The Power of Choice

Hi all, looks like the baton has come full circle and once again fallen on my able (or unable?) hands. Today I will be sharing about the power of choice, something I believe God has been speaking to me about through my times of prayer and reflection.

So, what is choice? Dictionary.com lists about 8 different meanings of the word choice, all I believe, culminating in one ultimate meaning : the right, power or opportunity to choose. Now I'd just like to highlight the the words "right" and "power" because all too often some of us forget that one of the first gifts that God presented to us as His creations was the Power of Choice.

Genesis 2:15 And the Lord God commanded the man, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die"

From the very beginning, man was given the choice to make his own decisions, knowing that every choice and decision that he makes has a consequence. It is not any different in this day and age. We still have the power of choice as did Adam to choose to

-love the unloved
-live lives that are set apart.
-build solid convictions that are unshaken by the world and all it has to offer

to name a few. In fact, I'd even go so far as to say that this is one of the few things that God has openly declared we have power over. Recent events in the life of the church and the people around of us have made it clear that we have no power whatsoever over the things that happen in our lives and that of the people around us. However, one thing's for sure, hard as it may be, the grace of God has enabled us to say this day

"I choose to trust in God who is faithful"
"I choose to praise God despite my circumstances"

or even more simple things like

"I choose to wake up early for church despite feeling tired"
"I choose to love this person despite the fact that he/she is clearly hard to love"

I'm not saying that merely declaring these will change the things in and around us. What I'm saying is that by taking the step of faith to declare "I CHOOSE..." we are opening our hearts and humbling ourselves before God with an attitude that says "Lord, I don't feel like it but today I CHOOSE..". And what I've found over the past few weeks is that as I continue declaring what I choose to feel and do, the Holy Spirit begins to work wonders in my spirit and after some time my "I CHOOSE" starts becoming "I DESIRE" and on one or two occasions it has actually become "I LOVE TO.."

Our very walk with God today is a direct result of a choice we made to give our lives to Christ. Let's not forget that the power of choice is still very much ours today as it was in the days of Adam. Feelings and emotions are subjective. Choosing today to allow the Holy Spirit to work through us through the choices that we consciously make will ensure that we don't live like the reeds in the sea, easily swayed by things that are not of God. I have learnt some costly lessons in the area of not fully using the power of choice that God has so generously given to me, and my prayer is that God will continue to strengthen me as I choose this day to make Godly choices that will reflect that Holy Spirit in me as He will in all of you.

Love y'all,

Chuen