Truth Matters

Dr. Cheryl Davis: God's determination of success is defined by our choices. The choices that you make reveal who you are and will determine the circumstances of your life. We can have a different life here on earth if we obey the Word of God. The Word of God will allow us to avoid the pitfalls of sin, and therefore the circumstances as a result of our sin. The choices that you make are the choices that make you.

Guest (Male): At any one moment, we are moving toward God or away from him. The choice is ours. God grants us the freedom to choose. And it's our choices, not our circumstances, that shape our lives and determine who we are becoming. Our minds are a battleground. But if we use this freedom to align ourselves with God's will, we will find ourselves blessed as he guides us for his holy purpose.

Dr. Cheryl Davis: Your mind will become the battleground for the enemy to try to defeat the purpose that God has for you. And I want to tell you that as you get closer to the Lord, the battle becomes more intense. The battle is not with you, it is with the God that is in you. It is with your purpose and your destiny in God. It's not about where you are, it's about where you're going.

Guest (Male): Welcome to Truth Matters, empowering men and women in the Christian faith to teach biblical truth in the culture and the marketplace of ideas, using the Bible as a sacred trust of truth in sharing the message of Jesus. Our program host is Dr. Cheryl Davis. Dr. Davis is a wife, mom, speaker, and Bible teacher.

She is a graduate with a Doctor of Medicine degree from the University of North Carolina School of Medicine. She is married to Thad Davis, pastor of Faith Assembly in Saint Paul's, North Carolina. On today's edition of Truth Matters, Dr. Cheryl Davis shares how in the battle for our minds, we must be intentional in our pursuit of God and his holiness, especially with the choices that we make daily. Today's message is titled "Choices." Let's listen.

Dr. Cheryl Davis: Currently, our family is experiencing some significant milestones. Our second daughter entered her senior year this school year. And her senior year is a big to-do. I don't remember my senior year or even my oldest daughter's senior year being this big, but now she's doing all kinds of activities. Painting her car, painting her jeans to wear to school on the first day, we're doing senior pictures. She's making plans already for her party, and it's not even May yet. Needless to say, that has added another layer to my already busyness.

Our oldest daughter is getting close to marriage. And what's interesting is that this has happened really fast in our lives. She went from not dating anyone to "I think he's the one." Parents, it can happen really fast. Make sure you are prepared and prayed up when it does.

Our lives are being affected by choices. When you think about it, that's really what's happening. Our lives are being affected by choices and it is producing change. We find ourselves talking to our daughters about choices that they make during this time in their lives and how these are some of the most important choices that they will ever make. The person that you marry, aside from salvation in Jesus Christ, is probably one of the most important choices that you will make. To them, the pressure is overwhelming at times because they feel so young and inexperienced.

But to us, we are actually teaching from hindsight. And to them, they are looking through a glass darkly. Which that can cause some worry, that can cause some anxiety, and we are seeing that. But they're still walking blindly. Some of it, actually most of it, requires faith. All of us make choices, however. Some sources suggest that you make 35,000 choices per day. Assuming that most people spend around seven hours per day sleeping, and thus do not make choices in their sleep, that makes roughly 2,000 decisions per hour, or one decision every two seconds. I know you are thinking, no wonder I am tired all the time.

Many of you today are living in your present circumstances because of a number of choices that you have made, or that you continue to make. Sometimes we make the right choice. Sometimes we make the wrong choice. Either way, God's grace is sufficient for whatever choice that you do make or whatever circumstance you find yourself in. And we're trying to teach our children that. It's not like when you make the wrong choice that God drops you off and his grace is not there. We find that throughout the Bible just like Sarah.

Sarah gives her handmaid to Abraham, but it doesn't nullify the promise that God still gave her in Isaac. God's grace is sufficient for whatever situation that you're in and what circumstance you find yourself in. It doesn't mean that you're not going to suffer the consequences of that wrong choice, but it doesn't mean that God is going to desert you in that wrong choice either. Allow me to encourage you at this point. Even if we make the wrong choice, God's love does not abandon us. And we see that all throughout history and all throughout the Bible. His Word says that he will never leave us nor forsake us. And that gives us cause to live.

J.K. Rowling once said, "It is our choices that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities." I'm going to say that one more time. It is our choices that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities. The reason behind this statement is that our choices reflect our actions, and our actions reflect what we believe. Whenever we make a choice, therefore, we commit an action, and we commit an action, those reflect what we believe. The world believes the opposite. The world believes that we are divorced from our actions.

