03/11/23 IT IS YOUR CHOICE

03/11/23 IT IS YOUR CHOICE

WE ARE AS CLOSE TO GOD AS WE CHOOSE TO BE
If you are not as close to Jesus as you use to be or as you could be or as you should be, or as you would like to be, it is not His fault. God wants to draw near to you, but you must respond to His call by drawing near to Him.

James 4:6-10 NKJV
(read passage carefully and especially notice the points I designate with asterisks *).
6 But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: "*God resists the proud, But *gives grace to the humble."
7 Therefore *submit to God. *Resist the devil and he will flee from you.
8 *Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. *Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and *purify your hearts, you double-minded.
9 *Lament and *mourn and *weep! *Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom.
10 *Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and *He will lift you up. 

This requires faith in, and submission to, God's Spirit and God's word. We must renounce our resistance and rejection of God's will. We must confess our rebellion. We must (repent) turn from sin and turn to Christ.

Sinning religion (Satan's religion) wants us to think that we cannot respond to God, that God does not enable us to freely choose faith and obedience, or that God does not hold us accountable for our choices, even as Christians.

REMEMBER, all of the directives, such as, believe, confess, repent, sin not, follow and be pure are commands from God and His word. God does not command that which is impossible for us to do; God does not command us to do that which is evil.

James 1:13-17 NKJV
(especially notice the points I designate with asterisks *)
13 *Let no one say when he is tempted, "I am tempted by God"; for *God cannot be tempted by evil, *nor does He Himself tempt anyone.
14 But *each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed.
15 Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.
16 Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren.
17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. 

Desiring, seeking and asking God to help us believe, confess, repent, sin not, follow Him, and be pure is reasonable and attainable. God enables us to agree and to submit to Himself. 

Romans 12:1-2 NKJV
1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you *present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, *which is your reasonable service.
2 And *do not be conformed to this world, but *be transformed by the renewing of your mind, *that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. 

Submitting to God, obeying God is NOT a work of the flesh, it is not SALVATION BY WORKS. Faith in Christ includes believing, confessing our sins and confessing faith in Christ, repenting of (turning from) sin, choosing righteousness, following Christ, being pure in heart and life. These are God's directives, and obeying God is not evil. Obeying God is not impossible, because God enables us to do that which He commands. In fact, being a Christian results in us keeping His commands and doing that which is pleasing in His sight.

Philippians 2:12-16 NKJV
12 Therefore, my beloved, *as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, *work out your own salvation with fear and trembling;
13 for *it is God who works in you both *to will and *to do for His good pleasure.
14 Do all things without complaining and disputing,
15 that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world,
16 holding fast the word of life, so that I may rejoice in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain or labored in vain. 

We must TAKE TIME to get alone with God. It takes time to read and receive God's word. It takes time to hear God's Spirit. It takes time to search your own heart and surrender to God's will. If our time with God is not producing Christ-likeness, then we need to make our time with God more honest, more personal, more submissive. We need to hear Him and then we need to heed Him.

Don't listen to anyone who tells you that you cannot be all that God wants you to be. God saves us to the uttermost in this present evil world. This is why it is called salvation from sin. 

Hebrews 7:25 NKJV
25 Therefore *He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.  

Matthew 1:21 NKJV
21 And she (Mary) will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, *for He will save His people from their sins.