8-20-2016

Good Morning All!!          

             Deuteronomy 30:19; “I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live”

      If there is one thing that we have in the United States it is choice.  You cannot ever just order something without the person waiting on you asking you a lot of questions.  Even a glass of water will often get the question of lemon or no lemon.  Sometimes ordering coffee can take longer than drinking it.  If you go to a restaurant and order a hamburger and fries, well even lawyers ask fewer questions.  So we are used to choices and we make then; sometimes they are not always the best choices in the world. 

    One of the amazing things about our forgiveness is that we now have a choice.  When we were lost, we had no choice.  We were only lost.  We were left to go on the journey of life alone.  We were unable to call upon God for his grace and peace.  We had no hope.  We were lost.  We had no options.

    Jesus’ death and resurrection changes everything, even our ability to choose.  Jesus came to bring us life even abundant life.  Jesus came to bring you into the kingdom of God and to give you his peace and hope.  It is yours, given to you by grace through faith.  You can hold it, cling to it, rely on, relish it and revel in its tremendous joy.  It is yours, unless you don’t want it; then walk away.

    We still walk on our path of life, the journey which began at our birth and will change either upon our death or Christ’s return whichever comes first.  Jesus has brought us back into God’s family.  God has sent his Spirit to walk with you, to guide you along the way and to keep you mindful of all that God has, is, and will do for you in this life and beyond.  God offers to hear our prayers and to answer them.  Jesus came to lift the burden of hopelessness.  He came to give you all this.  He came to give you the blessings to live this life as a redeemed child of God.

    Yet you can walk away.  You can choose to remain in the old life.  You can choose death.  You can choose to walk through life on your own.  You can face all of life’s struggles and challenges on your own but why?  You have been given the wonderful mercy of God, why walk away?

    Many do; but that is what a choice is, staying and clinging to God’s wonderful mercy or walking away and facing life alone.  We have the choice; we get to choose.  God gives us our salvation but we can throw it away or we can cling to his promise and live in his peace.

Gracious Lord, you came to this world to redeem us from sin.  You give us the freedom to live in your righteous kingdom or to turn our back and walk away.  Guide me by your Spirit to cling to you.  Guide me to trust in your wondrous promise.  In your precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret