“How to Keep Those Good
Decisions.”
“ And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD, and forgat the LORD their God, and served Baalim and the groves. Therefore the anger of the LORD was hot against Israel, and he sold them into the hand of Chushanrishathaim king of Mesopotamia: and the children of Israel served Chushanrishathaim eight years. And when the children of Israel cried unto the LORD, the LORD raised up a deliverer to the children of Israel, who delivered them, even Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother.” Judges 3:7-9
“And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the LORD: and the LORD strengthened Eglon the king of Moab against Israel, because they had done evil in the sight of the LORD.” Judges 7:12
Did you ever make a good decision only to fail to follow through with it? The book of Judges is a history of the up and down struggles of Israel from the death of Joshua to the establishment of the monarchy. Time and again they would go into spiritual backsliding only to be severely chastened by the Lord. Time and again they would cry out to the Lord for mercy and deliverance and time and again God would respond and deliver them in mighty power. Then after a while the cycle would start all over again, as they would once again turn to the gods of their enemies.
It’s always a good decision to cry out to God, what was their problem? What made them go back on their good decision? Why couldn’t they learn their lesson and stick with it?
Let’s talk about pressure. A seemingly totally unrelated story. I had a bothersome sinus headache. Eventually infection set in, I went to the doctor, he prescribed amoxicillin with the instructions to stay on it until I had taken every last pill. Another story; I began to be afflicted with “dry eye”. My eyes would dry out during the night. Over time I went to an eye specialist. I started with “artificial tears” and now each night when I go to bed I put an ample amount of eye ointment in each eye. I have been doing this for eight or ten years now. In both cases I was responding to a certain pressure.
Thoughts on pressure. We all live with pressure. Every phase of life has it’s own unique pressures. We sail through a sea of conflicting currants. Some take the paths of least resistance and perish. The child of God who has set his compass toward the will of God (Paul had set his course and finished it.) is not immune to the conflicting currants but is able to overcome the pressures exerted by them because his desire to stay in the will of God is greater than the pressure to move him from it. It was not always that way. Their progress was not achieved over night. Over time a way of life is established and pressures that early on threatened to derail them are now no more. The pressures he faces now are of a higher order but are just as real as the early pressures were. That is to say he is no longer pressured to drink, smoke, gamble, lay out of church, but he is pressured to be impatient, unkind, lazy, to compromise spiritual truth, and to give in to self-pride.
What motivated Israel to cry out to God? The pressure of bondage. Once that pressure is gone another takes its place, the pressure of living for God. Overtime the old pressure is forgotten and now the pressure of a disciplined life begins to get to us. What motivated me to finally give in and go see the doctor? The discomfort of a sinus headache pressured me to take the time to go see the doctor and not only that but to also spend the money for the medicine and to take the medicine religiously three times a day! But the doctor said to take all the medicine, to the very last pill! You know what? After three days the headache went away. Now I faced the pressure of disciplining myself to taking the medicine for the next seven days when it felt that it really wasn’t necessary. Of course the doctor knew that only the symptoms were gone, the bug that caused the symptoms was still there and it would take the complete prescription to knock it out. The spiritual application speaks for itself.
First the trouble comes. This should be a surprise to absolutely no one for man is born unto trouble. Job 5:7 It could be moral trouble, spiritual trouble, physical trouble, mental trouble, financial trouble, legal trouble, or emotional trouble. It could be family trouble, school trouble, work trouble, church trouble, or trouble with your neighbors. Or it could be any combination of the aforementioned. This generally means that something is out of kilter. When the pain (read “pressure”) gets just so bad we will look for a remedy. Usually this will require a change of some sort that must be made. There is something we must start doing that we have not been doing or there is something we must stop doing that we have been doing. That means that a decision must be made. Good decisions are of course made when we decide to stop doing something that is wrong or when we decide to start doing something that is right. By the way, spiritual pressure is applied or ought to be applied at every preaching service. And it is the Holy Spirit of God who applies the pressure. And so the decision is made and thank God for every good decision that God’s people make!
Now here is the problem;
I find it is not a matter of teaching people what’s right or wrong, that’s not
really where the trouble is, most people know already what is right or wrong. It’s
not a matter of teaching people that they ought to make good decisions, they pretty well
already know that too. It’s a matter of
knowing how to keep the good decision once they have made it! How many do you know who made the good decision to
quit smoking but then didn’t keep it? How about those New Year’s resolutions?
The Formular For Keeping Good Decisions.
