This is a reprint from 2014. I thought it would be worth repeating.
“Now therefore fear the Lord, and serve Him in sincerity and in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt; and serve the Lord. 15. Choose you this day whom you will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” Moses was dead and Joshua had become the leader of the Israelite people in their journey into Canaan. Joshua was certainly not naïve about the people that God had chosen him to lead, for he knew what they had done for the past forty years. He knew of their weaknesses, and of their penchant for worshiping false gods. He had been on Mt. Sinai with Moses when the Israelites had worshiped the golden calf. Knowing all that these people were capable of, he issued them a challenge. Joshua encouraged the people to make wise choices instead of convenient choices. We are still faced with a lot of choices for our lives. The question is whether or not we will choose to go the easiest and convenient way, or to make the hard choices that will be better for us and will make our lives better. I remember the incident in the New Testament when the “Rich Young Ruler” came to Jesus and asked Him about how to achieve eternal life. Jesus told him to give up his riches and give them to the poor and follow Him. Jesus wasn’t making this demand for all rich people, just this one. You see, to give up what had given the young man false security and to reach out in faith and follow Jesus would be the wisest choice. The Bible tells us that he went away sorrowfully. He chose the most convenient way. We never know how the choices we make will affect our lives, but we need to pray and think long and hard before we make choices that will either affect our lives adversely or for the better. Joshua wisely urged his people to make wise choices. The fact that many of them didn’t make wise choices is not a reflection on Joshua but on them. As the leader of God’s people, Joshua was setting a good example for them. Joshua knew that the decisions he made would not just reflect on his leadership but on his commitment to God. As long as Joshua was alive, he kept the promise that he made that he and his “house will serve the Lord.” The book of Judges, which follows the book of Joshua, reveals that after Joshua’s death the people did not do well. (Which is a mild way of expressing how they acted?) What they did was not Joshua’s fault. He continued to serve as a good example to the Israelite people until his death. We need to ask ourselves what kind of example we are setting for those who will follow us in our homes, at our workplaces, in our churches, etc. Choices that we make can help us live better lives and maybe help others make wise choices. There were people in the book of Judges who followed Joshua’s example, and were better for it. Just because days are evil, does not mean that we have to join in with the evil. Joshua’s declaration here is a declaration of determination to do the right thing. Joshua was a human being with all of the problems that go with being human. He knew that he could make choices that would lead the people astray, so he determined that the choices he made would lead them in the right direction. We need to determine that our choices will give us a better life and will serve as a good example to those who are watching our lives. Let’s be careful, and prayerful, that we will make the right choices. Bro. Joe
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“And the night following the Lord stood by him and said, Be of good cheer, Paul for as thou hast testified of me in Jerusalem, so must thou bear witness also at Rome.”
Paul had been arrested by the Jewish council ostensibly for bringing a Gentile into the temple area. It was the night after his arrest that God spoke to Paul about why he was going through this treatment. This answers why Paul was willing to endure two years of wrongful trial, imprisonment and a tortuous sea voyage – It was God’s will. When we endure hardship we need to consider this text, because God is probably preparing us to carry out His will. God had a higher purpose for Paul in allowing him to endure the aforementioned hardships. Is it possible that God has a higher purpose in allowing us to endure hardships? Don’t dismiss this idea out of hand. God wants to use us and He always has a higher purpose for our lives. We can learn from Paul’s reaction to his hardships. The first thing that we need to consider is that Paul accepted God’s will. There is no indication that Paul hesitated to accept God’s will, no matter what it entailed. Paul was told to “be of good cheer,” or to “take courage,” for this was God’s means of getting him to Rome. He could have asked, “Lord, can’t you let me get to Rome without all of this hardship?” He just accepted the Lord’s will and courageously faced what he had to face in order to live out God’s will for his life. I don’t mean to imply that following God’s will always entails hardships, but we should learn to accept God’s will for our lives in spite of whatever hardships His will might involve. It’s not easy to accept that God’s will might mean hardship for us. Actually, we usually expect God’s will to take us from one blessing to another. But this is not always the reality. Paul is a good example here, and we might also think of Moses and what he had to go through to carry out God’s will. This could be said of countless others in the Bible, e.g., Abraham, Joseph, and all of the eleven true disciples of Jesus. Pray about accepting God’s will for your life if you haven’t already. The second thing that we need to consider is that Paul simply believed God. In Acts 27:25 in the midst of the storm at sea while on the voyage to Rome Paul told those with him: “Wherefore, sirs, be of good cheer: for I believe God, that it shall be even as He told me.” (God had earlier assured Paul that he would get to Rome in spite of the storm.) The only two choices that Paul had was to believe God or doubt him. Think of what he would have missed, and what we would have missed, if Paul had doubted God instead of believing Him. We, too, can