Our Choices Determine The Direction Of Our Lives
Imagine standing at a crossroads, with countless paths stretching out before you. Each one leads to a different destination – some promising, some uncertain, some filled with challenges and others with hope. Now, what if I told you that the direction your life takes, the very path you walk, is not determined by chance or circumstance, but by the choices you make at each intersection? Every day, we are faced with decisions – some small, some life-altering. And while we may not always realise it in the moment, each choice acts as a steering wheel, guiding us toward our future. Maybe you’re wrestling with a decision, or perhaps you’re looking back at choices that have shaped your journey so far. Wherever you find yourself, know this: God has given us the incredible gift and responsibility of choice. This article explores how the decisions you make today can transform your tomorrow. Be blessed as you read! What we choose to believe or disbelieve significantly influences the course of our lives. A fascinating example can be found in the Bible, specifically in Mark chapter 6. When Jesus returned to his hometown to minister to the people he had grown up with, they all knew him as the carpenter’s son. They were familiar with his history, family, and background. Mark 6:5 states that Jesus could perform no mighty works there, except for healing a few sick individuals. He was amazed by their unbelief. Jesus wanted to perform great works and help the community, but he was unable to do so because of their lack of faith. This made me reflect on the idea that if unbelief can hinder the power of God, it can certainly also prevent the lies of Satan from taking hold. We need to recognise that our beliefs, whether positive or negative, shape the direction of our lives. If we are constantly consuming news filled with negativity and fear, we risk believing the lies that surround us. This can lead us to live in a state of anxiety, fixating on “what if” scenarios. For instance, we might think, “What if I lose my job?” or “What if everything goes wrong? How will we survive?” By choosing to believe in these negative thoughts, we are essentially inviting them into our lives. However, we also have the power to disbelieve these negative narratives and instead choose to believe in the truth found in the word of God. This can serve as our guiding principle. The key to overcoming negativity in this challenging world is to be well-founded and well-grounded in God’s word and to maintain a genuine relationship with God the Father. I can’t express how important my fellowship with the Father is to me. If you’ve been believing negative reports about yourself, it’s not too late to change your direction. There are many negative narratives surrounding us. For example, some people claim that alcoholism is not your fault and that there’s a gene that predisposes you to be an alcoholic. They also suggest that there are genes making you more likely to be overweight or susceptible to depression and discouragement. These are simply excuses, and they are not true. We can observe people who grew up in the same family with the same genetic background, raised in an alcoholic or abusive environment, but they often choose different paths. This shows that we have a choice. Even identical individuals in identical circumstances can lead vastly different lives because we have the power to make decisions. You are not just a product of your environment; you have the ability to choose whether to be a victim or a victor, a winner or a loser. If that weren’t the case, it would be unjust for the Lord to hold you accountable for your actions, as you would be predetermined to follow a certain path. You may have experienced many challenges in your life, but ultimately, you chose how to respond to them. Remember, no one can oppress you or control you without your consent and cooperation. Never underestimate your worth, regardless of what others may say. You have the power to accept or reject negative beliefs about yourself. Many people grow up in similar circumstances and choose to reject the idea that they are limited by their environment. They decide to pursue a different path and often find success. Unfortunately, some people believe that their prospects are determined by factors like their skin colour, level of education, or background. They use these as excuses for not succeeding, even though many individuals in the same situations have managed to overcome those obstacles and achieve great things. You cannot use the colour of your skin, your lack of education, or your gender as barriers or obstacles to your success. It’s important to stop blaming others and recognise that if you’re facing challenges or not thriving in a certain area, it’s ultimately a choice you’ve made. While you may have faced pressures or difficulties that others haven’t, you have still chosen to remain in that situation. I was taught beliefs that differ from my current understanding, yet I decided to change, and it required significant effort. The devil cannot prevent you from prospering. You might think, “I believe there’s a recession happening, and I can’t succeed because of it. After all, I’m only human, and there’s nothing I can do about it.” However, you need to remember that the Bible says in Philippians 4:19, “God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” God has promised to supply our needs according to His riches and glory, not based on current economic conditions, the British pound, or the US dollar. Many people worry about how their needs will be met due to recessions, layoffs, or struggling local economies. However, it doesn’t matter what happens in the world – our needs will be met according to His riches in glory. God uses His abundant resources to provide for us. If you don’t
