What do we have that won’t wear out, break, die, go out of style, or ever need repair? We can rejoice and give thanks, because our life and our future are tied to the goodness of our Eternal Father, the creator of the heavens and maker of our world. Not only is God good; he is good to us. But more than just being good, he is loving and his love will not wear out, grow old, fade away, or need repair.

So, today, we will continue our exploration of the depths of Psalm 65. We will try to ponder the questions which ought to be utmost on every person’s mind.

As I am pondering the Promises of God …

As I am pondering the Goodness of God,

Do I Recognize the Goodness of God?

Where Do I Look to Recognize the Goodness of God?

Psalm 65:1- 4 HCSB

God’s Care for the Earth

¹ Praise is rightfully Yours,^[a]
God, in Zion;
vows to You will be fulfilled.
² All humanity will come to You,
the One who hears prayer.
³ Iniquities overwhelm me;
only You can atone for^[b] our rebellions.
⁴ How happy is the one You choose
and bring near to live in Your courts!
We will be satisfied with the goodness of Your house,
the holiness of Your temple.^[c]

The Word of God for the Children of God. In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.

The Psalmist attributed as David is saying he owes God everything because it is God who made him who he is. It is because of forgiveness he is allowed to come into the glorious courts of the divine temple of God in heaven. He can actually live in the presence of the eternal God who rules the earth. In his majesty, God still hears the prayers of those who serve him and comes to their aid when in need. Thus God deserves his praise, both in songs and in his devotion of life.

Since we all were once dead in sin, helpless and hopeless on and in our own worldly devices, but now have been forgiven by the blood of Jesus, we owe God all we are today. As his children we come to him in prayer and know he hears us and answers our needs according to his divine will. None of our cares are ever too small to merit his attention or too large that he cannot take care of them.

God our Father deserves our praise and our worship as we honor him both in songs and in the way we live our lives for him. It is only by His grace that we live in his courts and have him live in us (John 14:23, Ephesians 2:8-10). We are to be anxious for nothing but pray about all things because the Lord is near and his indescribable, undeniable goodness and peace will fill our hearts in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:4-9, 19,20)

What our challenge is in 2021 is we need to see that God blesses us abundantly in so many various ways. From Psalm 65, David tries to remind us of how much God gives to the people of the earth. God blesses us through material things. So, today, we must consider that the things we have are a blessing from God. God has set the earth up in such a way that we can be prosperous while we live here.

Consider where we are today. There are other planets, like Mars and the Sun, in our own solar system unable to any sustain life, and are desolate wastelands. How amazing we are placed on this planet earth that not only has the ability to sustain life, but is able to give great abundance to the people who live on it.

The earth, challenged as it is by the machinations of man, continues to remain and be productive, even though people may think that we are destroying it. God has not made a delicate earth, but has created a planet that could be useful for people with their primitive technology in 2000 B.C. as it could in our 2021 A.D.

Second, God has given us the beautiful things that we see in creation to know that he exists. We are able to look at the mountains and the waves and know that there is power in this world and someone put these things in motion for us.

The earth is accomplishing God’s purpose. God’s love is so great that these things were placed here so we would know that there is a powerful Creator who answers our prayers. If God can set these things in motion by His own divine will and accomplish His purpose, how much more can God do for those that He loves so much that He created all of this for us and gave up His Son for us.

Finally, we see God’s blessings through the grace he has offered to all of humanity. Our iniquities continue to prevail against us. We are not living the way we should. All of us sin and are falling short of the holiness and glory of God. But God, rather than issue wrath against us, made atonement for our sins.

God is merciful and covers over the sins we have committed. But he must remain just. Just as much as a judge can be merciful, he must also be fair, just, and keep to the requirements of the law. To be able to show us mercy, a price had to paid. The price was the sacrifice of His only Son. This would allow God to be just by covering our sins. This atonement is found in the blood of Christ.

But this forgiveness is not automatically applied. We are required to come in contact with the blood of Christ through repentance and immersion in water.

Romans 6:4 HCSB ⁴ Therefore we were buried with Him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too may walk in a new way^[a] of life.

We can become UNITED as the Body of Christ, His Church in the world, in the sight of God if we will simply choose to come to Jesus and serve Him today.

