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May.18.07: Light for the Day -
"Free to Choose"
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(Home) (VN) (C1) (C2) (K) (S) (F) (It) (De) (Ar) ("Pray To Receive Christ") -- John 15:16 You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit -- fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in My name. -- Ephesians 3:12 In Him and through faith in Him we may approach God with freedom and confidence. 
Repeatedly in the Bible, both nations and individuals had to make decisions affecting their futures -- and so do we. Sometimes they made wrong choices and suffered the consequences as a result. When we face decisions, we need to remember that God hasn't left us to the dark, nor is He uninterested. God loves us, and He wants what is best for us. He has a perfect path in life for us, and He wants us to choose it instead of the wrong paths Satan would tempt us to follow. Even when our way seems unclear. God gives us light. He gives us His Word, the Bible -- and many of our decisions would be much easier if we only knew its moral and spiritual principles. He also gives us wisdom (sometimes through other people) to understand our situation, and He gives us the Holy Spirit to guide us. Never make a decision without communicating it to God and seeking His will. He promises to guide you -- and He will. -- Billy Graham
-- John 8:31-32,36 31 To the Jews who had believed Him, Jesus said, "If you hold to My teaching, you are really My disciples. 32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." ++ 36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. -- Romans 8:1-2 1 There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. -- 2 Corinthians 3:17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. -- 1 Corinthians 8:9 Be careful, however, that the exercise of your freedom does not become a stumbling block to the weak. -- Galatians 5:1, 13 1 It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. ++ 13 You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love. -- John 14:6 Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." -- John 9:5 While I am in the world, I am the light of the world. -- 2 Corinthians 4:6 For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," made His light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. -- 1 John 1:7 But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, His Son, purifies us from all sin. -- John 6:66-69 66 From this time many of His disciples turned back and no longer followed Him. 67 "You do not want to leave too, do you?" Jesus asked the Twelve. 68 Simon Peter answered Him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69 We believe and know that You are the Holy One of God." -- John 14:26-27 26 But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. 27 Peace I leave with you; My peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. -- John 16:13-14 13 But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on His own; He will speak only what He hears, and He will tell you what is yet to come. 14 He will bring glory to Me by taking from what is Mine and making it known to you. -- Luke 10:40-42 40 But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to Him and asked, "Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!" 41 "Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, "you are worried and upset about many things, 42 but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her." -- Colosians 1:9-12 9 For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of His will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. 10 And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please Him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, 11 being strengthened with all power according to His glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully 12 giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. /////////////////////////////////////////////// -- Jeremiah 29:11-13; 33:3 11 For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 12 Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will seek Me and find Me when you seek Me with all your heart. ++ 33:3 Call to Me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know. -- Deuteronomy 30:19-20 19 I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live; 20 that you may love the LORD your God, that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him, for He is your life and the length of your days; and that you may dwell in the land which the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them. -- Joshua 24:15, 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." ++ 24 And the people said to Joshua, "We will serve the LORD our God and obey Him." -- 1 Kings 18:21 Elijah went before the people and said, "How long will you waver between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow Him; but if Baal is God, follow him." But the people said nothing. -- Psalms 119:30-32; 105-106; 111-112 30 I have chosen the way of truth; I have set my heart on Your laws. 31 I hold fast to Your statutes, O LORD; do not let me be put to shame. 32 I run in the path of Your commands, for You have set my heart free. 105 Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path. 106 I have taken an oath and confirmed it, that I will follow Your righteous laws. 111 Your statutes are my heritage forever; they are the joy of my heart. 112 My heart is set on keeping Your decrees to the very end. -- Psalms 27:4 One thing I ask of the LORD, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to seek Him in His temple.
God always gives His best to those who leave the choice with Him. - J.Elliot Open up your mouth and use your voice to praise God, or you can just close it and satisfy the devil, choose one. No one who has ever chosen to trust God has made the wrong decision. God did not choose us because we were worthy...but by choosing us, He makes us worthy. Therefore count yourself dead to sin and alive in Christ Jesus and live a life worthy of the calling you have received. GOD loves us the way we are, but He refuses to leave us that way. Without Christ, there is no true freedom. True freedom is not having your own way, but in yielding to God's way. The best way to renew our minds is to read God's Word daily. The best way to escape temptation is to flee to God. You don't need to see the way if you follow The One that is the Way.
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