Make The Right Choice!

Joshua 24:14-15

“Now therefore, fear the Lord, serve Him in sincerity and in truth, and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the River and in Egypt. Serve the Lord! And 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 that were 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.”

I've learned so much over these last few years, and I haven't been posting as many messages as I once did, mainly because I needed to put into practice all the spiritual principles I have learned and the foundational teachings of Jesus Christ. Like love your neighbor as yourself, love your enemies, etc... principles that are much easier said than done, because how can you truly love your brother, your enemy, your neighbor, even God Himself if you don't have genuine love in your heart?

You may be able to do it in your flesh for some time, but eventually there will be issues that arise that will test your soul and you will find out exactly who you really are. It's all about choices, will you choose to obey God and do what is right? Be built up in your faith as you live a daily life for Christ, taking up your cross and following Him everyday, or will you choose your flesh and the pleasures of this world?

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego had a choice to make when King Nebuchadnezzar erected a sixty cubit (90 foot!) idol statue of gold and commanded all the people of the provinces to fall down and worship the gold image.

Daniel 3:4-6,13-18

"Then a herald cried aloud: “To you it is commanded, O peoples, nations, and languages, that at the time you hear the sound of the horn, flute, harp, lyre, and psaltery, in symphony with all kinds of music, you shall fall down and worship the gold image that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up; and whoever does not fall down and worship shall be cast immediately into the midst of a burning fiery furnace.”

"Then Nebuchadnezzar, in rage and fury, gave the command to bring Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego. So they brought these men before the king. Nebuchadnezzar spoke, saying to them, “Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the gold image which I have set up? Now if you are ready at the time you hear the sound of the horn, flute, harp, lyre, and psaltery, in symphony with all kinds of music, and you fall down and worship the image which I have made, good! But if you do not worship, you shall be cast immediately into the midst of a burning fiery furnace. And who is the god who will deliver you from my hands?”

"Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If that is the case, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king. But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up.”

The three men of God made the right choice! They knew that God was ABLE to deliver them and said to the King, but if He does not, we don't serve your gods nor will we worship the gold statue that you have set up. Their faith, trust, and relationship to God gave them the ability to stand up to the King, even though he was enraged and full of fury, which I can imagine was a very fearful sight, but not to Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego! The Lord blessed their faith and trust in Him and delivered them in a mighty way!

Peter had a choice to make when faced with questions of whether or not he was a disciple of Jesus.

Matthew 26:69-75

"Now Peter sat outside in the courtyard. And a servant girl came to him, saying, “You also were with Jesus of Galilee.” But he denied it before them all, saying, “I do not know what you are saying.” And when he had gone out to the gateway, another girl saw him and said to those who were there, “This fellow also was with Jesus of Nazareth.” But again he denied with an oath, “I do not know the Man!” And a little later those who stood by came up and said to Peter, “Surely you also are one of them, for your speech betrays you.” Then he began to curse and swear, saying, “I do not know the Man!” Immediately a rooster crowed. And Peter remembered the word of Jesus who had said to him, “Before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.” So he went out and wept bitterly."

Peter made the wrong choices and he had three chances to get it right! Obviously he was not ready in his soul to stand with Jesus and proclaim the truth of his relationship to Jesus. Who knows what was going through Peter's mind at the time, fear of death, shame, self preservation?

If he didn't deny Jesus three times would he have been taken and crucified with Jesus? Or perhaps the Lord would have protected him and blessed him because of his faith and allegiance? Thank God for His love and mercy because He forgives us and remembers that we were formed from the dust of the earth. Jesus forgave Peter for denying Him and ended up using Peter greatly to preach his gospel to the Jews and to do mighty works by His power in Jesus name.

The time is near for the last days saints to take their stand as well, against the man of sin and the false prophet. The scriptures tell us that many Christians will become martyrs for Jesus because they will not worship the beast and his image.

Revelation 20:4-6

"And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years."

What choice will you make? Your immortal soul depends on it!

In Jesus,
Tyrone

Hardened To The Way!

How is it that the Pharisees and Jews chose to release Barabbas over Jesus? What had Jesus done to deserve the punishment He was receiving? Absolutely NOTHING!

But the people hated Him because He told them that their deeds were evil. And they wanted someone like themselves and Jesus was and IS completely opposite of who they were.

John 7:7

"The world cannot hate you, but it hates Me because I testify of it that its works are evil." 

And like my Master, Jesus Christ, I also testify that the works of this world are evil and have grown worse and worse over the last two millennia since Jesus walked this earth in a physical body.

The times we live in today are not much different than the days of Jesus earthly ministry, and I often wonder how could so many resist God manifested in the flesh? How could they deny His great grace and love? Why didn't they recognize their Messiah? And how could they ultimately charge Him with blasphemy? Crucify and murder the Lord of Glory who was absolutely perfect in every way, without sin and holy, keeping the law of God perfectly.

So many questions and I could go on, but the answer would be the same for them all. They were HARDENED to the WAY! Hard in the heart, depraved in the mind, full of evil and devoid of the love of God. And so is every soul today that is not filled with the Spirit of the Living God and pressing on towards holiness, righteousness, and the kingdom of God!

And if you are thinking within yourself that you would have recognized Jesus, followed Him, obeyed Him, and loved Him to the death, be very careful, and remember the first disciples all said the same thing and all of them left Jesus when the hour of evil came against them. Peter followed at a distance and later denied Jesus three times even after being with Him day and night for three and a half years!

Jesus said this to the Pharisees in Matthew 23:29-32

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous, and say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.’ “Therefore you are witnesses against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers’ guilt."

Even after the resurrection of Jesus, His disciples hearts were still hard!

Mark 16:14

Later He appeared to the eleven as they sat at the table; and He rebuked their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they did not believe those who had seen Him after He had risen.

The woman at the well didn't have a clue who Jesus was and didn't even perceive He was different from anybody else until He spoke the revelation He received from the Father about the woman's life.

John 4:7-10, 16-19, 25-26

"A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give Me a drink.” For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food. Then the woman of Samaria said to Him, “How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans. Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.”

"Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.” The woman answered and said, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You have well said, ‘I have no husband,’ for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; in that you spoke truly.” The woman said to Him, “Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet."

"The woman said to Him, “I know that Messiah is coming” (who is called Christ). “When He comes, He will tell us all things.” Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am He.”

Wow! What an experience the woman at the well had with the Savior of the world!

Paul had to deal with the same hardness of people who reject the gospel.

Acts 19:8-9

"And he went into the synagogue and spoke boldly for three months, reasoning and persuading concerning the things of the kingdom of God. But when some were hardened and did not believe, but spoke evil of the Way before the multitude, he departed from them and withdrew the disciples, reasoning daily in the school of Tyrannus."

How easy it is to harden your heart to God's word, His grace, His love, you just do what comes naturally when the Spirit comes to convict and lead you to repentance, you just say no, you resist Him, you walk away and go on with your life, loving the pleasures of the flesh and this world.

2nd Timothy 3:1-5

"But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!"

Did you know that you can become so hard that you can be beyond feelings?

Ephesians 4:17-19

"This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind, having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart; who, being past feeling, have given themselves over to lewdness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.

Hebrews 3:12-15

"Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God; but exhort one another daily, while it is called “Today,” lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. For we have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end, while it is said: “Today, if you will hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.”

If the word of God pricks your flesh and His Spirit convicts you of sin, righteousness, and judgment, don't resist Him, surrender and humble yourself in the sight of the Lord and He will lift you up!

In Jesus,
Tyrone