Do you ever find yourself having a stuck-in-the-mud feeling when it comes to your faith? I know that I do. Upon reflecting on those times, for me those feelings tend to occur when I am trying to get “out of this world”.

By that I mean that there are times when I just wish Jesus would come and take me out of this painful, war-torn, broken world that we live in. But–and this is why daily quiet time with the Lord is so important for me–He cuts through my whining and reminds me that I have work to do for Him in this world. Yes, it is a painful, war-torn, and broken world but it is also full of the people who Jesus gave His life to save.

In the last chapter of the book bearing his name, Joshua tells his people to, “Choose this day whom you will serve”. Joshua makes it very clear what his choice is, “But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”

Joshua’s answer speaks to me because it shows me that I need to make that decision and then get moving! I don’t need to re-think that decision once it was made, but I do need to manage the decision that was made once and for all.

“We will serve the Lord.” That is an action statement! So many times I think that I need to protect myself from this world because of all the evil there is. That is such a passive, wishy-washy faith! I need to change my mindset in this regard away from “protection” and towards “training”. I need to train myself to be holy like He is holy! Training myself and my family and all those I have a chance to influence is what God wants from me.

The challenge this week is to change your mindset from one that says only, “Protect me, God,” to one that says, “Train me, God to help take your Kingdom to this world!” This world wants us to hunker down and be defeated, but let’s rise up and live the life that God has called us to!

More to come…
Jeremy