November 2016 Article: “Your Call and Your Election”

The collective choices of a generation clearly reflect its sentiments. The way that people think at any given time is expressed through their voice by vote. If there are pockets of resistance or individuals who disagree with society’s direction, it serves only as an indication to the level of desperation that influences our need for change. The loss and lack of influence by those who possess the right position create a vacuum to be filled by opposing views that challenge their stance and contradict their position. When personal preferences are not questioned in the light of spiritual authority and absolute truth, every position taken can be justified in one’s own eyes. The spin on the argument in defense of the decision to go the wrong way, even though it may be convincing, only widens the gap away from civility and points towards barbarism. When intellectualism is added to the mix, the result is a sophisticated way of saying nothing well and becoming so broadminded that life itself has lost its meaning.

Thank God for the availability of choices. We are forced to make choices every day, and each momentary choice leads to our final destiny. The question is, where are we headed? How do we expect to get there? Who can tell us if we are on the right track? Throughout the Scriptures, we read of individuals and people groups choosing between two or more options. The consequences of their decisions are clearly revealed as an example and warning to this generation. Yet so many treat life as if historical facts are meaningless and the only thing that matters is how they presently feel. Choices either lead to an open door of opportunities or a closed prison door of slavery.

You have been given the privilege to choose because you were chosen for a purpose and a cause that extends beyond what you currently see. The initial call is Jesus Christ calling you to Himself. Then, out of your entering into right relationship with Him, you are enabled to see and understand life from an altogether different perspective. His everlasting Kingdom becomes your priority, and in time, every decision is measured from the basis of its eternal worth.

“Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble; (11) for so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” 2 Peter 1:10-11

You have been called to elect or choose what God has chosen for you. He has placed before you the options of life and death. It is not death immediate but rather the paths that either lead to life or lead to death. Your children and preceding generations will follow the path that you pave for them. The trends and values of our day will eventually become legalized and institutionalized so that our children will grow up in an environment based upon the pace that you have set. You are voting for more than a president, a congressman, or a senator. You are voting, even before you visit the polling place, by the decisions you are making right now. Who are you voting for with your life? Things can turn around and be different but it requires individuals who will first listen to the call of God. To elect is to choose or to make a choice. Neutrality is also a choice—more specifically, it is a choice not to choose. Then it leaves choices to others to make for us. Your destiny is then guided by chance and not choice. Today, ask God to reveal to you the things that He has chosen for your life, and allow His choice for you to become your choice for yourself.

July 2016 Article: “Freedom Is A Choice”

“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.” Deuteronomy 30:19

 Although we are free to make choices, we are not free to determine the outcome or consequences of the choices that we make. Somewhere down the road we will meet the fruit of past decisions that will remind us of what we once thought and whether we were right or wrong. One writer mentioned that “The road to hell is paved with good intentions,” but we also know that the trail of tears left behind is moistened with regrets. If it were possible to hit the rewind button of life, how many mistakes would we delete? Even though we are the product of past choices, the road of possibility lies ahead to choose to live a better life.

Freedom in choosing ought to be preceded by a careful examination of the facts. Wisdom must be applied because facts alone can be deceiving. How those facts align themselves to absolute truth will determine the outcome of the decision. When words like absolute are used, it suggests that there is an established standard, and if there is an established standard, that standard must be unalterable with an existence that preceded the presentation of facts. Now what or who could this standard be? God alone is that standard and His Word has established it.

Freedoms without boundaries collide and degenerate into chaos. If two are more people are free to do as they please, their pleasures would impose upon the freedoms of other free thinking people. It would require a world consisting of only one inhabitant if people were free to express whatever came to their mind. Trace history and you will see a parallel between what is happening today with the history of ancient Rome. They sought after freedom that was void of an established standard, which is similar to what we see in America today.

“Rome tolerated every abominable practice, embraced every foul idea in the name of freedom and the rights of the common man. Citizens no longer carried on deviant behavior in private, but pridefully displayed it in public. It was those with moral values who could no longer freely walk in a public park without having to witness a revolting display. What happened to the public censors who protected the majority of citizenry from moral decadence? Did freedom have to mean abolishing common decency? Did freedom mean anyone could do anything they wanted anytime they wanted, without consequences?” ― Francine Rivers, A Voice in the Wind

Our daily choices contribute to our final destiny. There are many opportunities ahead of each individual, and God will not completely constrain anyone from doing whatever comes to his or her mind. Yet His Word reminds us that there is a way that appears to be right but the consequences lead to death. To put it simply, life is contained within right decisions and death is contained within wrong decisions. The time will come when the nature of the choices made will completely manifest. And the destiny of the decision maker will be forever sealed! Choose life…choose God!

Meditation: March 15

”The righteous should choose his friends carefully, for the way of the wicked leads them astray.” Proverbs 12:26

The righteous ought to practice the art of carefully choosing their friends. Once the purpose of friendships is understood, each one can be taken seriously. There are commitments made to each other to be genuine and trustworthy at all times. The character of men is similar to a magnet which draws like-minded individuals together. Deceptive people may seek out those that they envy who possess the character that they wish was their own. Yet their deceptive ways have reduced them to mere pretense which leads many who trust them astray. Our influence is either positive or negative. We assimilate the character of the company that we keep. Choose friends carefully because one’s own character is reflected by their choices.