Ephesians 4:1-6 HCSB

Unity and Diversity in the Body of Christ

4 Therefore I, the prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk worthy of the calling you have received, ² with all humility and gentleness, with patience, accepting^[a] one another in love, ³ diligently keeping the unity of the Spirit with the peace that binds us. ⁴ There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to one hope^[b] at your calling— ⁵ one Lord, one faith, one baptism, ⁶ one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all.

Except, what is all of this “goodness of God” supposed to look like? How are we to recognize this Goodness of our Father God and where are we to recognize it?

Does the Bible Talk about the Goodness of God?

Read, diligently study, pray through the entirety of Psalm 107, and Psalm 136.

The Apostle James wrote, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change” (James 1:17 ESV). God’s goodness is an attribute of His unchanging character.

“God is light,” 1 John 1:5 says, “in him there is no darkness at all.” There is no dark side to God. He does allow us to endure the consequences of disobedience and the pain and suffering of the fallen world we live in to affect us. But God cannot be anything but who He is, and He is good. In His goodness, God chose to love and save humanity through Jesus Christ (John 3:16-17). 

Christ-followers are described as those recognized by light. “But whoever does what is true comes to the light,” Jesus spoke, “so it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.” (John 3:19-20 ESV).

In the King James Version of the Bible, there are forty eight (48) references to the word “goodness.” How many can you find and How many do you know?

Whatever version or translation of the Bible you use or is available to you, how many references to the word “goodness” can you find, learn, study, pray over?

What about outside the Bible if you have no Bible to read or none is available?

What about recognizing the Goodness of God from what you can observe daily?

10 Ways to Recognize the Goodness of God Daily:

Recognize God’s Goodness in Nature

Genesis 1:31 KJV

³¹ And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

God, our Creator, spoke the world into existence. On the sixth day, He proclaimed it, very good. Not just good as He labeled the other days of creation before but very good. God is unchanging, so if He proclaimed creation very good then, it remains very good now. God is evident in His creation.

In every season, and every location across the globe, God is intentional in every note of every symphony of nature and His goodness purposefully surrounds us with magnificent reminders of His faithfulness and hope and love, both as large and expansive as a sunrise sky and as small and intricate as a blooming flower.

Recognize God’s Goodness in People

Romans 8:26-28 AKJV

²⁶ Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. ²⁷ And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God. ²⁸ And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

We were created in God’s image to glorify Him. He has good plans for us. Those, in Christ, are “called according to his purpose.” His purposes draw us, and others, closer to Him. Our mission on this earth is to share the hope we have in Jesus Christ through the gospel. “Love God, and love your neighbor,” are the most important commands (Matthew 22:34-40, Mark 12:28-34).

The people in our lives are purposefully placed. We were not meant to be alone. (Genesis 2:18-22) The people in our lives are part of God’s purpose for our lives. Some are meant to breathe life and faith and hope and love into our lives, and others we are meant to share the message of faith, hope and love of Jesus with. All things working together for good, conforms us to the image of Jesus Christ.

Recognize God’s Goodness in Answered Prayers

Psalm 34:8-10 AKJV

⁸ O taste and see that the Lord is good:
blessed is the man that trusteth in him.
⁹ O fear the Lord, ye his saints:
for there is no want to them that fear him.
¹⁰ The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger:
but they that seek the Lord shall not want any good thing.

Answered prayer reminds us of God’s goodness. King David wrote Psalm 34 in reference to a perilous situation he found himself in. His point of view is very critical, because God’s goodness can be found not only when His blessings are obvious, but also when the bottom falls completely out. Good people will suffer and through that suffering, God remains good. God hears our prayers, and He is moved by the prayers of the righteous.

Recognize God’s Goodness in the Truth of His Word

1 Timothy 4:4-5 AKJV

⁴ For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving: ⁵ for it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer.

Daily Prayer and time in God’s Word are crucial if we are to witness and experience the goodness of God. We can pour out our praise and problems, lift our anxiety up to God, and confess our sins daily.

These are all privileges of living under the New Covenant forged by the blood of Christ. Christ is the living Word of God. The Apostle John wrote, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1-5). When we seek His Light from our darkness with all of our hearts, God promises we will find Him. His goodness abounds in the Truth of His Word.

