Your Unlimited Life (17 page)

When God created Adam and Eve in His likeness and image, He gave them dominion and authority and sent them out to possess and subdue the earth. He put something in them that was not in any animal or plant. He put something in them that was unique, as we read earlier in the book, which is the will, or
the ability to choose
.

Throughout his lifetime, man makes decisions about what he is going to do and why he is going to do it. Humans ask questions, whether they like themselves, or what to do in the future. Humans get depressed and call up a friend and rant about how they hate their life, but love their new car.

Humans look at other humans and say, “Hey, wait a minute. I want to be like Mike.” Or, “I want something different in my life.” It might motivate you to get an education and do other things, or it may just frustrate you as you sit in your sense of victimization. But man has a will and he is aware of it. What you do with it is dependent upon how you train and develop that muscle.

Part of being created in the likeness and image of God, this divine gift of the human being, is that you get to make choices. We read in Isaiah 55:8,
“For My thoughts are not your thoughts.”
You can choose to forsake your thoughts, take God’s thoughts and live on a higher level, with a new way of life.

Many people don’t think they can change their way of life. Some feel trapped by circumstances and what they have been told: “You are a victim.” “You are white so you can’t do that.” “You are black so you can’t go there.” And on and on....

Some people will choose to fight with the union to see if they can get an extra quarter an hour. They struggle with some menial thing to see if they can improve their existence to some degree, but they don’t believe that they can have a different way of living. When you grasp the fact that you can have whatever way of life you choose, then you will become a self-empowered, self-motivated individual.

A few hundred years ago, a group of people said, “We don’t have to live under the bondage of a monarchy or a controlling religious system that is wicked and evil. We can choose another way of life.” They packed up their goods and headed out of town. Thay went to a “new world” to make a new life because they recognized the power of their will. That has not changed. There may not be new lands for you to discover, but there is some place where you can go to do whatever you want to do, good, bad, or indifferent. You have a will, and depending on how you use it, you can have whatever way of life you want.

If you choose God’s thoughts, you will get God’s ways, and that is the highest level of life. That is what I am seeking after. I don’t want my way. I want His way. Jesus said in Matthew 10:39 (AMP):
“Whoever finds his [lower] life will lose it [the higher life], and whoever loses his [lower] life on My account will find it [the higher life].”

If you give up your way of thinking and take His way of thinking, you will find a higher level of life. This is true for your marriage, for your children, your finances, your ministry or career, and for everything that you do.

God gave Adam and Eve a will and asked them to use it wisely. If they had obeyed God, they could have lived the high life. As we discussed earlier, it was the devil’s deception, not his power that tripped up Adam and Eve. Neither is it merely Satan’s power that is affecting Christians today. It is his deception, lies, trickery, subtleties, and cunning ways. When Adam and Eve began to think the thoughts of the devil, they lost their relationship with God. By a “choice” of their will, they were separated from Him.

What kind of existence do you want? Do you desire: life or death, blessing or cursing, positive or negative, joy or depression, prosperity or poverty, sickness or health? It is your choice. I am convinced that most people feel like they are caught up in a whirlwind, they are being carried along, and they really can’t help it or change anything. But the fact is,
you can make a choice to live a higher level of life in Christ.

Let’s assume a little boy is raised up in a poor part of town. His dad and mom are just trying to keep the bills paid. He is confronted with drugs, sex, and crime every day of his life. Although he is under some terrific negative influences,
he still has a choice
to make as to whether he will be a part of it or not. This is not a rags-to-riches story of physical wealth, although that is part of the deal. This is a rags-to-riches story of the mind—a promise from God that if you choose to think different you will inevitably be choosing a better life - your unlimited life.

Another case in point: I know several ministers who were raised in drugs, sickness, poverty, and sin, but today they are preaching the Gospel. I know a pastor, who at seven years of age, watched as his mom was shot to death in a dope deal. Today he is preaching the Gospel. His first seven years of life were with a single parent in the midst of the worst kind of sin and degradation. At seven, with no parent, he tried to survive. As a young man he sought the Lord, changed his choices, was born of God, and is now a minister. He is affecting thousands of lives around his community, his church, and the nation through his teaching and his witness. To me, this is proof that
life is choice.