believe God or doubt Him. Think of what we will miss in our lives if we doubt God instead of believing Him and realize His higher purpose for our lives. Think of what we will miss if we prefer the easy way instead of God’s way. The stakes were high for Paul to get to Rome God’s way. The stakes are also high for us to accept God’s way. (They are high for our families and churches as well.)The work of the kingdom of God will go on whether we accept God’s purpose for us, but we will miss the blessings that will come our way because of it. Consider this as you pray. The conclusion of the matter is that in his obedience Paul realized God’s higher purpose for his life. Paul went to Rome God’s way and great things were accomplished. Philippians 4:22 tells us why: “All the saints salute you, chiefly they that are of Caesar’s household.” Paul won people around Caesar to Christ, who in turn carried the message to Rome and to other places in the world. Who knows what Jesus might use us to do for Him if we simply believe Him and obey Him? We will never know if we do not believe and act. Have you accepted God’s will for your life, and would you carry it out if it included hardships? Until you say “yes” to Jesus, you will not realize God's higher purpose for you. Bro. Joe "Hath a nation changed their gods, which are yet no gods? But my people have changed their glory for that which doth not profit. 12. Be astonished, O ye heavens, at this, and be horribly afraid, be ye very desolate, saith the Lord. 13. For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain (or spring) of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water."
If you are seeking a god who does not care what you do, do not read Jeremiah. He was God's prophet in Judah just before the Babylonians invaded Judah, destroyed the temple, killed many people and took others captive to Babylon. He was called as a young man to warn the people about their coming doom, which he did in plain and simple language. Jeremiah 2:11-13 is an example of this plain and simple language. The people of Judah had made a bad trade when they traded their worship of Jehovah for the worship of useless idols. In verse 13, he pointed out two evils, or we might say two useless things, that Judah had done. First, they forsook "the fountain (or spring) of living waters." This is a metaphor for the favor of God versus the favor of the world. God is depicted as a refreshing spring that flows with refreshing water. Second, they traded the refreshing spring for cisterns of their own making. A cistern did not have a natural flow of water. It was a hole in the ground that caught rainwater. To make matters worse, the cisterns they dug were porous and would not hold water. This meant that the idols they had chosen over God were useless. The choice of rainwater over refreshing spring water is a bad choice - a bad trade. Second, in Jeremiah 2:27-28, the prophet tells them how bad this trade was: "They say to wood, 'You are my father,' and to stone, 'You gave me birth.' They have turned their backs to me and not their faces; yet when they are in trouble, they say, 'Come and save us.' 28. Where then are the gods you made for yourselves? Let them come if they can save you when you are in trouble! For you have as many gods as you have towns." (NIV) They had traded God, who could really help them, for gods who were absolutely useless. If you have forsaken your Biblical faith, what have you traded it for? Many have traded their faith for secularism. Any trade for genuine worship of and service for God/Jesus is a bad trade. If you are maintaining your faith, be grateful that you have not made a bad choice. Bro. Joe “For the ways of man are before the eyes of the Lord, and He ponders all his goings.'”
Don’t you agree that it is a sobering thought that God sees everything that we do? That is what our text reveals. It is even goes on to say that “He ponders (our) goings.” This can also be translated the Lord “examines all our ways.” That is even more sobering – at least it is to me. Be honest, it is sobering to you too. (lol, or “oh me.”) What does God see in our lives? (I will use “you” with the understanding that I’m including myself.) Does God see you making excuses for making bad decisions? What I mean by this is, does God see you making decisions that are obviously not in His will for your life? A decision to sin is always a bad decision. We are faced with these decisions every hour on the hour, minute on the minute, or second on the second. Our eyes are bombarded with sinful scenes today everywhere we turn. That is why we need the leadership of the Holy Spirit every minute of the day. I do not mean that we need to obsess about this, but I mean that we need to stay prayed up and read up enough to turn our eyes, minds, and bodies from sinful decisions. (Don’t you agree that this makes us glad that God is a forgiving God?) This leads me to, instead of making excuses for bad decisions, let’s just ask for God’s forgiveness, accept His forgiveness be thankful that He does forgive. Does God see you making excuses for being quiet when you should speak up, and for talking when you should keep quiet. This is a two-edged sword. Let’s just say that there are times when we should speak up for Jesus, and then there are times that we should “shut up for Jesus.” We need to speak up when it is obvious that we can do some good; on the other hand, we need to shut up if what we say will only lead to a meaningless argument. Here again, we need to seek the leadership of the Holy Spirit, and speak up when He prompts us and stay quiet when He does not. We also need to pray that we will be wise enough to know the difference. I will deal briefly with this final point: Does God see you making excuses for bad behavior. There is bad behavior that is just plain old sin, and there is bad behavior that may not be sinful but is useless, and doesn’t do any good. Hey, you know what bad behavior is….stay away from it. (Please understand that I mean me too!!) Amen, Selah, and oh me. Bro. Joe “Every way of a man is right in his own eyes: but the Lord ponders the heart.”