Recognize God’s Goodness in His Blessings

Psalm 31:19-20 AKJV

¹⁹ Oh how great is thy goodness,
which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee;
which thou hast wrought for them that trust in thee before the sons of men!
²⁰ Thou shalt hide them in the secret of thy presence from the pride of man:
thou shalt keep them secretly in a pavilion from the strife of tongues.

When we leave our lives in the hands of our good God, we will see the good things God has for us. When we become distracted by idols (anything holding our attention more than God), it’s difficult for us to recognize the good things God has for us, as if trading them in for something that has less value. “Fear seems to drive us away from God and taking refuge in God seems to draw into the life of His Son Jesus and to the intercession of the Holy Spirit. (Psalm 91)

We can choose to distrust everything our eyes see. We can also choose to trust more the goodness of God, counting the blessings He has littered our lives with.

Recognize God’s Goodness in His Providence/Provision

Jeremiah 29:10-14 AKJV

¹⁰ For thus saith the Lord, That after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place. ¹¹ For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. ¹² 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. ¹⁴ And I will be found of you, saith the Lord: and I will turn away your captivity, and I will gather you from all the nations, and from all the places whither I have driven you, saith the Lord; and I will bring you again into the place whence I caused you to be carried away captive.

How do we observe and testify to the providence and provision of God daily? In the way He sustains us each day. He is faithful to meet our physical needs and love us through the people He’s placed around us.

Jesus, in His Sermon on the Mount, instructed us not to worry. But often, we toil over the next day before this one is done. The fact we are alive today is proof God will be in our tomorrow. He knows the number of our days (Psalm 103:13-16). Even when life is hard, we can trust God to sustain us. God uses the hard things in life to strengthen us and make us more like Him. We can trust God’s providence even if His provision does not exactly align with our own desires.

Recognize God’s Goodness in Your Breath (Another Day of Life)

James 1:16-18 AKJV

¹⁶ Do not err, my beloved brethren. ¹⁷ Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. ¹⁸ Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.

Every breath is a gift from God. Another day of life, full of His providence and blessing, ought to help us recognize God, daily. Often, we take the simple joy of breathing for granted. God, in His goodness, knows every hair on our heads.

At any given time, that number can change. Daily, we lose strands here and there, sometimes unnoticed. But not to our good God. He notices. He is 100% everywhere and all-knowing, and cares for us deeply enough to know the most finite details of our days. Each day, each breath, is evidence of our good God.

Recognize God’s Goodness in His Forgiveness

1 John 1:7-9 AKJV

⁷ but if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. ⁸ If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. ⁹ If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Forgiveness reveals God’s goodness, daily. Forgiveness was birthed by our good God, who didn’t have to forgive humanity for breaking His laws. 

Daily, we come to God for forgiveness, because we all fall short of the glory of God. (Romans 3:21-23) In Christ, we are able to come to our good God and we can freely confess unto our Father in Heaven our sins. In His goodness and through the sacrifice of His Son, we are able to embrace the gift of forgiveness He has given to us access, and thus we forgive others as He has done for us.

Recognize God’s Goodness in Acts of Kindness

Psalm 145:5-9 AKJV

⁵ I will speak of the glorious honour of thy majesty,
and of thy wondrous works.
⁶ And men shall speak of the might of thy terrible acts:
and I will declare thy greatness.
⁷ They shall abundantly utter the memory of thy great goodness,
and shall sing of thy righteousness.

⁸ The Lord is gracious, and full of compassion;
slow to anger, and of great mercy.
⁹ The Lord is good to all:
and his tender mercies are over all his works.

Everyday random and planned acts of kindness are proof of God’s goodness. We are placed, purposefully, in the pathways of each other’s lives. Nothing good ever happens apart from the Father. Every good work exists because of Him. He makes good of all things, even those intended to harm us. How much more can He take any random act of kindness, turn it into 100% blessing (Acts 3:1-10)?  

Recognize God’s Goodness at the Cross

John 3:16-17 AKJV

¹⁶ For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. ¹⁷ For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

In single the greatest act of love, God sent His one and only Son, Jesus Christ, the promised Messiah of the Old Testament, to earth. Fully God and fully man, Jesus came to earth to die a sacrificial death on the cross by crucifixion. He was innocent, yet died a criminal’s death, intentionally for us, to carry out the will of His Father, only He was capable of fulfilling. The cross is a daily reminder of the indescribable, immeasurable, undeniable, unchangeable goodness of God.

