Where the Spirit of the Lord is, There is Liberty

We choose to believe that there is a God and he loves us like a father. A good father who wants us to grow and be happy. He knows that there are hardships and even bitter events that would convince us that he cares not. But his perspective is a much longer view than ours and he knows that this earthly experience is but a blink of an eye. That perspective is what he would like us to consider. We must understand that he, like a good father, is much more concerned with our growth than he is with our comfort.

Our decision making is where our attitude comes into play. Our attitudes and beliefs lead to our feelings and moods and those lead to our choices and decisions which results in our actions and words which then become our consequences, both positive and negative. How we then react to those consequences, reveals our character and integrity.

Which road will you take?

About 20000 choices a day is what we make. Most are automatic based on the choices we have made previously. Many are habit based, preference based, principle based or option based.

There are choices that we must make according to the relationships we have or the occupations we follow. Then there are choices we make according to the dictates of our tastes and desires. Finally there are the choices we are faced with that purely come down to life and death.

Happy or sad,
All of the choices we have made so far have made us who, what, where and why we are. If you are not happy with those circumstances there really is no one to blame but yourself. You might say that there are people who have been made slaves through no fault of their own and such. Much of what you say may be true. But I would direct you to read “Mans Search for Meaning”. A book written by Victor Frankl. He was a prisoner in a German Concentration Camp and he survived simply by choosing not to be overcome by the death and destruction around him. He worked hard at keeping his attitude positive even through starvation and extremely hard labor. Anyway the point is, our choices are what make us or break us.

To fully understand the gift of agency and its worth, it is imperative that we understand that God's chief way of acting is by persuasion and patience and long-suffering, not by coercion and stark confrontation.  He acts by gentle solicitation and by sweet enticement.  He always acts with unfailing respect for the freedom and independence that we possess. He wants to help us and pleads for the chance to assist us, but he will not do so in violation of our agency.  He loves us too much to do that, and doing so would run counter to his divine character.

Regardless of a person's susceptibility or tendency, we have an obligation to exercise our agency to  to overcome our personal weaknesses.

I believe that we are the sum total of all of the circumstances, results and end products of the forces upon us and how we decided to react to them.  Our road essentially is the road we chose and our rewards or punishments are the circumstances we perpetrated on ourselves.  Our Father stands to assist us at any time we choose to engage him and at times he will engage with out our prompting.
I know that he has blessed me many times and in many ways when I was not engaging him or giving him my attention.  He blessed me anyway and I'm sure he was brokenhearted at some of my decisions. As I look back across the expanse of my life I know that he was there and at the time chose to remain anonymous.  Now I can appreciate his love and care and I can be more fruitful to him by being more attentive to the need I see around me.  I am grateful now to have the chance to serve him who has served me throughout time.  For this opportunity I thank him and I say this in the name of His beloved son, Jesus Christ.