July 28, 2024 Sermon| Let Is A Choice

Scripture: Romans 12:2; John 14:1; Matthew 5:16     

Good morning Strangers Rest. The title of my message this morning is “Let is a Choice.” In this message we will be examining some Scriptures that tell us to “let” something be or “let” something happen. What you are going to hear this morning is that we have a choice – we can choose to let something be or happen or we can choose not to let something be or happen. Sis. Long emailed Sis. Jami and me last week to tell us that she wanted the choir to sing “God Is” today. I emailed her back and told her that I loved the song, and it would go well with this message. For those of you who might not be familiar with this song even after hearing it this morning, I want to share a few of the lyrics with you.

The song says, “God is my protection, God is my all and all. God is my light in darkness, God is my joy in the time of sorrow. God is my today and my tomorrow. God is the joy and the strength of my life. He removes all pain, misery, and strife. He promised to keep me, never to leave me, He’ll never ever come short of His word. God is my all and all.” Now here is what I want you to remember as I go into this message this morning: everything that this song says that God is to every one of us is absolutely true. Although God’s word tells us what He desires to be in our life, and this is important, God can only be all those things in our lives if we let Him! If we allow Him to be! He will not force us to let Him do anything for us – the choice is ours! 

Last week I spoke to you about how we should respond to unexpected events in life. Our response to the unexpected is a choice. Two weeks ago, I told you about Pharaoh “choosing” to have one more night with frogs that was plaguing Egypt. He chose to have one more night with those frogs versus having God eradicate them immediately. In that message I also mentioned Lot and how, even though his spirit was vexed with the sin around him, he chose to remain in Sodom and Gomorrah and lost most of what he owned when he first arrived there. In every situation a choice was made. This morning, I am going to show you in the word of God some choices that the Bible says we should be making.

Several years ago, I read an article in a magazine about a man named George Dawson. You may have heard about him. In 1996 he enrolled in a class to learn how to read and write. At the time of his enrollment, he was 98 years old. Four years later, in 2000, he published the story of his life. He was the grandson of slaves, born in a log cabin, labored at menial jobs and endured racism throughout his life. What is profound about his story was the philosophy that his father had instilled within him. His father believed and taught him that no matter what, life is so good. Please understand what I am telling you. His father did not deny the circumstances in which he lived. Instead, he chose to live above those circumstances and believe that his life was so good regardless of the messes he had to deal with daily. This is what he imparted into his son. A choice to believe that his life was good! He died in 2001 at the age of 103 believing that life was so good! His life was not so good because of the things he dealt with, but because of his choice to believe that his life was good! Now imagine for a moment what our lives would be like if we woke up every morning believing that life was so good regardless of what we faced each day. You get fired from a job – yet life is so good. Someone refuses to talk to you – yet life is so good. Children giving you the blues – yet life is so good. Parents doing the same – yet life is so good. My point is this, making the choice to believe that life is so good takes the same amount of mental energy as it does to choose to believe that life is not so good! I told you before that Henry Ford said, “Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t, you’re right.” 

Each of us has made choices about our lives. We have chosen what we wish to believe about what we can or cannot do. We believe that our time has passed for some things as we are just too old while we also believe that we are still able to do other things. We believe that there are some things that we just cannot do because of where we are in life while other things we can do because we see ourselves as still being capable. The choice that we make confirms what we already believe – that we can or cannot do something. How many of us at the age of ninety-eight would go back to school to get a GED? Many would say it was not worth it – we are just too old to put forth that effort. But what if you believed that it was worth it? What if you believed that you could do it? I want to say this and then I will move on – our abilities to do something often do not start with our being able to do it. It starts with a choice to do it. Once the choice is made, the ability can come through training! This is why Paul says in Romans 12:2, I will be reading from the Amplified Bible, “And do not be conformed to this world [any longer with its superficial values and customs], but be transformed and progressively changed [as you mature spiritually] by the renewing of your mind [focusing on godly values and ethical attitudes], so that you may prove [for yourselves] what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect [in His plan and purpose for you].” 

