"MATTER OF CHOICE"

                 "You did not choose me, but i chose you and 

              appointed you to go and bear much fruit that it will last. 

           Then the father will give Whatever you ask in my name.

                                           John 15 : 16

           A man once asked me, "if God does everything, how is choice involved?" It was a valid question.

          "Before you were saved, did you seek the Lord or did  He seek you?" I asked him. " He sought me," he replied. "Did you produce the faith to believe? Or did He give it to you?" "He gave it to me."

"Well, if God did all of those things then, who is keeping you now? Are you keeping yourself? And who will take you into heaven? Can you do it yourself?" I asked. Finally I said, "you have nothing to do with it." "All that is good, but where is choice?" All you to say is yes to Jesus, and these things will be yours. Choice is just to accept what He has done for you." A big smile broke across his face. "I see it!" Jesus told His disciple, "You did not choose Me, but I chose you appointed you" (John 15:16). But Scripture warns us that God's grace must never be misused.

          We then, as workers together with Him also plead with you not to receive the grace of God in vain (2 Cor. 6:1).

Salvation is ours because of what the Lord has done, not because of our perfection. What produces failure? It is when we stop trusting God and rely on ourselves. The prophet Ezekiel said:

          When i say to the righteous that he shall surely live, but he trusts in his own righteousness and commits iniquity, none of his righteous works shall be remembered; but because of the iniquity that has committed, he shall die (Ezekiel 33:13)

I believe that we are secure in our salvation, but we can risk losing what He has given us. For Peter said:

          For if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangle in them and overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the begining. For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn the holy commandment delivered to them (2 pet. 2:20-21).

        Where is the balance? God chooses us but always gives us the choice to respond. If someone came to me with a gun pointed at my head and said "Deny Christ or die, I would say, "Shoot." Why? Because my commitment to Christ is not temporary; it's eternal.

        When you met the Lord it was not a goose-bump," momentary experience. At that moment You became a totally new person. It would be instantaneous, new birth. It is a continuous salvation. What should be our response to the Lord in return for His eternal benefits? The psalmist said "i will take up the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the Lord" (Ps. 116:13).

       Gracious is the Lord, and righteous; yes, our God is merciful. The Lord preserves the simple i was brought low, and He saved me. Return to your rest O my soul, for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you (Ps. 116: 5-7).

This salvation is even better than we can think. We can have complete confidence that He finished what He has started. . . That he has committed to keeps us (Phil. 1:6). But how can we know that in our hearts? The answer lies in understanding the seal of the Holy Spirit.