around his community, his church, and the nation through his teaching and his witness. To me, this is proof that life is choice.
He could have stayed where he was and said, “I can’t help it. My mamma was shot when I was seven. I was raised in sin and crime. What do you expect?” I expect you to choose to get out! “I can’t help it.” Yes, you can because you are created in the likeness and image of God . He has set before you life and death, blessing and cursing. You choose which one you are going to have. Every person has this choice.
A N I NFUSION OF H OPE IN M Y L IFE
I was raised without the knowledge of God. I believed in God, but I had no knowledge of God or His Word. At thirteen years of age, I was drinking, smoking pot, and using drugs. I was trying to have fun. I figured life existed so I could get high, have fun, and if I died high, then I would die good!
After a couple of jobs as the dish washer at Denny’s, the car washer at a local dealership, and the Spanaway drug dealer, I was nineteen and I was burnt out. It didn’t work. Nothing I tried had worked at making me forget my problems or find happiness. Nothing was producing the kind of life I wanted. I ended up in jail too many times to count and was all messed up with drugs, crime, and depression. I was confronted with life and death, blessing and cursing. A man told me that I could continue to be the way I was, or I could choose something different. I chose, “Whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Romans 10:13).
H OW Y OU L IVE I S Y OUR C HOICE
The divine gift of choosing how you will live can be buried in such thoughts as:
• I am a victim.
• I can’t help it.
• It’s my circumstances.
• It’s my age.
• It’s my race.
Under all of these lies is a divine gift that makes you like God, with a will to choose life or death, blessing or cursing, poverty or prosperity, sickness or health. You have the privilege of making a choice.
The secular world tries to escape the reality that man has a will. They blame genetics, the environment, or the government. The truth is, each of us is who we are because of our choices.
You are not a heroin addict because of genetics or hormones. You are a heroin addict because of your choices. You are not an alcoholic because of your hormones, genetics, or anything else. You are an alcoholic by choice. You may think some people become alcoholics easier than others, but that doesn’t take away the choice required to follow that lifestyle. Some people gain weight easier than others, but we still make choices in diet and exercise.
If we were to turn back your life, we would find where relationships with others have affected and influenced you in such a way that your choices have caused you to become carnal. That doesn’t mean you are a wicked, evil, negative person. It just means you made choices to end up in a very dangerous lifestyle.
Your “will” affects every area of life. Joshua said:
And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.
Joshua 24:15
In modern society, we want to hope everything works out okay based on genetics and the environmental influence. Joshua says, it is your choice . Our lives reveal our choices.
M ARY M ADE A C HOICE
Remember when Jesus went into a certain village and paid a visit to the home of Mary and Martha? While Mary made a choice to sit at Jesus’ feet and hear the Word, Martha was caught up in natural preparations. Let’s read this account in Luke 10:38-42:
Now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus’ feet and heard His word. But Martha was distracted with much
He could have stayed where he was and said, “I can’t help it. My mamma was shot when I was seven. I was raised in sin and crime. What do you expect?” I expect you to choose to get out! “I can’t help it.” Yes, you can because you are created in the likeness and image of God . He has set before you life and death, blessing and cursing. You choose which one you are going to have. Every person has this choice.
A N I NFUSION OF H OPE IN M Y L IFE
I was raised without the knowledge of God. I believed in God, but I had no knowledge of God or His Word. At thirteen years of age, I was drinking, smoking pot, and using drugs. I was trying to have fun. I figured life existed so I could get high, have fun, and if I died high, then I would die good!
After a couple of jobs as the dish washer at Denny’s, the car washer at a local dealership, and the Spanaway drug dealer, I was nineteen and I was burnt out. It didn’t work. Nothing I tried had worked at making me forget my problems or find happiness. Nothing was producing the kind of life I wanted. I ended up in jail too many times to count and was all messed up with drugs, crime, and depression. I was confronted with life and death, blessing and cursing. A man told me that I could continue to be the way I was, or I could choose something different. I chose, “Whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Romans 10:13).
H OW Y OU L IVE I S Y OUR C HOICE
The divine gift of choosing how you will live can be buried in such thoughts as:
• I am a victim.
• I can’t help it.
• It’s my circumstances.
• It’s my age.
• It’s my race.
Under all of these lies is a divine gift that makes you like God, with a will to choose life or death, blessing or cursing, poverty or prosperity, sickness or health. You have the privilege of making a choice.
The secular world tries to escape the reality that man has a will. They blame genetics, the environment, or the government. The truth is, each of us is who we are because of our choices.
You are not a heroin addict because of genetics or hormones. You are a heroin addict because of your choices. You are not an alcoholic because of your hormones, genetics, or anything else. You are an alcoholic by choice. You may think some people become alcoholics easier than others, but that doesn’t take away the choice required to follow that lifestyle. Some people gain weight easier than others, but we still make choices in diet and exercise.
If we were to turn back your life, we would find where relationships with others have affected and influenced you in such a way that your choices have caused you to become carnal. That doesn’t mean you are a wicked, evil, negative person. It just means you made choices to end up in a very dangerous lifestyle.
Your “will” affects every area of life. Joshua said:
And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.
Joshua 24:15
In modern society, we want to hope everything works out okay based on genetics and the environmental influence. Joshua says, it is your choice . Our lives reveal our choices.
M ARY M ADE A C HOICE
Remember when Jesus went into a certain village and paid a visit to the home of Mary and Martha? While Mary made a choice to sit at Jesus’ feet and hear the Word, Martha was caught up in natural preparations. Let’s read this account in Luke 10:38-42:
Now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus’ feet and heard His word. But Martha was distracted with much
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