we will serve the Lord – Praying Pint

1.i. Therefore they shall eat the fruit of their way, and have their fill of their own devices.

1 Chronicles 21:9 And Jehovah spake unto Gad, David’s seer, saying, Go and speak unto David, saying, Thus saith Jehovah, I offer thee three things: choose thee one of them, that I may do it unto thee. So Gad came to David, and said unto him, Thus saith Jehovah, Take which thou wilt: either three years of famine; or three months to be consumed before thy foes, while the sword of thine enemies overtaketh thee; or else three days the sword of Jehovah, even pestilence in the land, and the angel of Jehovah destroying throughout all the borders of Israel. Now therefore consider what answer I shall return to him that sent me. And David said unto Gad, I am in a great strait: let me fall, I pray, into the hand of Jehovah; for very great are his mercies: and let me not fall into the hand of man. So Jehovah sent a pestilence upon Israel; and there fell of Israel seventy thousand men. And God sent an angel unto Jerusalem to destroy it: and as he was about to destroy, Jehovah beheld, and he repented him of the evil, and said to the destroying angel, It is enough; now stay thy hand. And the angel of Jehovah was standing by the threshing-floor of Ornan the Jebusite. And David lifted up his eyes, and saw the angel of Jehovah standing between earth and heaven, having a drawn sword in his hand stretched out over Jerusalem. Then David and the elders, clothed in sackcloth, fell upon their faces. And David said unto God, Is it not I that commanded the people to be numbered? even I it is that have sinned and done very wickedly; but these sheep, what have they done? let thy hand, I pray thee, O Jehovah my God, be against me, and against my father’s house; but not against thy people, that they should be plagued.

Then the angel of Jehovah commanded Gad to say to David, that David should go up, and rear an altar unto Jehovah in the threshing-floor of Ornan the Jebusite. And David went up at the saying of Gad, which he spake in the name of Jehovah. And Ornan turned back, and saw the angel; and his four sons that were with him hid themselves. Now Ornan was threshing wheat. And as David came to Ornan, Ornan looked and saw David, and went out of the threshing-floor, and bowed himself to David with his face to the ground. Then David said to Ornan, Give me the place of this threshing-floor, that I may build thereon an altar unto Jehovah: for the full price shalt thou give it me, that the plague may be stayed from the people. And Ornan said unto David, Take it to thee, and let my lord the king do that which is good in his eyes: lo, I give thee the oxen for burnt-offerings, and the threshing instruments for wood, and the wheat for the meal-offering; I give it all. And king David said to Ornan, Nay; but I will verily buy it for the full price: for I will not take that which is thine for Jehovah, nor offer a burnt-offering without cost. So David gave to Ornan for the place six hundred shekels of gold by weight. And David built there an altar unto Jehovah, and offered burnt-offerings and peace-offerings, and called upon Jehovah; and he answered him from heaven by fire upon the altar of burnt-offering. And Jehovah commanded the angel; and he put up his sword again into the sheath thereof.

At that time, when David saw that Jehovah had answered him in the threshing-floor of Ornan the Jebusite, then he sacrificed there. For the tabernacle of Jehovah, which Moses made in the wilderness, and the altar of burnt-offering, were at that time in the high place at Gibeon. But David could not go before it to inquire of God; for he was afraid because of the sword of the angel of Jehovah.

Proverbs 1:29-31    Because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the LORD,  would have none of my counsel and despised all my reproof,  therefore they shall eat the fruit of their way, and have their fill of their own devices.

Numbers 20:12     And the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not believe in me, to uphold me as holy in the eyes of the people of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land that I have given them.”

Joshua 24:15   And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the LORD, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond 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.”

We read of Moses, David, and Aaron who lost sight of following God for a brief moment and were disciplined by God for their unbelief and pride which led them to dishonor God. It is important for us to understand when God says I want your whole heart, mind, and soul, He wants them all of the time. He wants our first thought in the morning when we wake and the last thought before we sleep and everything in-between to be God-honoring humble submission, God-seeking, God-glorifying, God praising, God following, God trusting, and God Obeying. When we lose sight for just a fraction of our day we are swept away with thoughts and actions that do not honor God. When we do these things of this world will rob us of service to God and our ability to reflect the light of Jesus Christ to a dark and lost world.

God disciplines His children in love and mercy. We see where He withheld from Aaron and Moses, put to death people under David’s kingdom, and others He let them eat of the fruit of their way and be filled with their own devices. This I would think would be the worst discipline from God – to be let go and allowed to continue in sinful ways.

Bright sparkling things of this world will distract us if we are not able to recognize they are of this world and not God-honoring. They will disguise themselves in what seems appropriate and allowable but they are not. The only way we can know of these worldly illusions and deceptions is to have the word of God in our heart, mind, and soul with an intentional choice to have it there every moment of every day.

79. “You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen to serve the Lord.”

Joshua 24:12 You did not do it with your own sword and bow. So I gave you a land on which you did not toil and cities you did not build; and you live in them and eat from vineyards and olive groves that you did not plant.’ “Now fear the Lord and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your ancestors worshiped beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.” Then the people answered, “Far be it from us to forsake the Lord to serve other gods! It was the Lord our God himself who brought us and our parents up out of Egypt, from that land of slavery, and performed those great signs before our eyes. He protected us on our entire journey and among all the nations through which we traveled. And the Lord drove out before us all the nations, including the Amorites, who lived in the land. We too will serve the Lord, because he is our God.” Joshua said to the people, “You are not able to serve the Lord. He is a holy God; he is a jealous God. He will not forgive your rebellion and your sins. If you forsake the Lord and serve foreign gods, he will turn and bring disaster on you and make an end of you, after he has been good to you.” But the people said to Joshua, “No! We will serve the Lord.” Then Joshua said, “You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen to serve the Lord.” “Yes, we are witnesses,” they replied. “Now then,” said Joshua, “throw away the foreign gods that are among you and yield your hearts to the Lord, the God of Israel.”

