"Could Have Been" Should Never Be

Introduction

Joshua 24:1–15 KJV 1900

1 And Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem, and called for the elders of Israel, and for their heads, and for their judges, and for their officers; and they presented themselves before God. 2 And Joshua said unto all the people, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Your fathers dwelt on the other side of the flood in old time, even Terah, the father of Abraham, and the father of Nachor: and they served other gods. 3 And I took your father Abraham from the other side of the flood, and led him throughout all the land of Canaan, and multiplied his seed, and gave him Isaac. 4 And I gave unto Isaac Jacob and Esau: and I gave unto Esau mount Seir, to possess it; but Jacob and his children went down into Egypt. 5 I sent Moses also and Aaron, and I plagued Egypt, according to that which I did among them: and afterward I brought you out. 6 And I brought your fathers out of Egypt: and ye came unto the sea; and the Egyptians pursued after your fathers with chariots and horsemen unto the Red sea. 7 And when they cried unto the Lord, he put darkness between you and the Egyptians, and brought the sea upon them, and covered them; and your eyes have seen what I have done in Egypt: and ye dwelt in the wilderness a long season. 8 And I brought you into the land of the Amorites, which dwelt on the other side Jordan; and they fought with you: and I gave them into your hand, that ye might possess their land; and I destroyed them from before you. 9 Then Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, arose and warred against Israel, and sent and called Balaam the son of Beor to curse you: 10 But I would not hearken unto Balaam; therefore he blessed you still: so I delivered you out of his hand. 11 And ye went over Jordan, and came unto Jericho: and the men of Jericho fought against you, the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Girgashites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites; and I delivered them into your hand. 12 And I sent the hornet before you, which drave them out from before you, even the two kings of the Amorites; but not with thy sword, nor with thy bow. 13 And I have given you a land for which ye did not labour, and cities which ye built not, and ye dwell in them; of the vineyards and oliveyards which ye planted not do ye eat. 14 Now therefore fear the Lord, and serve him in sincerity and in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt; and serve ye the Lord. 15 And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.

Body

Jerry is the manager of a restaurant. He is always in a good mood.

When someone would ask him how he was doing, he would always reply:

'If I were any better, I would be twins!' Many of the waiters at his restaurant quit their jobs when he changed jobs, so

they could follow him around from restaurant to restaurant.

Why？

Because Jerry was a natural motivator.

If an employee was having a bad day, Jerry was always there, telling him how to look on the

positive side of the situation. Seeing this style really made me curious, so one day I went up to Jerry and asked him：

'I don't get it! No one can be a positive person all of the time. How do you do it?'

Jerry replied, 'Each morning I wake up and say to myself, I have two choices today. I can choose to be in a good mood or I can choose to be in a bad mood.

I always choose to be in a good mood. Each time

something bad happens, I can choose to be victim or I can choose to learn from it. I always choose to learn from it.

Every time someone comes to me complaining, I can choose to accept their

complaining or I can point out the positive side of life. I always choose

the positive side of life.'

'But it's not always that easy,' I protested.

'Yes it is,' Jerry said.

'Life is all about choices. When you cut away

all the junk every situation is a choice.

You choose how you react to situations.

You choose how people will affect your mood.

You choose to be in a good mood or bad mood.

It's your choice how you live your life.'

Several years later, I heard that Jerry accidentally did something you are never supposed to do in the restaurant business. He left the back door of his restaurant open And then

in the morning, he was robbed by three armed men. While Jerry trying to open the safe box, his hand, shaking from nervousness, slipped off the combination. The robbers panicked and shot him.

Luckily, Jerry was found quickly and rushed to the hospital.

After 18 hours of surgery and weeks of intensive care, Jerry was released from the hospital with fragments of the bullets still in his body....

I saw Jerry about six months after the accident.

When I asked him how he was, he replied,

'If I were any better, I'd be twins. Want to see my scars?' I declined to see his wounds, but did ask him what had

gone through his mind as the robbery took place.

'The first thing that went through my mind was that I should have locked the back door,' Jerry replied.

'Then, after they shot me, as I lay on the floor, I remembered that I had

two choices: I could choose to live or could choose to die. I chose to live.'

'Weren't you scared' I asked?

Jerry continued, 'The paramedics were great. They kept telling me I was going to be fine.

But when they wheeled me into the Emergency Room and I

saw the expression on the faces of the doctors and nurses, I got really

scared. In their eyes, I read 'He's a dead man. I knew I needed to take action.'

'What did you do?' I asked.

'Well, there was a big nurse shouting questions at me,' said Jerry.

'She asked if I was allergic to anything.' 'Yes,' to bullets, I replied.

Over their laughter, I told them: 'I am choosing to live. Please operate on me

as if I am alive, not dead.'

'Jerry lived thanks to the skill of his doctors, but also because of his amazing attitude.

I learned from him that every day you have the choice to either enjoy your life or to hate it.

The only thing that is truly yours - that no one can control or take from you - is your attitude,

so if you can take care of that, everything else in life becomes much easier.

Now you have a choice to make:

1. You can ignore this story, or

2. You can learn and apply the lessons from this story.

Every choice carries with it the responsibility of consequence

Every choice carries with it the responsibility of managing your decision

Listen to these statements:

“That guy makes me so angry!”

