Choosing to serve God.

Joshua 24:14 - 18 "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 ye the LORD. (15) And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD. (16) And the people answered and said, God forbid that we should forsake the LORD, to serve other gods; (17) For the LORD our God, he it is that brought us up and our fathers out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage, and which did those great signs in our sight, and preserved us in all the way wherein we went, and among all the people through whom we passed: (18) And the LORD drave out from before us all the people, even the Amorites which dwelt in the land: therefore will we also serve the LORD; for he is our God."

God demands to be served and worshiped, God is a jealous God, and He does not share His glory with any one or thing. If you are going to worship God then do not worship anything or anyone else, this includes self-worship. We see the Israelites throughout the Old Testament worshiping Idols as well as self. We see people and worship centers all over the world worshipping idols and self. As Christians the command is to worship and serve God, no other worship is acceptable to God.
Joshua tells us to “fear the LORD” and this means to “Reverence him as the sole object of your personal life and religious worship”. Fearing God is accepting Him as the Sovereign of the universe with absolute power and authority. One cannot worship God if they do not first fear Him, fear is what keeps us in line with His commands. Without obeying God’s commands there is no true and acceptable worship. Next “serve him in sincerity and in truth” The word “serve Him” means – completely and without blemish, or sound, without spot – that means to have your whole heart engaged in His worship. In total worship and service to God, not just on church day but everyday of your life. If you ever put ANYTHING before God or His service, ever, you are not sincere in your worship. Next is “and in truth” you cannot serve God any other way than “in truth”. This means According to the directions he has given you in his infallible word. However, no one is perfect in anything in this flesh. The word of God must be Reverenced as He is to be Reverenced, if it is not absolute Truth then it is false. The bible is not of private interpretation therefore just because you believe it does not make it truth. God said, “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” 2 Timothy 2:15 Laziness, for Pastors or churches or Christians in general is a refusal to “rightly dividing the word of truth” and worship God in Truth. Next, “if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve;” Who would think it to be evil to serve the Lord? But this is those who refuse the truth of the word. If God says it, it matters little what you believe. Study the word without rejection and accept the truth of the word. Don’t lean upon mans wisdom, and a failure to lean upon the revelation and wisdom of the Holy Spirit. “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.” James 1:5 If you seem to differ with your Pastor and church on the scriptures, find another church that you agree with, do not forget, you are responsible for your error that is a burden you must account for yourself. “For every man shall bear his own burden.” Galatians 6:5 You cannot blame your Pastor and church for your wrong understanding. Choose to serve the Lord, just as the bible teaches of Him. Next, “but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.” The question here is, “are you and your house actually serving the Lord”? if your worship is not in absolute “in sincerity and in truth” then you are not serving the Lord. Refusing to believe in the Sovereignty of God of the bible is normally the first error of failure. The second is to refuse the saving power of the Holy Spirit, and the third is refusing to believing in Jesus Christ as the absolute Saviour of mankind. “For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.” Luke 2:11 If you do not serve God rightly, then you do not serve God at all. In conclusion, you must in your own heart by the reading and studding of the scriptures and in prayer to God conclude that you are serving God in sincerity and truth. These folks concluded “therefore will we also serve the LORD; for he is our God." Folks, the interpretation of the scriptures is everything, it matters not what people find right and popular, it only matters what God said. Seek the truth, find the truth, and believe the truth. Then find a church that teaches the truth and join them. Your rewards in eternity depends on biblical truth and following God’s commandments. Your sins are paid for, they have been pardoned by God through Jesus Christ’s blood. You need to choose to serve God in sincerity and in truth in a church that believes and serves the Sovereign God of the bible, seek and you shall find.
“Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. (13) And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.” Jeremiah 29:12 - 13
“And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. (10) For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.” Luke 11:9 - 10

 

God has made everything beautiful in His time.

“I have seen the travail, which God hath given to the sons of men to be exercised in it.” Ecclesiastes 3:10 

In the life of a Christian, it must be understood that God’s blessings are not only in the good, but all parts of life. God promised the believer tribulation, persecution, trials, and much more. We seem to only talk about the blessings of God when good things happen, but that is not so, God’s blessings are in everything that happens. God promised also to rebuke and corrections in our life, not only because we are doing wrong but also to strengthen our path in life. Bad things happen to Christians just like it does the sinful lost, God said it rains on the just and unjust alike. If sometimes it seems that life here favors the lost, God said it would and that we are not to be jealous but content. Millions of believers have suffered very horrible deaths in persecutions, Jesus Christ was crucified as well as most of His disciples, most never had anything in this world. It was not because God did not love His people or bless them, it was because that was God chosen will for them before the foundation of the world. “Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.” 2 Timothy 3:12 Our life as believers in Jesus Christ were foreordained before the foundation of the world and nothing in time can change the predestined will of God. “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.”  Ephesians 2:10 We see these words in 1 Peter 4:19 “Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator.” God did not only elect the good in our life, but He foreordained all our life. The believer’s life is not by chance, it is not by choice, it is by the ordained will of God. As Christians we do not measure success in earthly possessions, we measure them in how God elects to use us. It is a glorious blessing to serve the Lord because that is what God elected for us. Therefore, it is more of a blessing to be used by Him even if that is to suffer a life of pain and misery in this life, than to be a successful lost person. However, let us look on:

