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Addressing the OP. Can you choose God? (1 Corinthians 9: 17) For if I do this thing willingly, I have a reward: but if against my will, a
dispensation of the gospel is committed unto me.
Freewill is way overrated. Freewill offerings are only mentioned in the OT in pertaining to the flesh. But the flesh couldn't accomplish what only God can accomplish. My experience has been not of freewill but what only God can work which is to make whole (mind, body and Spirit), to set free, and to repair the breach between God and man. I didn't have much choice in the matter. Could I reject His call? After God comes in and cuts off everything that once held meaning and significance (the temporal) until I finally saw nothing holds value or significance without Him: why would I resist His call? When He has clearly shown; I have nothing and am nothing apart from God. It is not "freewill" to be poor(Spiritually), or broken and of a contrite heart. It is not our will to suffer. Tribulation comes. God does it to overcome the world in each of us.
Often, in reading through the forum and everyone's definition of who God is, I wonder if I know Him. Because it seems we all serve a different God. To some: God does nothing. To some: man is still in charge of his path which I don't understand: when His word clearly says God writes the truth (the law of liberty) on a new heart and causes the new heart to walk in it. I'm not saying I have or know the One true living God. Sometimes I wonder with all the definitions of who God is going around, if I do know Him. If interested; here is who God is to me. Prove it wrong. If I am seriously misled, I want to know.
Genesis 27:39-40
[39] And Isaac his father answered and said unto him, Behold,
thy dwelling shall be the fatness of the earth, and of the dew of heaven from above; [40] And by thy sword shalt thou live, and shalt serve thy brother; and
it shall come to pass when thou shalt have the dominion, that
thou shalt break his yoke from off thy neck.
Esau...
When the flesh (beast) has dominion...you will break the yoke off your neck.
(Do you choose God?) :
Jeremiah 15:2-3
[2] And it shall come to pass, if they say unto thee, Whither shall we go forth? then thou shalt tell them, Thus saith the Lord ;
Such as are for death, to death; and such as
are for the sword, to the sword; and
such as are for the famine, to the famine; and such as
are for the captivity, to the captivity. [3] And
I will appoint over them four kinds, saith the Lord :
the sword to slay, and the dogs to tear, and the fowls of the heaven, and the beasts of the earth, to devour and destroy.
Four. He appoints four to accomplish God's purpose. Which is to break until only God is exalted in glory. What God does is appoint to break Kingdoms. The final beast to devour (the whole earth) and destroy.
Ezekiel 14:21-22
[21] For thus saith the Lord God ; How much more when I send my f
our sore judgments upon Jerusalem,
the sword, and
the famine, and
the noisome beast, and
the pestilence,
to cut off from it man and beast? [22] Yet, behold, therein shall be left a remnant that shall be brought forth, both sons and daughters: behold, they shall come forth unto you, and ye shall see their way and their doings: and ye shall be comforted concerning the evil that I have brought upon Jerusalem, even concerning all that I have brought upon it.
Again four. Some may say that is only for a season or time, but I could fill this thread with how many times : the sword, the famine, the noisome beast and the pestilence are mentioned throughout and consistently, unto Revelation. The purpose: to "cut off from it man and beast" from what? From God's kingdom. Jerusalem from above. Nothing enters that is defiled. No whore. No sin. No corruptions. No works of man and mans religion. There is only ONE way into the kingdom of God and it is through the work God provided which is the meat of HIMSELF. "To cut off from it man and beast" is also throughout His word consistently.
Ezekiel 34:24-31
[24] And I the Lord will be their God, and my servant David a prince among them; I the Lord have spoken it . [25] And
I will make with them a covenant of peace, and
will cause the evil beasts to cease out of the land: and they shall dwell safely in the wilderness, and sleep in the woods. [26] And I will make them and the places round about my hill a blessing; and I will cause the shower to come down in his season; there shall be showers of blessing. [27] And the tree of the field shall yield her fruit, and the earth shall yield her increase, and they shall be safe in their land, and shall know that I am the Lord , when
I have broken the bands of their yoke, and delivered them out of the hand of those that served themselves of them. [28] And
they shall no more be a prey to the heathen, neither shall t
he beast of the land devour them; but they shall dwell safely, and none shall make them afraid. [29] And I will raise up for them
a plant of renown, and they shall be no more c
onsumed with hunger in the land, neither
bear the shame of the heathen any more. [30] Thus shall they know that I the Lord their God am with them, and that they, even the house of Israel, are my people, saith the Lord God . [31] And ye my flock, the flock of my pasture, are men, and I am your God, saith the Lord God .
Colossians 1:15-18
[15] Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: [16] For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether
they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: [17] And he is before all things, and by him all things consist. [18] And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.
The curse devoured the earth. to make desolate all that is apart from the glory of God.
Isaiah 24:5-6
[5] The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant. [6]
Therefore hath the curse devoured the earth, and
they that dwell therein are desolate: therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men left.
Thrones cast down:
Daniel 7:7-10
[7] After this I saw in the night visions, and
behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth:
it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it: and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns. [8] I considered the horns, and, behold, there came up among them another little horn, before whom there were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots: and, behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great things. [9] I beheld
till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool: his throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire. [10] A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him:
thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him: the judgment was set, and the books were opened.
Luke 22:27-30
[27] For whether is greater, he that sitteth at meat, or he that serveth? is not he that sitteth at meat? but
I am among you as he that serveth. [28] Ye are they which have continued with me in my temptations. [29] And
I appoint unto you a kingdom, as my Father hath appointed unto me; [30] That ye may
eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and
sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
Daniel 7:22-23
[22] Until the Ancient of days came, and j
udgment was given to the saints of the most High; and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom. [23] Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and s
hall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.
God does it. Who is this passive God that just stands back and waits upon man? WE(man) wait upon the LORD. Not the other way around. I hear all the time that GOD gave us freewill because He doesn't want robots. The angels had freewill, obviously...
some rebelled. Man wants the right to choose. Yes, freewill is way overrated. I would rather serve a God that accomplishes mighty wonderful things, way beyond mans control.