What is a quality decision? It is the act of making a determined choice from which there is no turning back. There is room for men and women who resolve to stay a fixed course no matter what others do. Hear the Apostle Paul, “I serve God with my spirit in the gospel of his Son” (Rom. 1:9). These are choices a Jesus child makes that rips the flesh off  compromise. There irrevocable. “I will serve God.” The period at the end of that sentence serves notice. Yes, you live and move in the age of Grace. But you refuse to let down  just because forgiveness is available. Praise Him for His mercy. Thank God for the Blood that washes me when I miss it. But do I dare say it? You have so set your heart toward the Father you don’t need the Blood. You are immovable like granite. No folding, no caving in. Your heart is perfect, Your heat extreme. All of this is possible, you know. Here are three decisions of quality that will set your life on fire.

 Matt. 26:30–35 (NKJV)
30 And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. 31 Then Jesus said to them, “All of you will be made to stumble because of Me this night, for it is written:‘I will strike the Shepherd, And the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’ 32 But after I have been raised, I will go before you to Galilee.” 33 Peter answered and said to Him, “Even if all are made to stumble because of You, I will never be made to stumble.” 34 Jesus said to him, “Assuredly, I say to you that this night, before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.” 35 Peter said to Him, “Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You!” And so said all the disciples.

Decide to Be A Person of Integrity

• The first thing you have to decide is to keep your decisions.
• Honor the words of your mouth.
• What is this but character.
• You want to have character not be one.

A good character is the best tombstone. Those who loved you, and were helped by you, will remember you when forget-me-nots are withered. Carve your name on hearts, and not on marble. – Spurgeon

Proverbs 11:3 (ESV)
3 The integrity of the upright guides them, but the crookedness of the treacherous destroys them.

• Integrity allows you to be led. Isn’t that what you want, when your making decisions – to be led?
• Read about Abimelech’s integrity in the matter of Abraham’s wife.

Gen 20:1–6 (NKJV) 1 And Abraham journeyed from there to the South, and dwelt between Kadesh and Shur, and stayed in Gerar. 2 Now Abraham said of Sarah his wife, “She is my sister.” And Abimelech king of Gerar sent and took Sarah. 3 But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night, and said to him, “Indeed you are a dead man because of the woman whom you have taken, for she is a man’s wife.” 4 But Abimelech had not come near her; and he said, “Lord, will You slay a righteous nation also? 5 Did he not say to me, ‘She is my sister’? And she, even she herself said, ‘He is my brother.’ In the integrity of my heart and innocence of my hands I have done this.” 6 And God said to him in a dream, “Yes, I know that you did this in the integrity of your heart. For I also withheld you from sinning against Me; therefore I did not let you touch her.

• Not bad for a person who wasn’t a worshiper of God.
• Abimelech had a lifestyle of integrity. He was healed when Abraham prayed for them.

ILLUSTRATIONS: The Dubious Wall Street Broker
A prosperous young Wall Street broker met and fell in love with a rising young actress of gentility and dignity. He frequently escorted her about town and wanted to marry her. But being a cautious man, he decided that before proposing marriage he should have a private investigating agency check her background and present activities. After all, he reminded himself, I have both a growing fortune and my reputation to protect against a marital misadventure. The young man requested that the agency was not to reveal his identity to the investigator making the report on the actress. In due time, the investigator’s report came back. It said the actress had an unblemished past, a spotless reputation, and her friends and associates were of the best repute. The report concluded, “The only shadow is that she is often seen around town in the company of a young broker of dubious business practices and principles.”

• Within the framework of integrity decide these issues.
• I will not lie.
  • A lie is the refuge of weakness. A man of courage is not afraid of the truth.
• I will not curse.
  • Profanity is the effort of a feeble mind to express itself forcefully.
• I will not speak badly about other people.
  • He who flings dirt upon another dirties himself more.
• I will not gossip.
  • Gossip is social sewage and a confession of malice.
• All of these are integrity tongue decisions
• Quality decision are tongue decisions
• Did you ever notice when you go to the doctor, he asks you to stick out your tongue.
• Diseases of the body are found by the sticking out of the tongue.
• Diseases of the soul are found the same way.
• If you want to know, what diseases a person has let them talk for a while.

The great test of a man’s character is his tongue. – Oswald Chambers

Decide to Be a Word Person

• What does it mean to be a ‘Word’ person?
• It means that the Bible is the final authority in my life.

ILLUSTRATION: Jay Leno Man on The Street Interview
There are multitudes of people who have no idea about the Bible being the Word of God – Jay Leno frequently does a “man-on-the-street” interview, and one night he collared some young people to ask them questions about the Bible. “Can you name one of the Ten Commandments?” he asked two college-age women. One replied, “Freedom of speech?” Mr. Leno said to the other, “Complete this sentence: Let he who is without sin…” Her response was, “have a good time?” Mr. Leno then turned to a young man and asked, “Who, according to the Bible, was eaten by a whale?” The confident answer was, “Pinocchio.”