I fervently pray whoever comes to read these words, discovers His goodness. But not only discovers His goodness, but is empowered by those discoveries.

In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, Let us now Pray,

God, our Father, companion and guide,  we would be lost without your direction— wanderers in  wildernesses of our own making. We praise you for dealing so graciously with your people in the past, when you guided them to freedom and a promised new life. We are heirs of that promise fulfilled in Jesus, our Redeemer.

Through him, you have established for us a permanent direction for our lives and as we dwell in him, our lives are blessed with fruitfulness.  Holy God, may this time of worship be a joyful response of praise and thanksgiving for all that goodness you have shown, acts of hope you have done for all, for all that you are doing, and for all that you will continue to do for us and all people through the power of the Holy Spirit and in the name of Jesus.  Alleluia! Alleluia! Amen.

We continue our journey through the “Great Invitation” from Isaiah 55:1-3.

God has decisively and directly intervened into the affairs of mankind. It is God Himself who is speaking above His Prophet Isaiah and is directing His Voice to the Israelites who have been exiled in Babylon for about seventy years. It is the only place two plus generations of Israelites have known as their home. To what degree do they yet know their God who had brought forth their ancestors from hundreds of years of bondage Egypt? We do not know. Now, we might find out.

They have been exposed to Babylonian deities and local religious practices. It is everywhere around them. Generations of men women and children going about their day to day living surrounded by Babylonian festivals to their pantheon of the gods they worshipped. To what degree were the Israelites allowed their own decisions to practice their own traditional worship practices unencumbered by their Babylonian hosts? Did they still “know” the One true God of Deuteronomy 6:4-9? Did they still centrally worship “The Lord is thy God, the Lord Alone!?”

What about making the decision to choose which god or God they will “serve” and love with all of their hearts, all of their souls, with all all of their strength?

We will turn to a familiar passage of text from Joshua chapter 24 verses 14 – 24.

Joshua 24:14-24 NASB

“We Will Serve the Lord”

¹⁴ “Now, therefore, ^[a]fear the Lord and serve Him in sincerity and ^[b]truth; and do away with the gods which your fathers served beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. ¹⁵ But if it is disagreeable in your sight to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves today whom you will serve: whether the gods which your fathers served, which were beyond the Euphrates River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

¹⁶ The people answered and said, “Far be it from us that we would abandon the Lord to serve other gods; ¹⁷ for the Lord our God is He who brought us and our fathers up out of the land of Egypt, from the house of slaves, and did these great signs in our sight and watched over us through all the way in which we went and among all the peoples through whose midst we passed. ¹⁸ The Lord drove out from before us all the peoples, even the Amorites who lived in the land. We also will serve the Lord, for He is our God.”

¹⁹ Then Joshua said to the people, “You will not be able to serve the Lord, for He is a holy God. He is a jealous God; He will not forgive your wrongdoing or your sins. ²⁰ If you abandon the Lord and serve foreign gods, then He will turn and do you harm and destroy you after He has done good to you.” ²¹ And the people said to Joshua, “No, but we will serve the Lord.” ²² So Joshua said to the people, “You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen for yourselves the Lord, to serve Him.” And they said, “We are witnesses.” ²³ “Now then, do away with the foreign gods which are in your midst, and incline your hearts to the Lord, the God of Israel.” ²⁴ And the people said to Joshua, “We will serve the Lord our God and ^[c]obey His voice.”

The Word of God for the Children of God. In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.

To Make Wise Decisions, Connect The Dots

How many of us have ever made a decision that we later regretted? How many of us have said, “If I had known then, what I know now, I would have chosen a different path?” When you or I make a poor choice, are we more likely to blame ourselves or lash out so to put the blame on others or on our circumstances? Do we claim ignorance, claiming we are victims of circumstances not of our own making? The ages old: “this is what was handed to me by people in authority over me” defense? Ergo, “I did not know any better to challenge their choices?” “My parents did the best they could to raise me believing in a God I never met!”

Nowadays we wonder where are the road signs which direct us to that one place we are trying to get to in total safety. What do all these words have in common? Yield, bump, curve ahead, stop, one way, bridge freezes before road, detour, and left turn only. These are all words that you, I will find on roadway signs through any given community we are living in. What’s the purpose of the information?

