Preface:
Welcome to ‘Choices and Consequences’ a work God has inspired me to write to encourage people–believers and unbelievers–to persevere through the many difficult struggles in life. In ‘Choices and Consequences’ I share lessons I’ve learned as I’ve walked through many challenges in my journey on earth and on towards eternal life in heaven, in my Father’s house.
Some lessons I’ve learned along the way are:
- God has been and always is with me. God watches over and even carries me as I go through dangerous and dark places on the journey.
- God will never leave me or forsake me, even if I get angry because of unpleasant things He allows me to go through, and even when I don’t get my way.
- God keeps His promises. He is trustworthy, even when I disagree with Him and He doesn’t answer my prayer the way I want Him too. God knows everything, and He knows the best choice for me.
- God guides and leads me to the truth, even though I am often slow to learn, strong-willed, and stubborn.
- Despite my humanity and mistakes, God continues to love, protect, provide for and teach me. He is my creator, healer, hope, Lord, Savior, and Sustainer of Life.
In ‘Choices and Consequences’ I also share scripture, testimonies, and lessons learned from true accounts of people in the Bible. We can learn many lessons by looking at the choices made by these people, and the consequences they faced because of those choices. Perhaps we can learn some things from them so we can avoid making the same bad choices and reaping bad consequences because of our choices.
Multitudes of people all around the globe face overwhelming challenges that threaten their communities, families, homes, nations. and even their personal lives. Many of these challenges, temporary or long-lasting, are impossible for people to resolve using their own human abilities and strengths. Though people sometimes spend years praying and searching for answers, humanity offers no hope and no lasting solutions to these difficulties. Yet, we continue to struggle to find the answers.
As we live, we face various kinds of adversity. Some challenges we create by making bad choices, and others come because of the bad choices of others.
We are also challenged by catastrophic events such as earthquakes, floods, hurricanes and violent windstorms, wildfires, and volcanic eruptions.
Sometimes it’s financial woes, illness, and chronic health problems. We also struggle with meeting basic survival needs, overcoming emotional obstacles, spiritual struggles, and relationships with others. People challenges can be some of the hardest to resolve.
Because of the intense battles, people find it hard not to be overcome by depression, disillusionment, and even hopelessness (even though hope is always there), as we try to persevere through these battles.
We often strive to find solutions because we are in a great spiritual battle between darkness and light, evil and good, and Satanic forces who fight against us. These forces fight against God, His established authority and order, God’s plan and purpose, and God’s people. Powers of darkness (Satan and His allies) want to rob, kill, and destroy. They want to keep people from accepting Jesus Christ, receiving Him, and entering God’s kingdom on earth and in heaven. The Holy Bible reveals much about God’s plan and tells us about this great battle. God calls His people soldiers and Ambassadors as they fight in this battle.
The Bible foretells the future in places, and even warns us that the battle will get more intense the closer we get to end of this age. It tells us evil will increase and more people will become evil, and their hearts will become darkened. This will continue until God pours out His wrath on evil, and fulfills judgement on evil in the Great White Throne Judgement. (See Revelation chapter 20.)
As the battle intensifies and evil increases, people (some believers and some unbelievers) get depressed, disillusioned, and weary. Some give up, lose hope, and even consider taking their own lives because they see no way out of their dilemma. Several years ago, God intervened and delivered me from such a time. You can read about my experience and testimony of this on some of my websites. God used the cry of my six-week old newborn son to stop me from suicide and demonstrate His love for me, personally. I will never forget this encounter with God and the miracle He did for me when no one else even knew what was going on.
As I hear about battles raging around me, people facing impossible health and other challenges, and I hear news reports of horrific circumstances people are facing, God tugs at my heart encouraging me to keep on sharing my testimonies, and encouragement from His word by sharing and writing this book and other written pieces.
‘Choices and Consequences’ was born out of some difficult challenges I faced many years ago. God used the book of Nehemiah to encourage, motivate, and reassure me to keep pressing forward through my adversity. Throughout this challenging time I learned many lessons, and experienced God’s comfort and encouragement. Eventually God did a miracle and resolved the problem for me in a way I never expected.
A few years later, God began to show me He wanted me to share this testimony and others by writing this book, and using the book of Nehemiah. Now, whenever I begin to doubt or get confused and overwhelmed, I reach for my Bible and flippantly open it up for encouragement. Frequently, it opens up to Nehemiah and reminds me of the previous lesson learned, and reassures me that God wants me to keep writing.
Other times, I turn on Pastors on my favorite TV network and suddenly the pastor will preach a message about Nehemiah or ‘Living Stones’ (another writing project I’m working on). It encourages me and reassures me that I’m on the right path, God’s still there, and He wants me to keep pressing on. What a blessing to have God personally confirming and reassuring me as I write!
‘Choices and Consequences’ began as a book about Nehemiah, a man of enduring faith. As I began researching for information for this book, God showed me it was a much bigger story. It’s a true story about nations, Jews and Gentiles, different cultures of people, small groups of people, and individuals. It’s also about a fallen, frail humanity in a fallen world. It’s about the choices we make as we live out our lives and face struggles, and the consequences of those choices.
‘Choices and Consequences’ includes a story about people from Jerusalem and Judea who, throughout many generations, continued making bad choices. As a result, they brought captivity, devastation, and even death to their people and their homeland.
