SV#38life'spathpt2
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last week we took some time...
...to consider the plan that our LORD has for us...
we looked at...
even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will,
we learned from this passage...
...what God’s plan for us is...
...to make us holy and blameless before Him...
His desire is that we become a people...
...worthy of being with Him...
...so because we can’t be those types of people...
...He make a way for us to be transformed...
He did this by...
...uniting us with Christ...
For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.
when we are saved...
...we are gifted with ...
...the Holy Spirit...
...He dwells within our hearts...
...and when this happens...
...we are part of a marvelous mystery...
...we are united with Christ...
that is how our hears are made worthy...
… that is how we are make Holy and blameless before God...
...it is our union with Jesus...
this union also shows us the deep love He has for us...
...it shows us why He wants this for us...
...why He goes to such lengths to make us holy..
...why He was willing to suffer so much to make us blameless...
...so that He can be with us...
...and us with Him...
...this is how much our Holy Father loves us...
...that He came up with a way...
...to free us from our sin...
...and create in us a heart that...
...is completely transformed...
...from those who hated Him...
...to those who love Him...
this is the start of the plan...
...this gets our hearts right with Him...
but what about our minds...
...our bodies...
there is this part of the plan of God...
...it is a big word...
...it is sanctification...
this is the process of God...
...making us Holy...
this is the fancy word...
...for what we go through in this life...
...after we are Christians...
...after we become children of God...
it is the part of our lives...
...where God uses all we go through to help us...
...understand and trust and enjoy Him more...
we can see examples of the process in out lives...
...we could all give examples of how...
...we watched God move in ways that only He could...
...and we can all share how that increased our...
...love and commitment to Him...
...we can all also look at the hard times in our lives...
...and see how we learned through them...
...that when our God promises to deliver us...
...and uphold us...
...and provide for us...
...that He means it...
...we know that when we go through those hard times...
...it increased our trust and love for Him...
this is all well and good...
...this is amazing actually...
...but is does raise a question...
...what about our choices...
...we have a God with a plan...
...so how do our choices relate to that plan...
do we have a God...
...who goes with the flow...
...one who has a general plan in mind for us...
...is watching from above...
...and adjusts the plan...
...based on the choices we make...
like if we choose something wrong...
...something sinful...
...does God react to that...
...like He is doing some damage control...
...or is there something else going on...
what I want to do with our time this PM...
...is seek to answer one question about God’s plan for us...
...do our bad choices screw up the plan of God?
...this is an important question...
...because I feel like a lot of people...
...carry a burden of guilt...
...with them because of past bad choices...
it is so easy for us to look at the choices we have made...
...and feel bad...
...because of what those choices did to us...
...our do to those we love...
we can also look at the good choices we made...
...and wonder to ourselves...
...what would life be like...
...if i had not made that choice...
have you ever looked at a choice you made ...
...and said “boy I am glad I chose that”...
as Christians...
...we can look back into our past...
...and see the hand of God at work...
...we can see things come to pass...
...that could not have happened unless...
...our Father was behind it...
as Christians...
...we need to understand
...how our choices fit into the plan of our Holy Father...
...to make us holy and blameless...
i will admit...
...that there is a mystery to this...
...and also there is much more to explore...
...in this topic
...we have an almighty and Holy and perfect God...
...who has a plan...
...and that plan will come to pass...
as Phil. 1 6 tells us
And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.
yet...
...we still have the ability to choose...
...we can still make choices that lead us away...
...or guide us to our Holy Father...
the bible has a lot to say about choice...
...it tells us what happens when we make righteous choices...
...it tells us what happens what happens when...
...we make the not so righteous ones...
...it tells us that our choices matter...
...and are important...
we get this picture of a journey...
...the journey of life...
...as a path...
...and as we walk this path...
...there are forks in the road...
...and we need to chose which way to go...
...one of these paths lead us closer to God...
...while the other one leads us away from Him...
sometimes we know which is which...
...other times it is harder to tell...
but what if the path is different...
...what if it is not a path with many forks...
...but rather a winding path...
...one that twists and turns...
...and winds through this life....
...what if our path in this life is already determined...
...and leads right where the LORD wishes it to...
what if the plan of God...
