Choosing Life’S Paths: With God’S Help

By Sherri Self

Author Sherri Self has a desire to see everyone become followers of Jesus Christ and for them to know who they are in Christ. She encourages Christians to grow in their walk with Jesus and for them to become successful in choosing their lifes paths with Gods help.

In Choosing Lifes Paths, she offers advice on that journey. She shares how to lean on the Lord for his direction by first discovering who Jesus is and understanding what it is to be a Christian. Sherri explores the choices and the results and how the Holy Spirit guides Christians down the paths that lead to victory. Filled with extensive scripture, this guide helps those who desire to:
Be forgiven and forgive
Believe and not doubt
Be encouraged
Know there is always hope
Conquer fear
Find peace and joy
Receive Gods help

Choosing Lifes Paths is for those who desire a more balanced, and fulfilled life and reveals ways to achieve these outcomes. It addresses needs and inspires all to seek the Lords will and timing in life and to align themselves with Gods plans.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Apr 24, 2018
• ISBN: 9781973625049

Sherri Self

Sherri Self earned a bachelors degree in Christian education and has a Teaching English as a Second Language certification from Northwest College. She served as a missionary assistant at the Northwest Colleges Pacific Rim Centre and is a board-commissioned, certified, Christian life, grief, stress, and joy restoration coach. Self has served in many children and adult ministries. She and her husband live in Surprise, Arizona.

Book preview

Choosing

Life’s Paths

With God’s Help

Sherri Self

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Copyright © 2018 Sherri Self.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

WestBow Press

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Scripture taken from the Amplified Bible, Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation. Used with permission.

Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture taken from the King James Version of the Bible.

Scripture taken from The Message. Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.

THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. The Living Bible, TLB, and the The Living Bible logo are registered trademarks of Tyndale House Publishers.

ISBN: 978-1-9736-2503-2 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-9736-2505-6 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-9736-2504-9 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2018904626

WestBow Press rev. date: 4/23/2018

Contents

Part One

- need to know before choosing -

Chapter 1 Opening Statements

Chapter 2 Who is Jesus?

Chapter 3 How to Become a Christian

Chapter 4 Who We Are in Christ

Chapter 5 Choose the Paths

Part Two

- discover paths and begin choosing with God’s help -

Chapter 6 Unforgiveness/Forgiveness

Chapter 7 Grumble/Grateful

Chapter 8 Despair/Hope

Chapter 9 Fear/Faith

Chapter 10 Old Way/God’s Way

Chapter 11 Anxiety/Peace

Chapter 12 Pride/Humility

Chapter 13 Sorrow/Joy

Chapter 14 Frustration/Patience

Chapter 15 Dissatisfaction/Contentment

Chapter 16 Doubt/Believe

Conclusion

Bibliography

Reading Guide

Dear Readers,

At the end of each chapter you will find three sections. The first is titled Life Application, which can be used to go deeper. Next is Scriptures Alluded to in This Chapter, which for your convenience writes out all scriptures that have a reference number after them, for example (Proverbs 3:5–6)¹. Last is Works Cited, which includes author information on books quoted or referred to in the chapter and are noted with a letter, for example, Somebody saidA.

Part One

– need to know before choosing –

Chapter 1

Opening Statements

As I was reading Ephesians, chapter 3, in the Message Bible—where Paul wrote that although he was the least qualified and lacked the natural abilities to help people understand and respond to the Message, there he was writing this letter to the Ephesian church—I could relate. I feel that I am the least qualified to be writing this book. It most certainly has nothing to do with my natural abilities, but it is what I believe God is leading me to attempt. So here I am writing about things that are way over my head, but He is giving me the boldness.¹ God can do anything, you know—far more than we could ever ask or imagine in our wildest dreams.

May the Lord use this book to help you to go wherever you need to go along the paths (Prov. 3:5–6).² He has planned for you (Jer. 29:11)³ without letting past or present troubles get you down. May He strengthen you in your innermost being as you invite Him to help you live in His fullness, that He has for you (Eph. 6:10–20).⁴ To God be the glory, amen.

The book of Ephesians is so rich and full. In chapter 6, verse 19, once again I could identify with Paul, as he was asking the Ephesians to pray for him that he would know what to say, and have the courage to say it, at the right time.⁵ That is also my prayer: to know what to say and have the courage to say it, and that as you read, it will be what you need to hear at just the right time for you.

I am not the source of the answers, only the conduit through which a few of the answers from the Word of the One who is the Answer will be made available for your application.

Some of what you are about to read in this book you have heard before, maybe even several times before, but repetition is how we learn. I know as a former preschool teacher and as a mom, it took saying some things more than once to get from hearing to doing. I remember struggling in my freshman year of high school to learn how to diagram sentences and to identify a noun from a verb, but in my sophomore year it began to click. I even completed both sophomore- and junior-year English with As, which became helpful years later when I taught English as a Second Language in China.

