You Choose

What an amazing God who loved us enough to bless us with free-will… The ability to choose… What a sacrificial gift to bestow upon those He created in His own image, already knowing that in doing so we would cause Him great pain in choosing to disobey Him…

God could have created us with a robotic sense of duty – but He knew that that is NOT love.  In love, He put a tool in our hands, in our minds, the ability to decide, knowing fully well (since He knows ALL things) what the results would be… God knows the pain of a parent who has a prodigal child.  God knows the pain of a child who has reached the age of accountability and chosen still to turn his/her back on walking according to His Word.

Every day we make choices, we decide, we choose.  What are you choosing this day?  What are you using your God-given ability of choice to do? The Bible says in Luke 12:48:

“From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.”

The thing that many of us forget, is that although God has been generous enough to bless us with the gift of “free choice” there is another side of that, it is called, “accountability.”  With every choice we make in life, we will stand and give an account for the choices that we made.  When I think of that, I think “choose wisely…” There are consequences for EVERY choice we make.

As a youth many of us didn’t think like that.  Ol’ slewfoot made sure of that, not wanting those of us who were ignorant of the Bible and the love of God, grew up with “if it feels good, do it.”  We did not learn to think with Godly wisdom.  We thought we were wise in our own right not realizing that the unwise choices that we make later on, in hindsight become regrets. And ol’ slewfoot laughs, because he is very good at throwing those unwise choices that we made, that seemed oh sooooo good at the time we made them, in our faces as taunts.  He not only taunts us, but he throws those unwise choices back in God’s face and mocks Him as to what His creation, formed in His image has done.  He makes fun of us to hurt God, because he hates God and he knows that the best way to hurt God is to hurt the ones God loves, and God loves YOU.

In bestowing within the make-up of us, God knew what He was doing when He gave us the gift of free-will.  He knew with that gift we could either choose to love Him and obey Him or go against Him and in doing so, hate Him.  What a loving God.  What a GOOD Father, who already knew the choices we would make with that gift.  What a cost to love us in such an unselfish manner.  He created us with a tool that would cause Him such pain and anguish, yet STILL He did it… John 3:16 is the result of knowing what we would do with that gift… God already had a plan in place… 

“God SO loved the world, that He gave His ONLY begotten Son, that whosoever shall believe on Him, shall not perish but have everlasting life.” 

God knew that there would be those who in ignorance and stupid defiance would choose to live lives void of Him.  How it must pain Him to see all of those “prodigal children” who have chosen NOT to love Him.  NOT to listen to Him. NOT to accept the love gift that cost Jesus EVERYTHING to give.

JESUS CHOSE DEATH ON THE CROSS TO PAY FOR SINS HE DID NOT COMMIT TO RECONCILE YOU TO THE FATHER.

YOU GET TO CHOOSE.

JESUS DIED SO THAT YOUR SINS WOULD BE FORGIVEN.  HE WAS THE SACRIFICIAL LAMB. SO THAT THOSE “BAD DECISIONS” THAT LATER ON OR AT SOME POINT IN YOUR LIFE WOULD BECOME “REGRETS” COULD BE COVERED BY HIS PRECIOUS BLOOD.

YOU GET TO CHOOSE.

JESUS, BORN OF THE VIRGIN MARY, LIVED A SIN-LESS LIFE AND IN LOVE, CHOSE TO DIE FOR YOU BECAUSE HE LOVES YOU

YOU GET TO CHOOSE

JESUS ROSE FROM THE DEAD, DEFEATING SIN AND DEATH AND EVEN NOW, IS SEATED AT THE RIGHT HAND OF THE FATHER, INTERCEDING ON YOUR BEHALF

STILL, YOU GET TO CHOSE

Everything that means anything is found when you accept the Father’s love.  The very thing that we strive in life to find – peace, contentment, meaning, love is accessible when we use our God-given gift of “free-will” to freely choose to love the Father.  It is so ironic that Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden had EVERYTHING they could ever need, EVERYTHING they could ever want which was found IN GOD.  In the One who created them… In the One who created YOU.  He left NOTHING out.  Adam and Eve CHOSE WRONG.  But we can’t fault them without turning an accusing finger at ourselves, because we are no different – we use our “free-will” and choose wrong too.  There was NOTHING that God had NOT already given Adam and Eve to fulfill them.

