GLORY IN LIBERTY

I am crucified with Christ: nevertherless I live ; yet not I , but Christ liveth in me : and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God , who loved me, and gave himself for me. Galatians 2 : 20

The ability to analyse various options before arriving at reasonable conclusions and choices; sets Man apart from other creatures.
Liberty to choose a course of action , is one of the benefits bestowed on Man by God. Like any good parent would do, the gift given to a child is accompanied by a short instruction from the parent on how the child should use the gift.

When the relationship between God and Man started in the Garden, we see a loving God ; a Father who gave human beings the power to freely choose whether to accept or not , God as their Guide and their Father .
In the beginning , Man was given the role of “having dominion” over all the earth and its other creatures.
In addition to this responsibility , Man had the free will to choose between Obedience and Disobedience to God’s Law.
This freewill to choose between Life and Death was to be the deciding factor for the existence of Man’s relationship with God .
"Can two walk(or work)together except they are in agreement?"
The choice given to man was a simple one : to eat or not to eat.
“ Eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of good and evil and die ; or keep your fingers to yourselves , leave the fruit alone , zip up your mouth , keep moving and live !”
Genesis 2: 15 – 17.
To make this decision easy for Adam and Eve , God gave them thousands of other trees and shrubs from which they could eat.
It was not as if they were starving ; yet they choose to disobey God; out of their freewill .
They suffered the consequences of that choice during their life time and disobedient Mankind has continued to pay for that Original Sin , even till today.

Then , God sent His Son , Jesus Christ ; to offer Mankind a Way Out : His Salvation plan.
As it was in the beginning, so it is even today; the choice is simple : accept Jesus and live ; reject him and be condemned eternally. John 12: 44 - 50.
To facilitate Man’s choice , God provides GRACE to enable every Man make this right decision .
For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. Philippians 2 : 13.
God has played His own part and then He leaves Mankind to freely decide to be or not to be partakers of the blessings of the Blood Covenant of Jesus Christ ; the Lamb of God , who was slain for the remission of our sins.
God made plain the benefits of this decision- making to enable Man realise the wisdom of MOVING UP from being “ just another of God’s creatures” to the elevated position of “Son ship / Daughter ship” . John 1 :12.
Therefore no human has an excuse for rejecting Jesus Christ.
The beauty in accepting Christ is ; it is by your own volition, for your own good.
No one is compelled to become a Christian by Birth or by threats of ostracism and by threats of death !
Every Christian has the liberty ; if they so choose , not to remain in the Christian Faith.
Every Christian knows that should he or she decide to quit the Faith for anything else ; their families and churches would not rustle up a murder squad to make them go “ missing ” and then deny all knowledge of what has happened to them!

A Believer’s knowledge of the Word of God concerning the repercussions for negative choices ; gives him the Wisdom as to the responsible use of his God – given freewill power to make choices .
For God hath not given us the spirit of fear ; but of power , and of love , and of a sound mind. 2 Timothy 1 :7 .
There are millions of “ways” and lifestyles clamouring for Man’s attention and set up as snares and distrations. Millions have chosen to follow these wrong ways .
But there is only One Way ; Jesus Christ , leading to the Father .
Very few are willing to follow Him to the end. Matthew 7 : 13 ,14.
God has given us the sound mind and power to weigh the consequences of our actions before making choices; so that the Word of God will ,always , remain true.
What man is he that feareth the Lord? Him shall he teach in the way that he shall choose.
His soul shall dwell at ease ; and his seed shall inherit the earth.
The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him ; and he will shew them his covenant . Psalm 25 : 12 – 14.
I appreciate this great privilege of having the power to choose , freely .
The list of alternatives at my disposal , is quite lengthy .
I could have chosen to follow and remained on the wrong way , for life!
I do not cease to thank God that I am counted worthy to be among those human beings who have been given this unmerited favour of believing in the Lord Jesus Christ.
I have chosen to remain a Christian ; not out of fear and coercion and , definitely , not because I want to please or impress anybody.
I could decide to renounce my Faith , shelve my Holy Bible , stop going to church ; stop teaching and preaching , stop writing my blogs !
Nobody in my family or church would beat me or kill me should I decide to do these.
The Beauty of this Faith is that I have the LIBERTY to choose to make this drastic swing ; change to another religion and another lifestyle ; without fearing for my life and without having to go into hiding from my family and my church , for the rest of my life !
What could happen is I would receive a lot of "Why! Why ?!" emails and text messages and counselling!
Of course , I know my family , my friends, my pastor and my entire church would become highly alarmed and fear , greatly, about my mental well being .
They would immediately launch into unrelenting, feverish prayers and deliverance sessions for me!
This scenario is not going to happen because I intend to hold on to this Gift of Love which I have been given by my Lord and Saviour. I know I have made a perfect choice from a sound mind and this Gift shall endure forever .
The call from God to all Mankind remains the same . The Choice is up to you to make.
Deuteronomy 30: 19- 20 , Isaiah 1: 18- 20.
Today , is the your Day of Salvation. Decide now , who you will choose.


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