How to Make Wise Decisions

Certainly fits in with the message that I want to bring to all of you today. Always enjoy hearing those words. Shirley Leimbach, you may not know that name, but that's Susan's mother, and that was her favorite verse in the Bible, Psalm 46 and verse 10. And when we had her funeral about a year and a half ago, I had the opportunity to speak about that during the eulogy to a congregation back in Ohio. So I was interested when you think about those words, you can't know God until you're still.

That's the half the challenge that we have, and that's why sometimes when we're not still, we don't make godly decisions. And that's what I would like to talk about today, how to make wise decisions. I thought what I might bring to you today, I had two or three different ideas, and so therefore I had to make a decision. I had choices. I didn't know if to bring something more ethereal, and then I thought, no, the people of God need something very practical in their lives with this week that's upcoming. Two weeks ago at Pentecost services, I shared an exhortation regarding the calling that God has entrusted to those that are within the body of Christ.

Simply put, firstfruits put first things first. That is a vital spiritual ideal that we are to strive for. But to be frank, but to be frank, it's humanly challenging to maintain such a standard as being firstfruits that put first things first. Because all of those decisions, with all of those choices that run before those decisions come at us each and every day, decisions that either cloud or crowd our ability to make proper personal judgments in our lives that are going to glorify God.

proverbial decisions such as building a bridge, crossing a bridge, meeting some way halfway on that bridge, burning a bridge behind us, not even stepping on the bridge, running from the bridge that is in front of us, going in the opposite direction, and in this day and age asking ourselves, can we even afford the bridge? Emotionally, financially, spiritually. When we scan the story of the seven churches and God's comments about them in Revelation 2 and Revelation 3, it reminds us as Christians that we are impacted and spiritually conditioned by the prevailing cultural environment around us.

Go to any one of those churches, Thyatara, Laodicea, Pergamos, Philadelphia, Ephesus, and all of them. There were saints that were on the ground, but they were deeply impacted by the cultural environment and the history of the city in which they abode. Well, we're no different today. We live in a world eroding the souls of men with every advancing pressure point of humanism, of secularism, and narcissism. You say, what is them? Narcissism. What is narcissism? Narcissism is the undue dwelling on one's self or one's own payments. Does that sound like the world that we are in, where everybody is more and more infatuated with their image on Facebook, on computer?

Can't get enough of me? Here I am. I'm out there. This is me. People being famous just simply for being famous in a world in this goldfish bowl of humanism and secularism, devoid and apart from God. We live in a world that is no longer running at breakneck speed. When I was growing up, that was a phrase that we would use when things just seemed to be helter-skelter and moving. We talked about moving at breakneck speed. Well, today we have break thought speed. Break thought speed. Because things are now moving at the speed of thought.

And actually, many of the choices that lead to decisions that are before us are coming at us quicker than the human mind can absorb. So it's in this world that the saints of God exist, that members of the body of Christ exist. We don't exist in Philadelphia. We don't exist in Smyrna. We don't exist in Laodicea. But this is a world that is coming at us and shapes our spiritual condition. Beyond that, we live in a world of dynamic global change. Yes, with the technology and also with the economy.

That more and more is going to affect the workplace, the home place, and the heart place. As to how we are going to deal with the situations that are ahead of us as Christians in the 21st century. And so that's what I want to bring this message to you.

How then can we as firstfruits put first things first by making wise decisions? Well, I need to make wise decisions. I can go to a seminar or a course. Why do I need to make wise decisions? And what does that have to do with relating with being a firstfruit? You and I, as the elect of God, chosen those that have a calling, saints, Christians, followers, whatever word you want to use, we have been given a specific assignment by God Almighty through Jesus Christ.

Here it is. You ready to jot it down? We are to bear much fruit. We are to bear much fruit. We are not simply to be a seed-bearer, having the seed of the Holy Spirit put in us, but that seed is not to remain dormant, but it is to bear much fruit.

John 15 and verse 8. The choices that are before us, the decisions that we make, we are no more, and we are all of that, as to whether or not we are bearing fruit of the tree of good and evil or the tree of life. With that thought now, now that I've got your attention and the need to be making wise decisions, allow me to share a story talking about putting first things first. Here's the story. An instructor at a seminar told the participants to prepare for a quiz, and he reached under the table, and he took out a wide-mouth gallon jar, and then he set it on the table.

