You Have a Choice

“Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.”   Psalm 1:1

Godly CounselEvery day of our life we make hundreds of choices and each of those choices will produce an outcome.  For instance: we make a choice what foods we eat in the morning for breakfast; nutritious or unhealthy, we choose whether we will go to work or stay home and watch TV all day, and we choose whether we will ride a bike or a car on the highway to the mall.   In each of these situations we have a choice.  If we make the wrong choice; the outcome will be obvious in a short amount of time that we made the wrong choice.

The outcome can look like this: You will run out of energy if you eat an unhealthy breakfast, you will soon loose your job if you don’t go to work, and you may find yourself in the hospital if you choose to ride your bike on the highway.  The outcome tells you quickly if you made the wrong choice.

The same is true in our spiritual life.  David says in the Psalm, “Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly”. When you take counsel from an ungodly person, you will soon see by the outcome that something is wrong with their counsel.  It will be just as obvious as when you keep riding down the highway on a bike.  You are in danger when you take counsel from an ungodly person because if they do not know God they do not know His ways.

David said, don’t walk in ungodly counsel.  From the moment you hear ungodly counsel you have a choice; will you act upon it and walk down the wrong path, or choose the right path.  It boils down to a simple choice, and the choice is yours.  Wrong counsel can feel good at the moment, but if the counsel does not line up with the ways of God, the outcome will not be a blessing in the end.

Ask the Lord to show you where you are making wrong choices and listening to the wrong counsel; then pray this simple prayer and you will soon see the blessings of the Lord: Teach me thy way O Lord; I will walk in thy truthPsalm 86:11

 

This is the way, so now walk in it

Whether you turn to the right or the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you saying, “This is the way; walk ye in it”  Isaiah 30:21 

Path of GodWhen we have decisions to make and doubts are flooding our soul and others suggest courses of action that are conflicting, when caution dictates one approach but faith the other, it is the time to stop and be still.  The scripture says, “Be still and know, I am God” (Psalm 46:10).  This gives us the permission that it is “ok” to quiet the intruding opinion of others around us and then calm ourselves into the stillness of God’s presence and wait to hear His gentile voice.

It sometimes takes courage to wait in silence trusting that He will not be silent. It takes courage to bypass all the words of well meaning friends.  It takes courage to not be pulled by those who are insisting on an immediate decision or action.  It takes courage to wait on, trust in, and rely on the Lord to direct you in those difficult decisions.

God is ever present in times of trouble.  When important decisions need to be made, you will hear His voice behind you saying, “This is the way, walk ye in it.” Once you hear clearly and the decision is made, a friend may then be used by the Lord to give confirmation and support. So be still and wait on the Lord, He is not silent.

“Unto you do I cry, O Lord my rock, be not deaf and silent to me…”  Psalm 28:1

The Right Path: Lord, as I still myself before You, help me to block out all intruding thoughts and opinions. I pray as David did that You will not be silent, I ask You to speak to me and give me direction in each decision I am making today. I desire to hear You say: “This is the way, walk in it.”

Stay on the Right Path

 

Show me thy ways, O Lord and show me thy paths. Lead me in thy truth, and teach mePsalm 25:4

stay on the pathThe Psalmist is praying, asking God to show him His ways – the right way.  We are all faced daily with decisions and desire to know the right way, or the right answer.  The Psalmist David was asking for the Lord to show him a path to walk on, and to make it clear so he would know which way to go. I believe when we ask the Lord, He will make His way very plain and clear.

The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, and He delights in his way.”  Psalm 37:23 

His ways are so much higher than our ways, that we must wait on Him to reveal the higher or better way. The prophet Isaiah knew about the ways of God. He said they were like a highway to walk on. So the path leads up to a highway. A higher way, and a higher goal to reach. To reach a higher goal you must establish a higher standard for your life.  So ponder the path you have been walking on and ask the Lord to lead you on the path to His High Way!  Stay on that Path and don’t veer to the right or the left.  The High Way is straight ahead.

“… he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.”  Psalm 23:3b

 “Lead me, O Lord, in thy righteousness because of mine enemies;

 make thy way straight before my face.”  Psalm 5:8

The Path: Establish a Standard of Righteousness for your life and for your home. When you commit your ways to the Lord, He will direct you.

Keep a Journal of your Blessings

“Our fathers in Egypt understood not nor appreciated Your miracles; they did not earnestly remember the multitude of Your mercies nor imprint Your loving-kindness [on their heart], but they were rebellious and provoked the Lord at the sea, even at the Red Sea.” Psalm 106: 7

write it downI have found that when I write something down I am able to remember it. I have even written down a grocery list and then left the list in the car but, because I wrote out the grocery list I was able to remember the items on my list.

I recently had a dream that re-enforced the importance of writing things down.  In the dream the hardest math equation on earth was placed before me.  In the dream, I was told that the math equation represented the bondage that so many people were in.  I was told that if I could figure out the equation I could help these people get free.

In school I struggled in math, but, in the dream I was able to figure the equation out.  The key to figuring out the equation was to write it down.

As I read this verse I was reminded of the importance of keeping a journal, of writing down and recording the wonderful blessings of the Lord.  We experience God’s loving-kindness every day of our life.  But, when we fail to keep an account of all the marvelous ways He works in our life, we can soon forget.  We can step into the trap that the children of Israel were in. They did not appreciate God’s miracles or His daily provision. Therefore, they began to grumble complain about what He did not do.

Could it be that they could not see the right path to take because they failed to remember the goodness of God?  Could it be that this is a major key to keeping out eyes fixed upon the Lord?  The children of Israel strayed off track and wondered in the wilderness for 40 years, because they failed to imprint His goodness on their heart.

This is a lesson we must learn, to keep our eyes upon the Lord, to record His miracles, mercy and loving kindness every day and He will direct our path.

God’s Purpose for Your Life

“I will cry to God Most High …who brings to pass His purposes for me and surely completes them.”  Psalms 57:2 AMP

what is my purposeDo you seek and desire to know what is your purpose?  You may be wondering, “Why am I here and what am I suppose to do with my life?”

So many times we run here and there pursuing this idea or that idea trying to discover God’s purpose for our life.

We read in Psalms 57:2 that God has established His purpose for each of us and He will bring it to pass. All we do is continue pursuing Him.

We must stop imagining castles in the sky and pursuing our own foolish, lofty ideas so our soul can find rest and peace in the Lord. Our purpose is to pursue God, to love Him, to worship Him and enjoy fellowship with Him. Then our purpose will be an overflow of our relationship with Him.