Faithful Decisions – Part 1
By Margaret D. Mitchell
Week of May 16, 2021
To make faithful decisions is to make right decisions—decisions that are righteous in the eyes of God.
"As for God, his way is perfect," says 2 Samuel 22:31 NIV, "The Lord’s word is flawless..."
He sets the standard of righteousness, and He credits our active faith (obedience) as righteousness (Gen 15:6, Rom 4:9, Deut 6:25).
So, we are to "walk in the way of that faith," dependent on God’s truth as we make the right decisions (Romans 4:12 AMPC).
Why is this so important?
Because to bring honor to God and be victorious in the Promised Land, we must know His instructions and agree with them. We must sync with Him in life-union to sustain His flow of true life through us, as we progress and complete divine assignments with Him (2 Cor 5:21).
2 Samuel 22:26 NIV tells us that "To the faithful," God shows Himself "faithful."
"If you choose to follow good counsel, divine design will watch over you and understanding will protect you from making poor choices" (Prov 2:11 TPT).
Keep in mind that, in the Promised Land, God gave Joshua a new strategy for each battle. Joshua and his army were protected as they overtook enemies to expand their territory only because they faithfully hearkened to God’s instructions.
Of course, Moses’ mentorship helped.
Romans 10:8 TPT says, "But the faith-righteousness we receive speaks to us in these words of Moses: ‘God’s living message is very close to you, as close as your own heart beating in your chest and as near as the tongue in your mouth.’"
Sometimes, the most righteous and life-sustaining thing we can do is lay down our self-righteousness, including the self-justification of our ways, and trust God enough to pray according to His will, so He will hear our prayers (1 John 5:14).
We need His grace to work on our behalf. Therefore, we must come out of self-reliance and into God-dependence. We must also remember that God’s perfect justice constantly works on our behalf.
This perfect justice is described in Romans 3:25 TPT, which says, "the perfect demonstration of God’s justice" is "faith in the sacred blood of Jesus."
So, before we step onto the Promised Land battlefields, we may want to survey our hearts and ask whether our faith is in Him or in ourselves. We may even want to ask Him to search our hearts.
Remember that Caleb, who fought alongside Joshua, was wholehearted.
As we continue to believe God’s truth and abide in Him, we will come to know our Lord as the God of the Mountaintop, victorious in new ways to us.
Psalm 31:19 NIV tells us that abiding with Him in our decisions is where we find God’s abundance of good things.
So, we can intentionally choose to receive the abundance of Christ by aligning with Him as Lord of our lives.
Psalm 72:7 TPT assures us that "In the days of his reign the righteous will spring forth with the abundance of peace and prosperity forevermore."
God will even reward our faithfulness.
Psalm 37:6 NIV says, "He will make your righteous reward shine like the dawn, your vindication like the noonday sun."
His grace of salvation for us includes the righteousness of vindication and working out that salvation in us and through us to reflect His brightness (Isa 62:1).
So, friends, we can be encouraged that, by His grace, all the restoration God did in us up until now will lead to outward manifestations of significant purpose. Therefore, let’s make decisions that are right in God’s eyes to see them produce fruit.
Others are depending on us. So, let’s not disappoint them—not the ones in the great cloud of witnesses, who have gone before us and are watching; not those who are still living on earth and waiting; and not the future generations to come.
Ephesians 3:20 TPT reminds us to "Never doubt God’s mighty power to work in you and accomplish all this. He will achieve infinitely more than your greatest request, your most unbelievable dream, and exceed your wildest imagination! He will outdo them all, for his miraculous power constantly energizes you."
So, friends, from the Word of The Lord, I declare over you:
- "Open the gates and let a righteous, faith-filled people enter in" (Isa 26:2 TPT).
- "May the mountains bring prosperity to the people, the hills the fruit of righteousness" (Ps 72:3 NIV).
- "Rejoice in the LORD, you righteous, And give thanks at the remembrance of His holy name" (Ps 97:12 NKJV).
In Jesus’ Mighty Name. Amen.
Margaret D. Mitchell is the Founder of God's Love at Work, a marketplace outreach purposed to share God's greatest power source - the love of Christ.
