You Get To Choose.
Life is full of choices, and as you read God‘s word, the Bible, you quickly find that there is a choice you have to make.
The Bible is a book of choice. “Choose you this day in whom you will serve as for me and my house we will serve the Lord,” Joshua 24.14.
Most Scriptures in the Bible leave you with a choice to believe, or live with unbelief.
Psalm 1:1-6TLB Oh, the joys of those who do not follow evil men’s advice, who do not hang around with sinners, scoffing at the things of God. 2 But they delight in doing everything God wants them to, and day and night are always meditating on his laws and thinking about ways to follow him more closely.
3 They are like trees along a riverbank bearing luscious fruit each season without fail. Their leaves shall never wither, and all they do shall prosper. 4 But for sinners, what a different story! They blow away like chaff before the wind. 5 They are not safe on Judgment Day; they shall not stand among the godly. 6 For the Lord watches over all the plans and paths of godly men, but the paths of the godless lead to doom.
Again, you choose. You choose what you’ll eat and what you want. You choose who you will marry, You choose how fast you go in your car. You choose what you wear, You choose- whether you’re going to wear a coat in the winter, or a short sleeve shirt. -You choose!
There are many who believe that hell is not a literal place prepared for those who reject God. Part of the refusal to believe this comes from the way Hell has been represented to us. It’s become a cartoon of sorts. There is a Far Side cartoon showing the devil (complete with a cape, horns and a pitchfork) standing beside a man looking at two doors. The devil is there urging the man to choose one of the two doors. One of which is marked “Damned if you do.” The other is of course, “Damned if you don’t.”
As believers we are to believe, speak, live and do God’s word always.
God’s word gives us two options:
Trust, speak, and do His Word. Live and apply God’s word in everything you do.
Refuse to trust, and do His Word. Live life while you’re here, because this is it. Trust in no one.
If I have decided to live, act and speak Godly. What can I expect?
Romans 8:28TLB And we know that all that happens to us is working for our good if we love God and are fitting into his plans.
Here is another sure word for God!
Philippians 1:6TLB And I am sure that God who began the good work within you will keep right on helping you grow in his grace until his task within you is finally finished on that day when Jesus Christ returns.
The question for you this evening is, “Are you going to trust God and His Word?”
2 Chronicles 7:14TLB then if my people will humble themselves and pray, and search for me, and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear them from heaven and forgive their sins and heal their land.
Remember Paul Harvey, and the rest of the story? Well, here’s the rest of the story:
2 Chronicles 7:12-16TLB One night the Lord appeared to Solomon and told him, “I have heard your prayer and have chosen this Temple as the place where I want you to sacrifice to me. 13 If I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or if I command the locust swarms to eat up all of your crops, or if I send an epidemic among you, 14 then if my people will humble themselves and pray, and search for me, and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear them from heaven and forgive their sins and heal their land. 15 I will listen, wide awake, to every prayer made in this place. 16 For I have chosen this Temple and sanctified it to be my home forever; my eyes and my heart shall always be here.
In a sense God is stating, If you invest in Me, I will invest in you! I’ll give you my whole arsenal!
Proverbs 10:22NKJV The blessing of the Lord makes one rich, And He adds no sorrow with it.
-You choose!
James 5:14-15TLB Is anyone sick? He should call for the elders of the church and they should pray over him and pour a little oil upon him, calling on the Lord to heal him. 15 And their prayer, if offered in faith, will heal him, for the Lord will make him well; and if his sickness was caused by some sin, the Lord will forgive him.
Again, Romans 8:28TPT So we are convinced that every detail of our lives is continually woven together for good, for we are his lovers who have been called to fulfill his designed purpose.
I personally find pie charts, helpful for understanding the varying degrees of what the Lord’s will is, and what He will do when I discover his promises in the Bible.
The black shaded pie represent the things that don’t work together for good for those who love Him.
The Red shaded pie represent the things that do work together for good for those who love Him.
A believer’s fruit will work for their good, 100% of the time!
Jeremiah 29:11-13KJV For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. 12 Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. 13 And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.
Again, you choose, You choose life, You choose to believe that God has you in His reach, You choose God, Eternity, You choose heaven. You choose fruit, You choose blessings, You choose the direction you will travel in life.
Again, you choose, You choose by default, because if you choose any other way other than God’s redemption, you choose temporal, nature, you choose only the direction you take on this earth, because after all, this is it!
Isaiah 1:18-20TLB Come, let’s talk this over, says the Lord; no matter how deep the stain of your sins, I can take it out and make you as clean as freshly fallen snow. Even if you are stained as red as crimson, I can make you white as wool! 19 If you will only let me help you, if you will only obey, then I will make you rich! 20 But if you keep on turning your backs and refusing to listen to me, you will be killed by your enemies; I, the Lord, have spoken.
1 Peter 5:6NLT So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and at the right time he will lift you up in honor.
Proverbs 10:22TPT True enrichment comes from the blessing of the Lord, with rest and contentment in knowing that it all comes from him.
Proverbs 3: 5-10KJV Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. 6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. 7 Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the Lord, and depart from evil. 8 It shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones. 9 Honour the Lord with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase: 10 So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine.
So What will it be? His way, that is rock solid, or your way?
A few more verses, Matthew 28:18-20NKJV And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.
Mark 16:14-20NKJV Later He appeared to the eleven as they sat at the table; and He rebuked their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they did not believe those who had seen Him after He had risen. 15 And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. 16 He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. 17 And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; 18 they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”
Caption- (Christ Ascends to God’s Right Hand)
19 So then, after the Lord had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God. 20 And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs. Amen.
Here’s your choice once more.
Psalm 1:1-6KJV Blessed is the man?Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, Nor stands in the path of sinners, Nor sits in the seat of the scornful; 2 But his delight is in the law of the Lord, And in His law he meditates day and night. 3 He shall be like a tree?Planted by the rivers of water, That brings forth its fruit in its season, Whose leaf also shall not wither; And whatever he does shall prosper. 4 The ungodly are not so, But are like the chaff which the wind drives away. 5 Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, Nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. 6 For the Lord knows the way of the righteous,?But the way of the ungodly shall perish.
Benediction. So Again, You Choose!