This true Biblical account was chosen, not to bring condemnation or humiliation upon these people, but because it is rich in content, because it leads to the story of Nehemiah, and because it’s the one I believe God wants me to use. It’s a story about the Jewish people. These people are still God’s people and He will bring about the fulfillment of His promises to them and the fulfillment of scripture. One of those promises involves saving a remnant of their people, and giving them a Messiah, who will rule on the throne of David throughout eternity. Yet many of the Jews do not believe the one who came, Jesus Christ, was their Messiah, the only begotten Son of God, the One who will reign on the throne of David forever, and the One who will fulfill God’s promises to the people. As the Bible foretells in Revelation, Jesus will return and reveal this truth to the Jewish people.
Many other nations and people have made horrible mistakes and bad choices as these people did. No person should think they are better than others. We are all members of fallen humanity, and make horrible choices at times.
I personally pray for these people and the peace of Jerusalem. I pray that God will open their eyes to the truth and they will turn back to Him. This is an end times prophesy and I believe what is written will come true in God’s time. I wait and watch to see what happens as foretold prophetic events unfold before our eyes.
In ‘Choices and Consequences’, I believe God wants me to encourage myself and others to examine the choices they make for their personal life. By examining our choices and these biblical accounts, I believe we can all learn something to improve our choices and help with our personal struggles.
Many people have become depressed and disillusioned. Many Christians are becoming apathetic and some are falling away from God. Many churches are being mislead and are losing their laypeople because of heresy. Many are led by those who confess to be true Christians and/or church leaders but know little or nothing about the Holy Spirit or being born again. Many pastors, teachers, and other church leaders deny one or more aspects of the three-in-one God, and therefore, create and preach about their own false version of God.
In addition, many who confess to be Christians do not even open or study their Bibles so they can see and learn the truth of God’s word. Therefore, they fall prey to false gods, and false teachings. They are enticed into cults and false religions that teach false doctrines and go down the wide path to destruction. Lack of knowledge of the Bible and not being born again cause the people attending churches to spread false information in the churches and pit the laypeople against one another, causing churches to split and people to be deeply hurt.
When we rely on people instead of God, we set ourselves up to become disillusioned because people are human and cannot be perfect. They will more than likely let us down. We need to have our faith firmly planted in the God of the Bible and on the message of the cross–what Jesus did for us at the cross–and not on people.
Also, when we focus on other people or our problems, those things seem to turn into giants, and our God seems to become smaller. This is a great deception! The deception can cause us to forget about God and the things He has done for us. We go to these people or other places to seek the answers that God alone can truly give us.
We need to turn to God and His word for the answers we need. So, in the words of Nehemiah, “(14) And I looked, and rose up, and said unto the nobles, and to the rulers, and to the rest of the people, ‘Be not ye afraid of them: remember the Lord, which is great and terrible, and fight for your brethren, your sons, and your daughters, your wives, and your houses.'” (Neh. 4:14 KJV)
I also believe God wants me to share His word to awaken people to possible consequences of their choices–good or bad, to encourage them to continue pressing on and persevering through the tough times, and to tell them about the only One who can provide the answers to impossible circumstances, and has the invincible power to fight for us and overcome the battles that are impossible for us.
For Christians who are struggling, I pray and encourage you to hold on tight to Jesus Christ and the victory He already won on our behalf. He won the victory over sin and death by dying on the cross to pay the penalty for our sins, and become the way to eternal life in God’s heavenly household.
Hebrews 12:1-3 KJV tells us, “Wherefore, seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, (2) looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. (3) For consider Him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.”
I am reminded about King Jehoshaphat in 2 Chronicles 20: 1-20. Here Jehoshaphat faces invading armies from Ammon, Moab, and Edom. Terrified, the king calls Judah to fast and pray, and the people gather at the temple. After praying a man named Jahaziel receives a message from the Lord declaring “the battle belongs to the Lord” and Judah will not have to fight. God caused the enemy armies to to turn on one another and destroy themselves. Judah reaped abundant spoils and praised and worshipped God for their deliverance.
When we face impossible odds, like Jehoshaphat, we need to learn from Him. We need to fast and pray, and call upon God to fight on our behalf. Chances are this impossible battle is a battle that belongs to God. We need to go to God, admit the battle is impossible for us, and ask God to fight for us! No one can defeat the invincible power of our God. Because He loves us, God will take care of this gigantic problem!
As you read through ‘Choices and Consequences’, you will see many of the battles these Biblical times people faced, and have an opportunity to learn from them. At first, this may seem somewhat discouraging, but this is only one side to the story.
‘Choices and Consequences’ is also about answers, encouragement, faith, hope, insight, joy, love, and victory. It’s also about experiencing life, learning, loving, overcoming, and finding the ultimate source of love and answers to the burdens that face humanity. It’s about finding unfailing love, hope, and peace that surpasses understanding.
I believe God also wants me to share about Jesus, and the provision He provided through His death on the cross, burial, and resurrection. God is the only answer to the challenges that are impossible for people.
God is the only true answer to our condition and our struggles. Scripture tells us, “(26) But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, ‘With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible!” (Matthew 19:26 KJV, Mark 10:27 KJV, and Luke 18:27 KJV).
Seeds of Christian Faith 