Now, next to the jar on the table were fist-sized rocks, and he asked the group, as I'm asking you to imagine now, how many of these rocks do you think that we can get inside of this jar? This jar with the wide mouth, the fist-sized rocks. The participants began to make their guesses, like jelly beans, as it were, and the instructor said, well, let's find out. One by one, he began to put as many rocks as he could inside the jar until the rocks inside were level with the top of the jar. The instructor then asked, is the jar full? The participants looked at the jar, filled with rocks, and nodded, yes.

But then the instructor took out a bucket of gravel, poured it into the jar, and shook it. The gravel drifted down into all of the crevices and spaces around the rocks. The instructor asked, once again, is the jar full? Well, the participants were not about to be fooled a second time. They said the jar probably wasn't full. The instructor nodded and said, well, that's good.

You're catching on. And he took out a bucket of sand and proceeded to pour it into the jar. Slowly, the sand began to fill in all the gaps and holes left by the gravel. After the sand settled, the instructor once again asked, now is the jar full? The participants were much more emphatic this time, and they said, no. The instructor was pleased that they were beginning to understand an important principle. He took a pitcher of water and poured a quart into the jar.

At this point, he stopped and asked the group, what is the point of all of this? One of the participants volunteered, well, there are gaps. And if you work it as best as you can, you will always fit more into the jar. But the instructor said, no. That's not really the point. It's this. If I had not put those big rocks in first, I never would have gotten them in. Brother, and I'm here to remind you today, even as the festival of first fruits is now past, and maybe our minds are on the fall festival coming, let's remember this.

First fruits do first things first. You begin to see where we're going with this story to lay the foundation. All of us face that big jar that was on that professor's table every day of our life. It's not just a story.

It's a reality. And there is a powerful tension that comes with deciding what comes first towards filling up our lives as to what is a rock, what is gravel, what is sand, and what is water. And sometimes when we have our guard down, hey, let's face it, they all look alike, don't they? But God has called us to bear much fruit.

Thus, first fruits are to put first things first. What I want to do for a few moments here is let's review some squeeze plays of human nature because all of us are squeezed, not only by the culture around us, but by our own human nature. And of course, by the adversary, that spiritual adversary. So we're all being squeezed a little bit. And we have all of these choices that come up before us that either cloud it or crowd our minds. Sometimes it's foggy, and so those choices are a little foggy, and it's hard to move right through and make a decision. Other times, so many choices are coming up to us. Ladies, I know you do a lot of shopping at Costco or Smart and Final or Lucky's or Valero shopping market. It seems to be a shopping market in every Valero gas station. I have all those choices. It's not just one, it's five. If it's not five, it's ten when you go into the supermarkets, and you have all of those choices. It's a little bit different than when we were growing up. And yet, firstfruits put first things first. Let's talk about some of the squeeze plays that come along so that we can maybe, I want to share a thought with you, we're gonna see ourselves in some of these. I thought, can I give you a warning? We're gonna see ourselves a little bit. I didn't know I was standing by that guy. I didn't know I was standing by that guy in the Bible. Well, you're on their playing field, but by the end of this message, God willing, we're going to give you some advice to get off their playing field and back onto God's playing field and go by God's rules who created firstfruits, who is here to remind us today that firstfruits put first things first when it comes to the choices before them and making the right decision. Here's some of the things that happen as we look in the Bible. Point A, some people in the Bible just simply were living in the moment. If you're just simply living in the moment, chances are you're going to make a bad decision. A classic case of this is the story of Esau. Join me if you would in Genesis 25.

Esau coming up in the thicket to where his brother was in Genesis 25 and verse 27. Speaking of the sun, so the boys grew and Esau was a skillful hunter, a man of the field, but Jacob was a mild man, dwelling intense.

After this story, you say, you better keep your eyes open for those mild men that dwell intense. But Jacob was mild, and Isaac loved Esau because he ate of his game, but Rebecca loved Jacob. Big story for all of us that are parents and grandparents here. Verse 39, now Jacob cooked a stew, and Esau came in from the field, and he was weary. And Esau said to Jacob, please feed me with that same red stew, for I am weary. And therefore his name was called Edom. But Jacob said, sell me your birthright as of this day.