The world believes that we can say we believe one thing, but do another. The world believes that we are divorced from responsibility of our actions. As long as I believe what's right, I can live like a sinner. And as long as I believe what's right, I still go to heaven. But the fact that you are living as a sinner reflects that you believe that you can live any way you want and that you're disregarding the truth and the Word of God. Therefore, that is why you're living like a sinner, because it's a heart problem.

The world believes you can have a heart problem all day long and it be okay, that God's grace is going to cover that. But God's grace does not endure forever. Yes, his mercy can save any sin. There is no depth that his grace cannot go. But a repetitive rejection of the truth in the way that we're living, there remains no more sacrifice for that. And the Bible talks about that. It's a blatant disregard of the truth to where a consciousness is seared with a hot iron.

Getting back to our abilities. Up to this point, if you have been educated in a public education system, you have been assessed mainly upon your abilities. Your performance on assignments is an indirect measure of your abilities. Education is designed, quite frankly, to measure your abilities and to nurture and to develop those abilities. That's why we spend 13 years in a public school system to get a high school education. You have been taught that your abilities determine your aptitude.

This system is very much conditioned that if you score well on this test, you've mastered this subject and you're able to advance to the next one. But if you do not score well, you may not pass or you may have to remediate. That is the assessment system of our abilities in present-day education. What I'm trying to say is that the world's definition of success is determined and defined by our abilities. The world is trying to teach you that your abilities determine how high or how far you will go.

Despite popular opinion, the world's determination of success is not the be-all end-all. The world does not have the final say in your circumstances. God's determination of success is the final word, and it is the source of truth in your circumstances. God's determination of success is the final word, and it is the source of truth in your circumstances. Our success in life is determined by our choices much more than our abilities.

It says that in the Bible. How do we know that? I'm so glad that you asked. Let's find it in the Bible. Let's turn in our Bibles to Proverbs chapter three, verses one through four. It says, "My son, forget not my law, but let thine heart keep my commandments. For length of days and long life and peace shall they add to thee. Let not mercy and truth forsake thee. Bind them around thy neck. Write them upon the tablet of thine heart. So shalt thou find favor and good understanding in the sight of God and man."

The Bible uses the words favor and good understanding as success. God's determination of success is defined by our choices. If you make the choice to keep God's commandments and not forsake the truth and mercy, then you will have long life, peace, favor, and good understanding in the sight of God and man. If you do not hear or remember anything else I say today, I want you to remember this: The choices that you make are the choices that make you.

The choices that you make reveal who you are and will determine the circumstances of your life. God intends for us to live a life in his favor and his abundance. I want to share with you three choices that you need to make in order to live a prosperous and a peaceful life. And to be quite honest, we will never live a prosperous and peaceful life outside of salvation. The world offers many distractions, many ways to fill the emptiness that is within us.

As I have said a numerous times in these messages, we are all born with a God-shaped hole. And the only thing that will fill that God-shaped hole is Jesus Christ himself. Ecclesiastes talks about how he has set eternity in the hearts of man. And because of that, we are born with a longing for ultimate truth. And that complete truth is transcendence. And that complete truth is only found in Jesus Christ. The Bible tells us that, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father but by me."

If you're looking for peace outside of Jesus Christ, you will never find it. You will wander until the end of your life and then still in hell you will realize... And I think that the Lord will bring back to your remembrance the number of times that he revealed himself to you and you did not make the right decision.

Let's get on to these three choices in order that we need to make to live a prosperous and peaceful life. Choice number one: We need to live our lives with a blessed hope. The first part of Proverbs chapter three, verse one says, "My son, do not forget my law." Do not forget the Word of God. We find in Titus 2 verses 11 through 13: "The grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men. Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world."

"Looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ." The first choice, as I've said before, is the most important choice that you will ever make in your life. John 3:16 says, "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life." Because of God's love, Jesus Christ came the first time as a suffering servant to die on the cross so that the free gift of salvation is made possible for you and for me.

That gift of salvation created a spiritual healing from the bondage of death for you and for me. It also promised a blessed hope of Christ's return for his bride, the church, and for us, an eternity with him. By not making the choice to choose Jesus Christ as your Savior, you are forfeiting all his promises and saying, "I would rather go at this life with Satan instead." By saying no to Christ, you are saying yes to Satan. There is no in-between.

You are putting your hope in Satan to deliver you. And the last time I read the Bible, Satan prowls around like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. He devours, he does not deliver. It's not the hope itself that delivers us, it is the object of our hope. It's not the hope that is in Jesus Christ, it is the in Jesus Christ. The blessed hope of Christ, Jesus, is who gives us eternal life. The hope of Satan is eternal condemnation where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Show me a man without hope and I will show you a man most miserable. Most people are living without the blessed hope today and are headed down a path of complete destruction. The Word of God teaches us how to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts, while our flesh craves ungodliness and worldly lusts. We can have a different life here on earth if we obey the Word of God. The Word of God will allow us to avoid the pitfalls of sin, and therefore the circumstances as a result of our sin.