Human beings have a difficult time telling themselves the truth about themselves. It is very difficult for us to admit that we were wrong about something, or that what we did was wrong. We have a tendency to justify ourselves, even though if someone else did the same thing, we would think it was awful. This is why Jesus told us not to be judgmental towards other people. That’s not to say that we cannot try to help someone correct bad behavior, but that we cannot make a moral judgment about them. When I’m preaching, I always remember that I have three fingers and a thumb pointing back at myself. I want to consider some points in reference to this text. We should be real careful to weigh our own behavior and realize when we are doing wrong. People have been heard to say that they knew what they did was wrong, but they try to excuse the behavior because of circumstances. There are not many people who will say that they believe in selective morality until the finger of guilt is pointing at them. For example, the Ten Commandments are not circumstantial. It would not be excusable to say that one committed adultery because he or she was not happy at home. Oh, we hear it all of the time, but it is not an excuse. That’s why the proverb says, “but the Lord pondereth the heart.” If God calls something a sin every time it is mentioned in the Bible we might surmise that we cannot come up with any excuse to allow ourselves to do it. When we do wrong when we know that what we did was wrong, we are ignoring that God will not be pleased with it. We should be careful to think seriously about what the consequences of our actions will be. This is illustrated for us in Exodus 32 when the Israelites had Aaron build them a golden calf to worship. What was their excuse for this behavior? Here is the answer in Exodus 32:1: “And then the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said unto him, Up, make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him.” Think about it: The Ten Commandments had been given in Exodus 20. The first commandment was: “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” That wasn’t a suggestion. The Israelites felt right in their own eyes because they hadn’t seen Moses for forty days. Then there is Aaron’s excuse. When Moses asked him what happened, he more or less blamed the Israelites for his bad decision: “And Aaron said, Let not the anger of my Lord wax hot: thou knowest the people, that they are set on mischief.” (Exodus 32:22) He went on to say that because of them he took their gold, “cast it into the fire, and there came out this calf.” We need to know that God knows everything that we think or do. We cannot hide anything from Him, and we need to take His knowledge of us into account when we are tempted to do things that are wrong and try to find excuses for ourselves. We need to remember that we are accountable to God for what we do. Our text said that “God pondereth the heart.” I think that when we are about to do wrong, God knows what is in our hearts and begins to convict us about it. But the tendency that we have to excuse our own behavior is strong. We need to be aware of the moving of the Holy Spirit in these times, for He is surely convicting us in spite of our tendency to excuse ourselves. Hey, I’m not pointing a finger at you without pointing a finger at myself. I have to watch this tendency just like you do. When we stand before God in judgment, we will be without excuse, and God will not say: “You are excused because of circumstances.” Let’s we aware of the fact that God is, indeed, pondering our hearts. Bro. Joe “Who hath ears to hear, let him hear….”