And Esau said, look, I'm about to die, so what is this birthright to me? Then Jacob said, swear to me as of this day, in this moment, as it were, so he swore to him and sold his birthright to Jacob. And Jacob gave Esau bread and stew of lentils. Then he ate and drank and arose and went his way. And then Esau despised his birthright. What do we learn from this case? Simply this. It's a classic case here of the urgent crowding out that which is essential. The urgent, what seems so important for the moment, has to be done right now.

No way out, got to do it right now. Right now! And everything else is crowded out. Everything else becomes cloudy. Here's the classic case. Esau selling his birthright. What did he receive? He did receive short-term satisfaction. He did receive short-term satisfaction versus long-range life-altering circumstances. That could have been a blessing. When this happens, when we live in the moment and when we nestle up and sit by Esau onto that log and being fed by his brother, we can for the moment feel intensely satisfied. We can feel powerful. We can feel in control. We can even get up and go on with our day's work just like Esau did. When we live in the moment, the future will catch up.

When we live in the moment, the future will catch up. Before we judge Esau too harshly, let's ask ourselves, what have we been willing to trade recently? Or simply give up on? Do we find ourselves willing to negotiate anything based on how we feel now? Does family do our bodies? Does our integrity get mixed up in deal-making? Allah, an Esau, and a Jacob. Brethren, you and I have been given a birthright. We heard the words that were used by Mr.

Marchbanks, born of God, to recognize that God is having first-fruit children. That heritage of being first-born. Now, of course, Jesus Christ is the first-born of the first-born. But here we are, first-fruits. We are being given an incredible privilege with dimensions that are unbelievable of what you and I are going to experience as first-fruits. We've got to keep that in mind. That's not something that we want to give anybody. We don't want to give up on it. I could give you a whole message, which I don't have time on all the things that first-fruits are going to do first, as God gives us privilege at the resurrection.

We will give that another time. All of us are confronted with Esau. And what will we do? Live in the moment? Or do we have that future bent? Let's go to point B. Sometimes we make wrong decisions because we're just impatient. We are impatient. We find a classic case of this over in 1 Samuel 13. Join me there, please. 1 Samuel 13. It's a story of, again, the prophet Samuel dealing with the first king of Israel, Saul. In 1 Samuel 13 we notice the story. Verse 5, Then the Philistines gathered together to fight with Israel 30,000 chariots and 6,000 horsemen and people as the sand, which is on the seashore and molded dude.

And they came up and encamped in McMash to the east of Beth-Avon. So here were the Philistines before Israel, and they just looked like a herd of locusts. They were all over. Verse 7, And some of the Hebrews crossed over the Jordan of the land of Gad and Gilead. As foresaw, he was still in Gilgal, and all the people followed him trembling. And then he waited seven days according to the time set by Samuel. Samuel had set a time. God's servant had said you were to wait. But Samuel did not come to Gilgal, and the people were scattered from him. So Saul said, Bring a burnt offering and a peace offering here to me.

And he offered the burnt offering. And now it happened, as soon as he had finished presenting the burnt offering, that Samuel came and Saul went out to meet him, that he might greet him. All cheery. Said, Oh, look what I just did. I just offered God a burnt offering. Everything's going to be okay. And Samuel said, wasn't the first time he said this to Saul, if you read the stories, What have you done?

And Saul said, When I saw that the people were scattered from me, you know, the army was just simply dribbling away. It was melting before him. And that you did not come within the days appointed, and that the Philistines gathered together at Micmash. Then I said, The Philistines will now come down on me at Gilgal, and I have not made supplication to the Lord. Therefore I felt compelled and offered a burnt offering.

Isn't that a good idea, Samuel? Aren't you happy? Aren't you pleased with what I did? And Samuel said to Saul, You have done foolishly. You have not kept the commandment of the Lord your God, which He commanded you. For now the Lord would have established your kingdom forever over Israel, but now it shall not continue. What do we learn from this? Samuel was, excuse me, King Saul was impatient. He said, Oh yeah, I know all about that Saul.