What fulfills us?  The One thing we were ALSO created with – a deep, unsatiable by anything else love for God.  We may not recognize that until we “choose” to acknowledge Jesus as our Savior (He saved US from using our “free-will” to make dumb choices – that have kept us from knowing our God given purposes) and from choosing to make Him, Lord over our lives – which is a daily submission and choice.  

We WERE made to be in fellowship with God.  The Bible tells us in Galatians 2:20:

“I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live, by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” 

But it IS a choice.  A choice you have to use your God-given gift of free-will, to make.  And the choices don’t stop there.  In doing so, you become MORE cognate of the daily choices you make, because once you become part of God’s Called Remnant (Click on the pink link below to understand what that phrase means):

Definition of “the Called Remnant”

Holy Spirit is the gift God gives you FOR choosing Him, and Holy Spirit is the One who helps guide you in the choices you make so that you will walk in God’s wisdom.  There will still be times when you might make mistakes, or un-wise decisions even when you are in Christ, but that is where God’s forgiveness and grace comes in… And God IS able to use those times as moments of growth, so that as we grow in Christ, we become wiser and God uses those mistakes we make as stepping stones to grow in Him.  (Believe me, this is one area that I know well!!! 🙂 )

The choices that we make based on free-will are not “free” at all.  Without Jesus we can become bound in the results of bad choices. There ARE consequences to EVERY choice we make, even if we don’t realize it at the time.  (Most often we don’t until its too late).  But our God is a redeeming God.  Every choice has a consequence and a result.  What will you choose?  Knowing that at the end of this life the Bible tells us in Hebrews 9:27:

“Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment…”

What consequences will you face at the end of this life for the choices you have made? The regret of not accepting God’s gift of Jesus’ salvation is a regret that has eternal consequences.  God never sends anyone to hell – people decide on their own by “choosing” NOT to accept God’s gift of salvation with the gift of free-will that God has painstakingly, unselfishly given EACH person He has created.

YOU CHOOSE.

The choice of what you do in this life has always been up to you.  God wants you to choose life.  God wants you to choose Him.  I made the decision to be a follower of Jesus 34 years ago.  It was the BEST choice I EVER (with my free-will) chose to do.  What has been the results?  Complete and total love that I can see, feel and walk in ALL the days of my life.  I CHOSE GOD.  There is freedom in that choice, there is healing in that choice.  My life is not perfect, coming to Christ means that I have accepted God’s gift of eternal life, but I still live in a fallen, sinful world. But the One I have chosen, is greater than the one that tried to keep me blinded to God’s truth.  I have EVERYTHING I need in Christ Jesus.  What did I choose?  I chose to accept God’s love.  I chose to LOVE God back, based on my own accord.  And let me tell you, you CANNOT out-love God!  He IS amazing!  He IS personal! He IS REAL!  He IS a loving, caring, wonderful Father.  And there are not enough words for me to gush about Him because it is something that you have to personally experience for yourself!  FOR YOURSELF.  You have to CHOOSE GOD FOR YOURSELF.  I pray you do.  If you want to know what I’m talking about, if you CHOOSE with your own free-will to accept Jesus, please pray this prayer with me.

“Father God, of my own free-will, of my own choice, I want to know what it is Kelly is talking about… If YOU are real, I need YOU to reveal yourself to me.  I CHOOSE to accept you as my Savior, as Lord of my life… I CHOOSE to believe that You sent Your Only begotten Son, Jesus, born of the virgin Mary, who lived a sin-less life and died on the cross for forgiveness of my sins, rose from the dead defeating sin and death and is seated at Your right-hand interceding on my behalf even now – and IS coming again, into my heart.  Father, I CHOOSE You.  Please come into my heart and be my Savior and Lord.  I thank You for doing so.  In Jesus name I pray, AMEN.”

God loves you so so much.  He really does… He made you in the hopes that YOU would choose to love Him back.  The wonderful thing about the Father’s love, is that it always comes back even stronger than what you put out.  You really CAN’T out-love God… But it is fun to try… 🙂  I pray that you CHOOSE to love Him and allow Him to show you His love.  It is the MOST amazing decision you will ever make.  I know, because I did it and it was not only the MOST important decision I will make in this life, but it has radically changed my life for the better.  I Chose God.  I pray you do too. 🙂