The Gift of Choice. God has given us the gift of free will. We are where we are today because of the choices we’ve made. Throughout the bible God recommends that we choose life by making wise decisions – listening to and obeying His guidance. We are now in a time of new beginnings and God is calling us to choose between the old and the new.
We have been in a time of transition over the past few years. During this time God has been transforming us and preparing us to walk in the fullness of our inheritance. We each have an eternal destiny from, and with, God – if we choose to embrace it.
God has already started to judge His church. Matt 21:43 “Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people, producing the fruit of it.” What will He see when He looks at you and me individually? Are we yet a true reflection of God?
When God judges us, it is not to bring death, but to bring life. To refine those parts of us that do not reflect Him. He wants the very best for us – for us to operate in the fullness of our destinies. To have an intimate relationship with Him because the more time we spend with Him, the more we will look like Him.
Our blueprint as a church is to equip a Joshua generation for the billion fold harvest. To equip, is to prepare or supply someone with the necessary tools or abilities for a particular task or purpose. Why? Because God wants to see people saved. 2 Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slow about His promise… not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance. It is not about us – it’s about God and His plans and purposes, so we can legislate and administer His kingdom on earth.
So, what is this choice between the old and new? Slavery or sonship. Milk or solid food, Earthly pastoral ministry (we’ll hear God for you) or heavenly apostolic (we’ll teach you how to hear God and engage with heaven yourselves).
Why do I have to choose? The Moses generation has ended, we have entered the time of the Joshua generation. Joshua 1:1-3 Now it came about after the death of Moses the servant of the LORD, that the LORD spoke to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ servant, saying, 2 “Moses My servant is dead; now therefore arise, cross this Jordan, you and all this people, to the land which I am giving to them, to the sons of Israel.
Isa 40:3-5 A voice is calling, “Clear the way for the Lord in the wilderness; Make smooth in the desert a highway for our God. “Let every valley be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; And let the rough ground become a plain, And the rugged terrain a broad valley; Then the glory of the Lord will be revealed,
The new, or the old. Life or death, there is no sitting on the fence, to not choose is a choice to stay in the old.
Deuteronomy 30:15 “See, I have set before you today life and prosperity, and death and adversity… 19 I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. So choose life in order that you may live, you and your descendants,”
As with Joshua, when they crossed the river Jordan, they were circumcised and given time to heal. For us there will also be a time of preparation before we move forward. There will be a time of consecration and refining. Then the Lord said to Joshua, “Today I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you.” So, the name of that place is called Gilgal to this day.
What is your soul or maybe familiar spirits telling you? You’re not worthy? You can’t do this? You have nothing to add? I don’t know how to do this. I can’t be like they are. This choice is not about how you feel, in the first chapter of Joshua, God told Joshua three times, “Only be strong and courageous”. We are all learning because this is a new beginning. God is looking for willing amateurs in the new.
Now what is your spirit telling you? Deep inside, your spirit knows how God sees you. Psalm 139:16 Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; And in Your book were all written the days that were ordained for me, when as yet there was not one of them. Are you willing to be the person God created you to be?
Jeremiah 1:5 Before I shaped you in the womb, I knew all about you. Before you saw the light of day, I had holy plans for you.
You do not need to understand everything. Nor do you need to be doing everything. The choice you are making is, ‘Am I willing to be an amateur in the new?’ Are you willing to learn and pass it on?
Isa 60:1-3 “Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. “For behold, darkness will cover the earth and deep darkness the peoples; but the Lord will rise upon you and His glory will appear upon you. 3 “Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising.
You are called for such as time as this