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Choose life Deuteronomy 30:19-20: See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil; In that I command thee this day to love the LORD thy God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments, that thou mayest live and multiply: and the LORD thy God shall bless thee in the land whither thou goest to possess it. But if thine heart turn away, so that thou wilt not hear, but shalt be drawn away, and worship other gods, and serve them; I denounce unto you this day, that ye shall surely perish, and that ye shall not prolong your days upon the land, whither thou passest over Jordan to go to possess it. I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live: That thou mayest love the LORD thy God, and that thou mayest obey his voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto him: for he is thy life, and the length of thy days: that thou mayest dwell in the land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them. Galatians 3:13-14: Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree: That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. (From that passage one would assume that when we choose Jesus, we choose life and are therefore free of curses, yet we hear good preachers telling us we can bring curses upon ourselves by foolish practices. Both thoughts are true and here is the explanation: When one chooses Jesus, they are choosing life and are immediately born again of the eternal life Spirit. Then, being spiritually alive they are free to make righteous choices. All they have to do is seek to please God and walk by the spirit, no longer seeking to please the lower nature. [Rom. 8:1-15] That’s how you get and stay free from the curse of the law--abide in Christ.) John 15:5-10 teaches us about abiding. I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples. As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love. If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love. (So you see that the Christian must deliberately determine to abide in the vine. Why? Because there is a thief who is always going about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. I Peter 5:6-9 Once a person has chosen Jesus, they must choose daily to walk by the spirit and not by the carnal nature. They choose whether they will put on the full armor of God. They choose whether they will abide in the vine, firmly united. They choose whether they will take up their cross and follow Jesus. They choose whether they will serve God or their own appetites. When God gave those who choose Jesus the free gift of righteousness, he did not take away the power to choose death, he gave them the power to choose life. If you abide in Jesus, you are free from all curses--but if you choose to live carnally, you are not taking advantage of your gift from God and you forfeit the blessings and live under the curses, because they are the inevitable result of making wrong choices.) © Sylvia Huffnagle
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The Holy Spirit and the Holy Bible
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