Tag Archives: Choices And Consequences

What Legacy Will You Leave??? Bible Ballistics: BBs #581

23 Friday Aug 2019

Posted by in Choices And Consequences, Commitment Or Convenience, Confidence, Faith, Faithfulness

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Bible Ballistics: BBs #581     What Legacy Will You Leave???

 

 

As I get older each day (as we all do!), I am more and more aware of the import of our life choices.  We are granted the freedom to choose by the God Almighty who created us in HIS image, but with freedom comes responsibility, consequences, and both near and far effects.  My heart is so grieved over the times that I have made poor choices, and that my choices are still affecting others!  I can also rejoice in the choices that have had positive impacts on others, but so often we fail to practice what I call, ‘awareness of our influence’!  Most of us often feel like we don’t have any influence, but each and every one of us have the ability to influence others, for good or evil; for no matter how small we think our circle of influence is, like ripples on a lake our actions have wide-spreading effects on people that we may not even realize.

Think about the person who lead Billy Graham to Jesus, or Dwight L Moody (who was led to Jesus by a shoe clerk!), or any number of great people that we are all familiar with; without someone who told them about Jesus, where would we all be?

“For whosoever shall give you a cup of water to drink

in my name,

because ye belong to Christ,

verily I say unto you,

he shall not lose his reward.

42 And whosoever shall offend one of these little ones

that believe in me,

it is better for him

that a millstone were hanged

about his neck,

and he were cast into the sea.”   Mark 9:41-42

Reward and effect aren’t appraised by quantity, but by the level of faithfulness and devotion!

“He that is faithful

in that which is least

is faithful also in much:

and he that is unjust

in the least

is unjust also in much.”   Luke 16:10

Are we being faithful to God in our life choices, or are we being led to join the world’s philosophy and foolish way of thinking? Are we being faithful in the little that we have?  If not, how can we expect God to trust us with more? What legacy are we leaving to our children?  A heritage of godliness, or a heritage of compromise, license, and indulgence of the flesh?  As an old adage says, “What the parents do in moderation, the children will do to excess!”  When will we realize the eternal import of our influence? I pray that it is soon, for time is fleeting and Jesus is our soon-coming King!  Oh, how I desire to hear, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant.”  We must learn to be faithful with what HE has given us today!

“And he said unto him,

Well,

thou good servant:

because thou hast been faithful

in a very little,

have thou authority over ten cities.”  Luke 19:17

And if you remember the story, it didn’t matter how much each one had, but how faithful they had been.  I would simply like to leave you with the words of one of my favorite songs, which says it better than I could.  May God encourage your heart today to recognize your opportunities and choose wisely!  Remember there is a test coming!

May Those Who Come Behind Us Find Us Faithful

              By Steve Green

We’re pilgrims on the journey
of the narrow road,
and those who’ve gone before us
line the way.
cheering on the faithful,
encouraging the weary,
their lives a stirring testament
to god’s sustaining grace.

o may all who come behind us
find us faithful,
may the fire of our devotion
light their way.
may the footprints that we leave,
lead them to believe,
and the lives we live
inspire them to obey.
o may all who come behind us
find us faithful. 

Surrounded by so great
a cloud of witnesses,
let us run the race
not only for the prize,
but as those who’ve gone before us.
let us leave to those behind us,
the heritage of faithfulness
passed on thru godly lives.

After all our hopes and dreams
have come and gone,
and our children sift thru all
we’ve left behind,
may the clues that they discover,
and the mem’ries they uncover,
become the light that leads them,
to the road we each must find.

o may all who come behind us
find us faithful,
may the fire of our devotion
light their way.
may the footprints that we leave,
lead them to believe,
and the lives we live
inspire them to obey.
o may all who come behind us
find us faithful.

Amen and Amen!!!

Choosing Is Your Choice??? Bible Ballistics: BBs #566

26 Wednesday Jun 2019

Posted by in Choices And Consequences, Choose You This Day!

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Bible Ballistics: BBs #566   Choosing Is Your Choice???

