Choose You This Day - Joshua 24:15
God gave the earth to Adam
and Eve and their descendants. However, when they believed Satan’s lie over
God’s truth, the first couple promptly gave up ownership of the earth to Satan.
God already planned for this contingency, however. He sent His only Son, Jesus
Christ, God in the flesh, to free us from Satan’s control and to eventually
take back dominion over the earth in the Millennium.
God gives everyone the right
to choose between Him and Satan. If we put our trust in God, He will work out
all things, even the negative aspects in our life, for our good (Romans
8:28). When we give God control of our
life, even our setbacks and idiosyncrasies are not failures, just detours to
put us at the right place at the right time for Him to use us to further His
Kingdom in the earth. He is in control of our victories as well, and we cannot
take any credit for them (Ephesians 2:8-10).
If we say that we have
fellowship with God, yet we habitually live in sinful habits, we are lying (1 John
1:6, 2:3-4,). If we love the world, then
the love of God is not in us. We are not truly Born Again, and our spirit is
still dead in sin (1 John 2:15; Ephesians 2:1). Even if we prayed the sinner’s prayer and got baptized, all we did was
get wet! If we truly know that He is in us, and we are in Him, then we walk and
live and act in the same manner in which Jesus walked (1 John 2:5-6). This
deeper walk with Christ brings us lasting joy (1 John 1:1-4).
We base our identity, not on
the roles we have in this life, but on our relationship with the Lord Jesus
Christ. These roles may change, but our relationship with Christ can only
change by getting deeper. We grow in unity with Christ and the Father by
immersing our day in His Word and in His will. As we read the Bible and
meditate on it, we allow it to conform us to the nature of Christ (Romans
12:2), His Spirit guides us and we walk
in His truth throughout the day (Romans 8:14).
Through His mercy, our
righteous God listens to our prayers, answers us when we call to Him and gives
us liberation from our anguish on this earth (Psalm 4:1). We hear the voice of God within us, and we spend our
time consciously seeking the glory of God and living in His presence moment by
moment throughout the day. We walk in victory over our sins, success over our
enemies and achievements that last for eternity, not just for our lifetime.
Prayer:
Father God, we thank You for
Your grace and mercy in our life. You continually keep Your promises and show
patience with us all. You do not want to see anyone perish, but for everyone to
come to the saving knowledge of Your Son (2 Peter 3:9; John 3:16-18). You are gracious to Your Saints and You shower us
with compassion (Isaiah 30:18). Help
us to walk worthy of Your calling on our life, so we can enjoy Your blessings
now and for all eternity (Ephesians 4:1; Colossians 1:10).
Thought for the Day:
The
rapture of the church could happen at any moment. Your ticket to the rapture is
your salvation in Jesus Christ.Thank you, Dawn Ritzert, for the use of your photo.
