Being a Chooser
by Gail Rodgers
**Are you struggling with making the right choice? Take this study to learn how to stay strong in your faith, even when it seems like no one else is. http://thelife.com/study/teenstrongfaith.html?section=teenstrongfaith
The radio played in the background as I drove home and thought about my day. Suddenly a quote caught my attention. I missed hearing to whom it was credited, but it was good: “No one is born a winner or loser, but each one is born a chooser.”
“How true,” I thought as I maneuvered through the traffic. I was a chooser…in every area of my life. Oh, I may not always choose my circumstances, but I would always be in charge of choosing my responses to those circumstances.
God gently nudged my heart and I began to reflect on some of the thoughts I was choosing to entertain about circumstances and people that day – rather negative, critical, impatient thoughts. He reminded me that a response in life always begins with a thought. Left alone, these thoughts would surely spiral me down and impact my responses in the same way. The choice was mine. God’s Word came to my mind.
Are you feeling hopeless?: Moving through your suffering
Exhale your sin: Find hope in the Holy Spirit
“We take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5b).
God is so good to remind us that we need to take stock of our thoughts. Thoughts are the seeds in our lives that result in actions and responses. We choose to let them stay or to take them captive and throw them out.
I realized I had been allowing seeds of thought in my mind and heart that I did not want growing in my life. God used that quote on the radio to remind me that I was a chooser. I knew the kind of responses I wanted in my life and these thoughts would not get me there.
God’s Holy Spirit is our Helper. He draws us on to be what we, in our own strength, cannot be. He helps us toss aside the bad seeds that would bear sour fruit if left unattended.
Where are your thoughts today? Being aware of what you are choosing to dwell on puts you in a proactive position. Before thoughts of irritation and frustration grow into angry, bitter roots, choose to ask God’s Holy Spirit to help you take those thoughts captive and to respond to your circumstances with His grace, love and wisdom.
~Father God, Thank you that You have equipped me with Your Holy Spirit to live day by day. Today I ask You to help me take captive thoughts that will spiral me down and cause me to react in ways I don’t want to. Help me to remember I am a chooser. Where I have neglected to choose in the past and negative roots have grown, help me to have wisdom to know how to weed them out. I look to You today to help me tend the seeds that come into my heart and mind and to choose what I will let grow. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Questions: How can we be make sure all our choices are God honoring..how can we be proactive in this area? What choices are you struggling with today?
About the Author: http://talk.thelife.com/experience/devotionalforwomen/authors/gail-rodgers/
Tags: choices, circumstances, Holy Spirit, responses, thoughts
20 Responses to “Being a Chooser”
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Hi Brenda! :) It is so wonderful to hear how our God spoke to your discouraged heart through loving words on this blog, a message from the pulpit, and most importantly, directly from His Word!! He is, indeed, sooo good! May you continue to be so blessed by His Spirit of joy and peace, as you shine on!! :) God bless, sweet sister!
Greetings Melanie and Maria and everyone else! Hi Marilyn!! Smiles!!
Thank you all so much for allowing God to speak words of encouragement to me. I feel so much better since I have posted my concerns and read the responses. I keep reading the words over and over again and guess what else. I have been lead to passages in the bible. My preacher spoke on greatness inside of us on Sunday. So many messages have been confirming what you all said to me. God is so good. Now it has not been easy! There have been some real testers!!! But I have been practicing and it works. I seems to have more peace, more joy and i’m okay with being who I am now. I’m keep shinning! I love you all. I’m going home now. God bless you!
Dear Brenda, keep shining for Jesus. Keep smiling! You´re doing a great job. Forget about the critics. You´re helping many people with your smile.
God bless you.
dear brenda, god bless you dear sister. I too have experienced your struggle. I know what it is for Christians and non Christians alike to recoil at my bubbliness. I too am an encouraged. Our enemy is a discouraged and does all he can to put water on our flame. But once we know his scheme we can ask holy spirit to strengthen us an help us to glow in the face of opposition. Our enemy wants to keep people in the dark so when they react to us in a prickly way we can forgive them and pray gods blessing on them. Remember the scripture in Romans about not repaying evil with evil, and jesus tells us to pray for them that despitefully treat us, so don’t let the joy of the lord be quenched in you for it is your strength. May god continually bless you dear sister. With love. Melanie
Dear Brenda S, it is the Lord Who has reassured you, dear one! His Spirit shines so brightly through you, and He has used my mere words to encourage you! I praise Him for His loving kindness to you! He knows your tender heart, your broken spirit over unkind words spewed from unchanged hearts, and He wants to set you free from needing their approval, and for you to savor the joy of your salvation again! May God continue to bless you, dear sister, for setting His light up high where it impacts the darkness so greatly!
