Words Of Encouragement To Start The Day (Tuesday 05/03/2011)

Just Because You Don’t; Don’t Ask Me To Stop!

Joshua 24:14-16 (Amplified Bible)

¹⁴Now therefore, [reverently] fear the Lord and serve Him in sincerity and in truth; put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the [Euphrates] River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. ¹⁵And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served on the other side of 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. ¹⁶The people answered, Far be it from us to forsake the Lord to serve other gods;

            Have you ever had someone tell you they don’t want to hear about what is important to you but they want you to talk about what is important to them, and they want you to hear them out, about “how they are living?”  I have to say I have no issue with how people want to live, what they believe or don’t believe, but my feeling is don’t ask me to change who I am, what I believe or what I will talk about to suit your needs, just because it may challenge you to think out of the box we often put ourselves in or especially if it means that I will neglect to give God honor, glory or praise.  You see this may not be your cup of tea, but it is who I am, it is as natural as breathing to me and so many others.

            I have noticed that we are in a strange season, this is a season of put up or shut up, a season of who’s side are you really on and we are being faced with some unique circumstances and situations and no matter how in control we think we have it, before long we are going to need God.  Some of us don’t have to wait for tragedy to strike to get the fact that God is strength and the source of our life. While there are others of us who have not figured it out yet or have gotten side tracked by the universal, spiritual theory, or about us being god with a little “g,” and we are missing the fact that Jesus is Lord, He is truly the King of King and Lord of Lords.   You see many years ago I learned that I needed God, like I needed air to breath and there would never be another day that anyone would ever keep me from honoring God not just with my words, but with my life.  I have been called Holy Roller, Holier than thou and I have had my walk called unreasonable because I was not doing certain things like having sex out of wedlock, or lying, compromising, cheating or taking what did not belong to me, or even benefiting from another’s mistake.  But this has been my choice, and if it not someone else’s that is fine, but don’t ask me not to be who God created me and ordained me to be.  We should not ask people to bend their spiritual stance, belief in God or morale fiber just to keep our conscious in check.

            The Bible encourages us in Proverbs 16:25, by saying, “There is a way that seems right to a man and appears straight before him, but at the end of it is the way of death.” In Proverbs 21:2, it says, that “Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs and tries the hearts.” You see all that we say do, all comes down to what is in right standing, obedience and compliance to the will of God for our lives. We can pave our own way, make our mark and write our own story, but in truth only what we do for Christ will last.  So even if your way is best for you, don’t ask someone else to give up their worship, their honor, love and praise towards God just because we have decided to cast and place our confidence in our flesh and not in the one who has created Heaven and earth.  Just like Joshua said to the children of Israel, that they had a choice, we all have that same choice, but as His choice was to serve the Lord and give Him all the glory, so it is mine to do the same!