“She’s so successful. Must be nice...”

“If I were 20, 30, 40 years younger, I’d ...”

Stories about deathbed regrets

Skit about Jesus passing out Coke bottles

Skit - Trustfall

When Jesus puts us on the mountaintop, we KNOW He loves us

Easy to worship and praise

Easy to get excited about God

When Jesus puts us in the valley, we get confused, and fearful, and doubtful

Difficult to worship God

Hard to keep trusting Him and moving forward on the path He’s laid out for us to follow

Scripture text

God demonstrates to His people why they can trust in Him

God shows the people why its in their best interest to follow Him vs. any other

But God is asking us to make a choice, and then manage that choice every day

Crossing the Rubicon

I found this summary of the account on www.rubiconice.com:

On or about January 10th in the year 49 BCE, in the northern Italian peninsula, on the banks of the Rubicon River that represented the legal border in the Republic of Rome from its territories, stood a man, a general, named Gaius Julius Caesar. This river was a significant symbol but not a great obstacle, it was easily crossed except for the consequence of the action. Roman law forbid any commander to enter Rome with an army, punishable by death.

Caesar's popularity with the general public made the Senate resent and fear him. He was in dire conflict with the Senate of Rome and was facing a fight for his life.

IF Caesar crossed the river with his army, he would be declared an enemy of the Roman Republic.

IF he went home to Rome alone, he would face exile or possible execution for becoming a thorn in the side of the Senate.

In the previous decade or so Julius Caesar had become the most famous and most popular public figure in Roman society. He was also one of Rome’s most powerful politicians and arguably its greatest general historically. In short, Caesar's popularity with the people of Rome was a problem for the Senators who governed Rome.

So, while Caesar and the Senate approached a standoff, he positioned his armies just outside the legal border of Rome in it's outer territories.

Julius Caesar had a choice to make…

On the banks of the Rubicon river, Caesar debated a course of action that would affect him in every way imaginable.

This was not just a personal decision, it was multi-dimensional.

There would also be ramifications for his soldiers and commanders.

He would be gambling with the lives and stability of soldiers and citizens.

He could be sending the Republic into civil war.

This was not a decision to be made callously.

While we will never know to what degree Caesar knew this decision would change the course of history, we do know he understood the gravity of it.

From our standpoint, this moment in history where a man stood on the banks of a shallow river and wrestled with his convictions has proved to be one of the most famous and significant moments in world history.

How the moment played out is still a historical debate but at some point, some say by accident, a trumpeter sounded the orders to march. The great 13th Legion began crossing the Rubicon River. Caesar on the bank, was reported to have remarked “the die has been cast.”

Synonymous with taking bold and definitive action

Pushing boundaries

Realizing your potential

Moving beyond your comfort zone

Demonstrating bold initiative

But these “Crossing the Rubicon” moments only come after a decision is made

Talk about recent events with me

Enemy trying to pressure me into making a choice I didn’t want to make

Felt sick to my stomach

Confused, not sure which bad choice would be the best

In reality, it was God trying to get me to make a choice

The specifics are between me and God, but you will see me getting more firm in some areas and let others go altogether

Ezekiel 47:1–5 KJV 1900

1 Afterward he brought me again unto the door of the house; and, behold, waters issued out from under the threshold of the house eastward: for the forefront of the house stood toward the east, and the waters came down from under from the right side of the house, at the south side of the altar. 2 Then brought he me out of the way of the gate northward, and led me about the way without unto the utter gate by the way that looketh eastward; and, behold, there ran out waters on the right side. 3 And when the man that had the line in his hand went forth eastward, he measured a thousand cubits, and he brought me through the waters; the waters were to the ancles. 4 Again he measured a thousand, and brought me through the waters; the waters were to the knees. Again he measured a thousand, and brought me through; the waters were to the loins. 5 Afterward he measured a thousand; and it was a river that I could not pass over: for the waters were risen, waters to swim in, a river that could not be passed over.

In the Old Testament the meeting place between God and man covenantally speaking was the temple

In this passage of scripture the word “house” refers to the Jerusalem temple

Today, we are the temple of the Holy Ghost

Substitute “House” in these verses for “Church” today

Even closer to home, substitute “house” for “you”

If the enemy can’t get you to walk away from God, he’ll get you to compromise, to get comfortable with where you’re at, to believe you’ve come far enough, done enough.

No matter where you are in God, there’s more to see. More to be.

Young person, God can use you mightily if you’ll sell out to Him

Elder, you’re best days are still ahead of you! You’re most effectual days for the kingdom of God are still ahead!

Conclusion

The best days of the Church are right around the corner and all of us are, perhaps, only one decision away from being a part of it

Don’t let the enemy convince you it’ll be too hard, too costly, too painful, or too long a process

Don’t let the enemy convince you you have enough of God, you’re too young, you’re too old, you’re not smart enough, skilled enough, good enough!

You may be good right where you’re at, but why settle for good when God wants us to live in great?

“I’m just a saint” “I’m just a mechanic” “I’m just a high school student” “I’m just ...”

You’re “just” a child of God! You’re just a son or daughter of the Most High God