DECISIONS: CHOOSING YOUR WAY

PSALM 43:5
We have begun a new series and I am very excited about it - we are calling it Decisions - Divinely Inspired. We had some really great services - God's presence was felt and there were some great moments during our worship time as well. I simply think, having the expansion going on has been a great season for us. God is good. During the drama we played a song called: Crazy Maze. The chorus goes as follows:
Cause we´re living, yes, we´re living in a crazy maze
and we´re fighting, we´re fighting to rise above the haze
light´s at the end of the tunnel
the journey may be long
there are many theories
who´s right and who´s wrong?
With all the voices surrounding us and Satan himself making accusations against us and attempting to get into our head and our imaginations it is like we are living in a "crazy maze." Theories - ideals, information overload - who is right and who is wrong. Remember, God gave us His Word and Spirit to guide us and He has also placed some great people in our lives for wisdom sharing and advise. Be guarded though, because we must remember that Satan is a headhunter and our imaginations are his trophy. Victor Frankl wrote, "We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms -- to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way."
What an amazing statement! We cannot control everything - and even as I shared this past Sunday, that God's intention was for mankind to have dominion over all the earth. Think of all the things you can't control: who comes to Christ, the decisions your children make, your health, your income, among others. You may have some influence over these things, but not complete control. We know we cannot control our boss, commander, friends and family. But what we can do is control our attitude. Life is made up of 10% of what happens to you and 90% of how you respond to what happens to you. You can control how you respond to life. There’s only one thing you truly control: your choices. Most situations are beyond your control, but what you do in those situations is up to you. In his book, The 8th Habit, Stephen Covey says the most important thing he’s learned is that you have the power to choose. When you control that, everything about life improves immediately.
The one thing you can control is how you will respond to the situations you face. With anger, doubt, and self-pity ... or withfaith, hope, and love.
In the Psalms we encounter David quite often in difficult situations -- surrounded by enemies, struggling with sin, sinking in the mud of loneliness and crying out to God to see if He is really there. David dealt with deep despair -- and again and again we see his decision to think right: Why are you so downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God. (Psalm 43:5)
David understood what Paul understood: God wants to transform us by renewing our thinking - He too is after our heads. (Romans 12:1 & 2) God wants our thinking to be renewed to realize He is always there with us and for us. This should cause us to have a joy in our heart and change our minds to processing life and making decisions that are divinely inspired.
You and I can't control what happens today, but we can control our actions. Don't let your situations get the best of you today; no matter what you face, you can choose your own way.

You can act your way to healthy thinking faster than you can think your wayto healthy acting.”
Let's choose the Lord's way!

I sure love you,
Pastor Bernie