They get us from point A to all subsequent points which might come afterwards. They get us from a point of origination, eventually to our points of destinations. These word signs all want you to think safety and to make adjustments before we make a decision to keep moving forward or detour if we flaunt them. They do not have the power to make you do anything. They do provide you with a decision to change your behavior to keep you from regretting that bad decision.

Sometimes we decide to ignore the signs, and there might not be any apparent consequences for doing so. Sometimes you can ignore the signs and experience an inconvenience, minor damage to your car, or a traffic ticket or worse, jail. Sometimes you can ignore the signs, and it may cost you or others their lives.

It’s not a simple matter of whether or not you like the particular message of a particular sign that should impact our behavior. It’s a matter of connecting the dots into the future of what might happen if this sign is ignored. The very sign we are so tempted to ignore, might be something that’s there to save our lives.

There is a passage in the book of Proverbs that provides us with direction and insight on how to make wise decisions by connecting the dots. By connecting the dots I’m talking about drawing a picture.

Do you remember as kids, we use to be given a piece of paper with numbers all over it? If you drew a line from one number to the next in the right sequence a picture will begin to emerge on the page.

Choosing to go from #5 to #6 would further create the picture. Our decisions do not happen in a vacuum. We are drawing a biblically based picture whether we like it or not of our lives of living God, loving God with each decision we make.

Jesus understood this decision very well. He knew he had a certain purpose to accomplish with his life. He was to be in Jerusalem on a particular day in order to be crucified and to die for our sins. He could live God or He could walk away.

When others tried to get him to make choices to show who he was, “Jesus would say, my time has not yet come.” Jesus connected the dots between his current behavior, and how the choices he made now would impact the final mission that his Father had sent Him to do. These are the self same decisions we must make.

Proverbs 27:12The Message

¹² A prudent person sees trouble coming and ducks;
    a simpleton walks in blindly and is clobbered.

We don’t use the word prudent very much anymore but it means shrewd in a good sense. It’s the person who sees a situation and thinks before acting upon it. Google defines it as acting with or showing care and thought for the future.

A prudent person is diligent, taking the time to connect the dots between where “I am now, and where I will be in the future.” The prudent person knows that, I must make some decisions and changes to avoid a danger that is in front of me.

In our Old Testament Reading from Joshua, God had made a promise to the people of the nation of Israel. God told them that He would deliver them out of slavery in Egypt, take them unto a bountiful land, remove the people out, and would go “before them” and defeat their numerous enemies. Well God did it.

Moses was the leader God used to get them out of Egypt. Joshua was the leader God used to conquer the land and to distribute it to the people. Finally, Joshua was ready to retire from his job and the people had everything God had wanted to give to them.

Joshua said to the people, “You need to make a choice. This is it. Either throw away the gods you have been hiding and carrying around in your back pockets so that you can serve the Lord faithfully or choose to serve the gods you’ve been carrying around, either the old ones or the new ones you just found.

Joshua was a prudent person. He could see the danger of trying to hold on to certain things while having a goal of trying to walk with the Lord. He saw very clearly, saw through the people’s words knowing that if they were not willing to get rid of the gods now which they had been collecting, they were never going to follow God into their future, they would lose everything God had given to them.

The people agreed with Joshua, that God had done some incredible things for them. They agreed with Joshua that serving the Lord was a good thing. They agreed that God was holy and even though God could take away their blessings, they said we will serve the Lord our God and obey ONLY Him.

They claimed they wanted the same thing Joshua did, but nowhere in chapter 24 does it ever say, “the people went and got their foreign gods and idols and stacked them up in a pile and threw them away as Joshua told them to do.”

They honestly believed there was no danger in compromising what God had told them to do. They saw the same situation as Joshua did. Joshua was prudent.

He looked ahead and said “I don’t care how attractive these idols are, I do not want them in my house and in none of the houses of my family.” He connected the dots into the future and found his safety in God. He declared as for me and my house ,we will serve the Lord.

The people on the other hand kept going forward as they had been doing and like the second half of verse 27:12, says the simple keep going and pay the penalty.

Within a few years of the death of the elders who outlived Joshua, the people lost their land, their freedom and their relationship to God because they did not connect the dots between the decisions they were making in the present with the consequences of the future. The Israelites had been in Babylon for 70 years. They had been raised by succeeding generations of parents, grand parents who had first hand experience with the same God who had led them out of Egypt. Personal experience and generational education goes a long way to keeping “God alive and well” in the hearts of true believers. But, lose that education?

