Decisions

A researcher from Columbia University put together a study on decision making, and concluded that the average person makes 70 decisions a day. That number turns into 25,500 a year, and a whopping 1,788, 500 decisions over 70 years. Most of these decisions are minor and insignificant. Choosing what to wear in the morning, what to eat for breakfast, or where to go for dinner certainly has some bearing, but those choices rarely lead to anything monumental. Other choices carry greater impact. Deciding whether or not to pop the question (or to say yes if he does), what to study in college (or whether to go at all), and whether to accept the job (or leave the current one) have long-term consequences. Some decisions seem unimportant at the time, but can have lasting results.

One decision stands out above all others because it has eternal ramifications. The choice to make Jesus Christ the Lord and Savior of one’s life is the best decision that a person can make. This is a one-time decision as it relates to salvation, but a Christian must make a similar decision each day. Jesus said anyone desiring to follow Him must “deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow” Jesus (Luke 9:23). I only need to give my heart to the Lord once, but each day I have to choose whether or not I will live like it. Among the 70 decisions I will make each day, several of those involve choosing to willfully sin, or else choosing to deny the desire and make choices that are pleasing to God.

Other choices believers must make include putting on the full armor of God (Ephesians 6:10-18), manifesting the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23), meditating on the Bible (Psalm 1:1-2), and keeping an open line of communication with the Father (I Thessalonians 5:17). Some daily choices are insignificant, and others are just the opposite; but if the spiritual decisions are right, everything else will fall into place. If you have never made Jesus the Lord of your life, the best choice you can make today is to call out to Him for salvation. If He is already your Lord, keep choosing to honor Him with each decision you make.

Separation

In the Bible’s opening chapter we see God create every tangible thing in the universe, but He also created some intangible things. For example God created time, days, the seven-day week, and the Sabbath concept of a day of rest. But He also gave us a glimpse of something that would prove to be the imperative doctrine of separation.

Notice the repetition of the verb separate in just five verses of Genesis 1:

6 Then God said, “Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” 7 Thus God made the firmament, and separated the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament; and it was so…14 Then God said, “Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to separate the day from the night; and let them be for signs and seasons, and for days and years…17 God set [the sun and moon] in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth, 18 and to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness.

Four times in five verses we see separation. I believe God inspired Moses to emphasize this separation because it was a foreshadowing of salvation and the Christian life. Separation is synonymous with holiness, and God is holy. God is completely unlike anything in the universe, so we can say that God is separate. He is separate from Allah, separate from Buddha, separate from Zeus. That is why He declares, “I am Yahweh, beside me there is no other (Isaiah 45:5).”

In order for us to be saved we must also become separated from the world. The Father instructs us to “Come out from among them and be separate…Do not touch what is unclean (2 Corinthians 6:17),” and “Be Holy for I am holy (1 Peter 1:16).” We must chose to become so unlike the world that we stand out like a sore thumb.

Holiness, the process of separating ourselves, remains an ongoing work as long as we live down here. A third synonym for separation and holiness is sanctification, which Paul stated was the will of the Lord for our lives (1 Thessalonians 4:3). The more we are sanctified the more the world will notice our good works and glorify our Father in heaven.

Just as the Creator separated light from darkness during the first week, He will one day separate the sheep from the goats. To the former He will say, “Well done;” to the latter He will say, “Depart from me.” Separate yourself from the world now, or you may be separated on Judgment Day.

Resolved to Give All

As 2017 draws to a close many of you have made resolutions for the coming year. If you’re honest, some of those same resolutions appear on the list year after year, but this time you mean it. I’ve never been big on making resolutions, but I am making one this year. Maybe you will consider making this resolution with me.

This time of year always makes me think about an old choir anthem we used to sing in Florida called Firmly Committed. Here is the chorus:

I am firmly committed to the cause of Christ,

Determined to serve Him for the rest of my life

Resolved to give all, no matter the price

I am firmly committed to the cause of Christ.

If you are looking for a New Year’s resolution, will you consider resolving to give all for Christ? While that is an all-encompassing resolution, I want to give you four specific areas in which we can resolve to give all this year.

