A. INTRODUCTION
1. You have three inner powers to guide you.
a. Intellect, the power of knowing to warn or challenge.
b. Emotion, the power of feelings to motivate.
c. Will, the power of choice to direct.
2. Where do you give most of your attention?
a. Learning, controlled by the head.
b. Experiencing feelings, controlled by the body.
c. The power of choice, controlled by the inner person.
3. What characterizes your decision-making?
a. Hard headed. Decide regardless of facts.
b. Weak willed. Cannot stay with a choice.
c. Unsure. To vacillate between choices.
d. Second guess. To doubt a choice.
e. Regret. To mourn bad choices/no choice.
4. You make bad choices because of three major influences. “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him” (1 John 2:15).
a. Physical appetites (lust of the flesh).
b. Attractions (lust of eyes).
c. Ego satisfaction (pride of life).
THREE QUALITIES OF CHOICES
? Yesterday’s decisions are foundational.
? Tomorrow’s dreams give energy.
? Today’s opportunity is power to manage.
5. The seven choices that determine your life.
THE POWER OF CHRIST
You don’t have the power in an area of life until you choose what you will do with that part of your life.
a. Salvation, your eternal destiny. You don’t possess the reality of eternal life, until you make a choice to receive Jesus Christ as Savior. Commitment: I have taken Christ as my Savior.
b. Discipleship, your victory over sin and problems. You don’t have the power to live for God until you make a choice to serve God. Commitment: I have decided to follow Jesus, no turning back.
c. Work, your accomplishments in life. You don’t have the ability to accomplish your life’s work until you make a choice to work diligently. Commitment: I will find the work Christ wants me to do and will do it with all my heart.
d. Spirituality, knowing God. You don’t have the power to know God, until you make a choice to know God. Commitment: for me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.
e. Ethics, your moral compass: Honesty is a choice. You don’t have the power to live an ethical life until you make a choice to always do the right thing in the right way. Commitment: I will always do the right thing in the right way.
f. Love, your partnerships. Love is a choice. You don’t have the power to love another person until you have made a choice to know and seek the best for the other person. Commitment: I will sacrifice for the one(s) I love.
g. Attitude or values: your mental outlook on life. You don’t have the power to be guided by a positive outlook until you make a choice to be positive and optimistic. Commitment: I can overcome negative and harmful attitudes to accomplish God’s purpose for my life.
6. Decoys to your decisions.
a. For every decision, Satan has a decoy to keep you from staying in the will of God.
b. Illustration of hunters decoys: look real and inviting.
c. Decoys trick you and lead to death.
d. Illustration of hunter’s duck call: sounds real and convincing.
e. Decoys create a “party environment.” Others are doing it!
f. Satan will use decoys that you see, hear and enjoy to get you to make a decision outside God’s will. “I pled with you to give your bodies to God (your choice). Let your body be a living and holy sacrifice . . . then you will know how good and pleasing and perfect His will really is” (Rom. 12:1-2, NLT).
7. Lures to bad decisions
a. Fisherman uses lures to attract fish. A lure appeals to their appetite. Satan will use the lust of the flesh to keep people from making the right decisions.
b. For every right decision you face, Satan has another alternative that seems just as good.
8. Every life-changing decision involves your intellect (knowing), your emotions (feelings), and your decisions (commitment).
RAM: The power of choice.
a. Choose to reject.
b. Choose to add.
c. Choose to commit.
9. REJECT:
a. You must choose what you will not do.
b. You must reject negative attitudes.
c. You must reject wrong decoys and lures.
10. ADD:
a. You must choose who you want to be like, i.e., role model.
b. You must follow good principles.
11. MANAGE:
a. You must manage daily the decisions you have made.
b. Today counts. The power of your decisions must guide all you do today!
Dear Lord, I acknowledge that I am a sinner. I believe Jesus died for my sins on the cross, and rose again the third day. I repent of my sins. By faith I receive the Lord Jesus as my Savior. You promised to save me, and I believe You, because You are God and cannot lie. I believe right now that the Lord Jesus is my personal Savior, and that all my sins are forgiven through His precious blood. I thank You, dear Lord, for saving me. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
If you prayed that prayer, God heard you and saved you. I personally want to welcome you to the family of God and rejoice with you.
Dr. Towns’ email is eltowns@liberty.edu.
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