In 1970 the Beatles published a song that became one of my favorites at the time even though I did not know they were the group singing it. It would be on the radio, and I would listen as the words spoke to me. The song was written by Paul McCartney. According to published documents, in 1970, McCartney felt isolated from the group during a time when the group was having difficulties. He was also the lone member of the group who was not married. Because of his loneliness and the problems the group was experiencing, he was spending a lot of his time partying and drinking. One night he had a dream in which his mother Mary appeared to him and told him to let things be; that things would work out. The next day he wrote the song “Let It Be.” When I first heard the song at the age of nine, I thought it was a gospel song as it spoke to me just as other gospel songs did. It was years later that I discovered who wrote and sung the song and that it was not a gospel song. (For the younger people who might be watching this and laughing, remember when I was nine years old all we had was the TV, radio, and library for learning information. There was no internet to make Google inquiries.)

The song spoke to me because of the first sentence: “When I find myself in times of trouble, mother Mary comes to me, speaking words of wisdom, let it be.” Like many I thought he was referencing the mother of Jesus, but he was talking about his own mother who was named Mary. The song gave me a sense of peace that sometimes you just have to let things be. In my mind, as a young person I linked this song to what Jesus said it John 14:1, “Let not your hearts be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me.” When Jesus made this statement to His disciples, He was telling them what to do, knowing that they would need to choose to do it. I want you to keep this in mind because we are going to look at some Scriptures that instruct us to “let,” but we must choose to do it. Before we go there though, I want to talk a little about the word “let.”

LET is a simple word, but it is so powerful. LET is a transitive verb. We use this word every day, but I am not sure we understand and appreciate how significant it is. As a transitive verb, “let” is relationship oriented and has two characteristics. First, it is an action verb, expressing a doable activity like kick, want, paint, write, eat, etc. Second, it must have a direct object for its actions; something or someone who receives the action. The word “let” gives cause to. It can be used to introduce a request or proposal or be used to express a warning. This morning the actions we are going to focus on are the actions that support our decision to go all in for Christ. “Let” is a simple word but it contains a lot of power! When we “let” we decide to allow something to happen. When we do not “let” we decide not to allow something to happen. Are you with me? We have a choice as to what we “let” happen in our life, and I want to spend the rest of this message allowing God’s word to tell you what some of those “lets’ are.

The first time “let” was used in the New Testament was in Matthew 5:16. It says, “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.”  We have a choice about what we show people in how we choose to live on this earth. Jesus said that we are to “let” our shine so that people will see it and give God the glory. The choice here is whether we can let it shine or not. Are you letting your light shine?

I read this one earlier, but I want to expound on it a little more. John 14:1 says, “Let not your hearts be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me.” When Jesus was explaining to His disciples about His death, their hearts were troubled. Understanding this, Jesus tells them to not let it happen. I understand grieving and dealing with heartache and sometimes it can be overwhelming. But based on God’s word, there is an element of choice involved in how we process and/or how we deal with a heavy heart. At some point we must decide, and we have the power to do it, to move forward allowing God to get us through those tough, dark days. That might include going to His word and/or talking to someone that is able to help you. Whatever shape that help takes, we must be willing to let it happen.

Paul wrote in Philippians 4:6-7, “(6) Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; (7) and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” Paul tells us not to be anxious, but to let our requests be made know to God. What is important to note is what happens when we do this? When we let our requests be made know to God, then God’s peace that surpasses all understanding will guard our hearts and minds. So, if we do not let our requests be made known to God then we are choosing to let our hearts or minds be filled with unrest. Remember, this is a choice; we can choose to let, and we can choose not to let.

Jesus told us in John 14:27, “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” Then Paul wrote in Colossians 3:15, “And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful.” Do you see the choice we have here? Jesus said He gave us peace, so we are not to let our hearts be troubled and then Paul comes back and says the same thing. Jesus spoke what He has given us and then Paul tells us to let it happen. In other words, even though peace has been made available to us, we must allow it in our lives – we must let it be! When we start letting the peace of God rule in our hearts we begin to learn how not to stress and worry over things that are out of our control as we consistently turn everything over to Jesus. This is the only way we will let God’s peace rule our hearts.

To let the peace that Jesus gave us reign in our lives, we must change the way we think. We must start thinking with the mindset of Christ. Paul wrote the following to the Philippians, “(3) Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. (4) Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others. (5)  Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, (6) who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, (7) but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. (8) And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.” (Philippians 2:3-8) Paul tells us not to let anything be done with selfish ambitions and that we should look out for the interest and wellbeing of others. Then he gives us the key to doing this, we are to let something happen. What are we letting happen? We are to let ourselves think like Christ thought as it relates to being obedient. He was obedient unto death. Let this be our mindset also. We will be obedient to fulfill all that God is leading us to do, which includes how we respond to the issues of life.