A prudent person asks questions before marching off into a decision. 1) Is the decision I’m making a wise choice. 2) What will I gain if I choose this option? 3) Who will be affected if things don’t go as I plan. 4) What will this do to my walk with Christ. 5) Will I be pleased if others find out what I have done? But if the Gospel truth gets watered down or “acculturated,” God gets “watered down!”

Do you know why Jesus said, “come follow me?” Because He knows we are all following something or someone and we are all headed to a destination of some sort. Many of us are tempted to make decisions today without attempting to get into their bibles, diligently study and apply them, to connect dots for the future.

Throughout the Book of Joshua, we can follow the dots,

We have watched as Joshua stood before a raging river in flood stage and placed his feet into the water. God honored his faith and the waters walled up Joshua led the Israelites to safety.

We watched as the Israelites marched around the walls of Jericho for six days; on the Sabbath day seven priests marched around the city seven times on the seventh time they blew the trumpets in the walls fell down and they captured the city.

We watched as Joshua prayed what may be the most powerful prayer ever prayed as he asked for the sun and the moon to standstill; to basically stopped time long enough for him to win and finish the battle.

Then God spoke to Joshua and he said Joshua, your very old-and when God tells you you’re old… Well, you’re old. And he told him there were still some very large areas of land to be taken over. So the land of Canaan was divided into the 12 tribes of Israel. That covers nearly 13 chapters of the book.

Today we come to the end of this great book. Now we finally connect the dots.

In chapter 23 Joshua was summons all the leaders together in says I am old and well advanced in years and he reminds them that God would lead them, that God would keep his promise to them and that they would live forever in the land he had promised to them. Then in chapter 24 Joshua gives them these final words of advice. Verses 14-15.

Let me ask you a question this morning… How do you go about making the major decisions of life? Life is full of so many choices. How do you go about making those decisions? What is the process for you?

George Jones was an icon in country music… Just before his death in 1999 he wrote a song called choices-the mainline the song says I’m living and dying with the choices I made. And we do. We live and die with the major choices we make in life. These are some of the major choices in my opinion that we make in life.

1. What kind of work will I do? How are you going to use the gifts and talents God has given to you to help make a

difference in this world? In this church? In this community?

2. Who am I going to marry? Too many times we give two little thought to this decision and it is made through our emotions-after all were in love. This is a major decision because that person you choose will impact your life forever. In both good ways and often in bad ways. Who we choose to marry is clearly a life-changing decision.

3. Where will I live? I counted this week and realized that in my life of 60 years now I have lived in five different states, eight different cities and 13 different apartments and homes. For over 22 years now I have been in the same spot but we have had more than our share of moving. During those 22 years I have served eight churches and each time I have changed there has been a major time of prayer for me. Because those changes affects not only me but my wife to. And as a couple it also affects those congregations, it also has had a large impact on.

The decisions? What kind of work will I do? Who am I going to marry? Where will I live? All of these decisions are huge but there is one more that is obvious that matters even more. And here it is. How will I make decisions? How we make decisions will determine the course and the direction of your life how you make decisions will determine whether you will live inside or outside of God’s will.

These are decisions the exiled Israelites in Babylon would have to make in deciding how to respond to God’s Great Invitation from Isaiah 55. That said I want to give you a four step process for how we must begin to make decisions as a church and of course as individuals, families and communities. Decisions that are solid, scripturally based decisions that are certain, decisions that are godly… With results that will hopefully, prayerfully one day come to benefit everyone.

1. Learn to pray. Pray as though your life depends on it. Because one day in the very near future it just might. Too many times we “rush in where even lions fear to tread” and make major decisions but only give them minor consideration.

2. Learn to wait. Isaiah says wait on the Lord and you will mount up with wings like eagles, you will run and not even get tired. Too many times we make what we commonly refer to as impulsive decisions which we cannot financially do. Too many of our worst decisions have been made by faulty impulse control and you and I can end up paying for them for a long time. Learning to wait ON GOD is one of the hardest lessons we must learn in life. The key word here is timing.

Remember Psalm 46 NASB!  

