The Power of Our Decisions.

As a finale to our Words of Life over the past few weeks, I want us to see the power of our decisions.  Because decisions are not made in a vacuum; nor are the consequences which accrue.  Our attitude {arrogance or humility} determines our priorities; our priorities {what is critically important to us in life} determine our decisions.  Good or evil, the consequence of a decision we make will always be consistent with the decision itself!  Call it the ‘Universal Law,’ if you like {Gal. 6:7}.  Those decisions can be spiritual or carnal, sacrificial or selfish; it’s our choice.

Joshua set before the elders of Israel an amazing challenge in Joshua 24:15.  He said, “If serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve: whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the 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.”  This was a real man in the sight of God: a man of character, a man of conviction, a man of courage, a Warrior among warriors, one of only two men in the Old Testament who were said to have “followed the LORD fully,” meaning “wholeheartedly:” Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun.  This is a unique phrase in the Hebrew found only five times in Scripture, three of these in the Book of Joshua.

Of these two men the Lord said to Moses in Numbers 32:11-12, “Because they have not followed Me wholeheartedly, not one of the men twenty years old or more who came up out of Egypt will see the Land I promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob— not one except Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite….”  Notice something here.  He wasn’t even an Israelite; he was one of the ‘mixed multitude’ who joined up with this nation of nomads in their wilderness wanderings.  The “Kenizzites” were part of the Canaanite peoples living in the land according to Genesis 15:19.  They were to be dispossessed by the Israelites.  And yet this man’s rank in the Heraldry of Heroes stands head and shoulders above the Jews of his generation.

“And” who else?  “Joshua son of Nun.”  Why?  “For they followed the LORD wholeheartedly.”  There it is.  They did not stray from the course; by faith they exercised endurance, by faith they practiced perseverance on the trail which leads from the Cross to the Crown.  Their commendation came in Time {they were allowed to enter the land when no one else from their generation was}, and it will come again in Eternity, only on a much, much greater scale.

The natural outcome of our decisions is our actions.  The actions of our lives reveal the attitude of our hearts {pretty major lesson for life}.  We can boil action down to right or wrong {not always motivation, however: only God knows all the circumstances surrounding why we do what we do, or why we don’t do what we don’t do!}.  How’s that for simplicity?

Finally, we come to the eagerly ignored but impossible to avoid, consequences.  Remember this: To every action belongs a result; to every decision a consequence {Hos. 8:7b}.  Our actions bring either blessing or cursing for ourselves and for those around us.  No man is an isolated island, no woman is unrelated to the rest of the world!  And you cannot change cursing into blessing until you humble yourself in the presence of Abba.  And that is all in the attitude.

HJC	Ric Webb  |  Shepherd Heart’s Journey Community 9621 Tall Timber Blvd. |  Little Rock, AR 72204 t +1.501.455.0296
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Heart’s Journey – Live Generously and Love Graciously