Saturday, February 16, 2008

The Choice is Yours

From the day God created man and gave him a will of his own, his life story has been told and continues to be told by the choices he makes every day.

A scripture that we need to meditate on often is a command that God gave His chosen people. "I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live." (Deuteronomy 30:19 KJV).

God recognizes man's power to choose and He will hold him responsible for his choices. Because He sees the end of our lives from the beginning, He would remind us often to choose life by liviing in obedience to all of His commands in the Word, --not just the ones we choose to live by, so that we may rise to our full potential and be a blessing to Him!

Some people dream of lofty achievements in life and eventually become successful pastors who lead many people to the Lord, or become missionaries who open nations to the gospel. Others in the secular work place become presidents, CEOs, authors and international leaders. They didn't allow anything to hinder their dream but chose to put God's commandments first and then work with Him steadily toward making their dream a reality. Others could not perceive a fulfillment of their dream so they succumbed to a life of mediocrity and now they live in disappointment. Those who attained, chose to persist. Those who are believers were diligent in their prayer life and asked God to be their partner, so He helped them make the right choices. The stories of Bible heroes became their examples, whether the Bible characters won battles or reached a higher level of faith to believe God for healings and miracles. They chose to prove God to be faithful

Choices still make the difference in whether you will be successful or not! If your dreams have not been fulfilled or promises God gave you long ago have not come to pass, don't dispair. God is still God! He can put life into your heart to believe Him even now for the dreams and His promises. CHOOSE to let the Holy Spirit resurrect them then believe God for them, and pursue them with all your heart. The decision is yours.

Everything we do requires a choice. The choices usually begin with the smaller concerns. You can choose to be happy every day or you can choose to be gloomy and sad. You can choose to think you are sick or you can choose to take authority over a health issue and claim the Word. You can look at a job you may have lost and accept a challenge to regrouop and pray for guidance for a better one, ---or you can allow the issue to become a wound that you don't want to deal with. If this should happen, you would soon be dealing with a refusal to take matters to the Lord in prayer and permit Him to strengthen and guide you. You can read about the great prophets in the Bible and discern how God made them great leaders or you can choose to neglect the Word so the Holy Spirit cannot help you, thus allowing depression and negative thoughts to bring hopelessness. The choice is yours. Choices are important in making you what you are and what you want to become. They are your decisions. No one can make them for you but you.

Joseph was mistreated by his brothers, thrown into a pit and later sold to Ishmaelites who brought him to Egypt where he was sold to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh. He was cut off from his family for 13 years. We can feel his pain of separation wondering if he would ever see his family again. But as we relive his story with him, we can perceive that he CHOSE to trust God though he could not understand what was happening and did not know all of the events were a part of God's plan, being directed by God. Though he was falsely accused by Potiphar's wife and thrown in prison and the butler and baker forgot him, we do not read that he ever complained that God forgot him. It is apparent that Joselph CHOSE to trust God in the circumstances and God provided peace. He was patient in his sufferings. It might seem to us that God could have done more to help him, but God was putting "iron" into his soul. God had a higher goal and purpose, an unusual promotion in the making that would eventually be the means of reuniting him with his family in Egypt and the end of the story would be that through Joseph, the nation of Israel would be preserved. In God's plan and sovereignty, it could only come to pass after Joseph was placed in Egypt and God's time had been fulfilled.

The choices and vows you made to God in prayer tell Him whether He can use you for a greater assignment or not. God's final decision will be made by how faithful you were to the choices you promised Him: the easy ones and the difficult ones. If you made wrong decisions, you can still confess them, repent and turn around today and begin to make the right ones. God still forgives a repentant person and grants him another chance. "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." (I John 1:9).

Bible history tells us in Genesis 41, that (1) God was with Joseph; (2) He delivered him from all of his afflictions; (3) He gave him favor with ALL the Egyptians though their cultures were very different; (4) He gave him wisdom that was noticed by all the Egyptians; (5) He made him governor over all of Pharaoh's house and all of Egypt, and in the end restored him to his family! Through it all we cannot read of one complaint Joseph made. The reason: He CHOSE to believe God was with him in all of his circumstances. Can you say that?

We often speak about trusting God for this and trusting God for that and forget that God looks for men and women whom He can trust, ---to be strong, faithful, obedient and steadfast in the face of difficult circumstances and remember that He promised to be with us always. He is with us even when we pass through times of misunderstanding, or when answers to prayer are delayed or when it seems God is silent. He wants us to CHOOSE to believe Him and His promises.

CHOOSE to believe God loves you and wants to help you make right choices so that you will succeed and be triumphant where you are today. You are ".....chosen of God and precious." (I Peter 2:2-4).