#1. Make a Good, Good Decision.. In other words, think it through. Consider long and hard the probable and possible consequences of your decision. Am I willing to make this a way of life, that is, to take the full prescription? If not I am almost certain to fail, God never promised victory to the half hearted.
#2. Never Forget What Motivated You to Make The Decision in the First Place. Had Israel not forgotten how terrible the bitter bondage was that caused them to cry out to God in the first place they would not have so quickly turned back to idolatry. Whether is was guilt and shame or misery and pain or simply being fed up with mediocrity that caused you to make the good decision in the first place, don’t ever forget it. A successful business man speaking at a rescue mission was ask why he wore a certain gold plated safety pin on the lapel of his suit coat. His answer was that it reminded him of the days when sin had taken him to skidrow and it was that very pin that held his coat together. Satan will do all he can to help you forget the misery you were in when you finally called on the Lord. It’s likely the prodigal son never forgot that hog pen.
#3. Be Prepared For the Counter Pressure. Just realize that the counter pressure will come and don’t be shocked by it. If you have yielded to the pressure of God’s Word and the Holy Spirit to start tithing you need to realize that you will be put to a test. You will be pressured to quit. Be prepared for it and don’t give in to it.
A true story. The man felt so terrible for deserting his family that he broke off the relationship and went back to his wife and children. That decision relived the pressure of the guilt he was under. He was not prepared though for the counter pressure of being away from the other party with whom he had become emotionally addicted. He eventually went back.
A typical situation. The husband was so lazy and slothful, always sponging off his wife and friends that after a time even he was eaten up with guilt and self-loathing. He decides to change. He gets a job. Soon the pressure of guilt and lack of self-respect is gone but the pressure of a disciplined work life now hits him. I mean getting up at six am and putting in eight hours every day, five days a week takes some discipline if you’re not used to it. He hadn’t counted on that and the job lasted only two weeks.
#4. Avoid Places, Persons, and Situations That Would Tempt You to Turn Back. You tempt God when you place your self in unnecessary temptation. “Lead us not into temptation” means you stay as far away from it as you can get. Otherwise you are consciously or unconsciously making provisions for the flesh, as it were, something God forbids. Romans 14:13 Here is a good test of our sincerity. The man who suddenly decides to drive by the tavern he used to frequent is flirting with disaster.
#5. Guard Your Thought Life. Do not tolerate for a moment the least thought of your besetting sin. It may come in but you do not have to tolerate it. That is to say you do not have to dwell on it or be preoccupied with it. Thoughts of booze, lust, gambling, cheating, whatever or whoever, cannot be allowed to stay. How do you get rid of them? Easy, just get the good thoughts in, start dwelling on John 3:16 or start singing Amazing Grace. Overcome evil with good. Rom.12:21
#6. Read Your Bible as Though Your Life Depended on It. “Man shall not live by bread alone”, we require our “Daily Bread” to maintain good health. Being in the Word of God is not just a good thing to do, it is a necessary thing to do. If you wish to be alive six months from now you must eat food. If you wish to have spiritual health you must be in the Word of God. It’s not an option. It’s just as true as ever, “This Book will either keep you from sin or sin will keep you from this Book.”
#7. Attend Church Religiously. No, not legalistically but religiously. There is a difference. See Webster, “scrupulously and conscientiously”. That means the highest priority, not to meet a legal requirement but to honor your Heavenly Father who commanded that we, “Forsake not the assembly” Heb.10:25, and to help meet the needs of your heart and life strengthening you and equipping you to stand fast both morally and spiritually.
That means you don’t miss any services you don’t have to miss. Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday night, revivals, etc. You say that’s a lot of church, yes it is but how serious are you anyway? Going to church is not a form of punishment. Believe it or not the most healthy, happy, flourishing Christians I know never miss a service, when the doors are open they are there. They participate as much as possible, they fill up their time with church and just don’t have time to let the devil have his way. They love to hear good preaching, they love to fellowship with other saints of God, they love to serve and they love to see God working in the lives of other people.
Remember that character isn’t developed over night. God gave you all the tools you needed when you got saved and though no one is born full grown they have it all at birth, it just needs to be developed. The least babe in Christ has all the potential of a spiritual giant. I have some tremendous computer programs at my disposal but it is taking me a long time to discover the many, many things they are capable of accomplishing. But the more I use the programs the greater use I derive from them. It is only when we begin to use what God has for us that we discover what great resources we have in Christ. “But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.” Heb 5:14 Christian character is largely in saying yes to God and saying no to the world, the flesh and the devil.
Never give up on making those good decisions for the glory of God and follow through by taking this message to hear