Decision Point

How much of a Christian do you want to be? That is the question you have already answered with the depth you allow yourself to submit to the Word of God. Some people only submit once a week when they go to Church. Some go to Church and get involved with missions or outreaches. And, some go even further by surrendering their thoughts and will to the Word of God.

For a non-believer this will sound like brainwashing, and maybe it is. Who knows, who cares? I don’t care and I tell you why – there is freedom in knowing you are in alignment with God rather than being opposed to Him. We are not smarter than God. In fact, we are more like an ant on an ant hill watching a plane fly in the sky. We think to ourselves, “I could show that bird how to fly better.” Point is, we think too highly of our own intellect, and we really need to keep it in check.

Fear of the Lord is the foundation of true knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline.

Proverbs 1:7 (NLT)

Are we as smart as we think? In this world, the planet earth, some can claim they are pretty smart, but let’s put that into perspective. Listen to what Michio Kaku says about the different levels of civilizations and where we earthlings would be ranked universally.

What we need to ask ourselves is, how much are we willing to allow our Christian Faith to influence our lives. It is important to meditate on this question, because throughout our lives we will have to deal with many decisions that define our character. We need to know how much of our Faith will we allowed to define our lives and character, rather than what we believe to be rational and correct. It basically comes down to what the Bible says versus what the world says, and which we choose to follow.

Having the Bible as our guide makes these decision points clear on what is right and wrong. The reality is, there are no gray areas when it comes to truth – Truth is black and white… and red, which are the three colors of text in the Holy Bible. Gray areas are what we create when we choose not to follow the Bible, and it is here where evil expands like yeast in bread.

More than likely, the Word wont be as easy to live-out as it is the world’s popular consensus. We have to abandon much of what we love in this world, for the discipline and delayed rewards and gratification that the Word promises. We need discernment to identify these tough decisions, wisdom to make the right decision, and the wherewithal to live by the decisions we make. Make the wrong decisions, and you may find yourself on a path you didn’t intend to take nor want to be on.

The purpose of this study is to look at our choices head-on and make some life decisions. These decision points define how much of a Christian you intend on being. Believe it or not, it comes down to a making a choice.

Exercises

Effort

Let’s examine the effort that God expects us to make. Read the verse below and ask yourself the questions that follow.

4 Listen, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. 5 And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength. 6 And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands that I am giving you today. 7 Repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up. 8 Tie them to your hands and wear them on your forehead as reminders. 9 Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

Deuteronomy 6:4-9

Questions

1. Are you willing to Love the God of Israel with all your heart, soul and strength? This passage says we must be fully committed, and submitted, to God with complete love and fidelity. In Mark 12:30 (NLT) Jesus said, “And you must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.”
2. Are you willing to commit yourself completely to His commands? Jesus says that we are His friends if we do what he commands, John 15:14 (NLT)
3. Are you going to teach them to your children? What if they are grown?

Yielding Our Thoughts for His

Here is a verse that is hard to digest. I was a very independent-minded person. I used to question the song “From the Inside Out” by Hillsong United. The chorus states, “Consume me from the inside out, Lord!” It is a great song, but that verse rubbed me the wrong way. I used to think, “I have my own brain, and I am my own being. Am I supposed to surrender that? If I do, am I just supposed to be a robot?” It sounded like the invasion of the body snatchers.

Here is the verse.

“My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord. “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. 9 For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.

Isaiah 55:8-9

We do not have to be mush-brain cyborgs for Jesus. That is not what this is about. It is about yielding what you think is right and true, for what God says is Right and True. A bank robber can justify robbing banks all he wants, but God said we cannot steal (Exodus 25:15 NLT). In order for the bank robber to surrender his thoughts for God’s, he would have to accept God’s Truth over his truth and no longer steal. A clear sign you are in the wrong is when you find yourself trying to justify actions and beliefs that are not Biblical.

Questions

• Do you realize the only way we learn is inductive? Through examining things under microscopes, mathematical equations, telescopes in space, radar, sonar… we learn by reaching out to things and bringing them close in order for us to study them. Think of a baby; whatever he finds he sticks in his mouth to see if it is something edible. Babies reach and grab and explore things using different senses. First the eyes, then the hands, then the mouth. They bang it on the floor a few times, then onto the next thing. That is a simplified version of how we learn… but it is how we learn. And this includes our science community. When you think about it, we really are limited in the way we learn.
• Do you believe with God we can surpass inductive learning? That we are able to learn things from the God of Israel? Here are two verses that prove that God’s children can attain wisdom that goes beyond the limitations of inductive learning.

