Godly Choices

John 15:9 “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love.”

Remain – Means ‘to stay’.

Why would God love us imperfect, often unreliable, messes of human beings?

• We are created in His image.

Genesis 1:27 “So God created mankind in his own image,
    in the image of God he created them;
    male and female he created them.”

What does it mean to be created in his image?

• We can rationalize.
• We can create.
• We have freedom of choice.
• We can have a relationship with him.

Why did God put the “evil” tree in the garden of Eden?

Why does he love us so much?

• We are the only things in creation to choose whether we follow or not.
• We can have a relationship with him.
• His Spirit can dwell within our lives.

Deuteronomy 30:15-20 “See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction. ¹⁶ For I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess.

¹⁷ But if your heart turns away and you are not obedient, and if you are drawn away to bow down to other gods and worship them, ¹⁸ I declare to you this day that you will certainly be destroyed. You will not live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess.

¹⁹ This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live ²⁰ and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the Lord is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction. ¹⁶ For I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess.

¹⁷ But if your heart turns away and you are not obedient, and if you are drawn away to bow down to other gods and worship them, ¹⁸ I declare to you this day that you will certainly be destroyed. You will not live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess.

¹⁹ This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live ²⁰ and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the Lord is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.”

We make our choices and our choices make us.

Matthew 7:13-14 “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. ¹⁴ But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.”

The Bible:

• It tells us how to be in right relationships.
• It tells us how to have the right character.
• It tells us how to make the right decisions.

The world wants to tell you how to live.

• IT LEADS TO DESTRUCTION.