“Draw me to your will even when it crosses against my comfort.” T.G. Melton

Samuel was displeased with their request and went to the Lord for guidance. “Do everything they say to you,” the Lord replied, “for they are rejecting me, not you. They don’t want me to be their king any longer. Ever since I brought them from Egypt they have continually abandoned me and followed other gods. And now they are giving you the same treatment. Do as they ask, but solemnly warn them about the way a king will reign over them.‭‭1 Samuel‬ ‭8:6-9‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Choices = Consequences

There are consequences to our choices. We want what we want and sometimes God gives it to us, not because it is a good choice for us, but because of His greater purposes in play for our good.  Sometimes our flesh thinks: I am invincible! We make the craziest choices that reflects our immaturity and our human condition. Have you ever done anything on a dare and ended up regretting it? I have, as I flew off the back of a dirt bike, knowing I just made a bad choice. Have you ever done something spontaneously because you thought it was a “bright idea” and then it turned out so very wrong! I know I have. Some of my “bright ideas” were not so bright.  To the enemy of our soul, he delights in our foolishness, it makes us an easy mark for him and his deception. We think we are so good, we can walk up to the pit of hell, put ourselves in situations of temptation, underestimating the enemy of our soul, thinking I am not going to fall in. We are on the ledge of hell, teetering back and forth, off balance, out of alignment with God,  and we really think we won’t fall in?  Are we that good or are we that prideful and foolish?  Pride goes before a fall. Listen up to this 1 Minute Encouragement video and glean the wisdom from God:

PRAY IT UP: “Responding To Your Love, I wish to surrender all that I desire to you. Take all of these things and honor yourself, so that all my lesser attractions are yielded to you. Reveal your true beauty, to my blind and ignorant heart. Take away all my wretched taste for the foul affections, that delight my fleshly tongue. Instead, make yourself more attractive, than everything else I see.” T.G. Melton Valley Of Vision Remix

Got Any “Bright Ideas”

I am thinking of times in my past where I have been “hooked” by the enemy, deceived as these sudden “bright ideas” that came my way, where I took off impulsively and foolishly after them, so independent from God, and His wisdom. How foolish was that, even ignoring the check I was getting in my spirit, the warning from God.  My pride was speaking: I can do this… and then crash and burn I did! Sometimes I look back in “heavenly hindsight” of just how protected I was from my own prideful stupidity and all I can do is laugh at myself in disbelief of some of the dumbest things I did, and also at the same time be humbled by God’s protective care over me that I did not deserve at that time.

THINK ON THIS: “Do we reject the very thing that makes us unique, God says this is a rejection of Him. God is our identity. Where do I reject what God has called me to be for His glory because I want to fit in or be respected. Where does the fear of man drive me more than the love of God?” Tara Leigh Cobble  

Use Your Common Sense

God gave us common sense for a reason, and if you have to go against that common sense, then you know….this is not a good choice. What we do, where we go matters, and sometimes, we make dangerous choices that could hurt us and other people’s lives. Consequences are real. Life is real. It is not something to fool around with. Living casually when it comes to our choices is living dangerously. We need to take our choices seriously.  We can make a choice that can affect someone the rest of their lives. Like drinking and driving, getting behind the wheel drunk, we could take someone’s life and ruin ours forever.

PRAY IT UP: "Open in me a fountain of repentant tears, a true repentance. Break my heart in affection for your glory, and bind it up in a hunger for your love. Then my heart will be more yielded, to be your dwelling place. More yielded for the Father, to make his home in me. More yielded for the Blessed Son, to heal me with his gospel song. More yielded for the Holy Spirit, to descend on me with sanctifying grace.”
 T.G. Melton Valley Of Vision Remix

Don’t Underestimate The Power Of Evil

So many choices, so many consequences and we think, “it won’t happen to me” I can handle this temptation, I won’t fall. That is pride talking and pride goes before a fall. The enemy loves when we fall, and loves to make us a stumbling block for others and their faith. Believe me, I have been there and done that, fallen hard because I thought I could do life without God’s direction, outside of His ways.  We need to stay in God’s Presence, to stay in followship of Him, being navigated by God and His wisdom. The best choice we can make is a commitment to keep it personal with God, to stay in a vital-vertical relationship with Him and be navigated by Him.  When we make a choice and hurt someone else, the consequences are real. When I was a young girl, one of my family members murdered two of my family members. Did she think that she would fall that far, when she stepped away from God and His ways, no, never in a million years? Don’t underestimate the power of evil. Bad choices compound and evil runs your life downhill fast!  That decision of that one family member destroyed our family, fractioned it, and most of us never got over it and probably never will. The consequences of that one choice on our family were horrific and very, very real for many years, but God did not leave us or forsake us, He helped us grow through with His reality of truth.

Don’t be afraid,” Samuel reassured them. “You have certainly done wrong, but make sure now that you worship the Lord with all your heart, and don’t turn your back on him. Don’t go back to worshiping worthless idols that cannot help or rescue you—they are totally useless! The Lord will not abandon his people, because that would dishonor his great name. For it has pleased the Lord to make you his very own people. 1 Samuel 12:20-22 ‬‬

Very Real Consequences

Hurt by the consequences of a bad choice, we go on, and God heals, but the pain of it stays with us as a reminder of how important our choices are. Consequences are real.  We make good choices so that we don’t end up hurting someone and not being able to fix it. Sometimes we make bad choices and there is no way out of them. Be wise, be navigated by God and make the next right choice, because the consequences of a bad choice can affect so many people and they have very real consequences.  Dig Deeper: https://thebridegroomscafe.com/you-are-warned/

This Hurts! Wounded People Hurt People!  We Hurt Jesus! We Wounded Jesus! He Loved Us Just Like We Had Not Hurt Him And He Went To The Cross For Us. Then, We Crucified Him! He Forgave Us And Saved Us As He Rose From The Dead Purchasing Our Eternal Life! The Consequence Of Our Sin Hurt Jesus, But He Overcame And Victoriously Made A Way For Us, A Way Just As If We Never Sinned! Listen Up:

Thank you for stopping into The Bridegroom’s Cafe at the “Just A Thought” table. We hope you enjoyed your spiritual meal from our guest Chef: Heart To Heart Rumble Channel. 1 Minute Encouragement Videos. Make sure to subscribe to our Rumble Channel so you don’t miss one of these amazing 1 Minute power spiritually nourishing meals. We hope your stay in The Bridegroom’s Cafe has been good and that you heard The Bridegroom’s Voice loud and clear. God bless you, KimberlyMac