Easy.

First, we have to understand WHAT is Predestined. It is, that from before the foundation of the world, God loved what He was going to create, mankind…(us!) Then He created it, and loved it all the more. He Predetermined or Predestined that those who would choose Faith in Jesus Christ would be saved for eternity.

Why? Because He knew that The Fall would happen and that man would need a Savior, so from before the beginning He made a way, through Christ Jesus, His death-payment for our sins! Jesus Christ is, remember, the Jewish Messiah, so those “before” Christ who believed in the coming of their Messiah would be … saved.

Man was given Free Will to choose, because man is not a robot. The very best gift a Father can receive is the Love he gets from his children! So if man did not have free will to love God then God would not really be loved at all!

So, please, see that it was the Plan of God that was Predestined, not the specific choices of specific persons, and as such that the Free Will of man is true also.

The larger question, really, might be “How does a man choose God?” What does a man do to “choose” Jesus Christ as his personal Savior? Is it “belief” in Christ? Is it “following Christ”? Is it “faith in Christ”? Obedience? Sacrifice? Love? And, how is it that a man’s choice is measured or determined? What is the proof of it? These things are worth our serious consideration.

It’s the end of another year, when lists of the best and worst of this and that are popular, and when we remember famous or loved people who have died during the year passed. It’s also the time of renewal of expectations, as a New Year launches us into New Hope, for victories over all that hinder us.

I love the coming of a new year. I love the emotional shedding of anything negative as I determine to look ahead to better days. That’s why Spring is so wonderful, as the sun breaks through the grey days of Winter and we rejoice with new life bursting through the once frozen ground.

You see, a participation is required. We get to choose whether to stay in Winter, or let Spring happen, and we also get to choose whether to receive the new year with faithful expectation, or to continue in the old. Now, here is where the skeptic, or worse yet the scientific, would point out that we get no choice whatsoever about the seasons. They happen without us doing anything, and without any participation by us at all. Well, that is exactly the difference between science, and Faith!

I believe we CAN make choices that supersede science, which is exactly what miracle is: super-natural. I believe we CAN put off the old man and put on a new. I believe we CAN be people of Faith, not ‘over’ circumstances, but in spite of them! I believe we CAN pray for our enemies, love our wives, respect our husbands, help the poor, and all the other wonderful ‘guidance’ we find in our Bible. The Law HAS been fulfilled in Christ, and because of Christ all things are made new, even YOU, as you let Him do what He loves to do—transform—-YOU.
Happy New Year, and Happy New YOU!

1. These are holy days; keep them holy.
2. It’s called Thanksgiving, right? So do it!
3. Don’t buy what you can’t afford.
4. Don’t try to purchase someone’s love. Give them yours.
5. Spend time talking together.
6. Go see holiday lights, store window decorations, the Christmas Ships, and other free things.
7. Christmas is Jesus’ birthday, talk about it.
8. Expectations? Don’t accept them, and get rid of the ones you have.
9. Sing!
10. Find a reason to laugh each day.

Yes, these are things that blow stuff up! Usually we think of bombshells in a negative way, as if in a war of some kind. Well, we ARE in a war, and we need some bombshells to blow some stuff up!

Reading the Bible this week uncovered all kinds of bombshells, able to blow up all kinds of stuff in my mind, if I would allow it. Imagine that! An enemy wants to bomb you, and you have the ability to cause it to pass by.

God, you see, is an enemy of worldliness and unfaithfulness. He wants to drop bombs on all of that which we cling to that isn’t Him! He isn’t OUR enemy, but the enemy of all that prevents us from yielding to Him.

Do we, then, let Him blow up the stuff in our lives that prevents us from living His Way? Or do we pass Him off so we can keep doing what we want, unencumbered with the Ways of the Spirit? Can you see it? Is it too simple? The Bible really does provide all kinds of bombshells to blow up the stuff in our lives hostile to God! His purpose is not OUR destruction, but the destruction of what keeps us from Him!

Why not try reading the Bible, today, with this idea in mind, that God will drop insight upon you! That He will instruct you in how to live! That He will show you how much He loves you! That He will reveal to you what you need to know, and DO!