Weekly Bread

Here we are at the beginning of 2008 with a variety of clichés and rhymes about what the year may bring. Some are facing the New Year with dread, while others have a positive expectation. Regardless of what will unfold this year, rest assured that many will be disappointed; while others rejoice. Our future should never be left to chance or happenstance, but by making proper decisions based upon the word of God. Contrary to the belief of many, God is not in control of everything that happens in the affairs of men. It’s very clear in scripture that we are to make choices concerning the direction our life goes. If our life was simply left up to God, then we would never fail at our attempts of success. Why? Because He never fails. However, man has failed time after time, but not because God is calling the shots and we are like puppets on a string. Instead, He has given us the gift of choice along with the responsibility of managing our lives under the Lordship of Jesus.

As Moses descended from the top of Mount Sinai, he met Joshua waiting for him. Joshua could hear a disturbance in the camp, thinking it was that of war. As Moses and Joshua neared the camp, they observed the people's activity of sin. Moses, angered by their behavior, confronted them and posed this question to all that were present. Who is on the Lord’s side? Everyone was faced with the decision of a lifetime. Who will you serve, who will you follow, who will be your God? Will it be you and this golden calf or 'The Great I Am'? Their future hinged on the choice they made for themselves, God did not make it for them and then force them to follow His desire. The choice they made was one of life or death!! The same is true for man today. Our future lies within the realm of our responsibility. We are able to encounter success by yielding ourselves to God’s leadership and not simply being pushed by the unfavorable winds of life. As someone once said “no wind blows in favor of a ship with no destination”. Our decisions concerning 2008 will provide favorable direction for our lives. God by His Spirit works with our declarations that are in line with His will for our lives. In Joshua 24:15, He said to choose who you will serve, but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. God can get behind that kind of decision and empower Joshua and his household to fulfill his declaration. Let’s make some decisions this year and watch God assist us in bringing them to pass.

In Isaiah 26:3 we read;

“Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee, because he trusteth in thee.”

What is peace? One definition is: a state of calm or quiet. My favorite definition is: freedom from disturbing thoughts or emotions. Whenever we choose to let our mind be tormented with the wrong thoughts, we lose our peace. God said that if we will trust Him and keep our mind fixed on Him, we will have perfect peace.

In I Samuel 17, David was sent by his father, Jesse, to bring food to his brothers who were in a battle against the Philistines. When David got there, he saw the army of Israel fleeing and in fear of the Philistine giant named Goliath. This wasn’t the case with David; he wasn’t afraid. He knew God was with him; and with God on his side, he knew that he was greater than this giant named Goliath. The end result, David killed Goliath and cut his head off.

As we go back and look at this battle between the army of Israel and the Philistines, we see two things. One, we see the army of Israel in fear. Where there is fear, there is no peace. They had disturbing thoughts about what could happen to them, and it caused their emotions to be out of control. Why? Because their mind wasn’t fixed on God. They were focused on their ability and not God’s.

The second thing we see is David being strong in faith. Where there is faith, there is peace. David was free from disturbing thoughts, because his mind was fixed on God; and it allowed him to control his emotions. He was focused on God’s ability to help him and not his own ability.

As I close, be encouraged. Keep your mind fixed on God and His Word; and you will experience perfect peace. You will experience a life free from disturbing thoughts, keeping your emotions under control and experiencing victory in your life no matter what the problem is. You will come out on the winning side in perfect peace.