Jesus uttered these words after He had given His disciples the parable of the seed and the sower. Maybe Jesus was like I am a lot of times when I am preaching, i.e., I wonder if the congregation is really hearing what I am saying. I think that Jesus was telling them to really listen to the parable, grasp its meaning and let it make a difference in their lives. I also know that as I was growing up, I was told a lot of things by my parents, preachers, teachers, etc. and I heard words, but I really didn’t listen. You can imagine that there were many times over the years that I wish that I had listened. We need to really listen to what people try to tell us that will be good for us. My late good friend, and former coach at Lee County High School, Sherman Hall, sat me down in the locker room one day and had a heart-to-heart talk with me. Looking back, it was good advice. He was telling me that I needed to start studying and to get my life together. I heard every word Coach Hall said that day, and still remember his words today – but I didn’t listen. At least I didn’t listen at the time, but in ensuing years, through the Navy, college and seminary, the advice was remembered. There are people that we need to listen to even after we grow to adulthood. I know that we say that advice is cheap, but sometimes not taking it can get very expensive. Listen when people try to tell you things that will be good for you. We need to listen to what our Sunday School teachers and pastors tell us. I don’t mean to talk down to you, because if you are reading this you are probably an adult, but we never get too old to listen. Over the last two years I have had to hear more preaching than I have listened to in all of my years in the ministry. Man, has it been good for me. I really needed to stop and listen to somebody else for a change. I think that it would do all preachers good to have to hear others preach for awhile. We never get too old to listen and learn. In fact, the longer I live, the more I realize the need to listen and learn. We need to listen to the “still small voice” of the Holy Spirit when we are in church, in prayer or reading the Bible. Jesus is always trying to communicate with us and He does this through the Holy Spirit. You might be asking, but how can I know that it is the Holy Spirit speaking to me? I honestly can’t tell you how you can know, but if you are a Christian you will know when it is the Holy Spirit speaking to you. Let me give you an example of how I know this. One day I was driving from Camilla to Albany and enroute I saw a big man walking away from his truck with the hood up. Now, like the priest and Levite in the parable of the Good Samaritan, I was in a hurry and didn’t stop. Just after I passed by the man, I saw my reflection in my rearview mirror and said to myself: “You are a real hypocrite. You preach about ministering to people and you get the opportunity and you drive on by because you are too busy doing 'the Lord’s work' to really do the Lord’s work." Needless to say, I knew that it was the Holy Spirit speaking to my heart, or “knocking me side the head.” When I got to the next place that I could turn around and go back and help the man I did. I picked him up and he and I had a good conversation on the way to getting him to a service station. (This was during pre-cell phone days.) I didn’t witness to him because he was already a Christian, but the Holy Spirit wanted me to lend him a helping hand. I’m glad that I listened that day and acted on what I heard in my heart. Your life will be richer if you will just listen to what the Holy Spirit is telling you. It might keep you out of trouble. It might keep you from gossiping. It might keep you from saying things to other people that you should not say. You get the point…. You have ears to hear – so listen! Bro. Joe Between yes and no, we generally think of yes as the best answer. However, there are times when no is the best answer. When we say yes to Jesus, we say no to Satan. There are some people in the Bible who are famous for saying no. We will take a look at them and maybe learn from them how to say no.
Joseph said no. Genesis 39:9: “There is none greater in this house than I; neither hath he kept back anything from me but thee, because thou art his wife: how then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?” This was Joseph’s answer to Potiphar’s wife when she tried to seduce him. Evidently, she was a beautiful woman and was not accustomed to hearing men say no to her. Notice that Joseph said no because he did not want to betray Potiphar, but more importantly, he did not want to betray God. He saw adultery as a sin against God. If Joseph had said yes to this seductive woman, he would have been saying yes to Satan and no to God. In those times when we are sorely tempted to sin against God, we should learn to say no as Joseph did. We need to ask ourselves which is more important, to seek pleasure for a moment or seek to please God? Pleasure has become a way of life to us and we need to guard against those pleasures that betray ourselves, others and God. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego said no. In Daniel 3 we read about Nebuchadnezzar’s command that all of the people were to bow down to an image of gold. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego answered in the negative. They told Nebuchadnezzar that God was able to deliver them, but if God chose not to deliver them, they would still not serve his god’s or worship his golden image. (Daniel 3:17-18) We too have to make a choice as to who and what we will worship. We can choose to worship money, property, family, etc. Like Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, Everything that the world offers is not evil, but sometimes Satan makes it difficult to tell the difference. We need to always say yes to what God offers. Keep in mind that they said no at peril of their lives. The stakes might not be as physically high to us, but they are spiritually high under any circumstances. Daniel said no. The jealous princes who served with Daniel in Nebuchadnezzar’s court, not being able to find anything else against him, concocted a scheme to get him killed. They talked Nebuchadnezzar into signing a law that anyone who asked petition of any god or man for thirty days should be thrown into a den of lions. Daniel knew about the law, but he still went three times a day to pray facing Jerusalem. He prayed to the God of Israel. He would not be coerced into substituting Nebuchadnezzar for God. Nothing could keep Daniel from praying. Can anything keep us from praying? Say no to Satan when he tempts you not to pray, because he knows that prayerlessness will rob you of spiritual power. Jesus said no. In Matthew 4 and Luke 4 Jesus was tempted by Satan. He had fasted forty days and forty nights and was very hungry. He was physically weak, so Satan sought to take advantage of it. You remember that each time Jesus said no to Satan that He quoted scripture to him. Satan is very much aware of our weaknesses and of our weak moments, and he will try to get us to do his bidding. Like Jesus, we should say no to him based on what the word of God says. Like the three examples above, learn to tell Satan no. It is important to do so. Bro. Joe “This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.” Psalm 118:24
