Consider Your Wayz!

by Ashley Johnson

 From the time I was very young, I have observed the influence of daily choices in the lives of others. My parents have used the example of others as a tool to teach me the consequences of poor choices. I have learned from my own family members that the pull of the world is very strong, but we are to “love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” (I John 2:15) When my cousins Dick and Doug were 18 and 19 respectively, they were known as two of the most popular, talented, intelligent, outgoing, and attractive guys in the city of Ann Arbor,
Michigan. They drove the newest and hottest cars, and from the world’s standpoint they seemed to have it all.  Both claimed to have accepted Christ’s salvation, but they put their love of worldly pleasures and possessions before their love for God. Their lack of spiritual integrity and effectiveness rendered them useless for serving Christ. The Lord warned them on numerous occasions to turn from their sin and seek forgiveness, but they refused. Therefore, the Lord called them home to Heaven. Both died in car accidents within a year of each other-one dying on his birthday. We should learn from this tragic example of lives full of such potential destroyed by the effects of wrong choices. All of us face a choice. Will we choose the things of this world and ignore the prodding of the Holy Spirit? Or will we confess our sins to the Lord and seek forgiveness? Don’t become hardened like the people of Jeremiah 5:3 “O Lord… thou hast stricken them, but they have not grieved; thou hast consumed them, but they have refused to receive correction: they have made their faces harder than a rock; they have refused to return.”

 Observing the choices of others and the resulting consequences has influenced how I make choices. When I was at the Wilds Christian Camp the summer of my seventh grade year, I knew my life’s choices were being influenced by peers whose priorities were not seeking the will of God. I had been encouraged by my friends to rebel against authority and to listen to the wrong music. I, in turn, had been influencing my younger cousin to do the same. The Lord impressed on me the importance of being a godly influence. The choices I was making were not just affecting me- they were affecting a younger struggling Christian. If we are making daily choices as we should be, we will be “blameless and harmless… without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world” (Philippians 2:15). We will never know the extent to which we influence the decisions of others. We should pray daily that none of our actions would bring reproach upon the Lord’s name.

 We as Christians are given a tremendous responsibility to help point the lost to Christ and to encourage other Christians around us. We should look to our perfect example Who delighted to do His Father’s will even when it meant suffering on the cross. He endured the wrath of God and the burden of our sin to give us eternal life. We should follow Christ, our sinless example, and be willing to keep His law within our hearts as our guide for making daily choices. (Psalm 40:8) He wants us to surrender our selfish wills to what He wants to accomplish in our lives.  Will you let Him control your daily choices to make you into the person He wants you to be?

 Scripture Passage- Psalm 40: 5-8 (Messianic Psalm) and Hebrews 10:1-10. Christ came as the perfect sacrifice and delighted to do His Father’s will.

Father’s Day

This day is one to honor Dads,
When we remember memories glad,
For now we honor through our lives,
The one who did our lives contrive.

We love our fellowship with them,
And see them as our dearest friends;
Who counsel when we’ve reached the end,
Only to find out it was a bend.

“I love you Dad” I now can say,
Since I have learned he’s seen life’s way,
And shows me what is right and wrong,
To help me chose a way that’s strong.

To God be glory, laud, and praise,
For giving me a dad who prays.
And loves me even when I stray,
Encouraging me to go God’s way.

Now as I look to Christ for light,
To help me in my earthly plights,
May I remember my father’s rights,
And encourage him through his darkest nights.

Forever now I will delight,
And praise the LORD with heart made right,
For a father who has made the choice,
And taught me how to heed God’s voice.

Thank you Dad for your godly influence, Andrew

This Lord’s Day morning I was visiting a church, and the pastor’s text for the morning service was from Genesis 4 about the line of Cain and the line of Seth. He (the pastor) made the point that the line of Cain followed his example even to the great-great-great-great grandson (Lamech), as did the line of Seth. The line of Cain followed a path of sin and rebellion; the line of Seth followed the example of calling on the Lord. The pastor stressed that we need to be discerning of our direction realizing that every decision that we make has the potential of shaping many generations to come in our own families. Thankfully, the grace of God is greater than our sins (Rom. 5:20); however, God, being a just God, may very well allow our sinful actions to adversely affect generations to come as Adam’s sin did (Rom. 5:12). Even the line of David, a man after God’s own heart (1Sam. 13:14), suffered the consequences through successive generations (2Sam. 12:10). Who are we to think that we will escape the just hand of God? 

Yes, we live in a time when the grace of God is demonstrated in a different capacity than it was during that time; however, that fact gives us a greater responsibility (”to whom much is given; much shall be required…” Lk. 12:48). Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount: “Ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill: and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment: But I say unto you that whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment…” Mt 5:21-22a, Matthew goes on to give a couple more similar examples, showing the importance of having a pure heart and mind in addition to pure actions. In the New Testament we are given a new standard to live by:

“…but we have the mind of Christ.” (1 Cor. 2:16);

“Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus…” (Phil. 2:5);

and, “What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?  For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.” (1 Cor. 6:19-20)
 

If we are believers, we are now the temple ofGod, and we must: