In these challenging times we must compromise and meet in front of our TV’s.
Don’t be discouraged because for Holy Spirit there is no Level 5 restriction and I am sure he is right beside you in this moment, looking at you and saying “Wake up, have faith that there is no power greater than our GOD”.
As Romans 8:31 say’s
What then shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?
Amen!
Today we are going to look at the effect of our choices in our lives and what we could do to improve!
So let us pray and ask the Holy Spirit to guide us.
Our Father in heaven, hollowed be your name. Guide us and help us to understand this word in its full depth. Not by ourselves but by the power of Holy Spirit I ask you to work in every man and woman and show us your understanding and your will in our lives. Use me Father as an instrument for your glory to shine upon this nation. May your mighty name be glorified among your people. Amen.
Today we will speak about our choices. Apostle Paul gave us a written clue a long time ago. So, we can see what the Bible says about our choices, and we can discover the mystery of how to decide which one is right and which on is wrong.
Let’s open our Bibles in Romans 7: 15-20 ESV
15 For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.
16 Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good.
17 So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.
18 For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out.
19 For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing.
20 Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.
If we live in our flesh without Jesus or the work of the Holy Spirit, this will be a representation of our life. We hate what we do, but we keep on doing it. Our life is a total disappointment to ourselves; we live in depression and in agony of our inner disagreements.
So, let’s make our choices in accordance to the destiny which God has set out for us!
When Adam and Eve failed, they failed because of their choice. God gave them a destiny where they would never have to know sin.
We can see it in the book of Genesis 3: 1-7(ESV)
Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”
2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden,
3 but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’”
4 “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman.
5 “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
6 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.
7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.
We are either, slaves to sin and surrender to devils’ temptations or we are slaves of God and surrender to his good will, that will lead us to an abundant life.
So, as we can see here, their choice led them into a sin. And this is one of the big points to consider when we make our choices. Where it will lead us. God created man and woman and gave them free will, which is the right to choose. It is good to have the ability to choose but it brings consequence of our choices. We have freedom to choose and if we make right decisions, God will always bless us. Always keep this in mind, this ancient serpent still lives among us and speaks lies into our lives that can lead us into making a wrong decision.
Everything you are today is the result of the choices you made yesterday.
Making the right choice and listening to God is parallel which we need to see and understand. God is always by our side and that is clear as we always have a choice. And it is up to us which one to make, as we all know one is good and one is bad. So, one will lead us to God, and the other will deceive us and will bring us to sin.
Deuteronomy 30:19 (Easy to Read)
19 “Today I am giving you a choice of two ways. And I ask heaven and earth to be witnesses of your choice. You can choose life or death. The first choice will bring a blessing. The other choice will bring a curse. So choose life! Then you and your children will live.
When I was young, I made a lot of decisions based on my own flesh and what was pleasant to my flesh. I was 16 years old and I hated all criminality and injustice and I did the very thing I hated. I got involved in all kinds of trouble and on my way home I would think of what I had done and it completely destroyed me inside, but every morning I would wake up and do the same thing, over and over. I remember that my parents always taught me not to steal and I was always against it. But when my great grandma lost her memory, she would think that I was one of her sons and she would give me some money. Later I would call in again and talk to her and she would think that I was the other sibling, and she would give me money again. I didn’t stop at that as eventually I saw where she kept her money and I would go and take the money myself.
Here we can see how sin progresses and how it brought me to be a slave of lies.
People are always blaming the devil, their boss or the company where they work. People are looking to put this nasty feeling of blame on someone else.
People fail because they obey their own desires. Brothers and Sisters in the church fail because they make decisions without prayer or listening to God. Marriages fail because of wrong choices, husband or wife choose pleasure over love. They may even choose sexual immorality over healthy sexual relation between husband and wife.
We must take responsibility for our choices.
Let’s look at David for example. He made a choice not to kill Saul and he got into a lot of trouble, but God was pleased with his decision. Later in his life he saw a beautiful woman and allowed his emotions to take over him and he received great troubles for it.
I want to show you that there may be troubles with every decision we make, but there is a difference in them.
1. David had to hide and wait for his time to come and God was with him. David was under severe persecution, but no one was able to find him, even when Saul would get very close to David something would happen to pull Saul back. The circumstances were always giving David opportunities to escape any threat and stay alive.
2. When David saw that woman, he allowed the serpent to put deceit in his heart and use the situation to please his own flesh. Then he was on his own. And his life became very harsh and difficult. As we know he suffered a lot, his baby died.
For sure it is easy to investigate the past and compare somebodies’ mistakes and say whether he did right or wrong. But in the moment, it is not always easy to make decisions.
Remember your destiny is result of your choices.
Would you not think that David who fought so many battles never thought of killing Saul? I think David had a great battle against his flesh not to kill God’s anointed King and remain faithful to God.
This is a great battle and sometimes it lasts only a moment. And in that moment, we must think quickly and react in the moment to make the right choice. Your choice can change your destiny.
But how can we make choices that would lead us into good life?
Our old nature was corrupted by sin and only through Jesus’ sacrifice we can prevent ourselves from being slaves of sin. With Jesus we can win this Battle as he did when he was tempted.
Matthew 4: 8-10 (ESV)
8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. 9 “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.”
10 Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.
Here, we can see that devil offers Jesus all Kingdoms of the world. Wow! Can you imagine how this serpent knows exactly what to offer each of us and what our flesh would not want to resist. At this very moment Jesus takes what comes hard and difficult and he leaves what is easy behind. He knows exactly what the devil is offering and how sweet his offer is. There is NO truth in this offer at all! The devil offer us big and sweet promises wrapped in lies and when we resist them, this wrapper is gone, and there is nothing left behind.
When we resist and say ‘No!’ we take the opportunity of something mysterious and undiscovered. We must be brave to choose these opportunities just as Jesus was when he said to the devil ‘BE GONE!’ When we stand our ground and tell the devil ‘BE GONE!’ We make room for something good to come in our lives! Remember the story of David I mentioned earlier and how he resisted to kill Saul and his life opened for new opportunities, and God gave David a safe pass to become the King of Israel. When Jesus resisted, he opened the door for God to perform miracles through his life. And he became the King of Glory who sits at the right hand of God. When I changed my life and started to resist the desires of my flesh. My life became much better and I can see Gods work in my life. I can see clearly that my life is now built on solid rock. I have opportunities and I have God in my life. I remember some of my family saying that I would never have a family, and no one would ever love me. Today I have a wonderful family, and not only wife and kids, I also have many brothers and sisters.
All who resist the devil are blessed by God and are given opportunities in their life. We all can live our lives in a better way and make a future where the devil has no room to plant his lies. This, my brothers and sisters is the very essence of our choices.
James 1:14-15 (Easy to Read)
14 You are tempted by the evil things you want. Your own desire leads you away and traps you. 15 Your desire grows inside you until it results in sin. Then the sin grows bigger and bigger and finally ends in death.
When we make our choices, we must take example from our Lord and resist what is pleasant to our flesh. Always check your choices and choose the one that is not easy. For it is always easy to say YES and hard to say NO. It is easier to take what does not belong to you than earn it by your own sweat and strength. We must evaluate and see what fruits our choices bring us.
So, let us take this opportunity and live our life as worthy servants of our Lord and make the right choices to glorify our Father in Heaven. So could live and prosper in this land.
Now let us pray and ask God to help us to use what we learnt!!!