The choices that you make are the choices that make you. What choice have you made concerning Jesus Christ, and what does that reveal about you? Remember, our actions reflect what we believe. And our actions are directly related to our choices.

Let's move on to choice number two. Choice number two, we need to choose to live a life with a sanctified mind. We need to choose to live a life with a sanctified mind. As you can see, choice one is foundational to the other two choices. By putting your faith in God, you then become the elect of God. God is sovereign. He has a will and a plan for each and every one of us. He told Jeremiah in chapter one verse five, "Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you. Before you were born, I sanctified you and I ordained you as a prophet to the nations."

God has a plan for each and every one of us. Jeremiah chapter 29 verse 11 says, "For I know the plans that I have towards you, plans to prosper you, not to harm you, and plans to give you a hope and a future." You know, but we have our plans. Proverbs 19 verse 21 says many are the plans in a person's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails. Your mind will become the battleground for the enemy to try to defeat the purpose that God has for you. And I want to tell you that as you get closer to the Lord, the battle becomes more intense.

I don't know about you, but my mind can get out there at times and I have to sanctify it daily. I have to renew it daily. I have to wash it with the water of the Word, sometimes more than once in a day. Because our mind, you know, the enemy can just come and whisper things and in our mind, thoughts just pop up beyond our control. And really, there are times that thoughts pop up in my mind that I think, oh my gosh, I didn't know that was there. Remember I said before that we can deceive ourselves to what is in our own heart.

And the battleground of our mind is where the enemy loves to wreak havoc. By having an open mind, you're open to the possibilities of God and the guidance of the Holy Spirit. By having a sanctified mind, you are continuously washing your mind with the water of the Word of God to defeat the enemy's attacks. Our destiny in God is weaved into his purpose for us. But the devil will come in to create a struggle. Sometimes that struggle may seem unbearable.

But in the wise words of Dr. Juanita Clark, who was the pastor's wife of our church before me, she said, "You can't control the bird flying around your head, but you can prevent it from building a nest." We cannot control the thoughts that pop into our mind, but we can prevent them from taking root. The purpose of God and our obedience to that purpose is of far greater importance than our struggle. And let me tell you, the mind is going to be a struggle. People would be lying with you if the average Christian told you that their mind was not a struggle.

It is a struggle. It's a daily struggle. But the purpose of God and our obedience to that purpose is far greater importance than our struggle, even if we think that our struggle is unacceptable. Second Corinthians chapter four verse 17 tells us, "For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory." As I said before, let not mercy and truth forsake you. Bind them around your neck. Write them on the tablet of your heart.

Sanctify your mind with the Word of God in order to win the battle. You may not be in the battle now, but those people that do great things in God fight great battles. We've seen that all throughout scripture. The people that do great things in God or God works greatly through them and uses them mightily, they fight great battles. The battle is not with you, it is with the God that is in you. It is with your purpose and your destiny in God. It's not about where you are, it's about where you're going.

Be prepared with a sanctified mind. Win the battle of the mind. If you do not, then your mind will become a stronghold for the enemy. Those that are in strongholds with the enemy will not advance. And I see many women in churches that I travel to that as a man thinketh in his heart, so is he. And if they think they're not worthy, then they're not worthy. And when they allow the enemy to sow seeds of doubt in their mind, they sit on the seat of do-nothing in their churches and they're not advancing in the kingdom of God.

If we do not sanctify our mind, the mind will become the Achilles heel to our advancement in the kingdom. If Satan can capture our mind, therefore he can affect our choices. Remember, our choices determine our destiny far greater than our abilities do. Sanctify your mind with the Word of God. Sanctify your mind with the Word of God. And you have to be intentional in this. It's not like sanctification is something that just sticks to you. No.

Sanctification has to be a diligent searching out the scriptures, a disciplined reading of the scriptures every day. Because if you're not filling the vacuum of your mind with the scripture, the enemy's filling the vacuum of your mind with his lies.

Choose to live your life not to chase success, but to chase significance. Choose to live your life not to chase success, but to chase significance. I've lived this out over the last three years of my life. We've been taught all of our lives to chase success. Set goals and achieve them, and the cycle continues and the hamster remains on the wheel. There are many things that you can look back on your life and call them success, I'm sure.

