Tag: Choice

Choose the Right God

Yes, that is correct. One must choose the right God. There are a lot of gods out there that we tend to lean to, but there is only one God. James MacDonald indicates, “When someone tells you he believes in God, as him to clarify which God he believes in.” This will allow them the opportunity to not only give you there belief, but also give them a chance to reflect for themselves which God they choose.

MacDonald, in the study I am doing, gives 4 “fake gods” that we tend to believe in. The gruff God, the game God, the guessing God, and the genie God. Each of them we attribute to God Himself and as such are skewed by who God really is.

The gruff God is the one that is always irritable and in a bad mood. I will say that I am currently in a season of being this way personally, but God is not gruff. He is kind to the ungrateful and the evil and is merciful.

“35But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. 36Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.” – Luke 6:35-36 (ESV)

The game God is the one that is playing games with you. He is hiding from you. It may seem as thought He is this way, leading you a certain way only to bring you hardship on you way. But God is not here to trick you. He is here to lead you in the righteous way through teaching and experiencing.

“16All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” – 2 Timothy 3:16-17 (ESV)

Then there is the guessing God. This is the God that would seem to change with the wind and keep you off balance, not knowing which way to go. But God does not change and there are no variations of Him. He is the same today as yesterday and will be the same tomorrow.

“6For I the Lord do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed.” – Malachi 3:6 (ESV)

“17Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.” – James 1:17 (ESV)

The genie God is the one who we take out when we need Him. We find ourselves with a need of some kind and take Him out so that He will grant us a wish and then put Him away for next time. The thing is that God is with us always and provides for our needs and He is there when we need Him most, likely doing all of the heavy lifting for us. See the end of the poem by disputed authors “Footprints in the Sand” to see where God is.

“The Lord replied, ‘The times when you have seen only one set

of footprints, my child, is when I carried you.’” – disputed authorship

I choose God. Not a conditional God. I choose God with the greatest of all descriptors, Love. God is love and that is the only God I need, and frankly the only God that matters.

“8Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him.” – 1 John 4:8-9 (ESV)

Which God do you choose? Are you even aware that we may find ourselves believing in a fake God? What if you were to believe in the kind, merciful, teaching, unchanging, always present, loving God?

Who will You Choose to Serve

What is at the top of your priority list? Monitory wealth, health, fun, family, God, work? What is it that when listed out, falls at the top of the list? This is what you serve. It is a misconception that you can have it both ways. We are only able to serve one and that would be the one at the top of the list.

“24No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.” – Matthew 6:24 (ESV)

Notice in the title of this post I have mentioned the idea of choosing. Yes, you and I have the ability to choose what is at the top of the list of priorities to serve. The list I mentioned is just a short one and is not all inclusive, but serves to show that there are lots of competing priorities in our lives. It is up to us to choose the one that is at the top of the list.

“15And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” – Joshua 24:15 (ESV)

Here Joshua is speaking with the people of Israel and advising them of service. They have come in contact with a number of gods over their time and lineage. He is not telling them they “have” to follow the LORD. He is advising that they do have free will to choose. But, their choice should be made and they should not be uncommitted to one or the other, while providing for them his choice to serve the LORD.

We likewise have the choice. The LORD provided us with free will. He allowed for you and me to choose from all of those competing priorities in our lives. Where they are important, they all cannot be the most important thing, for if they are all of the same importance then none of them are of importance at all. There must be that one that is found at the top of the list that we will ultimately serve regardless of the other priorities that come up.

I choose to serve the LORD and will rely on Him for all. Yes, I will continue to have other things that are on my list, but regardless of what those are, they fall 2nd and below to my service to the LORD. I know that my service to the LORD will lead to that grand inheritance in heaven and that what He has for me in this world comes as a result of my service to Him.

What do you choose? Are you looking at all of your priorities and placing one at the top of the list? What if you were to choose to serve the LORD first and foremost and placed all the rest of your priorities 2nd and below on the list?