Choose You This Day!
Introduction
One of the things that we love about America is our ability to make choices – freely. If we disagree with something, we have a choice not to support it. Our Constitution says that we are all equal and have the right to pursue our happiness. Choices. If you wake up in the morning and decide not to eat breakfast – it’s a choice. When you chose what clothes you will wear that day, it’s a choice. If you choose not to go to work because you want to play golf, it’s a choice, maybe not the smartest choice, but a choice none the less. My point is that everyday we are free to make choices, we have the right, the freedom to choose what we want to do. We have laws in place to govern our actions, yet if we choose to break them, it is our choice. Imagine what our lives would be like without the freedom to make choices, we have fought wars to gain this freedom for others and ourselves. With all of this freedom, the expressions of self that permeates everything that we do, sometimes those very same freedoms and/or expressions can place us in bondage to the world around us. We start to live and express ourselves based on the “image” that is given to others versus what is truly on the inside of us. When this happens we lose a little of ourselves.
Three weeks ago I started this message talking about how good our lives are. You may remember me telling you about George Dawson, the 98-year-old man who enrolled in school to learn to read and write. Remember his father’s philosophy was that life is so good – regardless of our circumstances. I gave you the example of someone giving you the gift of a bread-making machine, how some reject that gift and how others accept it but never use it. It sits on their counter looking pretty, but never becoming functional, doing what it was made to do. This morning I want to finish this message by talking about the one that actually uses the bread-making machine to make bread. In each one of these examples, it came down to a choice. Each person makes a choice as to what they will do with the gift that is given to them – so I want to show you the gift and encourage you to take it and use it.
When we talk to someone who is gifted in an area and they chose not to use those gifts, we talk about them – bad. We say they are wasting their God-given talents. We also make statements like “they should be ashamed of themselves or if I had those gifts I would do such and such”. All of these comments are made because we see something valuable just wasting away when it could be put to good use. That is how I want you to envision your spiritual walk today – do you have gifts that are just wasting away? Have you fully accepted your salvation through Christ and all of the benefits that come alone with it or are you just saved and glad to be so. Your answer to the question determines your faith walk with Christ. I want each of you for the rest of this message to concentrate on yourselves, not the person sitting next to you or someone else that you know. Let the standard of comparison be Christ and what He has done and given to us – not fallible man. What gift have you been given and what gifts have you chosen not to fully utilize? Where are you in your personal walk with Christ? Is He your Savior in every situation or is He just the one who delivered you from hell? Where are you in the “big picture”?
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I. Making The Choice
When Joshua was giving his farewell address as he was preparing to die, he remembered everything that the Children of Israel had done since they left Egypt. He knew of their potential to turn from the Lord after their own wicked ways. As he prepared to make his last transition, he said to the people “If it is disagreeable in your sight to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves today whom you will serve: whether the gods which your fathers served which were beyond the river, or the gods of the Ammorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” Joshua asked the people to make a choice as to who they would serve – it was up to them. But even on his deathbed, he proclaimed that he and his house would continue to serve the Lord. How could he make such a statement on his deathbed? It was obvious that Joshua had taught his family about what God had done for him, how he was one of two who lived to see the Promised Land after the Children of Israel’s disobedience. It is clear that they had a faith in God that would not be shaken, so clear was their faith that Joshua felt that he could say that they would continue to serve the Lord. Sometimes our faith gets weak and we are not able to serve God as we would, but Joshua basically said he had come too far to turn back now – he chose to continue serving the Lord. I ask you as Joshua asked them – “who will you serve”?
All through the Bible we see examples of where choices had to be made. Sometimes the choices were easy, sometimes they were not. In those situations, the course changed once a choice had been made. Everyday our future is written based on the choices that we make; every choice has a consequence. When Jesus chose His twelve disciples, He understood what motion had been placed into action with Judas. When the disciples chose to walk with Him, they learned to understand what this walk would mean. This is where I want to take you today. You have accepted Christ and you are saved, but I want you to do more than just accept Him, I want you to experience Him, now while you are yet living. Yes salvation is the ultimate, but while you are living here on earth, you can experience Jesus.
Remember the bread making machine example? The person who truly experiences Jesus is like the man who received the machine, read the directions, brought the ingredients and began to make bread. No longer did he have to go to the store and buy bread that was several days old, he could make his own, fresh, hot, ready to eat. The other people had the same opportunity that he did, but they chose not to accept or to use the machine. Such a waste. Well it is the same thing with us, there are many Christians who are living just to die and go to heaven. They believe that suffering is good, that they deserve to suffer and not have anything, that the Word of God is a battering ram to beat people over the head with instead of a demonstration of love. So the choice that each of us must make today, right here, right now is simple: will we chose to walk in the fullness of Christ, understanding what He has done and continues to do for us through the Holy Spirit? This is our choice for 2003.
I cannot go into every benefit that is available to you through Christ, but I do want to touch on a few just to give you an idea of what is available to you. Again – the choice to receive is yours.
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II. Additional Gifts
You already know that salvation comes through our acceptance of Christ as our Savior. Once you have received salvation, you wait patiently until you die to receive the blessing of salvation. But as I said before, there are other gifts available to you as you wait on your salvation. Here are a few of them just to get you motivated to see them out:
• Peace: All of us experience troubling situations in this life. I remember a song that Mahalia Jackson sung that said, "soon I will be done with the troubles of the world…going home to live with God.” The song says there will be no more weeping and wailing once we get to heaven. I often think of that song when I am dealing with troubling situations, but lately I have been singing something different. Instead of singing that song of waiting to get to heaven, I sing “I’m so glad Jesus lifted me.” Now do not get me wrong, I love the song by Mahalia Jackson, but when I am troubled, I need to be reminded that my problem solver is here with me, I do not have to wait until I get to heaven. Psalms 30:5 says “…Weeping may last for the night, but a shout of joy comes in the morning.” I do not want to wait until I get to heaven for my troubles to be over, I want some of those troubles solved right here on earth. When I sing “I’m so glad that Jesus lifted me” I am reminded that He is with me right now – I have the victory. There is another song that I love that says “Victory is mine…” That victory is right here on earth with me – no more waiting. Praise the Lord! Jesus said in John 14:27 that “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give you, not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, not let it be fearful.” I am standing on this promise – what about you?