In Ecclesiastes 3:11 God went on to say, “He hath made every thing beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end.” Pay special attention to this verse, do not let it slip by you. God has made everything beautiful “IN HIS TIME” no matter what it is, to God it is beautiful because He ordained it, He chose it for you. Life for the Christian is not about you or me or anyone else, it is about God and His will. If you look-up the word “world” you will find it means “eternity”, God before the foundation of the world set everything and everyone in their heart to do His will. Nothing “just happens” there is no such thing as “luck” nor is there a “coincidence” there is only the ordained will of God. God disguises His will from people, He wanted Satan and the wicked hearted people to believe they crucified Jesus for a victory on their part, but it was promised in Genesis 3:15 as it was in other Old Testament passages. God wanted the wicked to think they crushed His people and churches in the “Dark Ages” (about 500ad to 1500ad) when about 50 million were killed, but it was God’s will. He wants them to believe they have a victory with abortion, but the victory is God’s, Christ will repay this evil deed on judgment day. Satan and evil only gets temporal victories because every victory of Satan and evil is really a victory for God. God set eternity in their hearts, their all doing God’s will, God leaves nothing to chance, God controls every detail of every thought or act. God may elect to lead us thru the fire, thru the muddy waters, thru the valley of pain and death, but God will in the end lead us to Christ. Victory is the Believers, it is not in the lost people, their victory is short lived, and their end is eternity in hell. Live your life Christian, be content, and serve the Lord, because the final victory is yours in Christ Jesus. “But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. (58) Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.”is H 1 Corinthians 15:57 - 58

The Mysterious Holy Spirit.

“The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.” John 3:8 

The wind blows and we have no idea from where it came or where is it going, you just feel the breeze of the air blowing. The same is with the Holy Spirt, He comes from somewhere, touches a lost soul and goes elsewhere. This is a glorious contrast by the Lord, salvation is of the Lord and comes from nowhere by the Holy Spirit. Look at Saul of Tarsus, one moment he is persecuting the church and the next as he was chasing them toward Damascus when Jesus stopped him and saved his wicked soul. This man Nicodemus who was a “ruler of the Jews” hated Jesus as much as Saul of Tarsus did. Nicodemus came to Jesus by night because he was ashamed to be seen with him. This hatred that these men had for Jesus was the “doctrine of the Jews” it is their own teaching not the Old Testament. God never teaches hate, God teaches love. “And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.” 1 Corinthians 13:13 God also said there is not greater love than for a man to lay down his life for another Christian. “This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. (13) Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” John 15:12 – 13 God’s love to us is shown by the very fact that God’s own Son died for every believer. “Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.” 1 John 3:16 It is this word “perceive” that means we “know” the love of God because Jesus Christ died for us by God own will. Therefore, hate is not Christian, it is not ever to be extended to those that hate us or despitefully use us. “But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;” Matthew 5:44 So the hate that the Jews had and have for Christians is not godly, it is evil and intolerance in their evil hearts. Both of these men, Saul of Tarsus and Nicodemus came to Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit, neither ever thought they would ever be called Christians. When Jesus told Nicodemus “…Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” He meant he must be born of God from above, people are not born of their own free will or by choice or decision. In John 3:5 Jesus was saying you are born of God like your natural birth, God births by the power of the Holy Spirit. God gave the churches one order, to preach the gospel to the world, God never ordered the churches to bargain, plead, trick, or to beg people to come to Christ. We have nothing to do with the birthing process, we are only to preach the gospel and the Holy Spirit does the rest.

The Holy Spirit work in mysterious ways, we never know where He is working or where He will go next. He is compared to the unseeable wind that comes and goes as God ordained. Let us remember the story of the dry bones in Ezekiel 37:1-14 When the prophet saw a valley full of dead bones; he prophesied to the dry bones, but the Spirit came and gave the bones life. The gospel is just words, no power, and no saving ability without the power of the Holy Spirit, but we never know when He is going to save a lost soul, therefore we preach to the world. Nicodemus, Saul of Tarsus, and all other religious Jews believed the same Satanic produced doctrine, that hating and killing Christians was Godly. However, by the power of God and the workings of the mysterious Holy Spirt both Nicodemus, and Saul of Tarsus, where saved because Jesus spoke to them and the Holy Spirt saved them. We never know from where He will come, when He will come, but we do know if a lost sinner is saved then He has been here working His power of life giving.

Let me conclude with these words, “But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. (11) For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. (12) Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.” 1 Corinthians 2:10 - 12