The Three Living States of Man – Part II
The Decision State
Psalms 1:1 – “Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the
ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.”
Last week we introduced you to the three states of man — Action, Decision
and Rest. We really cannot say that one is more important than the other
because each relies on the other. For example, the action state relies on the
decision state. If a person does not make a decision to act, then the action
state is left dormant and the person is stuck in the decision state. Therefore,
it is crucial that we position ourselves in the right place to make decisions.
What we define as “right place” is a place where you can be
empowered to make the right decisions—not where you are dragged down or made to
feel you cannot achieve what God has set you out to do. Our scripture tells us,
blessed (empowered to prosper, happy, fortunate and enviable) is the man that
does not “standeth” in the way of sinners. Standeth in this text
means contemplating what to do or making a decision on what is to come.
One way to lose your empowerment is to have someone sway you from the
dreams, visions or goals God has given you. To keep our empowerment (blessing),
we are told not to standeth (continually stand) in the way of sinners. So what
is this “way?” From our text, it is the “place” where
sinners dwell. These are not only physical places like clubs, casinos and so
forth, but they are also spiritual places. Here are a few spiritual places
sinners dwell:
Adultery, fornication, uncleanness,
lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, wrath, strife, envy, drunkenness,
and rebellion (Galatians 5:19 – 21).
As men/women dwell in these places, their thoughts focus on evil rather than
on good. As a matter fact I’ll even share this with you.
A few weeks ago Veronica and I were in the mall. During our trip to the
restrooms, I saw a young man walking his girlfriend to the bathroom. As they
stopped to use the phones, two men came out of the bathroom. While passing the
young man and his girlfriend, one of them said, “What’s up baby!”
Then he said to his buddy, “He (the young man with the girlfriend) can’t
do anything about it,” and they laughed. I went into the restroom
and the young man did as well. I came out and as I was waiting on Veronica, the
young man came out only to see the two guys still in sight as they placed their
order at Wendy’s.
As the young man looked upon them, I saw hatred rise up in his spirit even
to the point of murder. Immediately the Lord said to me, “Say something
encouraging to him,” and I did.
I looked at him and I said, “Hey..” and
as he focused on me, I continued, “don’t let that bother you.”
He then said, “huh?!”
I said, “Don’t let that bother you…. you
know… what that guy said to your girlfriend. Always remember, He’s not THE
MAN you are. If he were the man then he’d have a girlfriend. Instead, he’s got
his buddy.”
The young man then let out a little laughter and we began to talk. I shared
with him that I had been through the same thing and he shouldn’t let it get him
down. Pretty soon he felt really good. He even introduced me to his girlfriend.
You see, that day for a brief moment in time, that young man was in the
“right way” to get a good word. That word probably saved him from
making a tragic mistake or from being insecure with himself. Then again it
might have only saved him from a bad night’s sleep. Whatever it saved him from,
I thank God for his deliverance. Whether it was great or small, IT WAS THERE.
Just imagine if that young man had been out with friends who were rebellious,
proud or arrogant. They could have said, “Man don’t let him talk to you
like that” or “I wouldn’t take that if I were you” or even worse
“I’d smoke (kill by shooting) that fool if I were you.” These types
of people are defined as the sinners in our scripture—those who habitually sin
and are subject to the consequences of their actions. But to get out of the
consequence of their actions they want others to do their evil bidding and pay
their cost while they walk away free from the whole ordeal.
Too often we see tragedies surrounding circumstances just like the one with
the young man and wonder why? More than likely it was because of where the
person was standing (decision state) that determined what (action state) they
did. This is why we need to make our “standeth” (continual stand) a
“standeth” on the word of God. This way there is no indecisiveness
and we won’t stay stuck in the decision state. Most important we will stay
blessed and receive the manifestations God has for us.