In society's terms, success is about results and achievement. However significance, though, is about impact. There are a lot of successes that don't have much impact. Success can be temporal, short-lived, where significance is usually longer-lasting, even beyond our time here on this earth. Success can be measured, but oftentimes significance is immeasurable. For example, getting an education is an example of success, but changing the world with it is significance.

I challenge you to not just play it safe. Many people are successful at doing just enough and not taking any risk. Be impactful. And being impactful typically involves taking giant leaps of faith. In order to be significant, in order to be impactful, in order to create a longer-lasting legacy and effect beyond your time here on earth, it will require taking giant leaps of faith. Create a life that will continue to affect people beyond your passing.

There is an urgency for significance in the times that we are living in. Why? Because we are living in the last days. And I know that I sound like a broken record because I mention the last days almost every time I speak, but the Lord has impressed me that time is that close. We are on a tight timeline before the rapture of the church. And if we are going to advance in territory for the cause of the gospel, we are going to have to take some risk.

Many people that you encounter daily are broken, hurting, and empty. My husband and I just attended a funeral of a baby who died in utero one week from its delivery date. Many people are hurting. They're broken and they're empty. Philippians chapter two verse three tells us, "Let nothing be done with selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself."

Many times we see people serving others for the stage time. Sometimes in church you don't see people until it's time for them to go on the stage. But we labor in obscurity. We serve people in secrecy. We don't always get recognition. But the significance is in those secret things, those things that only God knows. Use your time wisely. Leave a lasting impression everywhere that you go and with every person that you meet.

Go the extra mile to meet their needs, even if it is inconvenient. Leave each place that you go with more of the love of Jesus than when you came. Give more than you receive. Use the time that you have and chase significance. Let others say that their life was changed because they knew you, and changed eternally, not just changed temporarily, but changed eternally. We should be trees full of the fruits of the Spirit. We should be trees full of love that compels others to seek Christ because they see his love in us.

Our walk with Jesus can be summed up in these two commandments: Love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, mind, and soul. Love thy neighbor as thyself. We need to possess a genuine concern for the souls of others. Jesus came as a suffering servant who ministered only three and a half years. He gave his life in the end for the sins of humanity. When the world looks at him, he was a failure. But to us who have been redeemed, he is everything.

He is the giver of life and life more abundantly. He is our rescue from bondage and the ultimate payment for our sins. He has set us free. There is nothing more significant in this life than the cause of Christ and the gospel. I'm going to say this one more time. There is nothing more significant in this life than the cause of Christ and the gospel. Christ turned this world upside down with 12 men in a short amount of time because he lived a life of significance and they followed him in obedience. Therefore they achieved significance.

Is the life that you live successful or significant? Are you using the time that you have to chase success in the rat race of life? Or are you trying to create an impact, a lasting impact? Are you trying to develop a legacy? You may never know the impact that you have, but that's okay. Significance is not about keeping score, it is about the lingering effect. Will the effects of your life outlive you? Don't spend your life chasing success, rather, chase significance.

Today is the first day of the rest of your life. You have the opportunity to make these choices each and every day from here on out. Remember what I said in the beginning: The choices that you make are the choices that make you. God's determination of success is based on three choices.

One, choose to live a life with a blessed hope. Choose to follow Christ. Second choice, choose to live a life with a sanctified mind. Be prepared for the battle with the Word of God when the enemy comes to frustrate your purpose in God and he uses your mind as the battlefield. Third choice, choose to live a life not to chase success, but to chase significance. Live a life that the impact of your life outlives you. And I pray the Lord create opportunities in your life to create a lasting impact and a legacy of his love.

Guest (Male): You've been listening to Truth Matters with Dr. Cheryl Davis, and today's message titled "Choices." In these changing times, there has been one thing that has never changed, the message in the Bible. The truth in God's Word stands stronger than ever. Read it for yourself so that you may know and discern what is true, holy, and acceptable in the eyes of God. Friend, if you're searching or confused in what to believe in this ever-changing modern culture, Dr. Davis would like to help you discover and understand what is true and genuine.

You can reach her by email at cheryldavis@projecttruthmatters.com. Cheryl is spelled C-H-E-R-Y-L Davis @ projecttruthmatters.com. You can also write to her at PO Box 159, Saint Paul's, North Carolina 28384. Or you can connect on Facebook at Truth Matters with Dr. Cheryl Davis. And lastly, if you'd like to hear more of Dr. Davis's messages, the Truth Matters with Dr. Cheryl Davis podcast is available on Spotify, Apple, iHeartRadio, Amazon Music, Google Podcast, Pandora, and Castbox.

Our website is projecttruthmatters.com. Truth Matters is made possible thanks to the prayers and financial contributions of friends like you and is a production of The Truth Project.