Let's put ourselves in the picture for a moment, may we? It's difficult to trust God when you sense that your resources are slipping away. Might be financial resources. It might be family resources. It might be your emotional resources. Whatever those resources, when you start melting like that wicked witch of the West in the Wizard of Oz, you want to kind of gather yourself up together and do your thing and get yourself together. When Saul thought that time was running out, he became impatient with God's timing. God, through the prophet, said, You stand still. And so what the king decided to do was he would base his life on ritual rather than obedience. Be still.

Know that I am God. When God gives us something to do, do it the way that he says to do it. Do not add and do not diminish. And then leave the consequences to God. Allow him to prove himself to you. When faced with a difficult decision, don't allow impatience to drive you to disobey God. When you know what God wants, follow his plan regardless of the consequences. Leave them to him. We've discussed the aspect of living in a moment, being impatient.

Let's go to number C. Choosing the easy versus the necessary. Choosing the easy versus the necessary. We find a classic example of this in the book of Ruth. I'm just going to paraphrase it. It's that famous story where Boaz gathers the elders at the gate there in Bethlehem. Now there has to be a decision as to what's going to happen to the widow Ruth. In the laws of the land at that time, the nearest of the kinsmen was the individual that was to marry the widow so that the name of that kinsman might not pass out of the land.

But there was one that was between him and Ruth. And what's interesting when you go to the book of Ruth, you don't know whose name. You know, the only thing that's ever mentioned about this guy, if I can use a commonality word, his name is he. That's all the Bible ever mentions. He. Because first of all, it's thrown out, well, you know, we've got this kinswoman, the daughter-in-law of our kinsperson, Naomi, and the guy's thinking, you know, he's thinking, ding ding ding ding. That's the cash register. Ding ding. Land. Ding ding.

It seems all right. And by the way, you have to marry her. All of a sudden, the ding ding goes dong dong. And all of a sudden, it's, oh. Now that man, according to the law, had a duty that he was duty-bound as a kinsman to uphold. That was necessary to do, but it was not easy. And he chose the easy way out, the course of least resistance, and gave up on that responsibility.

The question I have for you and me is, what is facing us this coming week that is necessary for us to do as Christians, but is not going to be easy? And it would be easier to go the course of least resistance. We're faced with that daily in our choices. And like the kinsmen, we can easily go down that path and make the easy choice rather than the right one. I want you to think about Boaz for a moment. Are you with me? Think about Boaz. Boaz not only did what was right, but he also did it the right way. He was an honorable man. Of course, he could not foresee all of the actions that were ahead of him because of just doing the right thing. He could not have known that the child of theirs, his and Ruth, O bed, would be the father of Jesse, would be the father of David, that Jesus Christ would ultimately come out of that line. He only met the challenge of taking the right action and the situation facing him at the moment. He did the right thing that was necessary. I have a comment, question for you. This week, maybe something's happening even as we came to church today. What is before us that is necessary to do? You know it, I know it, but we're looking for another way out.

Choices. Choices can crowd our thinking, and they can cloud our thinking. When God says to do something, do it. Number D, thinking that the grass is green or on the other side.

That can cause us to be making wrong decisions. We find a classic example in Genesis 13, 5 through 13. Genesis 13 won't turn there. You can jot it down. Look at it this afternoon. I think most of us are familiar with the story. It's the story of Abraham and his nephew Lot, and their employees were having a battle over who gets the greener pasture. And Abraham, being the ultimate peacemaker, remember he's the same guy that gave away his wife twice to maintain peace.

So, giving away real estate ladies was nothing to this guy.

He says, here you have it. And Lot made that choice. He took the greener portion.

The prosperity we desire can both entice and enslave us if our desires are not in line with God's directives. And even if you and I are strong enough to resist the pulls of such a move, it may hurt others. It may hurt our families. It may hurt those that we know. When you think about that one decision that Lot made because it looked like the grass was greener on the other side, little would he know that he would be kidnapped. He would ultimately lose his wife, some of his children. It would succumb to incest down the line with two of his daughters, all based upon that one decision of following the mirage that the grass seems to be greener on the other side.

You know, one thing I've had the opportunity of counseling people now for nearly 35 years, we often have this discussion about grass being on the greener side and it always looks greener on the other side. Did you notice that or am I the only one? It always looks Irish green.