Every Christian must refer always and everywhere to the Scriptures for all his choices, becoming like a child before it, seeking in it the most effective remedy against all his various weaknesses, and not daring to take a step without being illuminated by the divine rays of those words. – Pope John Paul II (1920- )

• Before you make a decision, you must ask what does the Bible have to say about this?
• Your standard is this. If it violates the Bible the discussion is over.
• If you experience something supernatural but it violates the Bible, I push the experience aside and go with the Word.
• If people have believed a thing for a long time but it violates the Bible, you push what has been believed for a long time aside and go with the Word.
• There are many things that people believe but just because you believe doesn’t mean it’s correct
• What is the Bible? It is God speaking to me.
• Until you believe that the God that sits in heaven had a book written that you and I could find our way to heaven and also help us as we were having to live life on this earth, until you actually believe that you will never accomplish much with God.
• God works primarily through this book.

The empire of Caesar is gone; the legions of Rome are smouldering in the dust; the avalanches that Napoleon hurled upon Europe have melted away; the prince of the Pharaohs is fallen; the pyramids they raised to be their tombs are sinking every day in the desert sands; Tyre is a rock for bleaching fisherman’s nets; Sidon has scarcely left a wreck behind; but the Word of God still survives. All things that threatened to extinguish it have only aided it; and it proves every day how transient is the noblest monument that men can build, how enduring is the least word that God has spoken. – Albert Baird Cummins (1850–1926)

Decide to Walk and Live In Love

• Love may not make the world go around, but it sure makes the trip worthwhile.
• You will always have difficulty growing spiritually, and not even realize why, or be blind to your lack of development, until you make the decision to walk in love.
• Spiritual development is primarily your ability to walk and live in the realm of love.
• Spiritual development is not ‘gifts of the spirit’.
• Carnal, baby Christians, can have spiritual gifts.
• What is love? One way we can find out is by looking at what it isn’t.
• It is not a feeling.
• The entire planet functions on feeling. “How do you feel?” is a common question. “I don’t feel like going to work today”
• A Christian life based on feeling is headed for a gigantic collapse. Mark this down. Our society has placed an inordinate emphasis on feeling good.
• They have made self-esteem judgments based on feeling. If I feel good, I must be good. If I feel bad, I must be bad.

ILLUSTRATION: Feelings Aside
A man once came to a preacher and said, “I was filled with joy at church yesterday. Now it is all gone—all—and I do not know what to do. It is as dark as night.” “I am so glad,” was the preacher’s reply. He looked at the servant of Christ with astonishment and said, “What do you mean?” “Yesterday God gave you joy. Today He sees you are resting on your emotion instead of Jesus. He has taken it away in order to turn you to Christ. You have lost your joy, but you have Jesus. Have you ever passed through a railway tunnel?” “Yes, often.” “Because it was dark, did you become sad and alarmed?” “Of course not.” “And did you, after a while, again come into the light?” Feelings or no feelings, it’s all right!”—A.E. Jansen

• Christians inadvertently bring this into the church. If I feel saved, I must be saved.
• Love is a decision and not a feeling.
• Agape is not a ‘feeling love’. Agape is a decision love.
• Love is not an emotion. It is a policy.
  • It’s silence when your words would hurt.
  • It’s patience when your neighbor’s curt.
  • It’s deafness when the scandal flows.
  • It’s thoughtfulness for another’s woes.
  • It’s promptness when stern duty calls.
  • It’s courage when misfortune falls.
• Read 1 Cor. 13:4–8 and you will find the best definition of love.
• When you do it, take the word ‘love’ out and substitute God in it’s place.
• You will then understand how God responds to you.
• Where you are concerned,…
  • God endures long and is patient and kind. Aren’t you glad He is!!!
  • God is not envious nor boils over with jealousy unless you give your heart to the world (James 4:5).
  • God is not boastful or vainglorious – conceited and puffed up with pride. That’s not the reason why He wants you to worship Him.
  • God is not rude and unmannerly and does not act unbecomingly. He will not butt in on your life unless you ask Him to.
  • God does not insist on His rights nor is He self seeking. He allows you your will to decide. He wants the best for you.
  • God is not touchy. He doesn’t get upset when babies cry during a church service.
  • God is not fretful. He doesn’t worry and fall of His throne when things don’t go His way.
  • God is not resentful. He doesn’t hold things against you for long periods of time. If you ask Him to forgive you, there it is. It’s done.
  • God does not take into account the evil that you have done to Him.
  • God does not rejoice at injustice and unrighteousness, but rejoices when right and truth prevail. When you make good righteous decisions, He rejoices in them with you. He is rooting for you to succeed not fail.
  • God bears up under anything and everything that comes. Which means He is in it with you for the long haul.
  • This is how God responds to you. This is, also, the best description of how you are supposed to love others.
  • Take the word ‘love’ out and substitute ‘I’ in it’s place and go through the list again. You will then understand how you are to respond to others.

CALL TO ACTION:

Three quality decisions. Three choices that will set your life on fire. Three paths that will mark the boundaries of your life. In all your adventures, integrity, God’s Word and God’s love will propel you. Let these three choices do their work. Cling to them. Hold fast and you will rise to great heights in God. God’s power goes to the lover. It goes to the believer of His Word. It goes to the honest and upright. Always has and always will.

QUESTION: What decisions have you made which propelled your spiritual walk? Would you please leave a comment on our face book page? www.facebook.com/emeryhorvath2