Chronicles

I have been a believer for almost 5 years (8/22/02) and since then God has
been there for me on many occasions. Otherwise, I may have gone
insane, like now. Through all of our struggles with Megan, He
has put people in our lives to help us cope an be there for us and most importantly, pray for us.
He holds our hand through the valleys and we come through it for the better. A
couple of years ago, for a good amount of time, God gave me words of
encouragement to send to my friends, Sunday School class members and
others and I would like to start re-posting them here. I called them
Chronicles. Actually a friend of mine called them Cochran's
Chronicles, I just shortened it. Anyways, what would happen was during
my quiet time, God would give me a word, a single word, then speak to
me through my prayer and quiet time. I would then just start typing an
email at work. I had no idea what I was typing, I was just typing. Anywho,
here is my first post.  First word: Choice.

Choice

Looking at everyday life, everyone in this world makes choices.
Whether it be dinner, going to work, helping out a neighbor. Bad or
good, we all make choices every day. I sometimes think about the
choices I make, and have made, and wonder why I make them. Sometimes I
make some stupid decisions, other choices are very good. I make a
choice every time I open my big mouth. For me, that can be dangerous.
You know that the choices we make are examples of who we serve. Paul
said in Romans 6:16 :

16 Don't you realize that whatever you choose to obey becomes your
master? You can choose sin, which leads to death, or you can choose to
obey God and receive his approval.

We, as humans and sinners all have served many masters other than our
Lord. For me, it was money, lust, work and even myself. What makes it
even worse, is that sometimes I catch myself doing that today, even
after I have been saved. What is cool is that I know I can come before
the Lord and ask for forgiveness for my self-reliance and ask Him to
keep my eyes focused on Him. During this time of trial for my family
and I, the Lord has shown us that He alone can take care of us. This
has been difficult for me, personally, seeing as how I always think I
can do it myself. That is a bad choice. I need to know that I can lean
on Him and my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, all of the time.
I found comfort about this in Matthew 11:28-29:

28 Then Jesus said, "Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry
heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you. Let
me teach you, because I am humble and gentle, and you will find rest
for your souls."

Think about this when it comes time to make a choice and you feel like
it is too much to bear. God will take your burden and He speak to you
and put your mind at ease, so that you will make the right decision.
Remember we did not choose God, God chose us. Jesus said:

16 "You didn't choose me. I chose you. I appointed you to go and
produce fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you
whatever you ask for, using my name."

Isn't that a good word for us to adhere by. We, as Christians, are
God's chosen people. He chose us, now we must choose to continue to
follow Him. Remember, too, that the choices we make today can effect
someone's eternity.

Well, I finished my class on Tuesday evening and will be taking the
test next Tuesday morning at 10 AM. Be in prayer for me as this test
is going to be tough and long (200 questions). Pray that I will study
diligently and my mind will be focused. I also just wanted to let
everyone know that I, and my family, are tremendously grateful for
everyone's prayers and generous words of encouragement. God has really
shown Himself during this time and He has done it through all of you
as well as blessing us through His Word. I can not begin to tell you
all everything He has done for us and blessed us with over these last
3 weeks. We love you all and thank God for you. Take care and God bless.


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JR