Serve him wholeheartedly… Serve the Lord alone.

Joshua 24:14 NLT

Your heart, my heart… the heart can be a mess. Torn apart… pulled so many directions.

Yet… God says…

So fear the Lord and serve him wholeheartedly. Put away forever the idols your ancestors worshipped when they lived beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt. Serve the Lord alone... If you abandon the Lord and serve other gods, he will turn against you and destroy you, even though he has been so good to you. (Joshua 24:14, 20 NLT).

Your response might be like this… 

But the people answered Joshua, “No, we will serve the Lord!”

“You are a witness to your own decision,” Joshua said, “You have chosen to serve the Lord.” (Joshua 24:21-22 NLT).

But… have you done this?

“All right then,” Joshua said, “destroy the idols among you, and turn your hearts to the Lord, the God of Israel.” (Joshua 24:23 NLT).

Is your thought?  “I don’t have any idols… I don’t have any little handmade images of things on the earth, sea, or sky in my home that I bow to or listen to instead of listening to God… do I?”

Today, an idol can be an influencer… a thing that influences you… that pulls you away from God.

An influencer can be anything that you listen to that opposes God and ALL of His Word. Even the suggestion to only believe part of God’s Word… this is an evil influence.

What do you do with your thoughts that doubt God… doubt His Word?

“Brothers what should we do?” Peter replied, “Each of you must repent of your sins and turn to God, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. Then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” (Acts 2:37-38 NLT).

Doubting God is sin. Remove the thoughts of doubt. Repent. 

When Jesus forgives you, He turns Your heart to God… stopping the evil influencers who pull you away from God.

Then… Jesus gives you His Spirit, the Holy Spirit.

God’s Spirit is how you wholeheartedly believe God.

Father, in the quiet of my heart, You speak to me saying that my heart is not to be divided in loyalty. My heart is to serve You, to love You, to believe You… alone. You are clear, if anything is an idol to me, a negative influence, I am to remove it from my life. I choose to commit to You fully, wholeheartedly, by Your Spirit. In Jesus’ name I pray, amen.

Stacy A. Davis