Our Choices Will Determine Our Destiny Series

INTRODUCTION:

Last week we talked about developing the attitude of steadfastness.

We learned about the distinction between faithfulness and steadfastness.

While faithfulness means being reliable, being trustworthy or devoted to the cause of Christ.

Steadfastness on the other hand means the ability to be fixed in one direction, to be steadily directed and to have an unwavering faith on God in the midst of great trouble and difficulty we are facing.

Faithfulness is finishing the race under normal circumstances.

Steadfastness on the other hand is finishing the race under very difficult circumstances.

And so, last week, we talked about three important things on how to be steadfast in the work of the Lord.

By being strong and not turning aside to the left or to the right.

By not serving the idols and not bowing down to them and

By holding fast to the Lord our God.

My prayer is that we will always be steadfast, immovable and always abounding in the work of the Lord knowing that in the Lord, our labor is not in vain.

Today, we will talk about the simple choices that we make each day that will determine our ultimate destiny.

You see, every single day, we make choices on what we will do with our time, on what we will put in our mind, on what we will do with our money, on the people we will meet or talk to and many other things concerning life.

Each time we make those simple to complicated choices, without knowing it, we make another step toward fulfilling our destiny.

Each time that we make those choices in life, our Christian growth is affected.

It is either to help us mature in the faith or to erode the very foundation of our beliefs.

Hence, the choices we make in life are very important for our destiny.

The word choices means the power to select, the power to take alternative action, the ability to make the decision or distinction or to choose your favorite course of action.

God has given us the free will to think and choose accordingly.

We are not robots, and so, He gives us the freedom to choose our destiny.

However, because of our sinful nature, we always have the tendency to make wrong choices in life.

Because we based our choices on what is convenient for us, on what is pleasing to our eyes, on the options that will give us great pleasure and what will make us popular before the world.

And many times, those choices we make are not in accordance to God's word and therefore, we suffer the consequences of our actions.

But if we have the truth of God's Word in our hearts, we have the tendency to make the right choices and avoid a downward trend.

We must therefore learn how to make the right choices in life that will help our destiny to be brighter and more successful.

We are now in the last chapter of the Book of Joshua.

It took us several months to finish this beautiful Book.

Next week, we will start a new series on the Book of Judges as we continue to study the ongoing experiences of the Israelites particularly in the Promised Land.

Here in this last chapter of the book of Joshua, we find all the tribes of Israel being assembled at Shechem.

As I said last week, Joshua was old in years and about to die and so, he reminded them about the history of their ancestors.

He started with the call of Abraham whom God took from worshiping idols to become the father of many nations.

From Abraham came his son Isaac, then from Isaac came Jacob and Esau.

Then, eventually, Jacob became Israel who had twelves sons one of whom was Joseph who became the second man in command of all Egypt.

Eventually, he took Israel to Egypt during the great famine in the land.

There they stayed for many years until God called Moses to deliver them from the hands of Pharaoh.

With a mighty hand, God brought them out of Egypt and divided the Red Sea so that they could cross drowning all the armies of Pharaohs.

Then, they lived in the wilderness for a long time until they learned their lessons and began to conquer the Amorites in order to possess the Promised Land.

Finally they crossed the Jordan and came to Jericho where numerous battles occurred and in all these things, God gave them victory.

In short, God gave them productive land did not not toil, cities they did not build and vineyards they did not plant.

These are all part of God's blessings upon Israel when they made the right choice to obey God.

Now, Joshua warned them that in his absence, they will be responsible to choose their own destiny.