Not Southern California green. Irish green. It always looks Irish green on the other side. But you know what happens when you jump over the fence? Why does it turn into a desert when you make that hop? Because you haven't really recognized that the desert is within you, and you are the one that is affecting the environment. So you're only taking that desert with you as you hop the fence because you have not become an individual. You have not become a first fruit that puts first things first and obeys God. Number E. How about seeking to satisfy right desires in a wrong way? Seeking to satisfy right desires in a wrong way. What about the lesson of Asa? Or some of you might, Howard might pronounce it, Usa, as he does an archaeological scriptural survey. Hello, friend. Here's Asa. David says, I've got a great idea. Let's take the Ark of the Covenant. Let's take the Ark of the Covenant up to Jerusalem. God will really be pleased because it hasn't been around God's people for a long time. They've gotten it back from the Philistines, and so what does David do? He puts it on a cart because after all the Philistines have been putting on a cart for the last 20 years, nothing happened. And so he puts it on a cart, and all of a sudden it goes down a hill. Hits a rut. We're kind of used to that in Riverside County if you've looked at our roads. We know what ruts and potholes are like. Do I live in the same Riverside County? As some of you do. So it hits a rut. All of a sudden, here's the Ark of the you know. So what's poor Uzzadou? He has a right desire, but he does something wrong. He touches the Ark. Now that really goes back to David, because David should have read the law. And the law said that a covenant people don't touch the Ark. You don't put it on a cart. You put poles in it, and you carry it by poles because it's going to be more sturdy, and it's going to be more steady, and then you don't have to make that decision down the line whether or not you're going to touch it or not and fry.

So leadership has responsibility. It impacts the people. And Uzzah caught in the moment, I'm sure you and I have done that sometimes, where maybe a car jams and it breaks in front of us, we jam our brakes, and your hand just voluntarily goes out there to protect your wife or your child.

So Uzzah just reaches for it. Let's talk about this for a moment, and that is to recognize that even that can happen. David made a mistake. There are no shortcuts in pleasing God.

Shortcuts are bad choices, bad decision-making. You go by the rules. Whatever God has given us to do, do not add, do not diminish, and leave the consequences to him.

Well, you say, yeah, but wait a minute. Those Philistines, they got away with it for 20 years. They got to put it on a cart. But God at that time is not dealing with the Philistines. He's dealing with the Covenant people. His mind and his heart was not towards Philistia at that moment, but it was very much on that first fruit nation called Israel. Jeremiah 2 and verse 3, Israel was a first fruit nation. You and I as first fruits are held to a level because of what God has done for us. Let's go to the last one, and probably the one that is most common in making decisions, and that is the squeeze of peer pressure. Making decisions based upon choices of peer pressure. If ever there was an individual that did that, it's, well, can I show you? It's Pontius Pilate. Pontius Pilate had made a decision in his mind. He said, I have found no fault in this man that you have set before me to judge. He has done nothing wrong.

That was his determination, and here he was in the place of Caesar making that point.

But the roar of the crowd crucified him, crucified him.

Slowly he rode it and melded him down to where he became culpable. How about you and me, friends? Are we God-pleasers and or are we people-pleasers? May I make a comment about being a people-pleaser? If you're a people-pleaser and you belly up to Pontius Pilate, I just have to warn you about something. Make sure you have a great big bowl of water because you're going to have a great bowl of water because you're going to be washing your hands a lot in your lifetime, trying to sponge your wrong decision-making. Remember Pontius Pilate? Bring me some water. I want to wash my hands as if I didn't have anything to do with this.

Now, with all of that, let's understand something. I'm watching your faces.

Say, I can tell. You're saying, I've been on the playing field with a lot of those people in my life.

Well, let's get off that playing field, okay, friends? And let's talk about what God would have us do for a moment. Let's pick it up here. There's some things that we want to share, and that is simply this. I think the best news that I can share with you is over in John 16. Join me there for a second. I'm going to cut out about an hour that I had here. I don't know how I got it in there. We're going to go right to the point. John 16.

Speaking of the Holy Spirit, however, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth, for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears, He will speak, and He will tell you things to come.

And notice, as God's Spirit, His essence resides in us, and we abide in Christ, it says that He will glorify me. This Spirit, this essence that is inside of us, will honor and glorify God, for He will not take what is mine, He will take of what is mine and declare it to you.

