My friends, imagine you have 50€ in your hand and you want to buy a pair of shoes. You have already decided in your mind what kind of shoes you want to buy, e.g: it must be black, high heel, shiny and elegant. I do believe that you won't be surprise to know that in the shoes store you will find hundreds of different kind of shoes that agree with your description. But because your resources is limited and you can only buy one pair of shoes, you need to choose the best for you. Sometimes you will later regret it and sometimes you will think that you have made a great gain. The same thing happens when you want to buy shirt, computer, books, or even ice-cream. You will come to a decision point where you can say to yourself, "I have decided that I will buy this one."
Another lifecase study: Remember the time when you enrolled for university. Didn't you need to decide whether you will go for science or social, engineering or economics, mathematics or arts, etc? And once it is decided, it would be very difficult for you to come back to that decision point. Maybe in the beginning you wanted to be a doctor, so you went to medical college to study for years, but in the middle of your study something kept bothering you, you felt that your ambition has changed, now you want to be an engineer. What will you do? You can't turn back the time and there is no time-machine. The only thing you can do is this, either you continue in your medical study or you sacrifice all the time you have been through for years in medical stuffs and start anew from a little beginning again in engineering. My friends, we have to pay the price for every wrong decision we made.
We also need to admit that we all make mistakes. Making decision is not an easy task. How many junk are in our home now? At first we think that those books are good books, we bought and read them, but just after read 3 chapters we lost our interest. We have spent much money on those things but we didn't enjoy it. How about our shoes, shirts, CDs, electronics, etc? Are some of them not junk, the proofs of our wrong decisions? They are just some little examples that we can still bear when we chose the wrong decision, but how about other important issues that will affect our future, our life, etc?
In our lifetime there are many difficult decision we need to make, e.g: married, career, etc. We don't have 9 lives to live to make trial and error and to play around with it. If it is possible, we want to always choose the right decisions that will lead us far from sadness, miseries, regrets, etc. But it will happen in our dream, not in reality. Maybe because you choose not to go and visit your father at that day, you miss your last day to see him alive or maybe because you choose to go for "weed" not "college", you are now despised by the people or maybe because you choose to have sex with your girlfriend at that day, she now become pregnant and another decision need to be made, repent or perish. From this situation, we can learn that decision always followed by another decisions and it will last until we died.
Once you married with your soulmate, you are bound to him/her until death do you part. It is a difficult decision to make for somebody can come to you and ask, "From billions of men/women, why did you choose this man/woman to be your soulmate?" "Why you choose Mary not Martha, Joseph not David, etc? Again, from this situation we learn that decision point is the most important stage in life that we need to face. We can delay to make a decision, but still, in the end we need to deal with it anyway. You can be confused with whom you will marry, you can delay your marriage until you are ready, but still, if you want to have wife/husband, you have to decide to marry with whom. Am I right?
Choices are inevitable. Right choices are vital
Some people are afraid of making decision. They are afraid to face all the consequences for every decision they make. They will stop in the point of decision and continue no more. They choose to stay there forever for they can't say boldly "I have decided to choose this, no turning back." Because of that, they keep themselves always holding both side, just be in between, in the middle, within lukewarm state, neither cold nor hot, and serving 2 masters. When there is only "left" or "right", they choose "or", when there is only "cold" or "hot", they choose "lukewarm", when there is only "heaven" or "hell", they choose "purgatory", when there is only "right" or "wrong", they choose "flee/run away/conform", when there is only "repent" or "perish", they choose another "or".
This is the point of decision I want to ask you, would you be children of God or children of darkness? Would you choose Almighty God or idols?
I am talking about God who by His words the universe was created (Hebrews 11:3), who when He was angry the heavens tremble and the earth shakes (Isaiah 13:13), who own all things in this universe; gold, silver, precious stones belong to Him (Haggai 2:8), animals in the land, birds in the sky, fishes in the water are His (Psalm 50:10). He who touch the mountains and they smoke, who out of his presence bolts of lightning blazed forth (2 Samuel 22:13), who store the snow and the hail for the times of trouble, for days of war and battle (Job 38:22-23), who knows every details of our being, who know the number of our hairs (Matthew 10:30), who from one man, made every nation of men and determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live (Acts 17:26), who by His words the great king of Babylon whose territory spread all over the earth became like a beast for 7 years (Daniel 4:23), whose angel struck Herod down and he immediately died (Acts 12:23), who heaven is his throne and earth is his footstool, that no house, no human made, not even the whole universe can contain Him (Acts 7:49). The one and only God, the Almighty God, others are idols, others are gods, dead gods.
I am talking about God that not enough words can explain His glory, His majesty, His Presence, not idols or gods who created by man's hand, who can't defend themselves, whose image look like mortal man, animal and birds and animals and reptiles (Romans1:23). Those are demons, idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone and wood—idols that cannot see or hear or walk (Revelation 9:20). They can not save you in time of trouble (Isaiah 45:20). They are dead gods made by human's hands. They can't defend themselves, they need their believers to protect and defend their cases (Judges 6:31). It is their believers will kill other people in their gods' name (John 16:2), who fight for justice of their gods' sake. Their gods just stay in silent, doing nothing.