When we begin to change how we think, then we can do what is recorded in Hebrews 4:16, “Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” As I told you last week, we can be confident coming boldly to God’s throne of grace because of our relationship with Him! If you are confident in your relationship with Christ you can boldly come before the throne of God. If you are not confident in your relationship with Christ, please talk with me or another leader that you know is living right and we will help you get there.

Remember earlier when we read Matthew 5:16? Jesus said, “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” Well, I want to close with a few verses that tell us exactly how to do this. First, Romans 6:12 says, “Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts.” Paul says that sin should not rule as a king within our bodies. Why? Because that is all people will be able to see and focus on. But as with the other “lets” that we have talked about, we must choose to not “let” in this case. Strangers Rest, for a Christian, sin is a choice and our willingness not to let sin into our lives is the best for our lights to shine in this world.

Ephesians 4:26-27, 31-32 says, “(25) Therefore, putting away lying, ‘LET EACH ONE OF YOU SPEAK TRUTH WITH HIS NEIGHBOR,’ for we are members of one another. (26) BE ANGRY, AND DO NOT SIN: do not let the sun go down on your wrath, (27) nor give place to the devil. (28) Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give him who has need. (29) Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers….Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. (32) And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.” Do you know how much progress we can make as Christians by doing the six “lets” captured in these verses? We let our light shine when we choose to speak the truth to one another. When we choose to be angry and yet not cross over into sin; not letting the sun go down on our wrath? When we choose to stop stealing and work for those things we need? Do you know the impact we can have as Christians when we choose not to let any corrupt word leave our mouths, but only words that edify? Not letting bitterness and everything that accompanies it be found within us because we are choosing to be kind, tenderhearted and forgiving one another? All these choices let our light shine before men.

Peter says something remarkably like what Paul said when he wrote First Peter 3:10-12. It says, “(10) For ‘HE WHO WOULD LOVE LIFE AND SEE GOOD DAYS, LET HIM REFRAIN HIS TONGUE FROM EVIL, AND HIS LIPS FROM SPEAKING DECEIT. (11) LET HIM TURN AWAY FROM EVIL AND DO GOOD; LET HIM SEEK PEACE AND PURSUE IT. (12) FOR THE EYES OF THE LORD ARE ON THE RIGHTEOUS, AND HIS EARS ARE OPEN TO THEIR PRAYERS; BUT THE FACE OF THE LORD IS AGAINST THOSE WHO DO EVIL.’” Again, we must make the choice to control what we say and how we say it; turning away from evil to do good; and seeking peace. These are lifestyle choices that lead to righteousness.

Then John tells us in First John 4:7, “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.” Love is a choice, and it is of God. We must choose to love the way God loves us! Biblically, love is not an emotion. It is a decision. For God, love is saying what needs to be said and doing what needs to be done even when people do not want to hear it. For God, love means saying what needs to be said and doing what needs to be done to keep a person from missing Heaven.

Finally, Hebrews 10:22-25 which tells us, “(22) Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. (23) Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. (24) And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, (25) not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.” Let us draw near in full assurance of faith; let us hold fast the confession of our hope without doubting. God cannot hold our confession of hope for us – it is something we must do! We are the ones who must choose to stir up one another’s love and good works. We can do this and in doing so, “….let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.” (Galatians 6:9) 

Strangers Rest, as I close I want to remind you of the words Joshua said to the Children of Israel while on his death bed. When Joshua was giving his farewell address, he remembered everything that the Children of Israel had done since they left Egypt. He knew of their potential to turn from the Lord after their own wicked ways. As he prepared to make his last transition, he said to the people “And if it seems evil to you to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.” (Joshua 24:15) Joshua asked the people to make a choice as to who they would serve – it was up to them. But even on his deathbed, he proclaimed that he and his house would continue to serve the Lord. How could he make such a statement on his deathbed? Joshua had faith that his family would not turn from following God even after his death. He was so certain that he made the proclamation while on his death bed. What is your proclamation? What “lets” are you going to allow in your life?

“He who has ears to hear, let him hear!” (Matthew 13:9) May God bless and keep you.

Until next time, “The Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord lift up His countenance on you and give you peace.”  (Numbers 6:24-26)