Special Replay: Clear Choice For Christians
The clear choice is obvious for a Christian who is faced with obstacles, debates, and sadness that threatens to push us into depression. What can we do? The choice is clear. Listen to this episode of A Few Minutes with God.
For immediate download: A Few Minutes with God plus study guide
Truth Seekers Mystery Series – Entire Set and Study Guides
One More Child: Book
The noise is deafening all around us. There is an upheaval that is unparalleled in my lifetime and people are asking, “What is happening to our world?” The short answer is when you take God out of the schools and you secularize life, you end up with godless people who are easily swayed by thoughts of free money and government handouts. The long answer is that it is way more complex.
A familiar scripture is, John 3:16: “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” And the clear choice is to follow Him and to imitate Him. How do we do this? There has always been and will always be until the end of time a conflict between good and bad, right and wrong, evil and righteousness. When things seem unfair we can look to the cross and see the ultimate injustice upon a sinless redeemer.
The end of the story is that God wins. All the time. And that is our hope and where our salvation rests. We see the hand of the Lord in every day in our lives. In the beautiful weather, or after a rainstorm when we see the glorious rainbow. Or where I live we see those beautiful sunsets.
What is robbing you of your peace? Think about this and jot down those things that make you anxious or angry.
Here is a quick list:
- The news. Social media. Turn it off.
- The latest text, or email. Wait to answer it. Set times when you do this and keep to schedule.
- Lack of time in prayer with the Lord. Prayer works. I promise.
In real life, it isn’t practical to believe we can be peaceful twenty-four-seven, yet when we are stressed we should be able to take a deep breath and regroup. In the night if I wake up I begin praising God, simply saying, “I praise you and I thank you, Lord God. Jesus I trust in you.” Or something similar to this and it calms me and soon I am back to sleep.
The level of anger and helplessness felt in the lives of many the past few months has been overwhelming. This past year in fact has been one for the history books. And so many have fallen prey to depression and anxiety. In fact, for a time I personally pulled away from social media and all news, except for short recaps on a news outlet I follow online. With so much disinformation — a word we barely used a few years ago, who knows what to believe. And it is best to continue on with my work and to focus on what is important in my own life.
We see family members at odds. Friends at odds. And it seems to only get worse every day. Who profits from this anger? No one. In fact, my next podcast is on that very subject. How to talk to people who are at odds in a way that is befitting a Christian! Kindness with Words.
As a Christian, the choice I make every day is very clear. I chose Christ. But for those who are lost who do they choose? I meet people on occasion that are confused, sad, and frankly, scared. They are worried about what is happening in our world. And the news sensationalizes it all to keep us in a state of fear and panic so we are glued to the screen to see the next latest greatest word. Believe me, I’ve been there. But now. I chose God. I chose peace. I chose joy. As I write this it is a new year and the calendar has turned. Our life is a choice, our free will is in force and our free will is a gift that is given to us, that no one can take away.
But what does that mean, “chose God?” My definition is very simple. It means to allow God to work in our life by giving Him our will and asking for His. About ten episodes or so ago I titled a podcast, “Knowing God’s Will,” Which even by my own admission is a very bold statement. The way to know God’s will is to give God our own, and in doing so we will know if we listen to our conscience the right path to take. Do we go left? Or do we go right? Or do we stay right where we are?
Perhaps things of this world can be taken away. But our faith can never be taken away. Mark 8:36 states “For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul?” The things of this world remain behind when we die. We should not put our faith in things, in man, but in the Almighty because only the Almighty God will not let us down.
Maybe you do have faith but it has been shaken lately. Remember what I said about choices? Habits are formed by doing the same thing over and over again, and if we make a decision to chose God, daily (it is a daily choice), this will become a habit. It is faith in action. The choice gives us a sense of peace that transcends all that is happening around us. It allows us to focus on the task of the day whatever that is in your life. Even the mundane, doing the dishes or fixing a meal can be joyful and give us a sense of peace if we thank God for those little things.
Let us pray and ask that the Lord helps us to show through our actions that He is indeed Lord of all!
Dear Lord, I praise you and I thank you for all that you have done in my life each and every day. While the choice is clear we need your help, we need your help my God to follow you to open the door to make the path straight. Dear Lord I ask you to help me each and every day. Please help me to find the peace that surpasses all understanding today and all the days of my life. I pray for the following needs: And, I pray this in Jesus’ Name. Amen.
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