Posted on 06/16/2004 11:30:17 AM PDT by Frapster
The Incredible Power of Choice
“I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. So choose life in order that you may live, you and your descendants, by loving the Lord your God, by obeying His voice, and by holding fast to Him; for this is your life and the length of your days, that you may live in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them” (Deuteronomy 30:19-20 NAS).
After spending the greater part of my life trying to help people rise up out of their private miseries, I have come to the conclusion that, while there may be countless contributing factors to human misery, most people are the product of their own choices. Enumerable hours of a counselor’s precious time can be wasted trying to help a person resolve hurtful conditions of life when that person, in spite of his protestations, doesn’t want to be free. An old adage says it well: “A person convinced against his will, is of the same opinion still.”
Moses addressed the power of choice by admonishing Israel: “So choose life in order that you may live, you and your descendants.” In his statement he noted:
Freedom in one’s life begins and ends with the ultimate values and ideals of his core belief system. He will not long go beyond his beliefs nor rise above them. The writer of Proverbs correctly assessed their importance: “Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life” (Proverbs 4:23 NKJ). So, then, one’s belief system is the constant monitor of, and the primary contributing factor to, every act of choosing in his life. It determines in every life situation (where a choice is required):
Every choice is a commitment to some kind of action whether it is:
While one might not always determine the circumstances of life that comes upon him, he does have the ability to choose how he will react to or respond in those circumstances, i.e., his attitude. The attitudes he chooses determine his quality of life he experiences while in the grasp of a certain circumstance regardless of whether that circumstance might be considered bad or good at the time. The following is the spiritual formula that Paul gave determining the predisposition of his attitudes by which he viewed his personal circumstances: “Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: everywhere and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need” (Philippians 4:11-12).
Moses spoke of the ultimate effect of one’s attitude: “I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse.” Whether one is blessed or cursed is not determined by the circumstance he is in but by the choices he makes while in those circumstances. A person can rise to his highest hours in the worst of circumstances. Any long-term dysfunction that is the aftermath of hurtful circumstance is inevitably determined by how one perceived them rather than the immediate hurtful or debilitating effect of them on his person. Blessing is always the product of proper attitude rather than circumstantial conditions.
One cannot cling to rights and justifications in the healing process. He must be willing to admit responsibility and personal choice in his failures. Following are some of the typical protestations people make trying to justify their failures:
Effective healing and freedom from bondage can only be effectively achieved when one makes proper choices. The following observations speak of the role of choosing when facing some of the primary issues of life in the healing process:
The healing process takes us back to the appropriateness of the following confession of the Psalmist in a time of personal cleansing and healing: “For I acknowledge my transgressions, And my sin is ever before me. Against You, You only, have I sinned, And done this evil in Your sight That You may be found just when You speak, And blameless when You judge” (Psalms 51:3-4). The essential nature of the Psalmist’s confession had to do with the choices he made that brought about his predicament. He typifies the role of choice in confessing them that he might be cleansed and freed. Freedom, then, depends on choosing—right choosing when we come face to face with God in times of healing.
Thank you
Only if you were the all-powerful, and all-knowing God.
My answer will not be very prompt, as I am leaving for the day. I will attempt to hypothetically answer it later, or tomorrow.....as I have no choice in the matter.
So then salvation goes to the swift and the smart
Jam 1:18 Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.
nevermind - lol - this is pointless
God gives a new heart through the Word of God. We must choose to obey. I Peter 1:22 says men purify their souls in obeying the truth. That does not contradict the fact that the New Testament truth that God saves us through Christ's blood. (Ephesians 5:26, Revelation 1:5) The two concepts do not contradict. I Peter 1:22 emphasizes man's part in the process, Revelation 1:5 emphasizes God's part in the same process. To see both parts expressed side by side in the same place look at Leviticus 20:7-8. Leviticus 20:7 commands the Israelites to sanctify themselves, but the very next verse states that it is God that sanctifies them. We must look at all of what the scriptures say on a subject. All of God's commandments are truth. (Psalms 119:151)
As far as God giving a new heart to whoever He will, if God had his wish, all would be saved.(I Timothy 2:4) as Christ died for all men. (I Timothy 2:6) God is no respector of persons but everyone that worketh righteousness will be accepted of Him. (Acts 10:34-35)
I was waiting for your question, but I guess lol is your best shot...as I said earlier, it is a very difficult question. Thanks again.
Isaiah 64:6;
But we are all like an unclean thing, And all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags; We all fade as a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, Have taken us away.
Sorry, but you do not know the Gospel. Your righteousness is like a used menstrual cloth to God.
What you preach is contrary to the Gospel of Christ whereby man can save himself by working righteousness.
I would encourage those of you who are of the GRPL persuasion to read my post again carefully. I see at least 4 of you have tried to take this humble little thread into a discussion about Hyper Calvanism merely because the thread covers the topic of 'choice'. But I genuinely doubt any of you bothered to read this post and if you did then you thouroughly missed it's intent.
This post is about accountability for ones actions and trying to help people understand why they are where they are as well as how to hopefully address where they are so that they do not end up there again. At least it sets the foundation for it.
I think your posting in this thread is symptomatic of a problem of your concerted efforts to hammer your views repeatedly and the effort is getting away from you. I would have been quite content for this post to have had 1 or 2 or even 0 replies - but I am a little more than irked that you all have decided to hijack this thread.
In the future - please take the time to consider that to which you're responding and please don't hijack my posts to your own ends.
I have made an effort to address this with one of you behind the scenes in PMs but I was told in no uncertain terms that they will post where they want when they want - and while I was stern I thought I was polite in my request to 'desist'.
The Israelites had the Word of God, but most of their hearts were of stone.
We must choose to obey.
Spoken like a true Pelagian who secures his salvation by his own obedience.
I wouldn't try that defense when you stand before Christ on Judgment Day.
I suppose it's too much to ask that you take these conversations to another thread?
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