You Get To Choose.

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.