The Strength of Choice...

Listen to this power of choice offered by God. 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.

Two choices. One is a path to life and one is a path to death. One path

brings Jesus into the situation. One path allows the enemy to work. One way

releases light, the other is filled with darkness. One choice brings blessings,

and the other brings curses. Every choice made is honored in heaven and

on earth. Every choice we make places a door in front of us that opens an

unfolding pathway. The choices we make that are righteous, good, pure, and

of God unfold for us a path of life. This path brings to us God’s blessing,

anointing, His will, and His purpose. Finding God’s purpose and will in our

life becomes a progressive unfolding of events, as we make choices that are

pleasing to Him. The choices we make that are wrong, disobedient to God,

or against the inner voice of the Holy Spirit will bring the death process.

Those choices release the demonic emissaries - spirits of darkness to work

havoc. They bring pain, devastation, suffering, and hurtful, lasting

consequences. We have the power to decide which we will have. There are

two paths: life and death. There are two masters: Christ and Satan. There

are two forces: light and dark. We may draw near God and may repeatedly

forsake the divine will so long as the strength of choice remains. Our final

doom is not sealed until we have lost the strength to choose the Father’s will.

There is never a closure of the Father’s heart to the need and the petition of

his children. Only does his offspring close their hearts forever to the Father’s

drawing power when we finally and forever lose the desire to do his divine

will - to know him and to be like him.

We choose the attitude we will embrace. We choose to live in a Christ-like

manner. We choose to love, reject, forgive, or harbor. We choose our

actions, deeds, and behaviors. We choose what we meditate on, look at,

think on, and believe in. We choose the direction we take, our work, and the

use of our time, talent and treasure. Every choice we make develops our

spirit or our carnality. We have the power of choice to strengthen our

sensitivity to the voice of the Holy Spirit and learn how to be led by God, or

we lose sensitivity to God, strengthen the desire of the flesh, and allow the

downward pull of carnality to fortify against us. Not making a choice is still

choosing. Apathy and procrastination are obstacles to truth. Choosing is a

part of life. We check with God’s word to line up our choices with scripture.

Our every situation requires the making of choices in the highest realms of

reason; the spiritual experience, having realized God, demands that we find

him and sincerely strive to be like him. Every choice has consequences. A

loving God made us with the power of choice. Our wills, the governing power

deep within our nature that enables us to choose the way we think, the

physical habits we develop, and the spiritual decisions we make, are a

powerful force in lifestyle transformation. Even our health is not simply a

matter of chance, it has a great deal to do with our daily decisions. Is it

arbitrary or deliberate that as we walk, we put one foot before the other? Is

this a reflective choice? Consider being conscious of our every decision. Is

this insightful choice? Choice is not just chance. In order to choose, we

must have an idea of the possible consequences of our choice.

The word of God gives us the revelation of God’s position with our choice.

And it is the best reality that we could ask for. Hebrews chapter one tells us

that God called all of the angels together and explained what the

consequences of choice would be. It was the conflict in heaven, where doubt

was suggested, that brought the revelation of the Son of God as God. It was

the doubt in heaven that caused war in heaven. War is over truth. God the

Father, the recognized head of heaven, restricted His illumination and

allowed each one of the angels to make up his own mind if he would follow

Satan or Christ. When each had made up his own mind, God the Father

reappeared, and those who were opposed to God fled from His presence.

We have this admonition - God challenged the devil with Job’s obedience

and faith. The evil one has been roaming the earth, surveying his domain,

usurped from Adam through deception. God presents Job to Satan as a

paragon of virtue. God is not punishing Job, He is proving the strength of

choice in His people. God steps back as sorts and commands the loyal

angels to step aside temporarily to allow the host of Satan direct access to

Job. With God’s permission, Satan immediately commences his

assignment. Job held true to his faithfulness to God. Time elapses and God

again proves Job even though Job is strictened with affliction by the enemy.

Without his knowledge or permission – Job becomes the collateral in one of

history’s greatest tests. Job is now on trial, it is his time for his test for God.

He must answer a vital question. Will he, who had faithfully trusted God for

help and protection, choose to suffer for or reject God. The variabilities of

the Father’s presence are not due to the changeableness of God. The Father

does not retire in seclusion because he has been slighted; his affections are

not alienated because of our wrongdoing. Rather, having been endowed with

the power of choice concerning Himself, His children, in the exercise of that

choice, directly determine the degree and limitations of the Father’s divine

influence in our own hearts and souls. The Father freely bestows himself

upon us without limit and without favor.

