Seven Reasons Why We Know God Loves Us (Part 2 of 7)
2. Free Will.
Decisions. Decisions. Decisions.
Yesterday some of our team members met to do some detailed planning for our September 29th Pearls of Promise “Level-Up” Women’s Conference, and for a while we were parked on décor.
“What color scheme do we want?”
“Should we have teal flowers on the wall?”
I didn’t feel that resonated with a “fighting the battle” theme, but then we decided to incorporate camoflauge into our decorations. Now we’re talking! That seemed appropriate for a conference with a goal of warring against those things that try to take us down.
But here’s a horrifying thought. What if there were no decisions to make?
What if everything was decided for us? What to wear. Where to work. Who to marry.
What if we were God’s robots, who said and did everything he programmed us to say and do?
That would be boring, right? However, we’d probably not know the difference if our minds worked that way.
Fortunately, they don’t. Out of God’s love for us, he gave us free will, but with that gift comes a responsibility. He allowed it because he wants us to choose Him.
He desires for us to pick righteousness, not evil; he wants our navigation set on the narrow path, not the wide, destructive route. He longs for us to decide to love Him with all our hearts, mind and strength, and when we do, Psalm 147:11 says it makes Him happy. “The Lord delights in those who fear him, who put their hope in his unfailing love” (Psalm 147:11).
Think back to your school days about the first time someone of the opposite sex, who you secretly liked, liked you back. Didn’t that make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside? That is how your heavenly Father feels when, out of our free will, we choose to believe in Him and want to follow His Son, Jesus.
The negative side to free well is that some people choose wrongly. They opt to do evil. They decide to hurt people. And they don’t choose their Maker. I know all of that breaks God’s heart, but it was the price of His sacrifice to give us free will.
Today, I want you to chew on this aspect of God’s love for you and thank Him for giving you a right to choose. Ask Him daily to help you to never abuse this gift of free will, and to make choices that will further His kingdom.
“Seek the LORD while he may be found; call on him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake their ways and the unrighteous their thoughts. Let them turn to the LORD, and he will have mercy on them, and to our God, for he will freely pardon” (Isaiah 55:67).
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Friends, we want to invite you to our annual “Level-Up Women’s Conference coming up September 29th at New Day Church in Southlake. Level-Up your identity in Christ, Level-up your warrior heart to fight every day battles, and Level-down the wounds in your life! Today-Tuesday, you can buy one ticket and receive the second one for ½ off. Just go to our events page, follow the link and use the promo code: LevelUp at: http://pearlsofpromiseministries.com/events/
Also, Lisa’s book, The Only Father I Ever Knew: How a Fatherless Child Finally Found True Love is now out on Amazon. Get your copy today! https://www.amazon.com/Only-Father-Ever-Knew-Fatherless/dp/1724779273/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1534245891&sr=8-1&keywords=The+Only+Father+I+Ever+Knew