October 6, 2023 8:00 pm
A few weeks after the death of a dear friend, I spoke with her mom. I was hesitant to ask how she was doing because I thought it was an inappropriate question; she was grieving. But I pushed aside my reluctance and simply asked how she was holding up. Her reply: “Listen, I choose joy.”
Her words ministered to me that day as I struggled to push beyond some unpleasant circumstances in my own life. And her words also reminded me of Moses’ edict to the Israelites at the end of Deuteronomy. Just before Moses’ death and the Israelites’ entrance into the promised land, God wanted them to know that they had a choice. Moses said, “I have set before you life and death. . . . Now choose life” (Deuteronomy 30:19). They could follow God’s laws and live well, or they could turn away from Him and live with the consequences of “death and destruction” (v. 15).
We must choose how to live too. We can choose joy by believing and trusting in God’s promises for our lives. Or we can choose to focus on the negative and difficult parts of our journeys, allowing them to rob us of joy. It will take practice and relying on the Holy Spirit for help, but we can choose joy too—knowing that “in all things God works for the good of those who love him” (Romans 8:28).
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Welcome to today's encouragement from Our Daily Bread.
Our reading, titled A Choice, was written by Katerra Patton. Her words ministered to me that day as I struggled to push beyond some unpleasant circumstances in my own life, and her words also reminded me of Moses' edict to the Israelites at the end of Deuteronomy. Just before Moses' death and the Israelites' entrance into the Promised Land, God wanted them to know that they had a choice. Moses said, I have set before you life and death. Now choose life.
They could follow God's laws and live well, or they could turn away from Him and live with the consequences of death and destruction. We must choose how to live, too. We can choose joy by believing and trusting in God's promises for our lives. Or we can choose to focus on the negative and difficult parts of our journeys, allowing them to rob us of joy.
It will take practice and relying on the Holy Spirit for help, but we can choose joy, knowing that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him. Today's Our Daily Bread devotional scripture reading is from Deuteronomy chapter 30 verses 15 through 20. See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction. For I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to Him, 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. But if your heart turns away and you are not obedient, and if you are drawn away to bow down to other gods and worship them, I declare to you this day that you will certainly be destroyed.
You will not live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess. This day, I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life so that you and your children may live and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to His voice, and hold fast to Him.
For the Lord is your life, and He will give you many years in the land He swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Let's pray. Dear God, giver of joy, please help us to choose to follow You and believe and trust You this day, both in the good and in the difficult. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Thanks for listening today. My name is Toni Collier, and today's encouragement was provided by Our Daily Bread Ministries.
Whisper: medium.en / 2023-10-06 21:20:58 / 2023-10-06 21:22:28 / 2