My friends, please for awhile do forget about your animal sacrifice, your incense offering, your ceremonial traditions, your routine and start thinking. God doesn't need it. He owns this universe, He knows your heart. Some of us bring blind, cripple and diseased, injured animals for sacrifices (Malachi 1:8). Some of us bring some leftover fruits from the soil (Genesis 4:3), some of us offer repeated prayers, repetations in vain (Isaiah 1:15), some of us show ceremonial obligation/ tradition to Him. Who are we and who is God? We are unholy but God is holy. We are flesh but God is Spirit, those who want to worship God, must worship Him in Spirit and Truth (John 4:24). Do you think God eat the same food we eat? Do you think God use the same money we use? Do you think God lack something? He demand sacrifice of your praise and worship, repented heart, fully submission onto Him, not fleshy things, but spiritual sacrifice.
My friends, when you offer sacrifice food to your gods, do they eat it? Do the food miraculously disappear? Why you need to bow down before cows or snakes or great trees? You are human, they are animals or trees. Why you worship them? Why you need to bow down before wood or stone or gold? You are living creature, they are dead, no breath at all, they can't walk or move by themselves. Why you bow down before them?
It doesn't need a genius to know that the burnt offering will sooner or later disappear because it is consumed with fire. But you still keep saying that your god has finished eaten. Can somebody not bring an axe or a baseball stick and knock them off? Will your gods be angry? Will the people who knock them off immediately die? Yes, he will die, not because of their gods, but because of the anger from their believers. These kinds of gods are dead. Why you worship on the dead gods?
Don't you know that God is a jealous God? Only God alone who created this universe. Only God alone who rules over this universe. He doesn't want to share His glory to anybody else. He is alone worthy to be praised. He doesn't need any help from others, not god of prosperity, god of plagues, god of lightning, god of warrior, etc. By His words, all things are created. He doesn't need somebody or even all people go and defend Him. He never grew weary or tired, His time is eternal, He never come late, He never slumber, He will always wait the best moment to show Himself strong so that, we, His creation will give Him more praises and worships and said "I stand in awe. God is faithful. God is awesome. Glory be to God. Praise the Lord, Kings of kings, Lord of lords."
My friends, I am talking about Almighty God who is holy, who can't be reached by unholy things, who hide Himself behind the clouds for He is too holy, too pure, too perfect for sins, He hates sins but still love us, the sinners, the unholy things. He even sent His Son, Jesus Christ, who is the image of invisible God (Colossians 1:15), who is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of His being, sustaining all things by His powerful word (Hebrews 1:3) to die on the cross for our sins.
There is no way for us, the unholy things, to come to the knowledge of Him unless He Himself in all humility, leave His heavenly throne and come down to this fallen and wicked world and show us the way to Him. There is only one way for you to lead to Him, Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me (John 14:6). It is impossible to worship the true and living God, without know the way, the truth, the life. You will just end up as idolaters, Baal worshippers when you worship God in vain.
My question is: Do you want to praise this Almighty God or idols and other gods? This is the time to decide for you eternity, your salvation.
I want to tell you a true story from the Bible. Paul, man of God, he spoke with two of top influential people in Roman Empire, Festus and Agrippa. He spoke boldly and full of Spirit until it comes to the decision time to choose whether they will repent and believe in the true and living God or their pagan gods and idols. You know what they said? Festus immediately interrupted Paul and shouted, "You are out of your mind, your great learning is driving you insane". Paul replied "I am not insane, most excellent Festus, what I am saying is true and reasonable (Acts 26:24-25)". And Agrippa added "Do you think that in such a short time you can persuade me to be a Christian?" Paul replied "Short time or long --- I pray that God not only you but all who are listening to me today may become what I am, except these chains (Acts 26:28-29)."
Do you know what they did? They rose from their sit and left the room undecided. They died in their iniquities, they missed their chance to know the true and living God. Their status, their position, their pride, their ignorance, their heart was too proud and full of themselves. They chose to be stupid enough to miss the opportunity. It was so close to them to repent and invite Jesus as personal Saviour and show the way to the Almighty God, heavenly Father, God of universe.
Another person who missed the opportunity is the one who was crucified next to Jesus. He was so close to the eternal salvation, eternal life, but instead of humble himself, he decided to mock Jesus. Another one chose to repent and admit his sins and humbly asked Jesus to help him, to remember his name when He come back to His Holy throne. One is end up in eternal damnation, one is end up in eternal salvation, eternal life.
Another person who is so close to salvation is YOU, the one who still reading my writing. Jesus is knocking at the door of your heart asking to come and dwell inside your life. You can go undecided like the two Romans, you can choose to mock His gift or you can also choose to humble yourself and repent, invite Him to come to your life and make way for you to know the Almighty God. For Jesus said "I and my Father are one (John 10:30)".
Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began (John 17:3-5). Jesus also said "He who listens to you listens to me; he who rejects you rejects me; but he who rejects me rejects him who sent me (Luke 10:16)."
My friends, there is no other way to know Holy and Living God unless God Himself show the way to us. It is done through Jesus and the atonement for your sins has been paid on the cross. God loves you and wants you to be saved. If you believe in Jesus, you believe in Almighty God who sent Him. You decide now, don't run away any longer, don't keep trying to always be undecided, your time in running out, you don't know what time you will die. It could be 50 years later, 20 years later, or even today. Please count your cost by reading "signing the most important contract" first. God is knocking at your door. He want to forgive your sins, He want to change your sinful past into glorious future, He want to make you an extraordinary person. You are created by Him, and He wants to listen you call Him "Abba, Father". You are so close to be Children of living God. What you need to do is this: DECIDE, REPENT toward GOD and FAITH in JESUS CHRIST .
May the Lord open your eyes of understand and give you Spirit of repentance and gift of faith so that you can make decision right now and get eternal life. God bless you
1 comment:
Amazing!
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