. You hide them in the protection of Your presence; You conceal them in a shelter from the schemes of men, from quarrelsome tongues.” God has great goodness stored up for you. Take your refuge in Him. Rest there. He is up to more than you know, and has hidden help that only comes when you give it up to Him.

Colossians 1 reminds us that Jesus “is the image of the invisible God” (v. 15) and that “God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Him” (v. 19). Jesus is God’s goodness in the flesh. He demonstrated God’s desire to pour out blessing and help and deliverance on us.

But God is good. His nature drives a desire to do for us what we can’t do for ourselves. So He puts forward His Son on our behalf to take our hell and give all who believe heaven.

Romans 8:32 says this of God: “He did not even spare His own Son, but offered Him up for us all; how will He not also with Him grant us everything?” In other words, God has already shown His goodness toward you in the biggest way possible. All the other little details to help you live a godly life through thick and thin are included in that

Second Cor. 1:20 tells us that “every one of God’s promises is ‘Yes’ in [Christ].” That means all the good and perfect gifts of God come to us through our relationship with Jesus. If I want to understand and appreciate God’s goodness to me, I can begin and end with Jesus.

Think about it: God is the original definition of good. He is good in and of Himself. For us, goodness is an added quality. But it comes naturally for Him. God is not just the greatest of beings; He is the Best.

He is the goodness of God

God bless

What a great picture of how a house is built with wisdom in Proverbs 24:3–4. How it’s established, the foundation is understanding and the rooms are filled with knowledge. Precious and pleasant riches of knowledge. In fact, I think about my house. I want my house, my family, to be built on wisdom, not on foolishness. Then to be established for the foundation of our house, to be understanding, for knowledge, knowledge of God, fear of God, knowledge of his word, knowledge of his truth, knowledge of his ways to fill every room, my kids’ rooms, my room, the room where we sit down to eat. Therefore, every place in my house filled with the knowledge of God. His ways, his word filling all the rooms in my house.

Don’t you want that?

God, please cause our houses to be built on wisdom and established with understanding. May every room in our houses be filled with knowledge of You.

Proverbs 24:3–4 Prays For Our Houses To Be Built On Wisdom

Let’s pray for that. God, please. Cause our houses to be built on wisdom. Therefore wherever we live, who we live with, the foundation of our lives and our families to be built on wisdom and established with understanding. In fact, may every room in our houses be filled with knowledge. Precious and pleasant riches that come from your word, your ways, knowledge of you. So God, we pray for this in our homes, our families. Above all, we pray for this in your household. God, we pray that our churches are built on wisdom. Established on understanding. That our community with one another in the body of Christ would be filled with knowledge that when we gather together, the fear of the Lord and the knowledge of your word will established all that we are doing.

This Verse Warns To Not Be Foolish

Above all, God we pray that you would keep us from building our homes, building your church on foolishness, on our own ways, on our own ideas, on our own thoughts, on our own opinions. Overall, establishing it on lack of understanding, lack of seeking after you and your ways, lack of knowledge, and lack of the fear of you.

Proverbs 24:3–4 Wants Us To Build On The Love For God

So God, please help us to build our houses and our churches on the fear of you. On love for you. On longing for your word and trust in your ways, and in this, to have rooms, in our homes, in our churches filled with precious and pleasant riches. Oh God, may it be so with our houses, we pray. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Build your house on Wisdom

God bless

Matthew12:30-Jesus said,”He who is not with Me is against me.”

But everyone must make a choice.

Some may wish to delay and rather become a Christian at old age.That is possible but not guaranteed. However,you never know how old you will be when you die,or if you will be prepared for your own death.And when you are dead, the door will be closed for all eternity and at that point there will be no second chance. Then it will be to late.

It should be strongly recommended not to delay the most important matter you will ever have to consider in your life.

Hebrews 3:7-8 Say’s Today if you hear His voice, do not harden your heart.

God is waiting patiently for you to make that choice and take that step of faith and follow Him.

Make that choice

God bless

Nehemiah6:9-They were all trying to frighten us, saying, “Their hands will be to weak for the work, that it not be done.But now I pray strengthen my hands.

Sometime we answer God’s call to build a ministry, an outreach,a business, a project or faith.We see the vision and get excited.And like Nehemiah we begin the process of building this vision.But then we hear internal chatter or the voices of others saying, “Can you really do this?”Who do you think you are?”or”This is to hard”or”You will never make it.Just stop.”Those words of intimidation comes from the enermy- the one who longs to see the plans of God fail.

Nehemiah knew the plans God had for him- but so did his adversaries. Sanballet,Tobias and Geshem.They went to great lengths to intimidate and frustrate Nehemiah, but their efforts fell short.Why?Because their eyes weren’t on God and Nehemiah’s were.