⁶ Solomon replied, “You showed great and faithful love to your servant my father, David, because he was honest and true and faithful to you. And you have continued to show this great and faithful love to him today by giving him a son to sit on his throne. ⁷ “Now, O Lord my God, you have made me king instead of my father, David, but I am like a little child who doesn’t know his way around. ⁸ And here I am in the midst of your own chosen people, a nation so great and numerous they cannot be counted! ⁹ Give me an understanding heart so that I can govern your people well and know the difference between right and wrong. For who by himself is able to govern this great people of yours?” ¹⁰ The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for wisdom. ¹¹ So God replied, “Because you have asked for wisdom in governing my people with justice and have not asked for a long life or wealth or the death of your enemies— ¹² I will give you what you asked for! I will give you a wise and understanding heart such as no one else has had or ever will have! ¹³ And I will also give you what you did not ask for—riches and fame! No other king in all the world will be compared to you for the rest of your life! ¹⁴ And if you follow me and obey my decrees and my commands as your father, David, did, I will give you a long life.”

1 Kings 3:6-10 (NLT)

Ask me and I will tell you remarkable secrets you do not know about things to come.

Jeremiah 33:3 (NLT)

Enduring Struggles and The Character That Follows

It is not always easy to follow the Word of God, but it is one of the many ways God refines us. When we run away from problems what does that say about our character? It says we are a quitters. That we would rather tuck our tail and run to save ourselves than to meet the challenge and grow from it. What does that say about a society that makes it a habit of quitting rather than conquering? From three different followers of Christ we get one of the most important rules for life – endure!

We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. 4 And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. 5 And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.

Romans 5:3-5 (NLT)

Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. 3 For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. 4 So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.

James 1:2-4 (NLT)

These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So, when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.

1 Peter 1:7 (NLT)

Questions

• Are you willing to allow the Word of God take precedence over every decision that you need to make?
• Do you think that your job is outside the realm of God’s sovereignty?
• Do you think your relationships, including your marriage, are outside the realm of God’s sovereignty?
• Do you think you can grow from enduring conflict and issues?
• What happens to us when we avoid conflict? What happens to our soul? What happens to our character?

Focus

The final thing we must decide for ourselves is our focus. On what do we choose to focus? This world offers only temporary gratification, success, and happiness, if you are lucky to attain it. The Word of God offers us things that are eternal, such as True Love, True Joy, complete fulfillment, and eternal life in Heaven with the Father.

Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.

Matthew 6:33 (NLT)

Questions

• What in this world is worth your full focus?
• Do the things you seek last forever? For instance, the feeling of riding a rollercoaster, or the fun at a party. Do the feelings you have when you experience these things last your entire life, or are they temporary?
• Examine these verses and apply them in your life. Then ask yourself, does the feeling I get from doing these things, last?

After breakfast Jesus asked Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?” “Yes, Lord,” Peter replied, “you know I love you.” “Then feed my lambs,” Jesus told him. 16 Jesus repeated the question: “Simon son of John, do you love me?” “Yes, Lord,” Peter said, “you know I love you.” “Then take care of my sheep,” Jesus said. 17 A third time he asked him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Peter was hurt that Jesus asked the question a third time. He said, “Lord, you know everything. You know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Then feed my sheep.”

John 21:15-17 (NLT)

“But when the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit upon his glorious throne. 32 All the nations will be gathered in his presence, and he will separate the people as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will place the sheep at his right hand and the goats at his left. 34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. 36 I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.’ 37 “Then these righteous ones will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you? Or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 Or a stranger and show you hospitality? Or naked and give you clothing? 39 When did we ever see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ 40 “And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters,[f] you were doing it to me!…”

Matthew 25:31-40 (NLT)

• Are you willing to give yourself away like Christ gave Himself away? True Joy and True Success comes from Heaven and one of the ways we attain this is by giving ourselves away to serve others, like Jesus did. This is a feeling that will last a life time. This is True Love that lasts into eternity.
• Are you willing to abandon what you knew to be the way to live – go to school, get a job, get married, have kids, etc. – to live a life of servitude?

Final Questions

• How much should the Word of God be applied to our lives? Is there a limit? Does everything in the Bible apply to life today?
• What are we to do when we find that some of the beliefs we have had our entire lives do not line up with the Word of God?
• Should the Word of God take priority over our friends? Family?
• What is the alternative to living life without the Word of God? (Hint)
  • If God’s Word is not important to us, then we have accepted living by your own understanding, and to navigate the world alone.
  • If you do not live by Gods Word, then you accept living by the world’s word.