MAKING BETTER DECISIONS
By Pastor Mark Taylor
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.” (Proverbs 3:5-6)
If you love the Lord and are doing your best to keep His commandments, He wants to bless you. There are some principles of life that will help you to see if the way you are living, behaving, and thinking is working or not working. I hope today if the Holy Spirit reveals to you something in your life that is not working, you will resolve to change it.
Because you are a child of God, He wants you to make good decisions. God’s will for your life is that you have joy and have success while you live with Him on Earth. “These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full.” (John 15:11). “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you.” (Jeremiah 29:11).
Decision making is a very important part of all of our lives. Some decisions are certainly more important than others, but they all have an impact on our lives. Think about major decisions you have made - the person you have married, the career path you have chosen, the church where you have chosen to worship are all important decisions. But you will still make more decisions in your life and the way you think can have a positive or negative outcome on what you choose.
Problems do not get better with time. You cannot change what you do not acknowledge. And what you do not acknowledge is going to get worse until you do. Failure and bad decisions are the result of a lack of knowledge and wisdom. Knowledge is the information we obtain, while wisdom is the ability to use it in the right way. We get wisdom from God and we get it the same way we get our salvation, through faith. “But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and with no reproach, and it shall be given to him. But let him ask in faith, doubting nothing. For he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, driven by the wind and tossed. For do not let that person think that he/she shall receive anything from the Lord” (James 1:5-7). You don’t get wisdom without knowledge. Learn how Jesus made decisions and what He taught about decision making and you will have the knowledge and wisdom you need. “Take My yoke on you and learn of Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and you shall find rest to your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light” (Matthew 11:29-30).
Work only on those things that will truly change your life. You need to stop saying: “Why are they doing this to me?” You need to start asking: “What thought, behavior, and choices can I change to get a different result”. Remember life is not about whether you are right or wrong, but whether the things you are doing are working or not working.
In life, “When you choose the behavior, you choose the consequence”. Your thoughts are behavior also. There is a pattern. “Watch your thoughts; they become words. Watch your words: they become actions. Watch your actions; they become habits. Watch your habits; they become character. Watch your character, for it becomes your destiny!”“Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart Be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer.” (Psalm 19:14)
The second thing we have to do to become more successful in our lives is to take action. Good intentions are not enough. “Even so, if it does not have works, faith is dead, being by itself. You believe that there is one God, you do well; even the demons believe and tremble. But will you know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?” (James 2:17-20). It has been said that “the road to hell is paved with good intentions”. When God gives you the “right” information choose to follow it instead of your feelings or following the crowd. Very often the window of opportunity will only be open for a time and then it is shut forever. “For He says, "In an acceptable time I heard you, and in a day of salvation, I helped you;" Behold, now is the accepted time. Behold, now is the day of salvation.” (2 Corinthians 6:2).
The third thing we need to learn from the Lord Jesus is to be “content” with where we are until He gives us the wisdom and opportunity to change our circumstances. This is a request for “Grace” in difficult situations. “And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” (2 Corinthians 12:9).
Finally ask for forgiveness and learn from your mistakes. It has been said: “If you always do what you have always done, you will get what you always have gotten.” If you have making wrong decisions in your life or you say to yourself: “Everything I do seems to always go wrong.”, then something needs to change. Today, we need to get with the Lord and ask for forgiveness and accept personal responsibility for our sins. Poor decisions either are sin, or they will lead to sin. “Have mercy on me, O God, according to Your loving-kindness; according to the multitude of Your tender mercies, blot out my transgressions. Wash me completely from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I confess my transgressions; and my sin is ever before me. Against You, You only, have I sinned, and done evil in Your sight” (Psalms 51:1-4).