 

We are living in a culture that wants to remove ‘consequences’ from life choices.  Well, while they be delayed, denied or dismissed by the masses—consequences will come for our choices!  God says so—not me!  So, I simply want to share a reminder for us all of what God has said.  If you need to make a ‘change’ in your “choosing”, may this encourage you in that direction.  If you are dealing with the effect of other’s choices on your life, may you find God’s direction for you in these passages.  I pray that we all can be found walking “worthy” of our Lord.

“Be not deceived;

God is not mocked:

for whatsoever a man soweth,

that shall he also reap.

8 For he that soweth to his flesh

shall of the flesh reap corruption;

but he that soweth to the Spirit

shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.

9 And let us not be weary in well doing:

for in due season

we shall reap,

 if we faint not.”  Galatians 6:7-9

“Now therefore fear the LORD,

and serve him

in sincerity

and in truth:

and put away the gods which your fathers served

on the other side of the flood,

and in Egypt;

and serve ye the LORD.

15And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD,

choose you this day

whom ye will serve;

whether the gods which

your fathers served

that were on the other side of the flood,

or the gods of the Amorites,

in whose land ye dwell:

but as for me and my house,

we will serve the LORD.”       Joshua 24:15

And Jesus’ own words to each of us.  And as my mother used to say:

 “You can fool some of the people

all of the time;

you can fool all of the people

some of the time;

but YOU can’t fool God!”

“No man can serve two masters:

for either he will hate the one,

and love the other;

or else he will hold to the one,

and despise the other.

Ye cannot serve God and mammon.”  Matthew 6:24

“Then saith Jesus unto him,

Get thee hence, Satan:

for it is written,

Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God,

and him only shalt thou serve.”   Matthew 4:10

Who are you choosing to serve?  It’s your choice but there is a consequence to every choice.  Whose servant are you?

“Know ye not,

that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey,

his servants ye are to whom ye obey;

whether of sin unto death,

or of obedience unto righteousness?” Romans 6:16

Amen and Amen!

May A Blessed Day Be Yours!!! Bible Ballistics: BBs #565

21 Friday Jun 2019

Posted by in Abiding In Jesus, Blessed by God, Choices And Consequences, Dare To Be Different!

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Bible Ballistics: BBs #565   May A Blessed Day Be Yours!!!

 

I would like to share a bit of encouragement for each of us today.  I pray that your summer is going well, and that you are making some time to share with family, friends and neighbors, and taking time for some refreshing of your heart, mind and soul.  We all need to take time to rest and refresh; even Jesus called His disciples aside to rest!

“And he said unto them,

Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place,

and rest a while:

for there were many coming and going,

and they had no leisure

so much as to eat.

32 And they departed into a desert place

by ship

privately.”  Mark 6:31-32

We all need proper rest, and ‘it’s good for what ails you’, as my mother was wont to say.  As we try to fit into a world that is going at top speed, we sometimes forget that rushing (haste) isn’t always good, because it can often produce careless or thoughtless actions.  While we need to order our lives with balance, we must make sure that our balance is set by Jesus and The Word of God!  Don’t let the world dictate the right and wrong, but God’s Word.  I would like to share a short but profound Psalm for us to ponder on this Friday!  Are you under God’s blessing or are you making choices that place you somewhere else?  A question that only you can answer!  May this encourage you today!

“Blessed is the man

that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly,

nor standeth in the way of sinners,

nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.

2 But his delight

is in the law of the LORD;

and in his law

doth he meditate

day

and night.

3 And he shall be like a tree

planted by the rivers of water,

that bringeth forth his fruit

in his season;

his leaf also

shall not wither;

and whatsoever he doeth

shall prosper.

4 The ungodly are not so:

but are like the chaff

which the wind driveth away.

5 Therefore the ungodly

shall not stand in the judgment,

nor sinners

in the congregation of the righteous.

6 For the LORD

knoweth the way of the righteous:

but the way of the ungodly

shall perish.”  Psalm 1:1-6

Check your choices; while you’re free to choose, each path will lead to certain ends!  Jesus says it best:

 “Enter ye in at the strait gate:

for wide is the gate,

and broad is the way,

that leadeth to destruction,

and many there be which go in thereat:

14 Because strait is the gate,

and narrow is the way,

which leadeth unto life,

and few there be that find it.”   Matthew 7:13-14

Amen and Amen!