God gave us a promise that He would send us His Spirit.

And I hope that's a tremendous encouragement to all of us.

What do we do, then, with that? I'm just going to come to my notes here a second.

Just notice I have another sermon to give you, because I just skipped it. But I want to get to some points that are encouraging.

Let's get right down to it here. I want to share a—I think I have time to share this thought with you.

Because remember what I mentioned earlier about the churches of Revelation 2 and Revelation 3?

And how they could not help but be impacted by the society that is around them?

Well, you and I are the same. I'd like to share something that was written, actually spoken by Ted Koppel almost 20 years ago, when he gave a speech at Durham, Duke University in North Carolina. This is now—understand this is 1987. Ted Koppel, famous for being on Nightline, anchor, said, Let's focus on our national policies. Let's look at our principles, ethical and moral standards. How do they fare on television?

You won't be surprised to learn that there is not a great deal of room on television for complexity.

We are nothing as an industry if not attuned to the appetites and the limitations of our audience.

We've learned, for example, that your attention span is brief.

We should know we helped make it that way. Now, what I want to share with you—this was even before the internet came, which has brought everything down even further down. Now, when I say that, my wife and I just had this discussion, there are many, many benefits to the internet. I'm not here to completely down the internet and the world of technology, but for every benefit, there is also a challenge that we have to understand.

We've learned, for example, that your attention span is brief. We should know we helped make it that way. Watch Miami Vice some Friday night—hope you didn't—some Friday night.

You will find not only a pastel-colored world, which neatly symbolizes the moral ambiguity of the program. You will discover that no same lasts more than 10 to 15 seconds.

It's a direct reflection of the industry's confidence in your ability to concentrate.

No, there is not much room on television for complexity. You can partake of our daily banquet without drawing on any intellectual resources without either physical or moral discipline.

He goes on to add what Moses brought down from Mount Sinai were not the 10 suggestions, they are the 10 commandments. I caution you as one who performs daily on that flickering altar to set our sights beyond what you can see. There is true majesty in the concept of an unseen power that can neither be measured nor weighed. There is harmony and inner peace to be found in following a moral compass that points in the same direction regardless of fashion or trend.

Ted Koppel was warning us that the world is rushing and rushing, and it's going to be harder and harder to make decisions. More challenging for firstfruits to put first things first, and yet we recognize that we worship a God that can make this happen in your life and my life. Hebrews 8. Join me there for a moment. Hebrews 8. Remember what it said here about a moral compass that points in the same direction regardless of fashion or trend? Something that does not change in an ever-changing, ever-rushing, not breakneck but break-thought speed. Hebrews 8 verse 10.

For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord, I will put my law in their mind and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. For you and I, as firstfruits, to put first things first and to take those rocks as they were, the size of a fist, and to put them through that wide-eyed jar. God says, I'm going to give you a promise. I'm going to give you my spirit, and that spirit in your life is going to write my laws and my ways in your heart. You're going to have a compass. You're not out in the woods of life alone. There is a compass, but you have to read it, and you have to know how to use it. That means we have to talk to the one that gave it to us. Here's what I'd like to share with you as we begin to conclude. It's very simple. Talk to God about the decisions that face you. Talk to God about the decisions that face you. He alone is all-knowing, all-loving, and all-powerful.

And he says, he's our Heavenly Father. Talk to God. If we're not talking to God, then we're not going to know how to use that compass that he has placed in our heart. It takes tremendous strength to bend our knees, to bow our heads, to explore our hearts, and to open our ears with God as our guide. But it is the key to a successful choice in making a right decision. God, I want you to think about this with all the analogies I've given. He alone by his Spirit can help you and I determine what is a rock in our life that is to be placed in there first. I'm just very frank with you. I mean, sometimes life is going by so quickly that it all looks the same. We can... are you with me? Those rocks, the gravel, the sand, the water, it can all be rolling around us and we can lose our sense of spiritual balance. And we can pile everything on, thinking that we're doing God a favor only to find that like us, only to find that we have not put the rocks in the bottom, that we didn't put them in first. We thought we were doing everything right. God is a discerner. God will open up our hearts and our minds to conquer that heart, to conquer this existence, to glorify Him by what we do, to have a wisdom that transcends even earthly wisdom, even the earthly wisdom of Alexander the Great. When he went to the city of Gordium and he comes to the public square and he sees that great knot that is there and by legend it was that the individual that was able to untie that knot in the city of Gordium would go on to conquer Asia. Well, many a person had come by to try to do this and try to do that, just like everybody trying to fit in the sand and the gravel. If we shake it up, maybe we'll make it happen. It'll be all right. Finally, what happened was Alexander looked at it once, he looked at it twice, looked around, took out a sword.

