Here, we'll be sharing inspiring excerpts from The Daily Nugget by Pastor Ed Chidester, our founding pastor. It is our prayer that these daily nuggets of truth will encourage, strengthen, and inspire you as you walk with Him each day.
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A New Attitude for the New Year
“As for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.” (Joshua 24: 15)
Joshua was an outstanding leader and a God-fearing man. His declaration in the above text should often be renewed in the heart of every Christian. Let us now carefully examine this solemn declaration.The children of Israel were in rebellion and were going after other gods, much like our society today. Sin and idolatry always produce an attitude of rebellion. In the closing days of his life, Joshua exhorted the children of Israel to adopt a new attitude and change their ways.
1. Choice is what we exercise in relation to what is right and what is wrong. We will do well to remember that it is choice, not chance, that determines our spiritual destiny. But for those whose hearts are after God’s own heart, it is not a question of good or bad, but a choice of good or best.
2. “As for me”. That is the personal decision that we must make in order to follow what is right, which would consequently be of immense spiritual benefit to us. This would require a firm stand, and that might be costly. But we must never forget the dictum that says, “History is made whenever you make a decision.”
3. “And my house”. In Joshua the man, we can see the hallmark of a God-centered life in which his family was included. One who is sold out for God, like Joshua, is usually keen to include others, especially his or her own household. Commitment normally goes hand in hand with responsibility, and we measure ourselves by the responsibility we shoulder. Joshua’s responsibility for his family before God was above reproach. God today still desires families to make their commitment of life and home entirely to Him.
4. “We will”. All Joshua’s attributes of resolve and determination are summed up in these two words. The difficulties around about him seemed to pale into insignificance. His unwavering choice of loyalty to worship the Lord, together with his household, was the business that mattered most to him. We will do well to remember the dictum that says, “ Our grand business is not to see what lies dimly at a distance, but to do what lies clearly at hand.”
5. “Serve the Lord”. True, the desire of every spiritual person is to serve the Lord, and to serve the Lord is not just doing a couple of things to get it over with. Jesus is never satisfied with the one mile (Mt.5:41). We must serve Him in greater depth. This service includes respect, honor, and obedience toward God as well as to his church, towards those “that have the rule over you” in the Lord (Heb.13:17), including those who are “the least of my brethren”(Mt. 25:40). In brief, to be of real service to the Lord, one must give something that cannot be bought or measured with money, and that is sincerity, integrity, selflessness and loyalty. What we can do for Christ is the test of service. What we can suffer for Him is the test of love.