What Color Are You Painting In??? Bible Ballistics: BBs #503

26 Friday Oct 2018

Posted by in Choices And Consequences

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Bible Ballistics: BBs #503 What Color Are You Painting In???

 

We live in a world of color—beautiful colors that God created for our pleasure as well as utility! Yet many are tempted today to paint God’s message in worldly colors, and we can’t do that without diminishing the truth of God’s message.

“For after that in the wisdom of God

the world by wisdom knew not God,

it pleased God

by the foolishness of preaching

to save them

that believe.

22 For the Jews require a sign,

and the Greeks seek after wisdom:

23 But we preach Christ crucified,

unto the Jews a stumblingblock,

and unto the Greeks foolishness;

24 But unto them which are called,

both Jews and Greeks,

Christ

the power of God,

and the wisdom of God.

25 Because the foolishness of God

is wiser than men;

and the weakness of God

is stronger than men.” 1 Corinthians 1:21-25

God’s wisdom—that is the only true wisdom! The Book of Proverbs speaks of godly wisdom throughout its entirety, let’s look at just a few verses today (And remember “fear of the Lord” is referring to reverential awe.)

“The fear of the LORD

is the beginning of knowledge:

but fools despise

wisdom and instruction.” Proverbs 1:7

“The fear of the LORD

is the beginning of wisdom:

and the knowledge of the holy

is understanding.” Proverbs 9:10

“A true witness delivereth souls:

but a deceitful witness speaketh lies.

26 In the fear of the LORD

is strong confidence:

and his children shall have a place

of refuge.

27 The fear of the LORD

is a fountain of life,

to depart from the snares of death.”   Proverbs 14:25-27

Oh, to rest in the “fear of the Lord”! Oh, that we could truly see through the lies of the enemy, the deceit of the world, and the illusions and distractions of a world denying God on every hand!!! We must come to understand and accept that God’s way aren’t the ways of the world, and HIS Word will never appeal to the masses—it never has and it never will. Not because God doesn’t love the world, but because the world doesn’t love or desire to know The God Almighty who sent “His only begotten Son” to die for them—for all who will come to Him in repentance and faith.

“The Lord is not slack

concerning his promise,

as some men count slackness;

but is longsuffering

to us-ward,

not willing that any should perish,

but that all should come

to repentance.”   1 Peter 3:10

Every person has the choice whether he/she will receive the truth of God and be saved by coming to Jesus, or whether we will choose the pleasures of “sin for a season” (See Hebrews 11:25)? Just remember there is a consequence to every choice, and while God has given every person the privilege to choose—we can NOT choose the consequences for our sin!

“For the wages of sin is death;

but the gift of God is eternal life

through Jesus Christ our Lord.”    Romans 6;23

And in closing a paramount insight into the difference between the world’s ways and God’s is found in Paul’s letter to the Corinthians; I pray that you will ponder it today, and examine your own “color palette”! What colors are you painting before the world? Are you receiving The Spirit’s direction in your life choices, or the world’s? Choose wisely—there is a test at the end!

“For what man knoweth the things of a man,

save the spirit of man

which is in him?

even so the things of God

knoweth no man,

but the Spirit of God.

12 Now we have received,

not the spirit of the world,

but the spirit which is of God;

that we might know the things

that are freely given to us

of God.

13 Which things also we speak,

not in the words

which man’s wisdom teacheth,

but which the Holy Ghost teacheth;

comparing spiritual things

with spiritual.

14 But the natural man

receiveth not the things

of the Spirit of God:

for they are foolishness

unto him:

neither can he know them,

because they are spiritually discerned.

15 But he that is spiritual

judgeth all things,

yet he himself is

judged of no man.

16 For who hath known the mind of the Lord,

that he may instruct him?

But we have the mind of Christ.”    1 Corinthians 2:11-16

May the “mind of Christ” pervade our heart, and mind, and choices in every step today and each day!!!

Amen and Amen!