He could have stayed where he was and said, “I can’t help it. My mamma was shot when I was seven. I was raised in sin and crime. What do you expect?” I expect you to choose to get out! “I can’t help it.” Yes, you can because
you are created in the likeness and image of God
. He has set before you life and death, blessing and cursing.
You
choose which one you are going to have. Every person has this choice.

A
N
I
NFUSION OF
H
OPE IN
M
Y
L
IFE

I was raised without the knowledge of God. I believed in God, but I had no knowledge of God or His Word. At thirteen years of age, I was drinking, smoking pot, and using drugs. I was trying to have fun. I figured life existed so I could get high, have fun, and if I died high, then I would die good!

After a couple of jobs as the dish washer at Denny’s, the car washer at a local dealership, and the Spanaway drug dealer, I was nineteen and I was burnt out. It didn’t work. Nothing I tried had worked at making me forget my problems or find happiness. Nothing was producing the kind of life I wanted. I ended up in jail too many times to count and was all messed up with drugs, crime, and depression. I was confronted with life and death, blessing and cursing. A man told me that I could continue to be the way I was, or I could choose something different. I chose,
“Whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved”
(Romans 10:13).

H
OW
Y
OU
L
IVE
I
S
Y
OUR
C
HOICE

The divine gift of choosing how you will live can be buried in such thoughts as:

• I am a victim.

• I can’t help it.

• It’s my circumstances.

• It’s my age.

• It’s my race.

Under all of these lies is a divine gift that makes you like God, with a will to choose life or death, blessing or cursing, poverty or prosperity, sickness or health. You have the privilege of making a choice.

The secular world tries to escape the reality that man has a will. They blame genetics, the environment, or the government. The truth is, each of us is who we are because of our choices.

You are not a heroin addict because of genetics or hormones. You are a heroin addict because of your choices. You are not an alcoholic because of your hormones, genetics, or anything else. You are an alcoholic by choice. You may think some people become alcoholics easier than others, but that doesn’t take away the choice required to follow that lifestyle. Some people gain weight easier than others, but we still make choices in diet and exercise.

If we were to turn back your life, we would find where relationships with others have affected and influenced you in such a way that your choices have caused you to become carnal. That doesn’t mean you are a wicked, evil, negative person. It just means you made choices to end up in a very dangerous lifestyle.

Your “will” affects every area of life. Joshua said:

And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of 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

In modern society, we want to hope everything works out okay based on genetics and the environmental influence. Joshua says,
it is your choice
. Our lives reveal our choices.

M
ARY
M
ADE A
C
HOICE

Remember when Jesus went into a certain village and paid a visit to the home of Mary and Martha? While Mary made a choice to sit at Jesus’ feet and hear the Word, Martha was caught up in natural preparations. Let’s read this account in Luke 10:38-42:

Now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus’ feet and heard His word. But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me.” And Jesus answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha.”

When the Lord says any word twice, you are in trouble!
“Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things”
(v. 41).

Martha was exclaiming that her problems were that Mary wouldn’t help her. Jesus then explains that it’s not her problem. She had a whole bunch of other problems. Jesus says, “You have piled up things in your life that have distracted, depressed, and worried you. Mary is
not
your problem. You are troubled about many things.” Then Jesus says,
“But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her”
(v. 42).

Here is a microcosm of human will in operation. Mary chose to sit at Jesus’ feet and hear His Word. Martha chose many thoughts, attitudes, and behaviors that were troubling her. She complains about the condition of her life, and Jesus highlights Mary’s choice, and that it is not going to be taken away from her. In other words, “Now Martha, it is time for you to make a choice and deal with those things that are troubling your life.”

RENEWAL TRUTH

My first priority in life

is to seek God’s Kingdom and

His righteousness.

(Matthew 6:33)

Complaining to God about your life won’t change anything. That’s why when we pray negative, whiny, complaining prayers, and wonder why nothing happens, we are inadvertently crippling ourselves. What did you ask for? “I told God how I felt. I told Him I didn’t need anyone. Doesn’t He understand?” God answered your prayer. He just nodded His head at how miserable you are. Whining and complaining to God won’t change a thing. You have chosen to be the way you are and where you are. When you start saying, “Lord, I am going to make some new choices,” God says, “Now I can get involved.”