He moved out of the paradigm that everybody else had set.

God gives us the sword of His Word. When we read the Word, when we pray to God, I can assure you that as a first fruit, you're going to move beyond that, which is easy. You're going to move beyond that, which seems necessary. You're going to move beyond that, which seems urgent, and you're going to know how to put the rocks in in the right order. When we establish that closeness to God, and when we're praying to Him, God's going to give us answers to some of these things that are vexing.

Some of us are getting older in this room.

Challenges of what we call the golden years, that sometimes when all said and done may not be as golden as they looked when you were 25 or 30. Some of us are facing tremendous business challenges. I understand that. Some of us have family challenges. Some of us have challenges that are between our ears that only you know about. And yet, when you pray to God and you make yourself open and available and willing to hear Him, He will supply you with the decision. Now, when He gives you the decision, you have to understand it's from Him, the decision might be with Moses at the Red Sea, tell the people to be still. But then the decision might come, tell the people to get a moving. So, you have to be ready for what God is saying at what time. Remember, you talk about a perplexing moment. What about this young Jewish guy that had the fiancée who came up to him and said, by the way, Joe, you won't believe this, but I am pregnant by the Holy Spirit. Any of you ladies ever try that? Just checking this out, okay? Now, it says that Joseph was a good man.

And so, he had two options before him. Number one, he could have stoned her.

But being a just and a good man, he says, I know what I'll do. I'll just put her away. I'm sure he prayed about it. And then the angel came to him and gave him a third option that had not been on his mind. And that is simply marry her. Don't put her away. Don't stone her. Marry her.

How many of us in this room right now in our lives need God's third option happening in our lives? With all of those choices that are out there, see, Joseph had a choice. Put her away.

Stone her. God gave something out of the box and said, you marry her.

Joseph obeyed God, left the consequences to him, and noticed what happened. Let me finish with this thought with you. Right choices come from asking the right questions. This will be very quick. Right choices that lead to a right decision come by asking the right questions. Number one, number one, does this action help my personal witness that Jesus Christ lives in me, loves me, and that I in turn make this decision because I love him, and it is my motivating desire for others to know that I am a Christian? Let me repeat that. Does this action, and I'm not talking this is not going out into dull soil. Some of you are facing this. Does the action that you have facing you, the choices that before you, are they going to be a testimony? Are they going to bear fruit that Jesus Christ is the Lord of your life, that you are his witness, that he lives in you, loves you, and because of that, in turn, by the decision that you make, God knows that you return that love. Point number two, is my choice in alignment with God's word?

Am I in alignment with God's word, or am I opposed to God's word in Scripture? And thus, my choice would cause me to sin, and or perhaps cause somebody else to sin. Jeremiah 48 verse 10 says, cursed is he that draws the sword deceitfully, and cursed is he who doesn't draw the sword at all. Sometimes it's not what you're doing, it's what you're not doing, that either draws a blessing or a cursing. Number three, ultimately, and all the previous questions lead to this one, the choices that are before me and the decision that I will make, does it allow me to glorify God?

Ultimately, as a Christian, it's not about you, it's not about me, but it is what God is doing in us and through us, but you have to allow it and direct it to his honor and glory.

The great jar of life awaits all of us at this very moment. What will you fill it with, and what will you put in first? Will you just keep on shaking it up and wiggling it back and forth, hoping and hoping beyond hope that everything will get in there and settle right?

And or will you, as a first fruit, one chosen ahead of season, one that is elected by God's grace, not because of what we are, but because of who he is, will you, because you have received, God's favor, will you, as a first fruit, put first things first? Let's go forward together.

Let's get off the playing field of Esau, of Lot, of Uzzah, of Pontius Pilate, and let's follow the first fruit of all first fruits who said, not my will, but your will be done. Look forward to seeing you after services.