There are people today who live lives of peace, happiness, and joy.  There are also people who live lives of depression, discouragement, and sadness.  Who determines the kind of life we live?  We do.  The decisions we make determine the destiny that we reach.  In every decision that we make we are choosing certain paths for our lives, and the paths that we choose lead us to our destination.  If we want to reach our desired destination, then we must make decisions that will lead us to that destination.

Deuteronomy 30:19 says, "I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live." Life and death and blessing and cursing have been presented to us, and now we have to choose which kind of life we want.  Every human being on this Earth has a free will or the freedom to make decisions.  No one can make us do anything without us first making the decision to do it.  Satan cannot make us chose death and cursing, and God cannot make us choose life and blessing.  If we have death and the curse operating in our lives, then somewhere along the line we made choices that led to those destinations.  If we have life and the blessing operating in our lives, then somewhere along the line we made decisions that led us to that destination.  The power to choose is in our hands.  So many times uniformed people have a tendency to say things like, "I don't know why God did that" or "I don't know why God allowed that to happen," but the fact is, we control our destiny with the choices that we make.  God is the one who has given us the opportunity to have life and to have blessing, and in fact, He tells us to choose life.  In the covenant that we have with God we have the right to choose, God cannotmakeus choose life.  I've come across many believers who do not want to take responsibility for what is going on in their lives.  They are quick to blame things on the devil and even quicker to blame things on God.  However, the truth is that we either give access to Satan or to God in our lives through the decisions we make.  A great example in the Bible of making the right decision is found in Luke 8 when Jairus' daughter was sick.  Jairus could have stayed home and felt sorry for himself, and his daughter would have died, but he did not do that.  He made the decision to place a demand on the Anointed One, and because of the decision that he made,his daughter was made whole.  It was the decision that Jairus made that gave Jesus access into his life.  It was God's will for that little girl to be healed all the time, but access could not be granted until Jairus made a decision. We are not just floating around on this Earth subject to what God wants or subject to what Satan wants.  By giving us the power to choose, God has given us the power to control our lives. 

It is vitally important to understand that judgment is simply the result of the direction that we chose to go.  Judgment is not God putting something on us because we did something that He did not like.  Judgment is the result of the decisions that we make.  For example, if you live in central Illinois and you want to go to St. Louis, MO but you travel north on I-55, you are eventually going to arrive in Chicago.  Chicago was the result of your decision to travel north on I-55.  It does not matter if you wanted to go to St. Louis or not because you chose to go the direction that took you to Chicago.  Judgment was the result of the decision that you made.  Judgment can be good or bad depending on the choices that we make.  Deuteronomy 28:1-2 says, "And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the LORD thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth:  And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God." Verse 15 says,"But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day; that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee."  In both of theses references we need to look very closely at the word "thou."  We are the ones who are going to determine whether we have the blessing or the curse come on us and overtake us.  If we make the decision to obey God, to walk in line with His word, and to do what He tells us to do, then we will receive all the blessings coming on us and overtaking us.  If we make the decision to not obey God, to not walk in line with His word, and to not do what He tells us to do, then we will receive the curse overtaking us. Whether we receive the blessing or the curse is going to depend upon the choices that we make.

If we desire to reach a specific destination then we are going to have walk in the direction that leads us to that destination.  Galatians 6:7-8 says, "Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.  For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting."  Our harvest is going to be based on the seeds that we sow.  If we continue to sow to the flesh and to disobey God, then we will reap corruption.  It does not matter if we want corruption or not, we are going to get it because we are sowing to the flesh.  It does not matter how bad a farmer wants corn, if he is sowing beans he is going to continue to harvest beans.  If we make the decision to sow to the spirit, we will reap the God-kind of abundant life.  If we desire to have an abundant, prosperous, and a blessed life, then there are certain decisions that we are going to have to make to reach those destinations.  Too many times as believers we sow seeds or make decisions based on how we feel instead of sowing or making decisions based on the harvest that we desire and the destiny that we want to reach.  We have to figure out where we desire to end up.  What kind of life do we desire?  Do we want the abundant life?  Do we want protection?  Do we want provision?  Do we want the blessing?  Do we want victory?  If the answer is yes, then we cannot make decisions based on how we feel about a situation, but we must make decisions based on the destination that we want to reach.  We do not do what God's word says because we feel like doing it.  We do what God's word says because we desire to reach a certain destination.  If we choose to make decisions based on our feelings instead of making decisions based on God's word, then we are setting ourselves up for a life in bondage to the curse.  We must get to a place where we say, "The way I feel about this situation has no bearing on the decisions that I make.  I make my decisions based on what the word of God says, not on how I feel."  Too many times we trade what we want most for what we want at the moment.  We make decisions based on how we feel right now and what we want right now, instead of making decisions based on where we ultimately want to be. 

The world often sees this way of life as no fun.  People have tendency to see God's commands as things that God tells them to do because he does not want them to be happy and enjoy life.  God does not give us commands to keep us from something good; God gives us commands to lead us to everything that is good.  God's commandments to us are simply love letters from heaven that God wrote to His children.  If we would simply do what He asks us to do, we would experience the most enjoyable and prosperous life that we could ever imagine.  It is a big, fat set-up.  When we do what God asks us to do, we experience protection and provision that the natural man cannot even conceive. 

My challenge to you today is this: Take control over your life and your destiny by making decisions that are in line with God's word.  No one in his or her right mind wants to live life sad, depressed, sick, in lack, and defeated.  Everyone in their right mind wants the most out of life.  They want to enjoy life.  They want to be successful.  They want to be prosperous.  I believe that you fall into that category.  I believe with all of my heart that you want to prosper and be successful.  I encourage you today to start making decisions to reach that destination.  If you have been sowing to flesh and making decisions that are in opposition to God's word then get off the exit, turn around, and start going in the other direction.  Do not continue to travel a direction that is going to take you to a destination that you do not want to reach.  Choose life and choose blessing by choosing the word of God today.  God's word is a road map to the most prosperous and the most enjoyable life that we could ever live.  If we will make decisions that are in line with God's word, we will reach a point where we are experiencing days of Heaven right here on this Earth (Deuteronomy 11:21).