Hi Celia! You do not share whether or not your in-law is a believer, as your desire to “make her know that God should come first in her life” would be handled a bit differently. However, I would encourage you to continue praying for her until you feel the Holy Spirit soften your heart towards her, as the “Christian thing to do” is not to confront her in anger, but in humility and understanding. Remember, dear sister, that your in-law is not the enemy, but Satan is. He is using her, most likely without her knowledge, to tempt you to sin. Do not allow him to fool you. If your in-law is not a Christian, then her inadvertent cooperation with Satan is what God expects from unbelievers, and we should as well. In this case, it would be wise to forgive her, and love her with His love, that is unconditional and full of grace! If her behaviors continue to be destructive to your relationship, then perhaps limiting your time together would be recommended. If she is a believer, then the Holy Spirit in her is responsible for convicting her of God’s preemminent place in our hearts! It is not our job to “make another Christian know that God should come first.” While He deserves to come first in our hearts, and we were created for thus, we mustn’t let legalism force out grace! Your in-law will much more likely be won over by witnessing the joy of His blessings in your life by your intimate fellowship with Him! Let this, my friend, be your testimony of His grace to you! God bless!
Dear Tiysh, at this very challenging time, you must keep your eyes on Jesus! Do not give Satan an audience, for he sees the circumstances that you are in and he knows how to tempt you! Ask the Lord to forgive your sinful thoughts, and He will, and seek His strength to resist Satan’s lure. His Spirit within you is greater than the evil one, and you CAN be victorious in this circumstance by His power and grace! Surround yourself, dear one, with Christian sisters who can, and will, pray for you and help you in this trial! Seek accountability for your actions, as this will discourage you from making choices that would dishonor God and betray your witness. We will be praying for you here . . .
Precious Savior and Lord, we ask for Your mercy and protection over our sister, Tiysh, as she faces a very challenging trial at this time! Strengthen her faith, Lord, and empower her to resist Satan’s efforts to defeat her! Rise up, Holy Spirit, and defend Your daughter during her weakness, we pray! Guard her mind against sinful thoughts that could corrupt her heart. Keep her safe within Your clasp, O Lord, and deliver her, we pray, from sin’s door! In the most holy Name of Jesus, Amen!
thank you for this devotional it gives me a lot to think about on changing my way of thinking towards others
Good Morning All! Thank you Marilyn from the bottom of my heart for those sweet confirming words of God. As I was reading your message, I felt tears of joy swell up inside of me. I thought, Oh my God, someone has heard my inner struggle, my inner pain, my voice and they understood me better than I understood myself. God bless you Marilyn! I do believe it is the light they reject because I could figure out why or how kindness could be rejected. Now I have a better understanding and with this understanding I can move forward. I can keep my smile knowing that the Holy Spirit brings this joy I have deep inside. I will forgive and pray for those people who persecute me to be filled with God’s grace and mercy. I thank God for your words of healing Marilyn. I will carry your message to me and read if often. Love, Brenda…
this devotional is what i need this mornig,in my lonelynes i have recently become desperate and have entertained thougts that i know will lead me to sucumb to sin and i know i have already sinned in my heart. i pray GOD forgives me and help me to allow the holy spirit to direct me in the choices i make in life .amen
it struck me right to the core. right now, an in-law is causing a vexation to my spirit. i feel very guilty about it and i confess that i have thought and said things about her that are not pleasing to God. i am praying that the holy spirit will lead me to what i should do about it and for her. i believe it is the christian thing to do to make her know that God should come first in her life and that he is just giving her signs that she should come to him.
