Reigniting Commitment: The Power of Choice in Crafting a Life of Faith and Discipline

Ever faced the daunting task of rebooting your life's commitments, whether spiritual, physical, or professional? This episode is a heartfelt rallying cry for those of us seeking to renew our dedication to what truly matters. I share from the depths of personal experiences and the wisdom of Joshua 24, emphasizing the value of remembering our origins and the milestones that have shaped us. It's more than a message; it's an invitation to rekindle the flames of faithfulness and discipline in every aspect of our lives.

During our conversation, we unpack the significance of choice in our daily walk, taking cues from the scriptural call to 'choose whom you will serve.' The discussion goes beyond the abstract and offers practical insights into mastering our most precious commodity – time. This isn't about feeling guilty for past missteps; rather, it's about embracing the opportunity to start anew with vigor and clear intent. Whether you're looking to deepen your spiritual practice or to conquer your calendar, this episode is an honest look at the small, consistent steps that pave the way to a richer, more purpose-driven existence.

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:01

Y'all, I don't know what happened, but let me just make sure you can hear me and see me there. There you go, man. I had one of those mornings where technology was just failing all over the place. That means this is supposed to be a good word. So this is going to be a quick word, because I realize I'm coming in 15 minutes after I'm supposed to, but it is what it is. So we were talking about this part of our series in renewal and I'm looking at my other screen where my notes are, and this today we're going to talk about renewing our commitment. So this is also for me, and again, I can't see chats or comments. Good morning y? Y'all. I'm sorry y'all, my bad y'all that the word was going to come out of and it still is coming out of Joshua 24. And I'm going to encourage you to go back the scripture of Joshua 24, again, I have it on my other screen, so just bear with me. In verse 17, it talks about the Lord, our God, who brought us and our fathers from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, and who did all these great signs. In Joshua 24, this is where he is reminding the people of Israel of all the things that God had done and they had kind of stepped away from their faithfulness and worshiping God. So we talk about renewing our commitment, faithfulness and worshiping God. So we talk about renewing our commitment.

Speaker 1: 1:28

When I think about what some of what the word is saying here again, sometimes we have to be reminded of where we came from, so that we can be recommitted in the things that we're supposed to be doing. So you know, this is a time of year where you know a lot of us. You know, maybe you started exercising and that was a part of your thing at the beginning of the year. Don't judge me. I had to recommit myself to, you know, really taking care of my physical body. Just a week ago I was like, ok, I got to get back on the treadmill and and really start burning off stress that way. Or maybe you're you're in a position now where you realize that you you've kind of separated a little bit from your worship, or you know your relationship with God and now is a good time for you to make that recommitment. I want to encourage you to do that in the same way. You know, I think you know the story in John and again I want to encourage you to go back and read the whole chapter.

Speaker 1: 2:20

I'm not a fan of just, you know, picking out certain verses. I'm not a fan of just picking out certain verses. But again, what I want you to see in Joshua 24, all the way through, verses 14 through 27, the caption in the ESV Bible says choose whom you will serve. And so, for a lot of us, we have to choose who we will serve. Amen, we've got to choose whom we will serve and there is no shame in starting over, there is no shame in being recommitted. So practices that you would. Maybe you know. Practice like you know. Maybe you used to read the word at night and you stopped doing that because you're just too tired.

Speaker 1: 2:58

You know, recommitting yourself into worship and prayer, recommitting yourself into your attitude, right, a lot of us are really trying to soar and build up our lives this year and do better this year. You know. Make more achievements this year, find more grace this year. We really want the best for ourselves and our family, and now is a good time for you to recommit. Something else we have to recommit ourselves to y'all is our time, is our time. So, time management.

Speaker 1: 3:27

So, if you know uh, you know some of my background. I do a lot of things in many different places and part of the reason that I'm blessed to do that is because I manage my time. My time is mine, so I don't give it to anyone. If I'm committed to you in this time block, then that's where you're going to find me, but when that time is over, I'm moving on because I've got to manage my time. I'm not lazy with my time. I don't just have random conversations that take up a lot of time, right. So even with that, some of you have to recommit the way that you're managing your time, your mental space, the conversations that you have.

Speaker 1: 4:09

If you start out the year saying I'm not getting into any mess, this is my year of breakthrough and blessings, and you fall into the trap of gossip on the job or it's different from where you're kind of. Sometimes we need people, colleagues, that we want to share. This is what's going on and you kind of need that community to. I call it ping pong, some ideas off of them, things like that, but not falling into the gossip, not falling into and again trusted people that you can share. This is your journey. This is what's happening.

Speaker 1: 4:43

If you're looking for advice on counsel, but don't fall back into the old ways of gossip and wasting your time. Be recommitted to the things that you have set apart for this year, for your life. Right, if this was your year that you were going to make a breakthrough in your finances, here we are now, in the middle of April, before we get to May. Recommit, if tithing, you know. If you're not tithing, tithe. If you're not investing, invest, right, this is where you start to recommit what you're doing with your finances. Our kids are going to come out of school soon, y'all. Summer is, summer break is around the corner. So, again, for those of you parents who, you know, start out the year saying I want to be a better parent, right, this is where you start again, recommitting your time to that. What is your summer going to look like? It's not, it's really not, about filling up their calendars, y'all, so they can be busy. So you can be busy, right, it's, you know, being intentional with your time and then committing your time according to that.

