Time to Choose...

Take a step back, look around you, and examine yourself why are you here why are you doing what you are doing … Are you doing everything you do for the glory of God, or is that only the show you put on for the public to see, are you only the good little church kid when others are watching, then someone who smokes, does drugs, drinks, gets drunk, or indulges in lustful pleasures, when nobody is watching?

Our God calls us to be more, he calls us his children, he calls us blessed. As the apostle Paul wrote in Colossians 3:23-25:

23Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, 24since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. 25Anyone who does wrong will be repaid for his wrong, and there is no favoritism.

Now I don’t think that we should choose to serve God because of our fear of being punished, but out of love and respect for the God who loves us and created us. We need to die to our selves, and live through Christ. As the apostle Paul wrote in Colossians 3:1-4

1Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. 2Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. 3For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. 4When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

Once we have received Christ as our Lord and Savior we need to choose what we are to die to, since God has given us the gift of free choice we should not abuse it, we should learn to align our desire with God’s will as the apostle Paul wrote in Colossians 3: 5-11

5Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. 6Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. 7You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. 8But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. 9Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices 10and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. 11Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.

We as Christians are called to a higher standard we are called to be people that do not indulge in sexual immorality, or lust; "But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people.” Ephesians 5:3, to fulfill our evil desires and greed; “A greedy man stirs up dissension, but he who trusts in the LORD will prosper. Proverbs 28:2, we are called not to have idols; “You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below” Exodus 20:4, what is considered and idol: anything that consumes your life and turns your heart away from God’s purpose. We must also learn to rid our selves from anger, rage malice, slander and filthy language.

As Christians we have chosen to uphold the name of Christ, we have chosen to say that we are believers we have chosen to hold ourselves at a higher standard than that which we hold others to. We choose to be all that we can be by being called to be all that we can be through Him. We are called to love the people of this world for love is the greatest of all the commandments as the apostle Paul wrote in Colossians 3:12-14:

12Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

I feel that God places a lot of emphasis on love, because if you can learn to love you have already learned how to be all that he has called you to be as the apostle Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 1:13;
1If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames,] but have not love, I gain nothing.
4Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
8Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. 11When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. 12Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
13And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

Lately God has been placing upon my heart this passion to know the difference between will (meaning his will) and desire (meaning my desire). I have learned that there is a distinct difference between that which I think is the best way to go about doing things and the way in which God thinks is the best way of doing things. This has been incredibly hard for me to grasp I have always thought and believed that God will never take me where his grace or his will, will not protect me. His will is the supreme power, he knows all and sees all and loves me through everything …
Now that I know that God has a will and that I should submit to his will… but how do I know what his will is? How do I know that I am making the right decision, and that in reality I am not choosing my own desire over his will? I know that I have plans for my life I know that I want to get a nursing degree at TMCC, then I want to transfer to UNR to get my bachelors degree in nursing, get a stable job, get my Masters degree and somewhere in the midst of all this or before that or after that get married start a family, be a part time nurse and home school my kids. But how in the world am I supposed to know that this is the same plan that God has for my life?

All my longings lie open before you, O Lord;
My sighing is not hidden from you.
My heart pounds, my strength fails me;
Even the light has gone from my eyes…
You will answer, O Lord my God
Psalms 38:9-10,15

If my people, who are called by my name,
will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways,
then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.
2 Chronicles 7:14

You will seek me and find me
when you seek me with all your heart.
Jeremiah 29:13

Call to me and I will answer you
Jeremiah 33:3

Before they call I will answer;
while they are still speaking I will hear
Isaiah 65:24

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declared the Lord,
“plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future”
Jeremiah 29:11

I find comfort in these verses that God is leading me to be all that I can be though him! I find myself asking why I am choosing this, or why I am doing what I am doing, and I take comfort in the fact that God hears me, he knows the desires of my heart, and I know that he will answer me, I know that it is not always in the way that I think is the best, but God’s will is perfect, there is no flaw in Him there is no mistake that I can make that will make God abandon his will for me. I have chosen to be a follower of Christ and I will do everything in my power to glorify his name through me and my actions, both when no one is looking as well as when others are watching…
Now what about you have you have you adjusted your life? Now is the time pick a side God or no God, just remember that this decision effects your entire life, if and when you choose to be a follow of Christ you can no longer live as those who do not know Christ, you must change who you are, you must change the desires of your heart you must choose not to smoke, do drugs, get drunk, or indulges in lustful pleasures, when nobody is watching. This is who you should be once you proclaim yourself to be a follower of Christ. Who are you? Who do you choose to be? Who do you choose to follow? Who do you choose to serve? God gives us the freedom choice, now the choice is yours, you choose heaven or hell?

1Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude, because he who has suffered in his body is done with sin. 2As a result, he does not live the rest of his earthly life for evil human desires, but rather for the will of God. 3For you have spent enough time in the past doing what pagans choose to do—living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing and detestable idolatry. 4They think it strange that you do not plunge with them into the same flood of dissipation, and they heap abuse on you. 5But they will have to give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. 6For this is the reason the gospel was preached even to those who are now dead, so that they might be judged according to men in regard to the body, but live according to
1 Peter 4:1-6