Introduction to Free Will

Hello, friends.

I am here for one purpose: To challenge you to step out of the box.

"What Box", you say? Glad you asked.

It is my belief, after many ridiculous hours of pondering and meditating, that we do one of two things during our time on this earth: We either have a revelation of Reality as God created it..... Or, we operate out of a box of thoughts and beliefs that have come from any number of sources.

Sounds pretty simple, right? Or have I turned you off already?

Hang in there for a second.... you might be surprised.

If you do not believe in God at all, you'll get no judgement here. I get it... and, honestly, after hearing many people's interpretations of God... I often wonder why they would believe in Him at all.

I propose this thought for you to chew on: Maybe the reason there are so many versions of God is based on the simple fact that He operates out of Free Will... and people don't. Maybe God does not force His Reality on you.... but Man does. Maybe in Man's efforts to answer the questions of "Who am I... Why am I hear.... and Where did I come from?".... we have invented countless theories of Reality.

But I want to challenge your common sense here: Is Reality really Reality if there are countless interpretations of it? Shouldn't it come from the very Source of our Creation? (and I'm not referring to your parents!)

So let me offer this scenario for your consideration, and introduce you to some of my own revelations:

God is Love. It is who He is, and how He operates. Love requires Free Will. If not, it's not love... it's slavery and manipulation.

God created Man in His own image. He breathed His very Spirit into Man, enabling him to experience the same quality of Life that He experiences. Wholeness, Peace, Freedom... a Miraculous Life.

God wants Man to operate out of Reality... This comes from an understanding of two identities: Who God is, and Who Man is.

But God had a responsibility to Man because of Free Will. He had to warn Man of the consequences of making bad choices. He warned Man not to buy into Religion.

What is Religion? Well.... I have pondered this often, and I would like to summarize it simply as Man operating out of anything other than Reality..... GOD's REALITY. When we are unsure of who God really is, or who We really are... we will either create our own version of Reality... or buy into a version presented to us from someone else. You can trace every single Theory, Belief, or Moral System to this very thing...... Rather than believing what God says, we have made up our own Reality.

The Bible describes this story in the first few pages (Genesis 2:15-17). God told Adam there were 2 specific trees in the Garden. The Tree of Life.... and The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.

I like to refer to them as the 2 choices Man has....

Reality or Religion.

Life or Box.

I think we all know what choice Adam and Eve made. This was the birth of Religion. The Deceiver subtly mentioned it.... and Man has Franchised it ever since.

The challenge for us all is this.... Get out of the Box.

It is my belief that we all, to some degree, live in this Box. Religion is like a disease or virus. It's the worst cancer this world has ever seen, and it is at the core of every problem Man has. It lives in our homes and our hearts... sits in our pews and our bleachers, teaches from our classrooms and pulpits, and it thrives in our beliefs.... even when we think we are believing against it.

Ponder this: What if, by saying "I don't believe in God", you are actually buying into the very thing you think you are standing firm against.... RELIGION?

You see.... God is not Religious. People are. In fact, I would volunteer that God is the very OPPOSITE of Religion. Thankfully, God has dealt with Religion in Jesus, and He is our way out of the Box. Jesus came to do many, many things... but my focus for this discussion is on this: He came to show us Reality, and free us from Religion. He has perfectly revealed who God is, and who Man is. He has shown us what life outside the box looks like, and wants nothing more than to show us how to LIVE IT.

Believing in Jesus is the first step. I like to describe it as getting a small window cut out of the box. We can now see the Tree of Life, and we can rest in the Truth that it IS our eternal destiny. When we die, we get out of the box and go to Heaven (which is certainly better than the alternative).

But there's only one problem: We're still stuck in the Box now.

To be continued......