46 God is our refuge and strength,
A ^[b]very ready help in ^[c]trouble.
² Therefore we will not fear, though the earth shakes
And the mountains slip into the heart of the ^[d]sea;
³ Though its waters roar and foam,
Though the mountains quake at its swelling pride. Selah

⁴ There is a river whose streams make the city of God happy,
The holy dwelling places of the Most High.
⁵ God is in the midst of her, she will not be moved;
God will help her ^[e]when morning dawns.
⁶ The ^[f]nations made an uproar, the kingdoms tottered;
He ^[g]raised His voice, the earth quaked.
⁷ The Lord of armies is with us;
The God of Jacob is our stronghold. Selah

⁸ Come, behold the works of the Lord,
^[h]Who has inflicted horrific events on the earth.
⁹ He makes wars to cease to the end of the earth;
He breaks the bow and cuts the spear in two;
He burns the chariots with fire.
¹⁰ “^[i]Stop striving and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the ^[j]nations, I will be exalted on the earth.”
¹¹ The Lord of armies is with us;
The God of Jacob is our stronghold. Selah

3. Learn how to get a word from God.

Remember Psalm 19 NASB

The Works and the Word of God.

For the music director. A Psalm of David.

19 The heavens tell of the glory of God;
And their expanse declares the work of His hands.
² Day to day pours forth speech,
And night to night reveals knowledge.
³ There is no speech, nor are there words;
Their voice is not heard.
⁴ Their ^[a]line has gone out into all the earth,
And their words to the end of the world.
In them He has placed a tent for the sun,
⁵ Which is like a groom coming out of his chamber;
It rejoices like a strong person to run his course.
⁶ Its rising is from ^[b]one end of the heavens,
And its circuit to the ^[c]other end of them;
And there is nothing hidden from its heat.

⁷ The Law of the Lord is ^[d]perfect, restoring the soul;
The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.
⁸ The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart;
The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes.
⁹ The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever;
The judgments of the Lord are true; they are righteous altogether.
¹⁰ They are more desirable than gold, yes, than much pure gold;
Sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb.
¹¹ Moreover, Your servant is warned by them;
In keeping them there is great reward.
¹² Who can discern his errors? Acquit me of hidden faults.
¹³ Also keep Your servant back from presumptuous sins;
Let them not rule over me;
Then I will be innocent,
And I will be blameless of great wrongdoing.
¹⁴ May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
Be acceptable in Your sight,
Lord, my rock and my Redeemer.

Seek the advice of godly, successful people. People do not become successful in life by luck. He’s usually the result of making solid decisions. Solomon said the way of a fool seems right to him, a wise man listens to advice. Proverbs 12:15

Go to God’s word. This book gives us instructions on how to live. It is an owner’s manual. Basic instructions before leaving Earth. God’s word says I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go. Solomon said lean not unto your own understanding. Proverbs 3:5-8  

Both Joshua and Isaiah said whether you turn to the right or the left you will hear a voice behind you saying, here is the way (scriptures); ergo walk in it.

4. Once you make a decision, never look back.

Stop 2nd guessing yourself. Why? Because it’s too late and accomplishes nothing. Look ahead. Living life by constantly looking in the rearview mirror is the wrong way to live. Make a decision and then look forward.

Decisions. We make them every day. Today we decided to get up and come to worship. We decided whether to listen or not. And now I want to ask you to consider another couple of critically important decisions relevant to your response to whether or not you accept or you refuse to live into Isaiah 55.

(1) To become a part of this body of Christ. (2) A decision to follow Christ as your Lord and Savior. I made mine 2o years ago and it is the one of the decisions I have made for which I have absolutely zero regrets about. None. Nada. Zip. Will you make an Isaiah 55 decision today? What will you, your household do?

Having the right guidance in life requires abiding by the Lord’s will and having his discernment in your life.

In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, Let us come to pray,

Loving Father, only you know my end from the beginning. Nothing I do or say catches you by surprise. You know what is in my heart, good or bad. Everyone around me is choosing to do things their way, and it is very tempting for me to do so too. But Father God, I want your will to be done in my life. If it is not your will for me to take this path, then Father, give me divine strength to accept and to follow your lead. May every decision I make be truly pleasing to you. In Jesus’ name, I believe and pray.  Alleluia! Alleluia! Allelui1! Amen.