11 Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach.
12 It is not up in heaven, so that you have to ask, "Who will ascend into heaven to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?"
13 Nor is it beyond the sea, so that you have to ask, "Who will cross the sea to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?"
14 No, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it.
15 See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction. 16 For I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess.
A few months ago I heard a new song, that I knew I had to lead in worship. I knew that this song carried the simple key to life-long success. It is a song of truth, declaration and choice.
I knew that it was for me, for my local church, and for His church across this beautiful nation. It is a song by John Waller called The Blessing. It is an award winning song with a message that God has been speaking since the beginning of time, and is desperately trying to remind us of this invaluable key.
Here are some of the words in this powerful song.
This day, You set life, You set death, right before us, this day
Every blessing and curse is a choice now
And we will choose to be a blessing for life
For Your kingdom, for our children, for the sake of every nation
We will choose to be a blessing for life
At work this week I had the privilege of meeting with Rodney Cox, from Insights International. He works with Dr. John Trent and together they have developed excellent tools to help individuals, teams and churches discover their uniqueness and at the same time, develop unity. In my meeting with him, he mentioned the words life and death. He mentioned that in the Greek, the word life means: to draw toward and the word death means : to pull away from.
I was intrigued by this new information and have been pondering these meanings and wondered:
- Does this mean that when we pull away from one another because of misunderstanding, hurt or offense, that we are actually choosing death?
- Does it mean that we are choosing life whenever we choose to draw closer or "come along side" someone, despite whether we completely agree or not?
I've been asking God even more questions of late, and asking Him to teach me what choosing life looks and sounds like. I am keenly aware that every time I make this choice, it impacts everything and everyone around me. It is a powerful dynamic at work, all based on my choices.
This day, I choose life. For my children, for His kingdom, for the sake of every nation.
I will choose to be a blessing for life -- to see life, to encourage life, to sow life, and to reap life.
3 comments:
Cheryl, I have been thinking about the power of choice lately. The power of setting your mind to do something, whether it's a choice to forgive, move forward, etc. I am amazed at the power that keeps me committed to the choices that I make which are in line with God's will.
So good Roxanne.
One thing John Paul Jackson teaches is, what you focus on ,you empower.
How cool that God is speaking this to you. You are a strong and focused woman, and I am blessed by the character of Christ within you and your determination to pursue His best, He won't disappoint you.
Hello Cheryl,
I so agree with what you wrote here and it is what we are trying to learn and teach our kids. Sometimes when my oldest daughter gets upset with me she will pull away when I try to hug her. I can feel the death in this and I try to explain to her the power of our mind to keep our heart in captivity and away from the healing it needs. When she succumbs to her heart's need the change is almost instant and she goes from tears to laughter within minutes. The power of life is indeed in our choices, and those choices will always involve other people.
Thanks for this post, a body in difficult times needs these words.
Brad
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