We Get To Choose

The greatest gift God gave to mankind is the right to choose.  We get to choose to be faithful or to run around on our spouse.  We get to choose to tell the truth or to tell lies.  We get to choose to be kind or to be offended and bitter.  We get to choose to forgive or to hold onto unforgiveness.  We get to choose to be straight or to be gay.  We get to choose to get married or to move in with our boyfriend.  The choice is ours.  That is free will, and it is amazing.

However, I happen to believe that there is an absolute set of rules that govern what is right and what is wrong, and there are consequences to every choice we make.  Now, is my opinion valid?  I don't know.  I believe it is with all my heart.  That is what moves me.  I live by these rules, and I try to teach these rules to others, but when I tell someone that the God of heaven and earth put together a set of rules that will govern everyone, people get offended.  They don't want to hear what I have to say.  But, these are not my rules, they are His.  I just speak the truth as I know it.  People do not have to believe what I say, and they do not have to follow what I say.  That is free will.  But, it is only the truth that will set people free, and I will not withhold the truth from anyone, no matter what they think about me or about the God I serve.

1 Corinthians 6:9-11 says, "Don't you realize that those who do wrong will not inherit the Kingdom of God?  Don't fool yourselves.  Those who indulge in sexual sin, or who worship idols, or commit adultry, or are male prostitutes, or practice homosexuality, or are thieves, or greedy people, or drunkards, or are abusive, or cheat people - none of these will inherit the Kingdom of God.  Some of you were once like that.  But you were cleansed; you were made holy; you were made right with God by calling on the name of the LORD Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God."

There are a set of standards that we who will inherit the Kingdom of God will all adhere to.  Those of us who induldge in sexual promiscuity and greed and idolitry and those who lie and cheat will never inherit the Kingdom of God.  We cannot fool ourselves.  We will reap what we sow.  And it is O.K. as long as we know what we are doing.  However, the enemy has blinded our eyes and dulled our hearing so that we cannot see or hear the truth.  As long as we know the truth, let us choose.  Choose this day whom you will serve, but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.

So we all have a very real enemy who wants to kill us, steal from us, and destroy us.  His only weapon is the lie.  If he can make us believe the lie, he has us, but if we know the truth, the truth will set us free.  We have to overcome the lies that are bombarding us.  Revelations 21:5-8 says, "And the One sitting on the trhrone said, "Look, I am making everything new!"  And then He said to me, "Write this down, for what I tell you is trustworthy and true."  And He also said, "It is finished!  I am the Alpha and the Omega - the Beginning and the End.  To all who are thirsty I will give freely from the springs of the water of life.  All who are victorious will inherit all these blessings, and I will be their God, and they will be My children."

"But cowards, unbelievers, the corrupt, murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice witchcraft, idol worshipers, and all liars - their fate is in the fiery lake of burning sulfur.  This is the second death."  

Friends, I will love you no matter what you choose.  Free will is an amazing gift.  We each get to choose life or to choose death.  We get to choose blessings or we choose cursings.  The choice is ours, and I respect your choice.  But we are living in a day and a time where if we even say there are consequences or that there is a standard of right and wrong, this will land us in hot water.  I guess I will stay in the boiling pot because I love you guys so much.  I will never withhold the truth that could set you free.

Blessings, my friends.  May God open your eyes that you may be able to see and your ears that you may be able to hear and your heart that you may understand what He is trying to say.

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