Have I not said in My word that it is the little foxes that spoil the vines, that it is the fly that makes the apothecary ointment to stink.
There are so many small and subtle things that come to spoil your lives, to blind you, to deafen you, to rob you of the fullest measure of My blessing. And so it was with My servant King Jehosaphat. I have spoken to you before about choices, choices that are not My choices. I have spoken to you about how you can choose and it will not be of Me though I will let you have what you choose. Jehosaphat chose to align himself, through marriage, with Ahab. He chose to try to make himself stronger and to secure his kingdom in this way, and it led him eventually to judge things from a human and fleshly point of view, but it was not of Me. It finally led him into alliance with a very ungodly man and into compromises which brought disaster, for as you know when he got in very deeply and the word of the Lord came, he did not take heed to it but withdrew and kept on in a course which brought defeat and shame. Think of how much good is spoken of this man, and you know in other places it is recorded that he experienced great victory by taking heed to My word.
But in this case you see that he set a course for himself where he did not take heed to My word but went according to his own judgment. He sought his own instead of Mine because it seemed good to him. I give you a warning in this, for there shall be the temptation to make alliances that seem to be beneficial, that seem to strengthen and advance what I have given, but they are not of Me. You see how subtle the blindness is that creeps in, for after Jehosaphat had made the alliance and was long ways down the road to compromise, he thought to inquire of the word of the Lord. But since his heart was compromised and his will had been set in a certain direction, the word of the Lord did not really change his direction. Though I protected him and he was spared the full judgment visited upon Ahab, yet there was great loss and shame. So I reinforce for you the lesson that I have already unfolded. Be careful of your choices and inquire of Me diligently. Be careful of your alliances and your relationships and your commitments that they do not lead you in any way to deviate from My purposes for you and for My glory. I am ready to show you what I want for you. It is very easy when you prosper and are blessed to slip into thinking that you can decide apart from My direction, but I show you here where this leads. Be careful that you do not marry into Ahab’s family so that you will not be carried away with compromise in his ways.
Tags: Choice, God Counsel, Warning
Through this passage of My word I want to speak to you about choices. My son Hezekiah made many right choices, and through those choices My glory was reflected. But he came to a place where he had a choice between My choice and his choice, and because My choice involved the leaving of his life on the earth he stood against it. It was not that he was defiant nor was he exceedingly willful. The full revelation of My kingdom and its glory had not come. What lay beyond this life was not as clear to him as it is to you. Nevertheless he had My word, but it was a word he found difficult to receive, so he didn’t yield to that word but he petitioned me to change My choice to his choice, and I did so. But you can see that when the emissaries came from Babylon, he boasted before them by showing them his riches. I want you to see how easy it is for your heart to go astray.
I want you to see that when you stand against My choice with your choice you may get what you want but you may not fulfill My word by doing this, for your heart is likely to be led astray. Hezekiah did not boast in Me but in his riches. He gloried in earthly things. He did not declare to those men My great deliverance, my power and my glory, and so he fed their fleshly desires rather than witness to My kingdom. I want you to see that his loss was great, even though he thought when the word of judgment came that it would not happen in his day, that he would be spared to see all these things. He did not realize that this judgment was really upon him and not just those who would follow him. If he had been truly jealous for My kingdom rather than for his own well-being, he would have grieved to know that such a day of judgment was coming. He left his son whose heart was far from Me because his own heart had strayed. I want you to see in this that you can make choices that I will honor, but they will not be My choices. And if you cling to your choices rather than to Mine, your hearts, like Hezekiah’s can be led astray. You too will become boasters of My blessing rather than of My kingdom and glory. It was not so with My Son who is the true King, for He delighted in My choices even though they did not spare Him much suffering. As it is written of Him, “The zeal for Thy house has consumed me”, and I have sent My Holy Spirit into your heart so you can discern and embrace those choices that are truly Mine for you rather than having your choices guide your petitions before Me. As I have shown you the fruit of such things to warn you, I will also show you the fruit of what I am commending. I will declare it unto you so that you may be encouraged and strengthened and not led astray.
Tags: Choice, Heart Guard
I am not talking to you about a once and for all decision. I am talking to you here about what is to be practiced continually. The old self has to be laid aside, but it is still present and has to be dealt with. It is not eradicated, and its encroachments must not only be resisted but renounced.
It is like the world in which you walk, filled with sin and defilement. I have not taken you out of the world, but rather I have given you the power to be kept from its pollution and its encroachments. In like manner you have the power to deal with the old self. It is not just a negative gesture. You do not just turn to evil but you embrace the new self. The new self has within it the disposition of righteousness. It is a choice you make, a clear, conscious determination of your will. At the beginning of the battle it is difficult to be clearly aware that there is a choice.
You saw an example of this in your sister last night who is unaware of the choice of her thoughts, the nature of the battle and the weapons she has to fight. You are aware and you know as you consistently make the choice to put aside the old self and to embrace the new self, there is not only a greater alertness to the nature of the battle, but a confidence as to your victory. You know by practice that only the life of My Son can overcome the defilements of the flesh and of the world. Only the life of My Son can resist the encroachments of the evil one. I want you to grow strong in the practice of making this choice, to lay aside the old self with its deceitful lusts, and put on the new self by which you are continually renewed by right and true knowledge. I want you to teach these little babes from this word I have given you, and the best reinforcement of this lesson will come as you live what you teach. I am committed to you because I wish to display this new life in a clear manner, so those who have eyes to see and ears to hear will be able to grasp it. By grasp I do not just mean understanding but the appropriation of that practice. You see it is very important that you commit yourself to living this way, not only for your own sake but for the sake of others, especially the little ones. The more you walk in this the stronger and deeper will be your understanding of what it means to have My Son as your life.
Tags: Choice, Living Example, Old Self