Hi Brenda S! Please remember that people who do not know Christ, and I’m presuming that these co-workers of yours who complained about your cheerful attitude are not believers, will reject the light! The Bible tells us that the darkenss hates the light, and so you can expect that your radiance will offend them. It won’t matter where you work, dear one, those who are in the dark will be repelled by your joy, until, by God’s mercy and grace, their eyes are opened to the Truth, and they start to hunger for that joy! In the meantime, pray for those who persecute you, forgiving them as Jesus has forgiven us, knowing that they sin, because they are sinners. Their hurtful words reflect their unchanged hearts, and have no power over you! For, you have the Holy Spirit in you, from Whom your joy overflows! God bless!
Judy, thank you for your words of encouragement. This is a great way to look at what happened to me. don’t look at the people who did this evil against me, Look at it as though God used them to leave me to a different place. Looking at it this way, I can say thank you Jesus!
Yes, my back is getting stronger and stronger every day and thank you for asking God to touch me and heal my hurts. I only want to serve God and I believe by asking him to show me the path to serve him, he will make my gift of encouragement even greater. Thank you!
God bless you too! Love, Brenda
Thank you, Gail, for another great, mind-provoking devotional.
This may seem silly, but I thought (since I garden and it is summer time) of “weed and feed”. We need to weed those negative thoughts out of our minds and choose to feed our mind with the Word of God and to spend time in prayer.
Brenda, when I read your situation I thought perhaps God wants you in a different department. Perhaps there is someone there who needs your encouragement. Or maybe He didn’t want you around all the negative. Take it to the Lord and ask Him for His guidance and how you can serve Him in your new department.
May the Lord touch you physically and heal your back and may He also touch you spiritually and emotionally and heal your hurts and direct your path He wants you to take to serve Him. In Jesus name. Amen
God bless you.
[...] Being a Chooser ~ Philippians 3:20-21 ~ Making Wise [...]
Satan is alive and well today, and he puts thoughts in our minds that are wrong and how we choose them to effect our lives are our choice. I choose to tell him to leave and to leave me alone, I choose Christ. and a friend of mine told me to say it out loud, because the devil cannot read our thoughts, but God can. and it works, believe me.
Thank You so much for this devotional!
It is exactly what I am struggling with.
Now I have a Quote to help remind me,
and
bible words to guide me.
Have a Blessed Day
Tammy
Thank you for this right on time devotion, Gail, yes! One way I am consciously making sure my choices are God honoring is focusing my attention on uplifting messages. Reading this devotion helps so much. I love the prayer you set forth for today. My morning meditations are so important to me and it helps me to shower, get dressed, feed my dogs and cats and arrive at work on time!
The reason I say this is right on time is I have been submitting my life to God in every way I know how and since I have made this no matter what decision, I have been given gifts like this devotion. I guess when the student is ready, the teacher will appear.
I love the words “God is so good to remind us that we need to take stock of our thoughts. Thoughts are the seeds in our lives that result in actions and responses. We choose to let them stay or to take them captive and throw them out.” I have learned that god will give me great ideas or He will inspired me, BUT the moment someone doubts me or show negative emotions towards me, I drop the ball and yield to them. I can’t blame them for my actions and my responses. I can take captive the thoughts I allow myself to think as a result of their negativism and throw them out!
What I have been struggling with is hiding my true self. I feel that god has blessed me with the gift of encouragement and I use it daily in my life. However, often times I shy away from this gift, only because some people don’t like my gift of encouragement. Just yesterday, a former co-worker told me the reason my department did want me to return to work after my back surgery was because some people didn’t like my bubbly personality. Therefore, they came up with lies to prevent me from returning to that Department. I am still with the some place of business, I am in a different Department. – All of my life people have said the following comments to me (now I am realizing that I have focused on the negative things people are saying rather than the positive things) But here are some of the comments I have heard said to me:
- Why do you smile all of the time – why are you so happy – what is os good about this morning. It doesn’t take all of that – what do you always look for the good in every situation
- Do you ever have bad moments – I don’t believe you can get made. You don’t need to do that. You are too bubbly, etc
I could list many other comments I have heard but these are just a few. Losing a job I loved so much because of who I am is another big blow to my personality. This makes me question my own self. I can’t help who I am I can’t tone my personality down, I simply can’t help myself. Of course I have bad moments and sad times, but there is a time for everything. I don’t have to attempt to pull you down jut because I feel bad. The Bible says be of good cheer, in everything give Thanks…. So all of my life I have experience harsh treatment for my kindness. My struggle is how do I move forward with what is in my heart to do without allowing myself to be tripped up, to be stop by other people thoughts and actions towards me?