NEW THOUGHTS, NEW LIFE
A Sermon Delivered on Wednesday Evening, January 1st 2025 by – Evangelist Paul Acquah, Live on MZ Radio London, London UK. Our thoughts hold incredible power. They shape our perceptions, guide our actions, and ultimately determine the direction of our lives. The Bible tells us in Proverbs twenty-three seven, ‘As a man thinks in his heart, so is he.’ Our inner thoughts define who we are and the life we experience. In Romans twelve two, we’re reminded to ‘be transformed by the renewing of our mind.’ It’s through this renewal that we align with God’s perfect will for our lives and step into the fullness of His promises. In this new year, through the power of God’s Word and the renewal of your mind, you can uproot the weeds of negative thinking and plant seeds of truth that will bear fruit in every area of your life. Join us as we discover how this transformation is possible in today’s message by Evangelist Paul Acquah titled “New Thoughts, New Life”. If you renew your mind, you will renew your life. I want to encourage you to spend more time in the word of God as we see what we’re seeing in our lives right now, in our generation, in this culture with everything that’s happening economically and just all of the stuff happening in the world. It’s really good to get more time in the word of God as opposed to less time. Proverbs 23:7 is such an important scripture, “As [a man] thinks in his heart, so is he. Your way of thinking determines your way of life. Where your mind goes, that’s where you go.And like the writer of proverbs says, the way we think determines how we live and who we are. That’s why we need to “think about what we’re thinking about.” Romans 12 1-2 is a very familiar scripture for most of us, but let’s take a look at it again today. “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed”. How? “By the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God”. From this text of scripture, we discover that God does not want us to be conformed to the ways of the world or in other words, how the world thinks. He says if we will renew our minds with the word of God, we’re going to be able to actually live differently from the way the world lives. We’re going to be able to live transformed lives instead of conformed to the world’s way of thinking. “And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, 2 in which you once walked according to the [a]course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, 3 among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others. 4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved)” (Ephesians 2:1-5). Before we believe in Jesus, we are dead in our spirit to God, blind to His ways, unable to communicate with Him, and eternally separated from Him because of our sinful nature. When we are not born again, we are used to being directed by our soul because our spirit is dead, we don’t have a spirit that’s alive unto God when we are not born again. The soul is used to being in control and what happens for many in the world is they go by the popular notion. They hear things like, whatever feels good, do it. Whatever you think is good, do it. And that’s the problem, we’re so used to those patterns in our lives that they become familiar to us to where it feels normal. We cannot change any of this by our own works. “And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins”. Dead people can’t help themselves. They can’t move, talk, or respond in any way, because they have no life. The only thing that can change our condition is a new spirit and a new life—which is Christ’s gift to us when we believe in Him as our Saviour. We were given life through Christ when we were dead in our sins. When you get born again, God takes that dead, corrupt spirit out of you and you don’t have that demonic sin nature on the inside of you anymore. You’ve got a brand-new nature. This was an act of grace independent of our efforts and works (Romans 3:27 and 11:6). God gave Christ’s life to us who were dead in sin. Truly, salvation rests in the work of God through Christ alone. 17 “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new “(2 Corinthians 5:17). I know sometimes you’re thinking well, wait a minute I still got a lust for some things. It’s not because your nature is that way anymore, it’s because you haven’t renewed your mind. Your mind is very similar to a computer and it was programmed to be selfish, it was programmed to think only about yourself, it was programmed to only look at things from your own selfish perspective, it was programmed to just do things on your own and only turn to God when you’re in absolute dire situation. Your mind was programmed raw and you’re going to continue to have some of the same lust and desires and things that you had before you got born again until you renew your mind through the word of God. God says to us there’s a process that needs to happen once we have been called out of darkness into his marvellous light to where we actually