DAILY DISCIPLINE #131
By Colleen Donahue

We cannot accuse God or his son Jesus of being too complicated in what they teach us. Over and over throughout the Bible we can find one verse summaries of how we are to live. These next three verses in Matthew will make it clear to us that ......

 

All Life Is a Choice - Matthew 7:12-14

 

Day 1- Read first Matthew 7:12 (also in Luke 6:31).

This simple verse is probably the most famous of all that Christ taught. At the time he spoke it, he was expressing a new view of life. In the teachings up until Jesus, the negative form of this rule was always taught. For example: Hillel said "What is hateful to yourself, do to no other." To do no harm to another man is easily kept by men and women who have no belief or religion at all. They can satisfy the "negative rule" simply by inaction.

But to follow the rule as Christ states it, we are to anticipate the needs and wants of others and take the initiative in providing it. This requires a new attitude and energy. We are to treat each other not as the law states but as love demands. Only a person with the love of Christ in his heart can begin to satisfy this command.

Day 2- As you look up each of these verses, note the similarities of instruction in how we are to act towards God.
Deuteronomy 10:12 / Ecclesiastes 12:13 / Micah 6:8 / Mark 12:30, 33

Day 3- Then compare that to how we are to act towards men.
Mark 12:31, 33 / John 13:34-35 / John 15:12 / Romans 13:10 / Romans 15:2 / Galatians 5:14 / James 1:17

Day 4- Read first Matthew 7:13-14
In these verses Jesus points out that all of life will be a choice. In every action of life we are confronted with a choice that can't be avoided. As one choice so easily leads to the next, Jesus warns us how easy it can be to head the wrong way.
Deuteronomy 30:19

It will be a clear choice between .....

Day 5- Perseverance or giving up.
Hebrews 12:3-4

Day 6- The hard way vs. the easy way.
Hebrews 11:24-26

Day 7- The popular way vs. the less traveled.
1 Kings 18:21

Day 8- The disciplined way vs. the undisciplined.
1 Corinthians 9:24-27

Day 9- The thoughtful way vs. the unthoughtful.
Proverbs 12:15 / Proverbs 14:12

There are no shortcuts to greatness among men in regards to God. An athlete has never won an Olympic medal without rigorous, daily training. A leader has only gotten to his place of leadership by first excelling in his field. A successful business person will have started from ground level and worked hard to advance and prosper. There are no instant successes.

Day 10- Have you made some bad choices in your life? Are you on the wide path leading to destruction? Do you wish you could get off? Well, there is good news for you today! You CAN turn around. You CAN begin to make the right choice. The first step is to make a clear declaration that your life belongs to God and He is the one whom you will serve.
Deuteronomy 26:16-19 / Joshua 24:15 / Psalm 119:30

Day 11 - Satan actively helps all those that walk the wide path to destruction. But the Almighty God will help all of us that walk the path towards Him. We must begin the constant habit of involving God with all our decisions and asking Him to show us the way.
Jeremiah 42:3

Day 12- God will show us his way and open the path before us so we'll know what way to go.
Isaiah 26:7 / Isaiah 30:21 / Isaiah 42:9 / Isaiah 48:6,17

Day 13- But -- our choice to follow God will cost us something.
Matthew 16:24 / Luke 14:26,33 / Luke 18:28-30

Day 14- Perhaps you've heard someone say: "he/she is a person of integrity." A person of integrity is someone that follows a code of values enabling them to choose the right path and do it more often than men and women of two minds. The Bible says that God Himself will live within us to guide us on a daily basis and produce in us the integrity needed to continually follow God.
Ezekiel 36:27 / John 14:17 / 1 John 2:27

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