It is one thing to say “I will serve the Lord” and another to do it. Speaking the words are easy but the commitment of the heart to serve Jesus Christ over self is where the problem occurs. There is a moment of commitment in our thought process but for some reason, it does not make it into a heart and soul deep desire. We need a commitment so deep in our soul that life its self is second to humbly serving, honoring, worshiping, following, trusting, and obeying Jesus Christ. We need a commitment so firm and reliant on Jesus that life’s purpose, this side of eternity, is only fulfilled when serving, following, and obeying Him.

There is so much that can pull at our walk with Jesus. In our prosperity and ease of life, we allow neglect and complacency to slide into our lives and erode our daily foundational time in His word. Intentionally choose to serve Him, commit fully to honoring and obeying Him, and keep your heart, mind, and soul fixed on Him every moment of every day.

I have chosen the way of faithfulness

Psalms 119:30 I have chosen the way of faithfulness; I set your rules before me.

Joshua 24:15 And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the LORD, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond 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.”

Proverbs 1:29 Because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the LORD,

Luke 10:42 but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.”

John 3:19-21 And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”

John 8:45 But because I tell the truth, you do not believe me.

1 Peter 2:2 Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation

Deuteronomy 11:18-20 “You shall therefore lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul, and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall teach them to your children, talking of them when you are sitting in your house, and when you are walking by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates,

If we are to be kept from sin, it must be by the grace of God exercised through the teaching of his Word.” (Boice)

“Men do not drop into the right way by chance; they must choose it, and continue to choose it, or they will soon wander from it.” (Spurgeon)

The fact that we have free will in “Choosing” our thoughts, actions, and what we say, means we have more than one path in life to pick from. “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter.” The wide gate and broad road are all decisions we make. These choices are decided upon what is influencing our heart, mind, and soul.

Our sinful nature has many “non-God serving, honoring, following, and obeying thoughts and actions to pick from – “Wide Gate” “Broad Road“. Paul says to take every thought captive. Our sinful nature has a way of throwing some very non God like thoughts into our head. Being able to discern that it is not God honoring and taking it captive means we have something to compare the thought against. “God’s word”.

We are not going to stop all of these thoughts from popping up, but what we do with them we can. Why does God tell us to “You shall therefore lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul, and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall teach them to your children, talking of them when you are sitting in your house, and when you are walking by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates,“? So we can recognize these non-God honoring, serving, following, and obeying thoughts captive in and through His word.

Pride, hate, selfishness, lust, greed, self-reliance, anxiousness, worry, all have ways of manifesting themselves in reactionary thought. Having God’s word in our heart, mind and soul – meditating on it in the morning and evening, teaching it through out the day to our children, giving thought to it with the purpose of honoring God at all times will reduce the non-God honoring thoughts and keep our heart, mind and soul from choosing to walk through the wide gate and broad road.

Unless the Lord builds

“He is wise in heart and mighty in strength —who has hardened himself against him, and succeeded?”

“Who has spoken and it came to pass, unless the Lord has commanded it?”

Malachi 1:2 “I have loved you,” says the LORD. But you say, “How have you loved us?” “Is not Esau Jacob’s brother?” declares the LORD. “Yet I have loved Jacob but Esau I have hated. I have laid waste his hill country and left his heritage to jackals of the desert.” If Edom says, “We are shattered but we will rebuild the ruins,” the LORD of hosts says, “They may build, but I will tear down, and they will be called ‘the wicked country,’ and ‘the people with whom the LORD is angry forever.’” Your own eyes shall see this, and you shall say, “Great is the LORD beyond the border of Israel!”

Isaiah 9:9 and all the people will know, Ephraim and the inhabitants of Samaria, who say in pride and in arrogance of heart: “The bricks have fallen, but we will build with dressed stones; the sycamores have been cut down, but we will put cedars in their place.”

James 4:13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil.

Job 12:14 If he tears down, none can rebuild; if he shuts a man in, none can open.

Job 34:29 When he is quiet, who can condemn? When he hides his face, who can behold him, whether it be a nation or a man?—

Psalms 127:1

Unless the LORD builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the LORD watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain.

Proverbs 21:30 No wisdom, no understanding, no counsel can avail against the LORD.

Matthew 12:30 Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.

Revelation 3:15 “‘I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth.

Pride, arrogance, strength and riches have been the fall of many. They stand out and are easy to see. They boast in what they have and what they have accomplished. What is hard to see are those who are luke warm in humbly serving, complacent in giving their whole heart, mind and soul, , and negligent in following and obeying. These are people who we see everyday and they pass through life on false hope, no joy, and little substance of faith. Their mouth speaks of believing but their actions and maturity in God’s word reveal no depth, understanding, wisdom or discernment. Those who boast with pride and arrogance absolutely know they have chosen live without God and reject Him in their life. Those who are lukewarm deceive themselves into thinking their life is secure. Satan has deceived them into thinking they can go through life with lukewarm commitment, being good or at least better than others, and spending no time in God’s word seeking understanding, wisdom, and discernment. They actually feel safer living apart from full commitment to God. This lie brings these who fall into it’s trap thinking they can pretend everything is ok or perform works that will make them right before God. Commitment to God wether seen by others or not is most definitely seen and known by God. Though others may be fooled He is not. Commit fully to Humbly serve, honor, follow and obey. Spend time in His word and seek His guidance, leading and perfect plan for your life.