God “paid an enormous price” to give us the right to freely choose at critical

junctions in our life. And that price was paid from the foundation of the world.

God has made provision for when we move away from Him. He has made it

possible - although sometimes difficult - to come back. We can choose to

repent. Are there still consequences? Absolutely! God does not induce

anyone to give up their unbelief. Light or darkness, truth or error are the

optional choices. It is for us to decide which we will assume. The human

mind is endowed with power to discriminate between right and wrong. Every

choice has consequences that first need to be weighted. Some choices are

hard to make, some are easy. Having choices gives us power to make

situations better. The weight of evidence, the careful comparing of scripture

with scripture will source the strength of choice. One of the best uses of the

strength of choice is to choose to be masters of our histories and determiners

of our today, rather than slaves to our histories. The conscious mind brings

forth the reality of choice. We see the ensuing actions and results. We must

choose how we think. The strength of choice characterizes the self-

consciousness. Moral decision should reflect the highest wisdom. Spiritual

choice must be truth’s discernment bordering unselfish love, and

brotherhood service wholeheartedly devoted to doing the Father’s will. We

are to sincerely pursue divine worship.

The bible teaches us that decision-making is a function of the will. The heart

has a part; the emotions have a vote; but in the end, choices are an act of

our will. God has given us a spirit, an essence, a core centered on Him. God

formed us a body, externally visible. He made us a living soul, where

knowledge is stored. The spirit of man is God-aware. The soul of man is

self-aware. The body of man is world-aware. It is with each of these

dimensions that we connect with creation to advance our spiritual status. By

decisions, by more decisions, and by more decisions the highest moral

choice is the choice of the highest possible esteem, and always - in any

sphere, in all of them - this is to choose to do the will of God. God begins

His work of the plan of salvation in our being born again. The realization of

our choices is to be in service to God.

There is a choice paradox that causes us to ponder truth. The very vast

numbers of persons suffer a paralysis of choice as related to right or wrong.

People choose political affiliation over right. The “what if” question robs

choice of truth as it might create a defection of personal loyalty to race, to

religion, to behavior. These are social instincts not virtuous awareness.

Looking at choices as differing options that lead to different outcomes rather

than what is right is sin. Eliminating the right/wrong mindset abandons the

image of God in man. Right is defined by the decision of conscience in

accord with biblical principles appealing to logical comprehensiveness,

universality, and consistency. Choice doesn’t necessarily equal freedom or

happiness. Instead, it can create the opposite. Appeals to pure selflessness

have become harder to defend, while a belief in objective moral truths -

existing apart from our minds and discoverable through impartial judgment -

has grown increasingly untenable. The rightness or wrongness of every

situation must be the ingrained strength to conclude choice. Self-interest

can become a trap to create a primate mentality. Transcendental reasoning

characterizes devotion to the principles of God. There can be no claim to

different principles. Truth has no corruption. There is an eternal contrast

between making the right choice and making the choice right.

To remain faithful to God requires a conscious and ongoing choice to

prioritize God's will above all else, even during challenging times,

demonstrating unwavering trust and loyalty through consistent actions and

commitment to living according to His teachings; essentially, it's a deliberate

decision to actively engage with our faith and live a life aligned with our

spiritual beliefs, regardless of external circumstances. We must choose to

be faithful regardless. Life is an aggregate of all our choices. Making the

right choices sometimes involves going through pain, discomfort, and

requires effort. The portal of eternity opens only in response to the freewill

choice of the freewill sons of the God of free will. Understand the strength

of choice, its limitless potential. Our life might not be what we choose it to

be but God gives us the choice to enter into eternal life or not.

God created mankind in His own image. Six thousand years of sin have

almost obliterated that divine image. Virtually the only part of the image of

God that we still have is the power of choice. The power of choice was God's

gift to Adam and Eve, and He has not allowed Satan to take that away from

the human race. And because we still have that gift, all eternity is open before

us. And the best choice we can ever make is in choosing to trust God to do

the best thing. The power of that choice is most effective only as we choose

to fully submit our will to the control of Jesus Christ. Then, all that which we

cannot do he has permission to enter our lives with power, to do for us what

we have no power to do. Let us choose to us judgment: let us know among

ourselves what is good.

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⛰ Go Deeper

This reflection is part of a larger Bible-based study on faith and transformation.

👉 Read more at OnlineBibleCourse.com

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