Jeremiah 21:8-10 – “You shall also say to this people, ‘Thus says the Lord, “Behold, I set before you the way of life and the way of death. ⁹ He who dwells in this city will die by the sword and by famine and by pestilence; but he who goes out and falls away to the Chaldeans who are besieging you will live, and he will have his own life as booty. ¹⁰ For I have set My face against this city for harm and not for good,” declares the Lord. “It will be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will burn it with fire.”’

As I read, prayed, and pondered the Word of God today, the very first thing that I heard in my spirit was, “It is always a choice.”   I paused and pondered that thought.   Life is a series of choices, and every choice has a consequence (good or bad).   Every choice becomes the foundation upon which successive choices are made.  Choices make choices!

In Jeremiah 21, they were under siege by Babylon. Jeremiah brought the prophetic word: “Make a choice.” Obey and live. Rebel and die. They did not like the choice because obedience meant surrender to Babylon, and their pride prevented them from obeying.  Babylon was to be temporary, but death was permanent.

In Jeremiah 26:1-5, we are brought face-to-face with something some today reject.  Value the prophetic word.  God reveals His plans to help us navigate the troubled waters of life.  We want God to speak, but then we pick and choose which part of what He says we will obey.  Jeremiah 26:4 emphasizes the need to obey God’s directive explicitly.  Again, choice rises to the forefront! Choices have consequences (good or bad).

The call of God requires a choice.  Godliness is a choice.  We have the hope of divine enablement to manifest the character and nature of Jesus, but it begins with the choice of surrender.  (Remember the reference in Jeremiah mentioned earlier?)

In 1 Timothy 4:12, Paul, by the Holy Spirit, reveals that our objective is to be examples.

• We are to be examples in how we talk.

(Both the words we use and the subject matter).

• We are to be examples in our conduct.

(What do people see in how we act and react?)

• We are to be examples in Love.

(Agape, as seen in 1 Corinthians 13 and in Jesus, is the goal.

• We are to be examples in faithfulness.

(Both loyalty to our assignment, to others, to our faith, and to our commitment and word).

• We are to be examples in purity.

(What do others see in us? We may refrain from certain words or acts, but what is in our hearts?)

As I think about choices, I think of my conversion to Christ. Jesus came into the world to save people, and that included the worst of the worst (me).  My choice to accept Him affects not only me and my eternity, but everyone I encounter. My choice enables me to become an example that points to Him. That example is a testimony. My testimony either magnifies Jesus or reeks of hypocrisy, based on my obedience, which is the result of choice.

So, choose wisely!  Choose to obey.  Choose to accept His grace.  Choose to live Him by dying to self.  Dying requires dying!  It does not include partial resurrections of certain things, acts, or attitudes.  It requires dying.  The choice before is Life by dying to self or death by living for self.

I choose life by dying to self!

Jeremiah 12:1 – “Righteous are You, O Lord, that I would plead my case with You; Indeed, I would discuss matters of justice with You: Why has the way of the wicked prospered? Why are all those who deal in treachery at ease?”

As I read, prayed, and meditated on the Word of God today, several life realities flooded my mind.

It is easy to fall into the pit of despair when we struggle and look around at those who are making no attempt to do right, have ease, and prosper. That involves a shift in focus from God to self.   Even Jeremiah fell prey to that trap.

(Jeremiah 12:1).  My paraphrase: “Hey God, what’s up with this? People are pursuing selfishness, living wickedly, and all is rosy. I’m serving you, and there is no end to my problems. WHY?”

God answered him in (v 5). “Son, you are focused wrong. If this (foot soldiers, little foxes, minor issues) is defeating you, how will you face the big stuff?”   The answer was: “Focus on God, not man. Don’t Compare and Despair!”

In Jeremiah 17:7-10, we have the same phraseology as Psalm 1. Those who focus on God and live faithfully, obedient lives anchored in God and His truth, flourish.  No matter what is happening around them and even to them, inside they are strong, confident, and provided for.  God is IN them, living through them, and His life produces the fruit of life!

Paul addressed that in 2 Thessalonians 3:10-15.   In (vv 10 & 13), we have declarations we make standalone but are inseparable in context.  Never reward laziness, and don’t let the pervasiveness of entitled, lazy living around you cause you to grow weary of doing what is right. Remember Psalm 1, Psalm 23, Psalm 91, and Jeremiah 17.

