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It's Your Life You Choose

tedarthur (04/18/09 21:25:14)   Tag: Teaching

April 19, 2009 IT IS YOUR LIFE YOU CHOOSE Romans 10: 17. Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ. If you want to have faith in God then according to the above verse you need to hear the Word of God. However you were created with the ability to choose who and what you listen to. Therefore you can have faith in what you choose to listen to. That is why there are religions that are totally ridiculous, but people have total faith in that totally ridiculous religion. Some would say God you do something about that, those people need to be delivered. The answer is He did He sent Jesus, but they have rejected Him, and because they have the right to choose, there is nothing God can do for them, because God will not break His Word. Joshua 24:15 We have the right to believe for everything God’s Word says belongs to us, and the above verse tells us how to do that, or we can continue to hear and meditate on the world, and we will continue to have what we have always had, the choice is ours. Joshua 24:15. But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD." Do not misunderstand I am not talking about Heaven or Hell, you made that decision when you accepted Jesus. I am talking about how much victory you live in while you are on this earth. Look at the following verses and you will see that is what God was telling Joshua. Joshua 1: 5. No one will be able to stand up against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you. Go to Hebrews 8:6. You have a better covenant with God than Joshua did. 6. "Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their forefathers to give them. 7. Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. 8. Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. 9. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go." God was not talking to Joshua about where he was going to spend eternity. There can be no doubt about Joshua being called, he was called and anointed by God to lead the Israelites into the promise land. However if you read the first chapter of the book of Joshua you will find that he could have failed, therefore God told him how to succeed. Was it possible for Joshua to be weak and fearful? Was it possible for Joshua to be terrified? Was it possible for Joshua to become discouraged? Joshua had a choice, and so do you, your future depends on what you choose. It is God’s will for you to succeed, and He will show you how to do it, but it will be up to you to follow the road map to well done. We must understand that our success is not up to God, but it is up to us. Yes we must have the power of God working in our lives, but the power of God is activated when we put forth an effort. The power of God was present to save you all of your life, but when was that power activated? Mt. 6: 9. "This, then, is how you should pray: "`Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, 10. your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Is there any pain, sickness, disease, poverty, or suffering of any kind in Heaven? Is there any of these things in the earth? Where did Jesus say the will of God was being done? Where is the will of God not being done? Would Jesus have told you to pray for the will of God to be done if His will was already being done? If I got in my car with a destination in mind, and if I arrived at that destination without incident, it could be said that I was in control of that car, because my will was being done. However if I was driving on the interstate and hit ice which caused me to spin around several times, then cross the medium and began traveling South in the North bound lane with several cars coming at me at a high rate of speed, I think it would be safe to say that I was not in control of my car, because my will was not being done. Genesis 1:26. Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground." 27. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. 28. God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground." According to the above verses who is in control? God has a plan and that plan will not fail. To that extent certainly God is in control. Everything prophesied in the Word of God will happen just like God said it would. He could control every aspect of your life if He desired to, but He chose not to do that. He wanted people who would love Him, and fellowship with Him, because they chose to, not because He forced them to. People like to blame God for everything that is, or is not happening in their life, but the fact of the matter is God put you in control of your life. Heaven will back you if you make the right choices, but no one in Heaven will stop you if you make the wrong ones. Mt. 12:50. For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother." John 15:14. You are my friends if you do what I command. The above verses makes it clear that the will of God is not being done by everyone, actually by very few. Some people say God is in control of my life, others say the devil made me do it. However most of the time it was choices that you made, or people around you made, that got you where you are today. Your situation might good, or it might be bad, but most of the time your life is determined by choices that you made. If you choose to do the will of God, all Heaven will back you, if you choose to be lead by your flesh, no one in Heave will stop you. Is adultery, fornication, rape, murder, killing, or stealing the will of God? You can rob and kill someone on your way home today if you choose to, and God will not stop you. Prison is full of people who prove this to be true. Someone will say God is in control, and then that same person will stay awake all night worrying about their children. If you actually believe God is in control when your teenage children go out on a date just tell them whatever you do is OK, because God is in control, and whatever you do will be the will of God. No one actually believes God is in control of their life, but they will fight you if you say He is not. The choices that you make today, determines your future. Choose to obey God and you will have a good life. Romans 12: 1. Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God--this is your spiritual act of worship. 2. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will. John 10:10. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full I believe the above verse is one very important thing that people need to renew their mind about. Jesus said that the thief comes only, meaning he has one purpose, and that is to steal, kill, and destroy. Therefore if it is killing, stealing, or destroying it is the thief, if it is life more abundantly it is God. Don’t blame God for things He did not do. All the teaching to this point was to show you that you have some choices to make. You must decide what kind of future do I want to have. You must admit that it was my choices that got me where I am today, and my choices will determine my future. If you choose do what the Bible teaches then you need to have this attitude, I am not moved by what I feel, or see, or by my opinion, but by what the Word of God says. The above verses says that if you renew your mind then you will know the will of God. I believe the flip side of that is if you do not renew your mind, you will never know the will of God for your life. So how do we renew our mind? You do it by doing what God told Joshua to do. God never gave you plan B, He said this is how you become prosperous. Joshua 1:8. Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.

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