COMMIT YOUR WAY TO THE LORD
BREAD
5 Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him and he will do this: 6 He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun. Psalm 37:5-6 (NIV)
23 If the LORD delights in a man’s way, he makes his steps firm; 24 though he stumble, he will not fall, for the LORD upholds him with his hand. 25 I was young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread. 26 They are always generous and lend freely; their children will be blessed. Psalm 37:23-26 (NIV)
28 For the LORD loves the just and will not forsake his faithful ones. They will be protected forever, but the offspring of the wicked will be cut off; 29 the righteous will inherit the land and dwell in it forever. Psalm 37:28-29 (NIV)
5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; 6 in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. Proverbs 3:5-6 (NIV)
3 Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and your plans will succeed. Proverbs 16:3 (NIV)
21 Elijah went before the people and said, “How long will you waver between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him.” But the people said nothing. 1 Kings 18:21 (NIV)
15 “But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.” Joshua 24:15 (NIV)
3 And Samuel said to the whole house of Israel, “If you are returning to the LORD with all your hearts, then rid yourselves of the foreign gods and the Ashtoreths and commit yourselves to the LORD and serve him only, and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.” 4 So the Israelites put away their Baals and Ashtoreths, and served the LORD only. 1 Samuel 7:3-4 (NIV)
1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God–this is your spiritual act of worship. 2 Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is–his good, pleasing and perfect will. Romans 12:1-2 (NIV)
5 Offer right sacrifices and trust in the LORD. 6 Many are asking, “Who can show us any good?” Let the light of your face shine upon us, O LORD. 7 You have filled my heart with greater joy than when their grain and new wine abound. 8 I will lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety. Psalm 4:5-8 (NIV)
BUTTER
“If a man commit himself to God….that man ought not to be afraid of anything.” George MacDonald
“The word translated ‘commit’ in Psalm 37:5 quite literally means “to roll (in blood); be dyed red; figuratively meaning to take your ways to the foot of the cross. The blood of Jesus cleanses all our plans and our sins, purifying them. Enabling us through His power to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, pleasing Him in all things. The heart is deceitful beyond all cure. It is God alone Who can cleanse and direct us in the path which we should go – redeeming our time for His glory, for our good.” BHY
“The difference between involvement and commitment is like ham and eggs. The chicken is involved, the pig is committed.” Anonymous
“Some people are more committed to traditions than to their relationship with God.” Aaron Rabin
“The uncommitted life isn’t worth living.” Marshall Fishwick
“Christian patience is based upon the absolute, unshakeable belief that God is sovereign and that He is at work in the lives of His children. Christian patience stems from the knowledge that you will not be forgotten nor forsaken by the God to whom you have committed your soul regardless of what is happening around you.” Michael Youssef
“Our failure to readily follow His leading reflects a lack of deep confidence in His goodness. We wonder whether He is merely using us or wants to bless us. The problem with unsteady commitment is not centrally a problem of the will; it is rather a deficient belief. We simply do not believe that the God who tells us to remain committed…is good. It follows that the basic cure for weak commitment is renewed faith, not rededicated effort. Urgings to ‘love your wife and submit to your husband whether you feel like it or not’ fail to lay the axe to the root of the problem. Unless God’s goodness is clearly established as the context for obedience, such exhortations will at best keep the weeds of anger and dissension from spreading. They will not expose and rip out the hidden, flourishing root system whose flower is the ugly growth of broken promises…Obedience to God’s orders deepens our awareness of His goodness, and our awareness of His goodness provides motivation for further obedience.” Larry Crabb
“On several occasions the New Testament makes clear that cheap grace, the attempt to be justified through faith in Christ without commitment to sanctification, is illegitimate and impossible. The thrust of these passages is not really that we should add works to our faith, as if it were possible to advance one step forward into faith but to hesitate before adding a second step into holiness. Faith and repentance are not separable quantities. To have faith is to receive God’s Word as truth and rest upon it in dependent trust; to repent is to have a new mind toward God, oneself, Christ and the world, committing one’s heart to new obedience to God. Obviously these two factors are so interwoven that they are experienced as one, so that the condition of justification is not faith plus repentance, but repentant faith.” Richard Lovelace
“Some of Jesus’ strongest words were reserved for hypocrites – for people who claimed to believe in God and follow His laws, but in reality lived only for themselves. He compared them to ‘whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but inside are full of dead men’s bones and everything unclean’ (Matthew 23:27). None of us is perfect; even the most dedicated Christian falls short. When we do, we need to confess it and seek God’s help to live more consistently. But hypocrisy – living a deliberate lie – is another matter. Be on guard; don’t let hypocrisy take root in your soul. Instead, make sure of your commitment to Christ, and walk close to Him every day.” Billy Graham
“Clearly, this word (faith) immediately and fundamentally demands lordship, because it has the underlying foundation of obedience, commitment, and submission….When someone believes something, regardless of what it is, that belief changes them and results in some action or behavior that is characteristic of the belief. Every one of the characters in Hebrews 11 had faith, but that faith always, without exception, resulted in an outward action….Truly believing something, being fully persuaded of it, and trusting in it automatically demands behavior that conforms to the belief….To obey Him (Jesus) means we acknowledge His lordship and submit to His authority.” J. D. Watson
“Chosen one of God, may you find it easy to follow your King. May you find your life when you are willing to lose it for the sake of the Kingdom. May our Lord lift you up to a place higher than you could ever dream. May your choice to follow Christ echo throughout all generations that follow you, and may you receive rewards on earth and in heaven for your commitment to live for our mighty Lord. In Jesus’ name, Amen.” Sheri Rose Shepherd
“Our identity as Jesus’ followers should define and dictate our lives.” Joseph Stowell, III
“Most of us get up in the morning saying, ‘I am going to make something of my life, and I’ll follow Jesus too.’ But I just want you to know that we can’t have it both ways. We have to have the formula right. ‘Follow Me,’ Jesus said, ‘and as you follow Me, I will make something of your life.’” Joseph Stowell, III
“To be rebuffed by a loved one causes pain not to be compared with the cruelties inflicted by an enemy. So your indifference and unresponsiveness to My call brings anguish to My soul, indeed, deeper grief than the crimes of the reprobate sinner. I have laid My rod upon the sinner, but I have laid My hand upon you. And I have put My arm around you to draw you closer, but you have been impatient and irritable as though I sought to interfere with your liberty. I am able to give you greater liberty than you will ever find by seeking to be independent of Me. I seek not to interfere with your happiness, but I do require that you relinquish your will; for I cannot bless you as I desire until your will is yielded up and you accept Mine in exchange. As you love Me, you accept My will as your own, and the caliber and extent of your love for Me may be accurately measured to the degree that you accept My will with a peaceful heart. You can best sing ‘My Jesus, I Love You’ when you can truly sing ‘Where He Leads Me, I Will Follow.’ For whoever does not take up his cross daily to follow Me cannot be My disciple.” Frances J. Roberts
HEART SAVOR
• As we commit our way to the Lord, He will make our righteousness shine like the dawn – the justice of our cause like the noon day sun.
• He will make out paths straight as we acknowledge Him in all our ways.
• Where He leads me, I will follow.
“So I come to tell you He’s alive, to tell you that He wipes every tear that falls. So I come to tell you that He saves, to shout and to proclaim that He’s coming back for you.”
Beth Yoe's Sharing Bread 