Posts Tagged ‘Choice’

1
Jul

Bible Devotions From Romans 6

Posted by: admin    in Romans

Once again I want to emphasize the great contrast that My servant Paul demonstrates in this portion between what it means to be under law and what it means to be under grace. He points out that under law there is a state of judgment and condemnation, because the law does not provide the power to obey, as is required by its regulations, and therefore it places condemnation upon the one who falls short. But under grace there is no condemnation, because the demands of the law have been fulfilled in your behalf by My Son, and through Him you are not only set free from the condemnation of a broken law, but you are empowered with a new heart, a new nature that is truly the heart and the nature of My Son. By that new heart you are empowered to obey, not by self-effort but by the choice that is given to you in Him. That choice is the gift and the fruit of your freedom. My servant also points out that under law you are slaves to sin and that slavery leads to death. But under grace you are slaves to righteousness that leads to holiness and life. This means that you, as slaves to righteousness, have real freedom, for the slavery to sin involved you in offering your body to impurity and ever-increasing wickedness. But the slavery to righteousness that comes through grace, leads to the very opposite of impurity and wickedness, that is holiness. So one way, the way of law, keeps you bound to sin and leads to death. This death is not, first of all, that apparent cessation of your earthly life. It is rather the death which is involved in separation from Me, from My fellowship, now and eventually from My fellowship for all eternity. In contrast, the way of grace that produces righteousness leads to holiness, and My servant declares it results in eternal life. And this means fellowship with Me now and throughout eternity. It also means the transformation of your inner man that manifests itself in outward behavior that reflects the life of My Son. Another contrast that My servant presents here is that when you were slaves to sin, you had no choice but to obey its dictates. This was because it was not merely the transgression of regulations of the righteous demands of the law, but it was also the very character of your nature. You may think that this is somewhat of an exaggeration, because there are many who profess outwardly to be law abiding and God fearing, but remember that I have declared that I look upon the heart. I know and weigh it not merely by some outward standard of what seems to be, but rather have I not said that I search and know the heart and have found it to be deceitful and desperately wicked? And have I not declared that all have sinned and fallen short, that all have gone astray, that by human effort there are none that are righteous? But in contrast, the way of grace grants a new heart that loves righteousness and with this there is a new and genuine freedom of choice, and that freedom enables one to run from the slavery of sin, and the condemnation of the law to receive, not as wages but as a free gift, the way of eternal life. And thus, in these words of great contrast, there is the appeal to the one who has embraced the way of grace, not only to understand the great benefits of that way, but to choose it, to cleave to it and never to turn back to the way of slavery to sin, the way that involves self-effort in the keeping of laws; the way that pays the wages of death rather than be granted My gift of eternal life. Now, as you consider this great contrast, ever keep in mind and in heart the great benefit that is yours to choose the way of life and to continually, I say continually, reckon yourself dead to the other way.

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17
Jun

Bible Devotions From Matthew 20:17-27

Posted by: admin    in Matthew

You have for yourself nourished the desire for recognition, for some place of importance, for personal exaltation. And you My daughter, though this has not been your desire for yourself, yet have you not in some measure desired that others might recognize your husband? And you see here from this portion that it was not different for the original disciples of My Son. For the two sons of Zebedee desired the chief places of honor and the others, though they did not make such a request, were indignant at the two.

This prompted My Son to explain to them that honor in My Kingdom was for the one who did not seek it, but rather humbled himself to serve. But you know that no one is able to prize or attain the place and the heart of a servant naturally. One cannot simply achieve this by his own effort. You see that my Son explained that He had come to serve and that the goal of this service was the laying down of His life. And He had announced already to them that this involved suffering and death of the cross. This was the cup that He had to drink in order to carry His serving mission to its completion. But you see that He declares that the disciples will share in His cup. But the process was different for them, for My Son came already with the heart of a servant. From His conception and birth He had already entered into the humility that enabled Him to carry out His mission. But for you and for all those who would truly follow Him, the process that brings you to the heart of the servant is the process of bringing you down and away from the desire for exaltation to the ultimate goal of being in your hearts a true servant who is willing to lay your life down. And how is this affected within you but that the same desire which brought My Son into the world as a servant and finally to the cross should be accomplished in your own hearts. And this would be the desire to please Me above all other desires. And when the heart of My Son more and more possesses your own heart, you will have the same desire as motivated Him to be the servant and to lay His life down. As My servant Paul wrote to the Philippians, that they were to have the same attitude as My Son who humbled Himself, so can this be the attitude of heart of everyone who chooses it. And just as He did not leave those first disciples ignorant of the process and the cost for obtaining this attitude of heart, so am I not leaving you ignorant.

The choice is before you, the cost is great, but the glory and the prize of doing My will is greater still. And I am saying to you, as My Son declared clearly to His disciples, that this is that to which you are being called.

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2
Apr

Bible Devotions From Ruth 1-4

Posted by: admin    in Ruth

What prompted faith in Ruth to cling to Naomi and to be willing to leave all that was familiar to her to go to a strange land and unfamiliar people?

Was it not her deep love for Naomi, a love that overlooked her bitterness and a love that resisted Naomi’s entreaties to go back? And you see that in this love and the faith that it produced, it stirred in Ruth the decision to turn her back upon the gods of Moab and to embrace Me as her God. And you see in Ruth that this love and this faith overcame all of the uncertainties that seemed to face these two women in the future. Not only this, but it also overcame the challenges and the obstacles that existed in Naomi’s state of soul: her bitterness, her hopelessness and her unbelief.

For you see that Naomi attributed all of her loss to Me and she was even willing to send her daughter-in-law back to the gods of Moab. Her unbelief and her bitterness blinded her to My kindness, so that she could not believe that there could be a good future for both of them and the possibility of a good husband for Ruth. She was so blinded by the condition of her soul, that she could no longer believe in My kindness, and she did not even remember the law of the kinsmen redeemer that I had provided for My people. Her difficult circumstances and her bitterness completely colored her outlook upon life and her future. And you see that in spite of being reared in a pagan situation, that the love that had been born in Ruth’s heart, prompted faith for the future and a willingness to brave uncertainties. Is there not an amazing contrast here, that the woman from Israel brought up with the knowledge and truth that came from Me was bitter and unbelieving, and the Gentile woman brought up in the darkness of idolatry, through love and faith exercised those blessed virtues by clinging to her mother-in-law and braving the uncertainties of the future.

And you see that through this she became the vehicle of My blessing to restore Naomi, and she also became a vessel of great honor to be the fore- bearer of Israel’s great King and of her Messiah. I want you to recognize that this portion declares very clearly the truth that I am the Lord of all who trust Me, and that I am the Redeemer and the Restorer of those who will look to Me. It was not the background of Naomi and Ruth that determined their choices or the outcome of their lives. For the good background of Naomi did not deter her from bitterness and unbelief, and the idolatrous background of Ruth did not hinder her from genuine love and faith. It was rather the choice that came out of the heart that truly made the difference. And you see how that Ruth’s good choice was even the means of redeeming the bad consequences of Naomi’s bitter attitude. And is it not true today, that I am the same Lord to all who will call upon Me in truth, and that I will for those who do so, redeem the most unpromising of circumstances?

Can you take comfort and encouragement from this, since you have been given so much more light and blessing from My hand than those who lived in the days of the judges?

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