You Can Choose
Part 1 of 2

Joshua 24:14"Now fear the LORD and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your forefathers worshiped beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD. 15 But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD."

Have you ever felt powerless? Have you ever felt out of control? Have you ever thought you have no choice in where you are, what you do, or what your life is like right now? Let us look at this matter and see if you have no choices in life.

You can choose…
To embrace life rather than death.
To pursue a goal rather than not pursue anything.
To find a goal in life rather than wandering aimlessly.
To give love rather than hate.
To give rather than take.
To be kind rather than mean.
To give support rather than criticism.
To be active rather than passive.
To work rather than rest.
To believe rather than doubt.

You can choose…
To help rather than hurt.
To keep silent rather than speak.
To speak rather than keep silent.
To talk with God rather than ignore Him.
To read His word rather than watch TV.
To have fun rather than being grim.
To search for hope rather than letting despair take over.
To seek spiritual abundance in physical poverty.
To take good advice and put it to use rather than ignoring it.
To comfort those in affliction.

You can choose…
To put your energy to use rather than letting it evaporate.
To rise up in controlled anger at injustice rather than looking
the other way.
To seek answers instead of avoiding them.
To take action when you face anxiety rather than shrink
back.
To ask questions rather than keep silent.
To give beauty rather than ugliness.
To give blessings and be a blessing rather than give curses and be a curse.
To share the Bread of Life rather than trying to hoard it and keep it all to yourself.
To care about others rather than just caring about only yourself.

You can choose…
To heal the broken rather than to hurt.
To carry others burdens rather than pile your burdens on to them.
To be caring rather than cold and insolent.
To develop your character and do the right thing rather than ignoring your character and doing the wrong thing.
To preserve your pearls of life rather than casting them before the swine.
To accept Christ into your heart and life rather than just thinking about Him.
To bring cheer into the gloom rather than letting the gloom take away the cheer.
To protect the children rather than hurting them or letting them be hurt.
To be a part of a faith community rather than staying away.

You can choose…
To give compassion when someone is hurting rather than doing nothing.
To live in unselfishness rather than in conceit.
To confess before God rather than carrying guilt.
To free your conscience rather than letting your conscience burn and imprison you.
To apologize to the ones you’ve hurt rather than letting old hurts linger on.
To choose contentment over turmoil.
To be contrite rather than shrugging your shoulders because you do not care.
To live in conviction rather than letting everything slide.
To want courage rather than letting fear control you.
To actually kneel at the Cross of Christ rather than just blankly staring at it.

You can choose…
To control rather than letting "whatever" operate in chaos.
To weep in sadness and rejoice in times of celebration.
To grow each day rather than stagnate for years.
To live one day at a time rather than die because you see no hope for tomorrow.
To turn to the Light in darkness rather than groping around trying to find the switch.
To be a light carrier in the darkness rather than groping and hurting with others.
To dedicate your life to something rather than hoping something will draft you into something you like.
To deliver as much of the goods as you can instead of staying at home.
To turn a wall into a fortress.
To turn a mountain into a ramp for a space launch.

You can choose…
To turn dependence into an opportunity to warn others.
To turn dependence into a victory against it.
To turn dependence to war for independence.
To turn a time of depression into a time of counting your blessings.
To turn a time of depression into a time of reaching out to others and producing goofiness.
To turn a time of depression into a time of creative outlet rather than a time of disabled hell.
To devote your time rather than letting time slip away.
To disobey the conventional wisdom that keeps you down and obey the Love of God which propels you upward.
To be devout in your beliefs rather than throwing them in the trash.
To be as difficult with the difficulties as the difficulties are difficult with you.

You can choose…
To find an opportunity in having a disability rather than letting the disability convince you there is no opportunity.
To be dissatisfied with not choosing rather than accepting the mental illusion no choices
To send out a distress signal when you need to rather than ignoring the warning signs and letting things get worse.
To seek out things that are truly divine rather than letting the darkness make you blind.
To touch the divine presence within you rather than trying to touch a presence outside of you.
To let the divine presence that is now within you be a part of your life rather than letting the divine presence be ignored, unused and untouched.
To doubt the wisdom that says don’t try and believe the wisdom that tells you to take a chance.
To draw near people who care about you rather than sitting in isolation.
To draw near Christ who is living within you rather than thinking He is up in the sky.
To fulfill you duties each day rather than letting them slide.

You can choose…
To fill the emptiness with something rather than letting something generate the emptiness.
To enlighten others about the goodness and grace of life rather than keeping silent and suffering the consequences.
To see into the eternal hope for eternal fun through Christ rather than thinking there is an end.
To look into life as everlasting instead of looking at death.
To ignore evil and do good.
To stop evil and start good.
To turn an excuse into a reason.
To use failure instead of letting failure use you.
To embrace faith as the secret ingredient of life rather than searching for the secret ingredient called faith.
To always be faithful instead of letting anyone down.

You can choose…
To be a part of a family you might have to assemble rather than living alone.
To assemble a family of strangers.
To talk to your Father in Heaven rather than giving Him the silent treatment.
To turn fear into a time of doing something rather than a time of doing nothing.
To forgive rather than hold a grudge.
To let forgiveness be your lifestyle.
To find people who are forsaken and show them that you love them.
To find the good in others rather than letting the bad in them grab your attention.
To be friends with the small and frail rather than worship the big and the strong.
To love and cherish freedom rather than letting corruption take it away.

You can choose…
To sweat and grow the fruits of kindness in His garden rather than using free and easy products of darkness.
To fill your life rather than let life fill you.
To commit your life to turning every loss into some kind of gain rather than letting the gains of life produce some kind of loss.
To be generous in loving kindness rather than frugal.
To give gifts rather than wanting to receive them.
To give rather than receive.
To seek to be humble rather than seeking glory and fame.
To see the love of God at work rather than bemoan the absence of it.
To find the ultimate wisdom in God’s Word rather than never searching for the truth.
To produce good each day rather than letting the bad rule over you.

You can choose…
To diligently search for the true gospel with all your heart, soul, and might.
To be a messenger of grace rather than a carrier of crudeness.
To console others in times of grief.
To seek the love of God when you are grieving.
To guide others rather than letting them misdirect you.
To bring happiness to others when you may have none of your own.
To be an instrument of God’s healing rather than an instrument of Satan’s hurt.
To encourage health even when you are sick.
To listen to your heart before you listen to your lust.
To deliver the invisible stuff of heaven rather than doing nothing and letting the visible stuff from hell pile it on.