Hold the reality of Galatians 6:9 near as a reminder that the devil cannot win unless we quit. God won’t let go, especially if we don’t let go.

Focus is the key!  That’s why Paul frequently encouraged and commanded us to fill our consciousness with God!  What we fill our hearts and minds with defines who we become. Don’t Compare and Despair!

“Now may the Lord of peace Himself give you peace at all times and in every way.”    Keep looking up; our help is coming from heaven!

Isaiah 57:2 – “He enters into peace; they rest in their beds, each one who walked in His upright way.”

As I read, prayed, and meditated on the Word of God today, God’s desire captured my thoughts.  We often focus directly or indirectly on our desires, not on God’s. But what about God’s desires?

Isaiah 56 begins with the expressed desire of God’s heart: “This is what the LORD says, Promote justice! Do what is right!”   Simple, clear, and concise, or is it?

In Isaiah 57:2, we encounter the picture of the person who pursues justice and does what is right. “Those who live uprightly enter a place of peace; they rest on their beds.”  Are turmoil, stress, and pressure the earmarks of your life?  Contemplate your focus!  Is it your desires or His that you are truly focused on?

In Isaiah 58, we have a rebuke and rejection of religious ritual and faux pious acts, and then a description of God’s desire!  God’s desire produces.

• Light and revelation (v 8).
• Answered prayers (v 9).
• Guidance (v 11).
• Overflowing Joy and great prosperity (v 14).
• Isaiah 59:1-2 shows the opposite of that if we allow sin to dominate.

In Isaiah 61:1-4, we see what we could call the Jesus anointing and its fruit.    Think about this: Jesus, although fully God, did all as fully man. He is our example (pattern).   Colossians 2:9-10 informs us that if we are (born again), we are filled with the fullness of Jesus.  That means that living IN us and THROUGH us is the Christ Life!

Because of the Cross, the Finished Work of Jesus – He lives in us and lives His life through us.   THEN, the desire of God is fulfilled in us, and we are able to follow the directive of Paul in Colossians 3.   We “put off” the things of flesh and “put on” the things of God, transforming us from being dominated by our desires to being consumed with His!

Let’s make it our desire to desire the desire of God! Christ IN you is your Hope of Glory! Christ THROUGH you is the Hope of the lost.

Lord, help our desire to be Your desire!

Isaiah 48:10 – “Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tested you in the Furnace of Affliction.”

As I read, prayed, and pondered the Word of God today, I was drawn to the Life of Christ and Life in Christ.  The totality of Jesus’ involvement and investment in us is almost impossible to fully grasp.   Most have Jesus as an accessory, not in totality.   

We add Jesus to our lives rather than Jesus being our lives.  We walk with Him rather than walk in Him.  We live as me, and Jesus rather than Jesus is me.   Christ IN us, Christ THROUGH us is the Christian life.  We try to live for God rather than having God live His life in and through us.

Total surrender is never achieved because we envision ourselves and Jesus as two separate entities.  We fail to grasp that we are cells in the Body of Christ, members of it.  To operate or live separately from Him, thinking that is living for Him, is to dethrone God and enthrone self.

Total surrender is to die to self.  It is to experience His life in our lives.  It is to be transformed.  That is interesting (transformed).  Made different.  Not modified but transformed into something else.  We seek to reform and modify our lives, thoughts, and behavior to be a bit more like Him. Transformation removes the self and replaces it with HIM!

Isaiah 48:10 makes a troubling declaration.  Troubling but wonderful if we can look through the momentary to the eternal.  “I have purified you in the furnace of misery.”  Couple that with Paul’s desire in Philippians 3:10, “My aim (goal or desire) is to know (become inseparably intimate with) Him, to experience the power of His Resurrection, to share in His sufferings, and to be like Him in His death, AND SO, somehow, to attain to the Resurrection from the dead.”

Total surrender.  Total transformation.  Total life!  When we truly see the Life of Christ and Life in Christ as being the same, we are FREE!   At that point, we become more than conquerors through Jesus.   We turn our world upside down for God and live FREE!  Until then, we struggle with two steps forward and one step back.

I surrender all.