Posts Tagged ‘ Choice ’
A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.
Proverbs 17:17, ESV
Friends choose each other, while siblings can seem like a chore but will usually be there for you.
Our Lord came and called us friends as He made us brothers in His blood, saving us from our adversary and punishment for our sins.
For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.
Galatians 5:13, ESV
God is free to do whatever He will, yet He chose to become one of us to save us with His love and grace.
We are set free from sin in Christ, so let us follow our Lord to choose to help others.
So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.
1 Corinthians 10:31, ESV
Even our simple choices in life should be dedicated to God, with concern for those around us but always to glorify God.
A voice says, “Cry!” And I said, “What shall I cry?” All flesh is grass, and all its beauty is like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades when the breath of the Lord blows on it; surely the people are grass. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.
Isaiah 40:6-8, ESV
At Advent, we look back at why Jesus had to come, that He came, and then that He will come again.
Our sins have stacked up to heaven, deeper and more vile than we could know.
Sin is the act of willfully separating from God, putting something between God and ourselves, weakening ourselves from the inside out as we cut ourselves off from the source of life.
And God will let us have what we want. (Romans 1:20-32)
Therefore, we internally die continually, and the only hope is a long life to stave off the eternal death and suffering.
All because we choose our sin over God and His Word.
We therefore prepare ourselves by investigating His eternal Word through reading the Scriptures and trusting in the Son.
We may still suffer in this world, but we have the hope of eternal life in New bodies with our Lord forever.
May we seek the Lord who gives us life, preparing ourselves by seeking His Word.
If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.
James 1:5 ESV
God desires that we each turn to Him for true wisdom, which is His righteousness in Christ.
Turn to Him today, and receive God’s wisdom.
The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.
2 Peter 3:9, ESV
We only have this one life to choose Christ. God wants a populated eternity, not empty. He gives us this one time to turn to Him, so be grateful He has waited for you.
“Seek the Lord while he may be found; call upon him while he is near; let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord , that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.”
Isaiah 55:6-7, ESV
Today is the day of salvation. Once this life is over, there are no more chances to seek and call on the Lord.
Choose today to know God and be pardoned of all sins!
And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”
Joshua 24:15, ESV
We have a choice, every moment of every day, to serve God or reject Him.
How do you choose? Trust God’s Word and the counsel from His Church.
But you must choose.
So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
1 Corinthians 13:13, ESV
Hope springs from faith.
Faith springs from love.
Love springs from dedication and choice.
Choose love. Always.
Welcome back, interwebbers!
As we come close to the close of 40 Days for Life, it is fitting that I should focus on the topic of abortion and the like.
Honestly, this could be a long conversation covering several areas in this topic.
Today, however, I going to focus on one thing:
Author Patrick S. Tomlinson feels he has asked a question, a thought experiment, “that shut down the whole anti-abortion argument.” (WARNING: unbecoming language used throughout the article)
This author feels that pro-lifers (or, as he calls them, anti-abortion) reveal they are not really pro-life, or perhaps they are inconsistent in their beliefs. And, after years of asking this question, not a single pro-lifer has truthfully and adequately answered this question.
My first thought is, “Who has he been asking?” Because I find this relatively easy to answer. And I know I am far from alone.
For some unimportant reason, you are in a fertility clinic, when the building catches fire. As you are about to run out, you hear screaming.
You run back in and find the room where the screaming is emanating. When you open the door you see a 5-year-old child on one side, fire in the middle, and a container holding 1000 viable embryos. (Just assume the container is able to preserve the embryos indefinitely.) You know you only can save one.
Which do you choose?
His argument is that if you choose the child, you prove you are not really pro-life, because you allow all of those embryos – potential humans – to die. If you choose the embryos, you are a monster for letting a child burn.
In connection with this, he and others assert that scientists and politicians can not agree when life begins.
However, all embryologists and many biologists agree that life begins at conception.
The debate then becomes, “But does it have a soul?”
I would argue, yes! Based on:
As to my answer:
Does this prove I am not pro-life?
Not at all. In fact, I mourn the loss of those embryos, and I trust God to take care of those lost embryos in His way. But as Christians we also are called to ease suffering.
This child was screaming. Further, being a fertility clinic, this child probably has parents who were there, so I am also helping those parents not to lose a child they already have.
If we change the scenario, maybe my response would be different.
What if I was on a space station above earth or on ship to a new human colony, and the future of the human race depended on those 1000 embryos. I would probably save the embryos.
It is one of those impossible situations in which any choice is not ideal.
If I were on a bus about to go over the edge of a bridge, I would save the first person closest to me. I would not look over the other 36 people on the bus and try to decide who to choose, I would just grab who was closest. I am not responsible for those others, especially if I only have time to save one. No one would question my convictions (except perhaps loved ones of the others on the bus, but most would understand).
Likewise, being in such a situation as this question suggests does not demonstrate that someone is not truly pro-life. It is the complex question fallacy, begging the question. It is basically asking, “Why do you want to let innocents die?” without properly considering other options that are clearly available.
Did I answer the question?
How would you answer?
a simple man of God 