Well I mentioned the negative comments said to me. Let me now share some of the good comments shared with me:
- You are too nice – I love being around you – You life me up- everytime I call, you always sound so friendly. God has blessed you with a gift. You have such a beautiful smile. You are one of the nicest person I have ever met. Thank you for being so kind. You are the reason I made it through the day. I see your light. You are glowing! Thank you….. Even in the department I was forced to leave! Students, instructors, parents and others told me nice things like I am glad you are here, you helped me to graduate. I look forward to seeing you everyday. Thank you for the quote of the day I look forward to reading them everyday. You are the best. They bought me beautiful cards with the sweetest words on them. Yes I am still hurt I have lost that job. I loved that job. It hurts that I lost it because I was too positive.
- I have had people to keep me from speaking in public. I was once a Toastmaster and I loved that club. (Toastmaster is a public speaking group) People there told me, I need to tone down my personality. I had too much presence, how can you be so jolly this early in the morning! My response was I can’t help it, it is like fire shut up in my bone, I can’t contain my joy. I left that club because of what was said.
I want to find a way to be who I am without fear of others not liking me or fear of others blocking me. I must stop allowing others to run me away! I must stop letting people put me down. Even in my family, my own sisters say, she has to find something good about everything, they will make negative comments at family reunion or any gathering about my joy before I can open my month and this shuts me up! A year ago, I finally told one sister, it hurts me when people tell me that I like to bring joy or they bet Brenda has something to say that is positive, etc. That sister did slow up on her negative comments. Lord forgive me for all of this writing, but I feel better. Thank you all for reading my rambling! With much love, Brenda
I agree with you, Janie! How we react to difficult circumstances that face us is a great measure of our spiritual development and maturity. If we allow our circumstances to dictate our attitudes/responses, then we are indistinguishable from the unregenerate world. However, when we bow to the authority of the Holy Spirit in us, giving Him the power to propel us toward Christ-like responses in the face of trials, our witness to His grace in our lives becomes a lighthouse, drawing the lost to His light in us! When we ‘choose’ our responses to our trials, may they be prayerfully pondered, and put through the filter of God’s Word! Thanks for another great devotion, Gail!
Gail:
God gently nudged my heart and I began to reflect on some of the thoughts I was choosing to entertain about circumstances and people that day – rather negative, critical, impatient thoughts. He reminded me that a response in life always begins with a thought. Left alone, these thoughts would surely spiral me down and impact my responses in the same way. The choice was mine. God’s Word came to my mind.
This is so true. In James 1: 13-15 this is the pattern of falling into sin. A temptation comes knocking in our thoughts and we have a choice to accept, deny it,confront it or defeat. Our coarse of action will make us a looser or a winner. I thank GOD for the weapon of prayers and the power of HIS word, the guidance and the empowerment of the HS that will help us keep our nose clean for HIS pleasure and HIS glory. HE has given us the grace enough to win against the darts of temptations when we do the right choices and HE always provide a way out from any temptation if our heart is in the right place.
Again Gail, this is such a great devotional. I am blessed. Thank you.
God bless you for continuously choosing to be a vessel of GOD to bless others. :D
Romel H
So pertinent for today. Just in time – I have choices to make and now know what to do. You ask God to help you make the right decision around an issue and still doubt yourself ( not Him ). As Gail says “no one is born a winner or a loser, but each one is born a choser”. I have read many of the devotionals together in a couple of days ( was away on leave ). There is so much doubt out there. Many that contribute and reply are unhappy, have to make decisions, and are carrying heavy loads. I think we should all apply the quote and make our choices. We will have to live with and by the decisions, but at the end of the day God is only a thought away. May He be with you all. May you make your decisions wisely, and reap the benefits of them.
God Bless
A beautiful devotional message, thanks Gail!! Truly indeed we can choose how we react to circumstances that confront us, and this is what makes a Christian. May God give us the grace to make the right choices!!