First, in study. 2 Timothy 2:15 says we should study in order to rightly interpret the Word of truth. Psalm 1:2 says the blessed man will meditate on God’s word day and night. In this new year we should determine to study God’s word more so that we can be better equipped for life.

Next, in service. At the end of Paul’s life he was able to confidently write that he had run the race well and finished his course; he knew that rewards awaited him because of his life’s ministry (2 Timothy 4:5-7). We often speak of the end of a Christian’s life in terms of God calling that person home. My goal is to give away so much of myself in service that there isn’t much left for God to take when that time comes.

Third, in soul-winning. While there are many important things in life, none trumps telling someone about Jesus. In 1 Corinthians 2:2 Paul reminded the church that his resolution was to focus on the things of Christ when he was with them. We need to determine to share the gospel with more people in 2018.

Finally, in sanctification. Sanctification is the process of becoming more like Jesus every day. It involves purging old sin and abstaining from it (2 Timothy 2:21, 1 Thessalonians 4:3). Are you more like Christ at the end of 2017 than you were at the beginning of it? You should be, and you should determine to be more like Him at the end of 2018.

If you will join me in resolving to give all in 2018, I believe this world will be a much better place this time next year.

A Bad Dream

Have you ever wondered what a three-year-old dreams about?

Our son TJ awoke in a panic during the night recently after having a nightmare. He was crying and yelling for his mom because I had thrown his prized Finding Nemo chap stick outside. I tried to tell him that I had done no such thing, but seeing me only made him more upset. "You're mean," he screamed at me. Even when I produced the chap stick in question from the shelf where it always resides, his only response was, "Please don't throw it outside again."

Sometimes it can be hard to separate fiction from reality. What we know must be true doesn't always pan out. Sometimes the reason for this is we have been deceived.

Satan loves to make Christians think less of themselves. He will endlessly remind us of our past mistakes, and try to convince us that we are no better than what we used to be. Don't identify yourself by what you used to do; instead, we should understand who we are in Christ—forgiven children of God clothed in the righteousness of Jesus. 

Paul told the Thessalonian believers that the ungodly will not inherit the kingdom of God, and his list of offenses included drunkards, murderers, sexually immoral, thieves, and pagans. He continued, “Such were some of you, but you are washed, you are sanctified, you are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. (1Thessalonians 6:9-11).”

Paul made their sin past tense. They were no longer immoral because they had been washed; they were no longer pagans because they had been sanctified; they were no longer thieves because they had been justified. So the next time anyone tells you, “once an alcoholic (or any other form of sin), always an alcoholic,” remember this verse. Once you have been set free, you are free indeed.

Believing you are still what you once were is as silly as thinking I threw chap stick outside at 2:00 AM.

The Will of God

If you were at Philippi last Sunday morning you heard Pastor Brad talk about the will of God. Many people make this will out to be a mystery, which it is not. God’s plans may be a mystery, but His will is pretty clear. Romans 12:1 tells us that we can know God’s perfect will (if we present our bodies as a living sacrifice), so this devotion is adapted from last Sunday morning’s message.

I Thessalonians 4:3 says, “For this is the will of God: your sanctification…” God’s will is not a mystery because this verse clearly tells us that God’s will is for us to be sanctified. What does it mean to be sanctified? Read on. It says, “…that you abstain from sexual immorality; not in passion of lusts like the Gentiles, who do not know God…for God did not call us to uncleanness, but in holiness.”

We cannot argue with these verses. God’s perfect will for our lives is that we totally abstain from anything unclean. To fail to do that is to be outside the will of God. But that is not it; let’s look at what Jesus said about those who do not do the will of God.

Matthew 7:21 says, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name, cast out demons in your name, and done many wonders in your name?’ And then I will declare to them, I never knew you; depart from me, you who practice lawlessness!”

So every person must first turn from their sin and turn to God for salvation, for this is God’s will. Then that person will automatically want to stay away from uncleanness because they have been changed. If they do not, they probably have not been changed by God. Have you? Are you doing God’s will?