• Food & Clothing: We live much better than our parents ever did. Our parents dreamed that their kids would achieve more and have more than they did and we do. Part of our daily struggle is that we worry about things that rightly is not our responsibility. For example, with all of the blessings that God has given us, we should not be worrying about our food and our clothing – provisional things. You see there was a time when people worried because there was no food in the house, or because they had no clothes to wear. Today, we spend much of our time worrying about what “kind” of food we will be eating or “what” name brand clothes we are in need of. You see where we have come from. We are so used to having that we are accustomed to living beyond our means. Jesus said in Matthew 6:31-32 “Do not worry then saying, ‘what will we eat?’ or “what will we drink?’ or ‘what will we wear for clothing?’ For the gentiles eagerly seek all of these things; for your heavenly father knows that you need all these things.” When it came to worrying about these things and others, I was the kind. No one could worry like me. Even when I was a child, I was worrying. I remember when I was in the 5th grade I was given medication for my stomach because I worried all the time. I worried about what I would eat, if I had the right clothes, what girl would like me the next day, if my parents had enough money to pay the bills, you name it, I could worry about it. It took a long time for me to get out of that – I still worry sometimes, but nothing like I used to. This is a promise to us, there are some things we do not have to worry about – provisions have already been made for us. God will handle our needs.
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• Healing: All of us have dealt with sickness at some point in our lives, either it was us or someone that we knew. Sometimes the sickness is simple, like a cold or headache and sometimes they are much more serious. But the healer is the same regardless of the disease and the healing is the same. James 5:14-16 says “Is anyone among you sick? Then he must call for the elders of the church and they are to pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord; and the prayer offered in faith will restore the one sick, and the Lord will raise him up and if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him.” This is a promise for us – healing is available to us. I have told people that if I am sick, do not pray that God will comfort me in my sickness, pray for me to be healed. If you do not have faith for me to be healed, please do not tell me. This is why we can rejoice and praise God through everything. We do not have to have all of the answers, we just need to be connected to the one who is making the decisions – God. Does that mean I can stop going to the doctor or stop taking my medicine? No not at all. But what it does mean that healing is available to us and we need to claim that which is rightfully ours.
• Success: A lot is being printed now about the prayer of Jabez, how he prayed to God that He would bless him and enlarge his borders (1 Chr. 4:10). The power of success is becoming ever so popular. There are those that believe that your success is indicative of your relationship with God. I know a lot of sinners who are much more profitable than I am – remember Satan can give wealth also. But my point is this, all of us want to be blessed in this life – but we have to make the choice. Look at what David said in Psalms 1:1-3 “How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the path of sinners, nor sit in the seat of the scoffers! But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night. He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water which yields its fruit in its season and its leaf does not wither; and whatever he does he prospers.” If you want to walk in the promise that God has given us for success, here it is. This is the secret formula; you can claim it as your own. Does this promise you that you will be rich, no, but it says whatever you do you will prosper. So if you do not do anything, you cannot expect to prosper from what you do not do. It is a choice.
III. Making It Plain
I have given you several examples of gifts that are available to you; all you have to do is reach out and exercise your rights and take them. There is nothing in this world that you cannot accomplish with the Lord on your side. Are you ready to make bread, or are you taking your bread making machine and placing it on the counter as decoration. Do you want to experience Jesus, or do you want to wait until you “get to heaven” to receive your rewards. It is all about choices. God will do for you what you will allow Him to do. The Holy Spirit was sent here to help us, but how much help we get is also up to us. No one in the Bible was ever the same after having a personal interaction with Jesus. They were able to see their lives and see that they were in need. Once that need was fulfilled, none of them went back to being the way they were before that interaction.
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Think about it – not that you are saved, you are different. You have things that available to you, but you must get up off of your backside and receive them. There are a lot of things you can do while sitting on your “morals” but you can sure get a lot more done when you are up and moving. The benefits of serving Christ does not mean that He is an ATM machine and we can walk up and get blessings whenever we need them. We should walk in blessing daily and that requires a change in our attitudes. Remember your ability to see what God is doing is based on your sunglasses – remember them? The sunglasses that you wear will filter out things that God is trying to get to you. Just like our natural sunglasses block out the harmful rays of the sun, our emotional sunglasses block out our reception and perception of what God is doing all around us. It is a matter of choice.
Conclusion
When I started this message it was the first of December. Now it is the first Sunday of January and I believe this message is on time. New Light Baptist Church will not be the same Church that we were last year. We will grow spiritually and physically. We will experience God on a personal level – from the children to the adults. We will learn the meaning of love in a fellowship, where fighting and discord is not mentioned among the membership. Where self-adoration and promotion succumbs to the Spirit of God and what is best for the entire body. We will experience joy, unlike anything that we witnessed in 2002. We will experience our members walking in what God has called and anointed them to do. We will experience grace – in our good times, our bad times, our successes and our failures. We will experience God this year. It is a choice.
I feel like Joshua this morning – I feel I can speak this for our Church family. As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. Stand to your feet.