Speaker 1: 5:45

I love the verse in Joshua Again, I keep looking at my screen for those of y'all who are going to be listening to me and it talks about the covenant that was made with the people that day and they put statues in place. So they put some things in place in order for them to really be obedient to the statues that God has. So for me, hi Facebook user, and I can't see who's on here y'all. I'm sorry, but for me, when I am committed to the assignment that God has for me, when I'm committed to the call on my life, there's some things that I've got to put in place to do that. Some of that is boundaries, some of that is boundaries right. So if you're watching us on the YouTube streets or the LinkedIn streets, or even Parade Deck Live TV, you might not know that there's a whole ministry behind me called Come Out of the Wilderness Ministry. I have to establish boundaries so that our again we can meet our commitments, not just to the folks who are joining us to come alongside and pray us, but I have to establish boundaries because I have to be obedient to what God called this ministry to be. So we're not a platform where all we do is just share and like we're a group that prays together, and I have to to recommit not just myself but the entire ministry back to that, because that was the statute that God put in place, right? So that's the one I'm talking about.

Speaker 1: 7:16

Recommitting it means, you know, being very intentional about the tools and the instruments that God has given you to use. You're recommitting that If he gave you, if he gave you got an idea at the beginning of the year for the book you're going to write or the business you're going to start, you know, maybe you run up against the wall and you know things are a little bit trickier than you thought. You know. You know, maybe you were going to start a nonprofit or you were trying out for the promotion. Whatever it is, be recommitted to your assignment, assignment. This is why y'all, this is why y'all, this is why y'all.

Speaker 1: 7:52

When we started the year for our group, I asked the ladies hold off on doing those vision boards Because we get really sugar-watered excited. Oh, this year is going to be, et cetera. Right. This is why I wanted us to make sure that, whatever we are saying our vision for our life is, it's aligned with what God is telling us where we ought to go, because you lose steam when you're doing it in your vision, your power, your ideas. And if he's not in the mix, right. If he's not in the mix. If he's not in the mix, y'all. It might be successful for a moment, but not have longevity, right?

Speaker 1: 8:32

So here is where you're going to recommit yourself, father. I thank you for every statute, every promise, every covenant that you made for the people under the sound of my voice. We're going to recommit ourselves. We're going to recommit the time that we spend with you. We're going to recommit our relationships back to you. We're going to recommit to you to use our gifts, to use our talents to help other people. We're going to recommit our walk, our daily walk. We're going to choose to serve you this day. So we're going to even recommit our relationship with you, lord, choose to serve you this day, so we're going to even recommit our relationship with you, lord. We're going to recommit our time, right. We're going to recommit all of that. We're going to give that back to the Lord, right? We're going to do that today and again, lord, we just thank you for. We thank you, lord. What the devil had planned didn't work out. I thank you for blessing us so that the message still goes out.

Speaker 1: 9:22

There are people who needed to be encouraged this morning that it is okay to start over. It is okay to start over. It is okay to start over. You are no less than for starting over. Some of y'all, under the sound of my voice, are having to start over in your careers because you've lost your job. It is okay to start over.

Speaker 1: 9:44

I don't know who needs to hear that this morning. There's a reason why the devil tried to shut this thing down and I'm telling you right now, for those of y'all who are under right now right, you are under. You are trying to figure out how do you start over because of loss. It is okay. You just have to recommit yourself back to that. Don't lose hope. It is okay. You just have to recommit yourself back to that. Don't lose hope. It is okay to start over. You just need to recommit your time, renew your mind. You have to recommit. It's okay to do that. God's going to bless you. May the spirit of blessing, may the angels of blessings, may the angels deliver and be dispatched and deliver those blessings to those of you who are feeling low this morning because you've got to start over. And I'm telling you, all you got to do is recommit yourself right and follow this thing through. As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.

Speaker 1: 10:39

That comes from the word. That's something that I had to recommit myself. Right, I got to recommit myself. Maybe today, you know, you take a pause and you just say wait on, let me just see, let me evaluate. What are the things in my life that I need to recommit? To what did I walk away from right? And I got to recommit. I got to recommit my mind so that the things that I'm thinking on you know the way that I'm speaking about myself. I want to recommit my words so that what I say is what the word says about me and not what the world says about me.

Speaker 1: 11:15

I had to recommit my mind yesterday. You know, just say, lord, I'm recommitting my mind so that the things that I think of are what you say about me in the word. I had to recommit and there's no shame in that Zero Zip Zilch. So I bless y'all, I thank y'all For those of y'all who are faithful. Thank you so much, tracy, the most faithful servant of God I know. Oh, my God, thank you, bless you, tracy, thank you. And I bless you, tracy, for coming alongside me. She's been here, lord, for most Thursdays.

Speaker 1: 11:58

Faithfulness, faithfulness that God sees, faithfulness, faithfulness. I thank you, lord, for this message of commitment that we all need, that it's okay for us to renew our commitment to you, lord, so that we get the best for our lives, the best for our families, the best for every single thing that we touch. Lord, god, that we recommit our time, our minds, lord God, the way that we speak about ourselves. We recommit our relationship with you, lord, so that we are hearing from you directly and you are leading our path. I thank you that there is no shame, lord God, there is no shame assigned to anybody who has to start over this morning and recommit their lives back to you. I thank you, lord, for every person who needed that encouragement this morning that, though you might have fallen off from the Lord a little bit, right, come on, it's okay. It's okay, it's okay, come on back. We're full. Amen, father, we thank you, we bless every person under the sound of my voice In this day the Lord has made and we recommit, we recommit to you, amen, y'all.

Speaker 1: 13:06

I'll be back next Thursday. We're going to figure out what's going on with the system, but listen, I'm obedient to God. His word will go forward. So I bless y'all. Thank you, tracy, thank you anyone who's watching, listening. Thank you for those who listen to us on the audio streams at the end of the week. Thank you for everybody for bearing with me this morning through the technical stuff, but you know I'm going to be here. Amen. All right, I love you, but Jesus loves you more. I'll see y'all later. Bye.