Thoughts for Life: CHOICES

Choices

"Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers." Psalm 1:1 NIV

Radice Banks-

Amidst an unseasonably warm late January afternoon, Minister TL Allen and I sought solace within the cozy confines of a mom-and-pop café in Pelzer, South Carolina. His eyes, etched by seven and a half decades, harbored tales untold.

As our coffee cups cradled in our hands, he leaned back, his voice a gentle cadence, and bequeathed this enduring truth: “Life comes down to our choices, each decision echoing through time. These decisions ripple beyond our own souls, touching the lives of those who walk beside us.” Indeed, life is a symphony of choices.

Psalm 1 underscores the gravity of our choices and their eternal consequences. The opening verse introduces the Hebrew word ashrei, translated as “blessed.”[1] This term signifies supreme happiness or fulfillment.

The righteous person who walks in God’s way experiences this fulfillment by making choices that align with the Word of God. Their life becomes a testament to contentment and alignment with divine truth. Such a person will also not walk in the counsel of the ungodly, stand in the path of sinners, or sit in the seat of the scornful.

The righteous person recognizes and avoids ungodly counsel. Instead, they seek godly wisdom, as expressed in God’s testimonies. They are like a tree planted by streams of water, flourishing and bearing fruit. The ungodly, however, are like chaff driven away by the wind—without stability or purpose. Our choices determine whether we flourish like a tree or wither like chaff.

The psalmist invites us to be like the blessed tree, deeply rooted in God’s Word, flourishing and bearing fruit in due season. We should choose the path of righteousness and refrain from the counsel of the wicked, the way of sinners, and the seat of scoffers. This way, our choices will resonate with divine truth, leading us toward fulfillment and contentment.

As you sip your coffee or tea or pause in quiet reflection, consider the litany of choices before you. Make choices that harmonize with God’s Word, leaving a legacy that blesses generations. The canvas awaits your strokes. May they be guided by wisdom, faith, and the eternal promise of supreme fulfillment.

(1.) James Strong, Strong's Expanded Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2009), as-re, blessed.

Let's pray-

Father, our eyes also are etched with harbored tales untold. As our lives come down to our choices each decision has made over time, we've touched the lives of those who walk beside us.

The righteous person who walks in Your way experiences fulfillment by making choices that align with Your Word. Their lives become testiments to contentment and alignment with divine truth. Such a person will not walk in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stand in the path of sinners, or sit in the seat of the scornful.

Help us seek godly wisdom, not choosing the chaff-driven way, without stability or purpose. Our choices determine whether we flourish like a tree or wither like chaff.

In the name of Jesus we pray for guidance. Amen.

My weekly advice from the book, "We All Married IDIOTS, by Elaine W. Miller:

"I married an idiot--and so did my spouse. The word, "idiot" is derived from the Greek word meaning "common man." And aren't we all common men and women? ~ Elaine W. Miller

We All Married Idiots encourages husbands and wives to stop focusing on the 3 things you will never change in your marriage and concentrate on the 10 things you can. Make your mate a gift to treasure."

#108 Testimony- Charles Blanchard, (president of Wheaton College for 43 years-)

(pp 161,162) in Wesley L. Duewell's book, MIGHTY PREVAILING PRAYER.

"Friends, about two and ahalf or three years ago I was in the hospital in Philadelphia. I was an engineer on the Pennsylvania Lines, and although I had a praying wife, I had all my life been a sinful man. At this time I was very ill. I became greatly wasted. I weighed less than one hundred pounds.

Finally the doctor who was attenting me said to my wife that I was dead, but she said; "No, he is not dead. He cannot be dead. I have prayed for him for twenty-seven years and God has promised that he would be saved. Do you think God would let him die

now after I have prayed twenty-seven years and God has promised, and he is not saved?"

"Well," the doctor replied, "I do not know anything about that, but I know tha he is dead." and the screen was drawn around the cot, which in the hospital separates detween the living and the dead.

To satisfy my wife, other physicians were brought, one after another, until seven were about the cot, and each one of them as he came up and made the examination confirmed the testimony of all who had preceded. The seven doctors said that I was dead.

Meanwhile my wife was kneeling by the side of my cot, insisting that I was not dead,—that if I were dead God would bring me back, for He had promised her that I should be saved and I was not yet saved. By and by her knees began to pain her, kneeling on the hard hospital floor. She asked the nurse for a pillow and the nurse brought her a pillow upon which she knelt.