With a focus on God Almighty, we can build as he call us to build.We can overcome intimidation and other spoils thrown at us from evil.

Never underestimate the power of people and the lesson of people in the Bible.

They Bible offers us powerful lessons that can help us grow in faith and bring Glory to God.

Don’t be intimidated by people who want to break you down,just focus on building your faith in God.

God has a great plan for your life.Keep trusting Him.Give you plans to God not to man.

God has called you to build in his Kingdom.

Trust Him

God Bless

2 Kings5:10-13-Elisha sent a messenger to him,saying, “Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh will be restored and you will be cleansed. But Naaman was angry, and went away,and said,”Behold, I thought,he will surely come out to me, and stand, and call on the name of the Lord his God,and wave his hands over the spots, and heal me of my leprosy. Aren’t Abanah and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Couldn’t I wash in them and be clean? So he turned and went off in a rage. His servants came near, and spoke to him, and said,”My father, if the prophet had asked you to do some great things would you have done it? How much more, when then he tells you.” Wash and be cleaned.”

I relate to Naaman. Sometimes we also get a little “uppity” and need a healthy spiritual gut check.

His anger resulted possibly from “pride” or unmet expectations and took Naaman to a place of frustration and rage. Words from his servants, however helped set him back in the center of God’s will. Their honesty cause Naaman to rethink and react accordingly. As a result, he found healing.

Sometimes our walk with God comes with a giant set of expectations or a litany of items on a list. Perhaps ours, like Naaman, is a simple “wash and clean” situation instead.

God Bless

Jesus enlisted help

Jesus came to earth to establish God’s Kingdom and redeem mankind, but even Jesus didn’t attempt this on his own.He found likeminded men and women to help Him advance the Kingdom of God.

Luke9:1-2-“When Jesus had called the Twelve together, He gave them power and authority to drive out all demons and cure diseases, and he sent them out to proclaim the Kingdom of God and heal the sick…So they set out and went from village to village, proclaiming the good news and healing people everywhere.”

Jesus didn’t do it all by Himself.He taught, trained and sent others to do what he was doing: Healing, preaching, and bringing life to others. Jesus knew that God had called Him to a big job and that he’d need to partner with others to accomplish it.

It’s the same with us: We need to invite others to help us accomplish what God has called us to do, and then do the same for them.

Resist Pride

Pride can be a hindrance for many things.Pride separates us from each other and make us like an isolated Island.Pride tells us that we can handle things on our own and that we don’t need anyone else, but that’s a lie.

Proverbs15:22 says, “Without counsel, plans go awry, but in the multitude of counselors they are established. “Clearly having others alongside you and helping and advising you will result in a better outcome.If you want to reach your full potential in life, then do life with others who have similar values and goals and you’ll succeed together.

No one has all the answers, we all need good people to help advise and counsel us from time to time- and then we can return the favor for them aswell. Don’t let Pride keep you from connecting with the people who can help you accomplish your God- given purpose in life. And don’t selfishly keep your gifts and talents to yourself- use them to help others succeed and advance God’s Kingdom.

Stronger Together

Ecclesiates4:9-12-“Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their labor.For if they fall, one will lift the other up his companion.But to him who is alone when he falls, for he has no one to help him up.

This passage makes it clear how important it is to have people in your life who you an depend on and who can depend on you.When you are pursuing God’s plan for your life along with others you can combine your gifts and talents with theirs.

If your an “Island” trying to make life work on your own, then you’re going to have much more difficult time reaching your full potential. And this doesn’t just affect you; it affects everyone you would have an effect on.You may have strength in a certain area where someone else is weak; you can help that person with your strength.Likewise, you may be weak in a particular area, but someone you’re doing life with can come along side you and help strengthen you.

We will have to give account to Him one day for all our actions, including how we treat others.

God Bless

Psalm90:12-Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.

“God’s minutes” It reminds us of the sacredness of time.

I have only just a minute, only sixty seconds in it.Didn’t seek it, didn’t choose it, but it’s up to me to use it.I must suffer if I loose it, give account if I abuse it.Just a tiny little minute but Eternity is in it.

During one twenty four hour day you and I are given 1,440 minutes, important minutes that we can only use once.Each one of them is a priceless gift.

Moses prayed “Lord teach us to number our days right, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.

What are you doing with the time God gives you?

Ephesians 5:15-16-Be very careful, then, how you live- not as unwise bur as wise,making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.

Here’s a question to reflect on

“How will you redeem the time” God gives you this year?What is your motivation for doing so?

God bless