The Power to Choose...

How interesting it is to me that God, in all his infinite wisdom and ability, knowing we would stumble, knowing we would make mistakes, gave us a very significant gift....the power of choice. He didn't force His will upon us or create us as programmed robots or puppets...He gave us the power of decision...the power to choose. He also gave us His word (the word of God) to help us make the right decisions so that we could live and enjoy this life, and most importantly so that we could have eternal life with Him once this life is over. The Bible illustrates God's position on choice in Deuteronomy 30:19

Deuteronomy 30:19 MSG

"I call Heaven and Earth to witness against you today: I place before you Life and Death, Blessing and Curse. Choose life so that you and your children will live. And love God, your God, listening obediently to him, firmly embracing him. Oh yes, he is life itself, a long life settled on the soil that God, your God, promised to give your ancestors, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob."

How interesting...God laid out our options before us and then said, "You know, you can only really live by choosing to live and abide in me. It's your decision to make. However, choose me....I am life....real life...abundant life...and not only will you be blessed, but so will your children." God knew that when He created us and gave us our own free will, we wouldn't always be so quick to make the right decisions or to choose life. When Adam (man) fell, we inherited this sinful nature, this carnal-minded disposition that is curious, unconvinced and hesitant to accept God's truth without question. Although He's clearly provided the right answer, that carnal-minded character in us doesn't always choose to believe that He's given us the right answer or that He knows what He's talking about. So we choose to accept deception...notice I used the word choose. When we deny God's leading, His word, His plan and His ways, we are actively choosing deception over truth. Now when I say it like that, it sounds pretty stupid of us right? Why would anyone choose to believe a lie over the truth? It's like a child who sees fire on the stove and is intrigued and curious by the colorful flames and wants to touch it. The mother says "Don't touch that, it's hot and will burn you and it will hurt you", and that child proceeds to indulge her curiosity because she's not fully convinced that mom is telling her the truth or that mom knows what she's talking about. She proceeds to reach for the colorful flames...but guess what, she ends up burned and in pain.

How many times have we illustrated this same process of choice only to end up burned and hurt? As believers, we never have to make uninformed or wreckless decisions. Christ sent us the Holy Spirit to help us and guide us in our decisions, to remind us of God's word and His will and to caution us when we are on the verge of choosing deception. So why do we continuously doubt the truth and validity of God's word? Why do we insist upon choosing death over life? I believe it's because we have not fully renewed the spirit of our minds. We haven't allowed the Word of God to transform our thinking. Think about it...you will never make a choice concerning something unless you are convinced one way or another about it. So why aren't we convinced yet?

Many of us (myself included) have numerous concrete experiences where we know without a shadow of doubt that God was with us, that He kept us, that He caused things to work in our favor. Yet, in certain areas of our lives, we continue to question and doubt His ability, or His voice, or His direction. Why? Because we are carnal-minded, still curious, still intrigued by sin, still intrigued by death. Our minds are unrenewed and we have not accepted God's truth as absolute final authority. We go through unnecessary hurt and disappointment because we, not anybody else, but we CHOOSE death over life. Now because God is so rich in mercy and unfailing love, He extends His grace to us. He forgives us when we admit our wrongs and acknowledge Him and He says, "Let's try this again." How patient God is! Contrary to God, man sits back with the pen ready to write off our "brother" or "sister", indirectly declaring them unredeemable, unrestorable, unworthy, and so on.... I thank God that He is not like man! His ways are clearly not our ways.

So how do we become convinced? How do we re-train our thinking? How do we choose life, without doubt or question? Well first, we have to KNOW and BELIEVE that the word of God is absolute! Meaning, it is infallible, conclusive, unquestionable....it does not have the ability or character to fail, nor lie, nor change! It is ABSOLUTE truth!....Ok, well if we recognize THE source of all truth, then we need to resolve to take time reading it, internalizing it, discovering what this truth is, meditating on it, allowing it to abide on the inside of us. We need to allow the Holy Spirit to minister and speak to us about how to apply this truth to our own daily living. Once we know the truth and once we are open to deeper revelation from it, it will change our carnal view, change our carnal perspective, change our carnal thinking....and when our thinking has changed then our ways will change, our hearts will change, our attitudes will change, and our behaviors will change.

The word of God is the most transformative expression of God's power. It changes us from the inside out and it frees us from deception. It liberates us and guides us into absolute truth. It literally sets us free!

John 8:31-32 KJV

31 "Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed:

32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free!"

So, we certainly have a decision to make...He's given us the options, but He's also given us the answer too! We can either choose to live in true freedom, and enjoy the abundant life He promised or we can choose to exist in deception, never really grasping true life. Whatever choice we make is going to require some corresponding action...Actually, our actions illustrate to us our choice better than our words do. We can say all we want that we choose life or that we choose to live in truth, but until we take the appropriate corresponding action, we are still CHOOSING to live in deception!

What do your actions reflect? Life or death? Truth or deception? Consider your ways...choose life!

God Bless,

Queen