“Again, He limits a certain day, saying in David, Today, after so long a time, as it is said, today if you will hear His voice, harden not your hearts.” Hebrews 4:7 Have you ever wished that you lived in another time or another place? I guess we have all wished this at some time or other, but it is a useless exercise. We are living in a certain time at a certain place, and the way I see it, we are living in this time and place because that is what God wants of us. I have often said that I would go back to simpler times if I could take air-conditioning and medical science with me. I think you get my point. If we could live in another time and another place, we would still have to face the hardships of each day. I think that the Bible teaches us that we need to live today, because we can’t relive yesterday and we can’t live tomorrow until it gets here. That’s right, that only leaves today. We should live each day to the fullest, giving our time to the Lord, and following His will for our lives. I want to point out some things about living life to the fullest today. What we do with each day will determine what will take place in the future. I remember that when I was in high school, I decided that studying was a waste of time, and that homework was just a nuisance, so I gave them up. Each day passed, and life just kept going on. It took awhile, but I finally decided that I had better make better use of my days. Suppose I had not wised up and had kept on like I was going. The days would have kept passing and I would have gotten sorrier and sorrier. (Some of you are probably thinking that I couldn’t be any sorrier – shame on you. lol) How we use the time that we have each day will determine the quality of our lives as we live from day to day. It is important that we embrace each day. The psalmist gave us some wise advice: “This is the day that the Lord has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.” It is worth noting that he did not write: “We should rejoice and be glad in it,” but he wrote “we will rejoice and be glad in it.” The NIV translates it: “Let us rejoice and be glad in it. ”Either way it is a positive statement about living each day that God has given us and rejoicing in Him and in the fact that He has given us another day. You can rejoice in the day or bemoan the day, but it is all you have at the moment. We can meet each new day with rejoicing, or we can bemoan each new day, and it will still be all thhat we have at the moment. Too many people are putting off today what they plan to do tomorrow. We need to take advantage of the fact that we are alive today, and that we can live it in a positive way. I have heard it said many times that we can greet the day with “good morning Lord,” or with “good Lord, it's morning.” Which do you think will give you a better day? It is today that we can take care of the things that we know need to be taken care of. One of these has to do with our spiritual lives. We can start off the day with prayer and reading God’s word. We know that if we want to draw closer to the Lord, we need to communicate with Him, and that we need to delve into His word. Today is a good day to start your day, as best you can with the time that you have, in fellowship with God and His word. I have found that the exercise of prayer and Bible reading has helped me “rejoice in the day that the Lord has made.” Today is the day to get right with the Lord. Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 6:2b: “Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.”In the spirit of that text, we can say that today is the accepted time to draw near to the Lord. You have today! What are you going to do with it? There are choices before you as you face today. You can spend some time praising God and thanking Him that you have today. You will be surprised at how much difference that will make in the rest of your day. Try it! Bro. Joe “And (God) said, Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded you that you should not eat? 12. And the man said, the woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree and I did eat. 13. And the Lord said unto the woman, What is this you have done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.”
I wanted to write on the error of making excuses today, and the text printed above came to mind. Adam seemed to be saying that if God had not given him “the woman” he would never have eaten the forbidden fruit. In turn, Eve blamed “the serpent.” (This is called “The devil made me do it.”) Eve’s excuse might have made more sense, but they were still excuses for what they had done. So what is wrong with “making excuses? First, making excuses does not solve the problem. In spite of Adam and Eve’s excuses, we are still paying the price for their sin today. (Thank God that Jesus came and died as a sacrifice for our sins.) In spite of their excuses they were still expelled from The Garden of Eden, and paid a heavy price for their sin. When you give in to temptation, or when you make a costly mistake, do not make excuses, but admit the truth and find the real solution to whatever the problem is. As long as we excuse our errant behavior, we are not dealing with the real problem. Second, making excuses does not deal with the real problem of humanity, i.e., sin. Adam did not say “I am only human,” but he came mighty close. This is how we excuse our giving in to temptation. This is why our loving Lord gave us the opportunity of confession and forgiveness. Before we start to make excuses for our sins and foibles, we should remember the promise of 1 John 1:9: “If we confess our sins, He (Jesus) is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” God knows that we will sin and He is always ready to forgive us, but to excuse ourselves does not solve the problem of sin that we all have. Third, we need to believe that God will really forgive us for our sins. Making excuses for our sins is like trying to escape our need for forgiveness not claiming it as the blessing that it is. As I have already mentioned, Jesus paid a steep price for us to have forgiveness for sin. I know that I rejoice in the forgiveness that is offered me through Jesus. If you are bogged down in some sin today, the thing for you to do is stop excusing yourself and run to Jesus for forgiveness. He is always ready to forgive our sincere confessions. Bro. Joe ‘Walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time. 6. Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how to answer every man.”
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