...to make us Holy and blameless...
...is not a general plan...
...but a detailed plan...
so...
...this would mean that all the stuff...
...that happens in our lives...
...all the good and bad...
...all the hard and easy...
...even our choices...
...are all known...
...by God...
...beforehand...
...and it is all part of the plan...
...we see this mentioned in PS. 139
O Lord, you have searched me and known me! You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar. You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways. Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O Lord, you know it altogether. You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain it.
Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.
these passages show us...
...how deliberate the plan of God is for us...
...and how He knows the choices we make...
...before we make them...
...it shows that our choices are part of His plan...
so...
...the next big question is...
... what is the point of choice then...
...why even bother with giving us the ability to choose...
...if it is all planned out anyway...
...the answer is that our choices are part of HIs plan...
...they are an important part...
here is why I think choice is important...
if i told you...
...you had to like broccoli...
...that you had to like it...
...because it is good for you...
...how would most of us respond...
...we would rebel...
...why...
...because we really don’t like broccoli...
...probably not...
...most likely...
...we would decide not to like broccoli...
...because we where told we had to...
the point i am making here...
...is that you can not force a person into love...
...you can force them into service...
...you can force them into obedience...
...but you can not force someone to love you...
...that has to be our choice...
...i would venture a guess...
...that there is something in everyone life...
...that as a child they hated...
...but when they became an adult...
...and where able to choose that thing...
...they started to like it...
...it is the same thing spiritually...
...if we are to fall in love with God...
...i mean complete devoted...
...nothing else will do love...
...we need to choose Him...
...our God does not want servants...
...He does not want minions...
...He wants lovers...
...He wants friends...
...He wants children that cherish and love Him...
always remember...
...this is not because He needs this...
...but because He wants it...
...we do not have a God...
...who is weak...
...one who needs us to feel good...
we have a perfect and holy and self sustaining God...
...who’s love is so great...
...that He wants us to experience it...
...this plan for us...
...it is not for Him...
...it is for us...
...when God is glorified in our lives...
...when He is the central part of our existence...
...when we live the christian life...
...in obedience to Him...
...it makes us love Him more and more...
...it is all put into place for us...
...so we may enjoy a life and eternity with Him...
let me give you an example from my life ...
...one that shows how God’s plan is supreme...
...and also how our choices fit into that plan...
...how i came to ECC...
grew up in a church with my parents...
...working @ wal mart...
...meet an older girl...
...not a strong christian...
...but I tell her I am...
...we start going to church at each others church...
...when we got married...
...chose her church...
...7 yrs later...
...got divorced...
...she left...
...i stayed...
...throughout the years of me being a part of this church...
...i was taught how to pursue God...
...how to teach...
...how to be part of a church...
...i made the closest friends I ever had...
...a family that has stood with me and I with them...
...through the hard times in life...
do you see how God works...
...how He has a plan...
...He had everything figured out...
...He knew where I would grow up...
...when I would move...
...HE knew that I would choose a woman to marry...
...that I should not have married...
...He knew why I chose that...
...and He changed my heart though that...
...He knew where she would choose to take me to church...
...and He knew what would happen through my time there...
...He knew how He was going to use the church to grow and use me...
...how he was going to use my choices to put put me here...
...How He was going to use everything I had learned...
... to prepare me to be a husband...
... for a Godly woman who is going to walk into the future with me...
...it was through that time where i learned...
...that God really did love me...
...where His love for me...
...moves from a theory to reality...
...it would be easy for me to feel guilty...
...about how I chose to live...
...about the choices i made...
easy for me to let that guilt...
...drive my emotions...
...and become the focus of my heart...
...but when I look at it from a different angle...
...from what God is doing in my life...
...I see that HE has a plan...
...that that plan is good...
...and that He uses everything...
...even my bad choices...
...to lead me to Him...
...this wonderful truth is not an excuse to just do whatever we want...
...our choices matter...
...we need to choose God...
...choose Him over and over again...
...because He is the best choice...
HE loves us so completely...
...that HE is willing to use every part of our experience in this life...
....to lead us to Him...
...we need to see that...
...we need to embrace that...
we need to choose Him...
...that we may truly love Him...