One hour, two hours, three ours passed. The screen still stood by the cot. I was lying there still, apparently dead. Four hours, five hours, six hours, seven hours, thirteen hours passed, and all this while my wife was kneeling by the cotside, and when people remonstrated and wished her to go away she said: 'No, he has to be saved. God will bring him back if he is dead. He is not dead. He cannot die until he is saved."

At the end of thirteen hours I opened my eyes, and she said, "What do you wish, my dear?" And I said: "I wish to go home, and she said: "You shall go home." But when she propsed it, the doctors raised their hands in horror. They said "Why, it will kill him. It will be suicide." She said: "You have had your turn. You said he was dead already. I am going to take him home."

I weigh now 246 pounds. I still run a fast train on the Pennsylania Lines. I have been out to Minnespolis on a little vacation, telling men what Jesus can do, and I am glad to tell you what Jesus can do!"

1576-1580 One-line Scriptures for those of you who want to learn some more verses this week- or to review them from when they were first posted-

1576- Jer. 4:3b "Break up your unplowed ground."

1577- Ps. 145:7 "They shall abudantly utter the memory of thy great goodness,

and shall sing of thy righteousness."

1578- Is. 30:15b "In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and

in confidence shall be your strength."

1579- Is. 29:19a "The meek also shall increase their joy in the LORD."

1580- Ps. 119:13 "With my lips have I declared all thy judgments of thy mouth."

#108 Hymn- There's Power In the Blood

The information about this song, is taken from the book by Robert J. Morgan, THEN SINGS MY SOUL (p. 249)

One day as missionary Dick Hillis preached in a Chinese village, his sermon was suddenly interrupted by a piercing cry. Everyone rushed toward the scream, and

Dick's coworker, Mr. Kong, whispered that an evil spirit had seized a man. Dick, having not previously encountered demon possession, didn't believe him.

Just then, a woman rushed toward them. "I beg you help me!" she cried. "an evil spirit has again possessed the father of my children and is trying to kill him.'

The two evangelists entered the house, stepping over a filthy old dog lying in the doorway. The room was charged with a sense of evil. "An evil spirit has possessed Farmer Ho,' Kong told the onlookers,"Our God, the Nothing-He-Cannot-Do One' is more powerful than any spirit, and He can deliver this man. First, you must promise you will burn your idols and trust in Jesus, son of the Supreme Emperor."

The people nodded. Kong asked Dick to begin singing the hymn, "There is Power in the Blood." With great hesitation, Dick began to sing, "Would you be free from your burden of sin. . . . "

"Now," continued Kong, "in the name of Jesus we will command the evil spirit to leave this man." Kong began praying fervently. Suddenly the old dog in the doorway vaulted into the air, screeching, yelping, whirling in circles snapping wildly at his tail. Kong continued praying, and the dog abruptly dropped over dead.

Instantly Dick remembered Luke 8, the demons of the Gadarenes who invisibly flew into the herd of swine. As Kong finished praying, Farmer Ho seemed quiet and relaxed, and soon he was strong enough to burn his idols.

At his baptism shortly afterward, he testified, "I was possessed by an evil spirit who boasted he had already killed five people and was going to kill me. But God sent Mr Kong at just the right moment, and In Jesus I am free."

Some encouraging words- John Calvin, in the book," The Struggle of Prayer, by Donald G. Bloesch (p. 87)

"For Calvin, supplication is opening up the treasures that God has stored for us in heaven. These include not only personal blessings but blessings for others as well. Indeed, no treasure is greater than souls for the Kingdom of God. Calvin firmly believed that through intercession, God's Kingdom could be advance in the world and the power of darkness overthrown."

Church Notes:

The place where God sets His control through our prayers, strongholds crack

and fall. It's where His power rests.

We are privileged to put God first in our hearts, and to give our all to Christ.

Our greatest achievement is to make God totally our center.

Humanity has stupidly not changed over the years. Children pay for their

parent's idolitry.

We're to give up fleshly desires to please God, as radical things take His place

when we fail to give Him first place.

We're to make ourselves available to God, as He wants us to be included in His plans.

We're to listen to His instructions!

Upcoming posts:

10/25- PROMPIED TO PRAY- Katara Patton