As I said, hearing something once usually isn’t enough. Much like my experience in school, it isn’t until after the millionth time that all of a sudden the information finally strikes that aha, now I get it moment, and from then on you know and can use what you have learned for yourself and for others.

God is strong, and He wants us to be strong also. We need to put to use what He has provided to be able to stand up to everything the devil throws at us. We need to be prepared and learn who we are according to Him and know His paths.

In this book you will have the opportunity to lean on the Lord for His direction and lead in choosing a number of life’s paths. Before examining the choices, we first need to discover who Jesus is, what it is to be a Christian, and who we are in Christ. Without knowing these things, we will find choosing very difficult. In part 2 of this book, we will look briefly at the choices and reach conclusions about what to choose and how the Holy Spirit can guide us down the paths that lead to victory.

This is not meant to be an exhaustive list; we will only be touching the tip of the iceberg. It is not in depth but only a starter you can use to add to and make your own. God’s ways are more than we can ever fully understand or grasp. It is a daily growing and maturing process. We will not have it perfected until we reach heaven. Until then keep on keeping on. Let’s dive in and begin this journey together.

Life Application

I have shared with you how the following scriptures spoke to me as I was reading them. Now ask God what He would like you to receive from them as you read them.

Maybe you have never heard of God, or perhaps you thought you were an outsider, or maybe you have never experienced the depths of His love for you. Maybe you haven’t trusted Him with all your heart or allowed Him to direct your paths or realized that He has a great plan just for you. Maybe you didn’t know that you are in a battle or that you are not alone in the battle. Perhaps you didn’t realize the power there is in prayer.

Read the following scriptures. Make some notes. Do some underlining. See what God’s Word has to say to you.

Scriptures Alluded to in This Chapter

(I have italicized the parts that are the most relevant to this chapter.)

1. Ephesians 3:4–21 (MSG)

As you read over what I have written to you, you’ll be able to see for yourselves into the mystery of Christ. None of our ancestors understood this. Only in our time has it been made clear by God’s Spirit through his holy apostles and prophets of this new order. The mystery is that people who have never heard of God and those who have heard of him all their lives (what I’ve been calling outsiders and insiders) stand on the same ground before God. They get the same offer, same help, same promises in Christ Jesus. The Message is accessible and welcoming to everyone, across the board.

This is my life work: helping people understand and respond to this Message. It came as a sheer gift to me, a real surprise, God handling all the details. When it came to presenting the Message to people who had no background in God’s way, I was the least qualified of any of the available Christians. God saw to it that I was equipped, but you can be sure that it had nothing to do with my natural abilities.

And so here I am, preaching and writing about things that are way over my head, the inexhaustible riches and generosity of Christ. My task is to bring out in the open and make plain what God, who created all this in the first place, has been doing in secret and behind the scenes all along. Through followers of Jesus like yourselves gathered in churches, this extraordinary plan of God is becoming known and talked about even among the angels!

All this is proceeding along lines planned all along by God and then executed in Christ Jesus. When we trust in him, we’re free to say whatever needs to be said, bold to go wherever we need to go. So don’t let my present trouble on your behalf get you down. Be proud!

My response is to get down on my knees before the Father, this magnificent Father who parcels out all heaven and earth. I ask him to strengthen you by his Spirit—not a brute strength but a glorious inner strength—that Christ will live in you as you open the door and invite him in. And I ask him that with both feet planted firmly on love, you’ll be able to take in with all followers of Jesus the extravagant dimensions of Christ’s love. Reach out and experience the breadth! Test its length! Plumb the depths! Rise to the heights! Live full lives, full in the fullness of God.

God can do anything, you know—far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, his Spirit deeply and gently within us.

Glory to God in the church!

Glory to God in the Messiah, in Jesus!

Glory down all the generations!

Glory through all millennia! Oh, yes!

2. Proverbs 3:5–6 (KJV)

Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.

In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

3. Jeremiah 29:11(NIV)

"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

4. –5. Ephesians 6:10–20 (MSG)

And that about wraps it up. God is strong, and he wants you strong. So take everything the Master has set out for you, well-made weapons of the best materials. And put them to use so you will be able to stand up to everything the Devil throws your way. This is no afternoon athletic contest that we’ll walk away from and forget about in a couple of hours. This is for keeps, a life-or-death fight to the finish against the Devil and all his angels.

Be prepared. You’re up against far more than you can handle on your own. Take all the help you can get, every weapon God has issued, so that when it’s all over but the shouting you’ll still be on your feet. Truth, righteousness, peace, faith, and salvation are more than words. Learn how to apply them. You’ll need them throughout your life. God’s Word is an indispensable weapon. In the same way, prayer is essential in this ongoing warfare. Pray hard and long. Pray for your brothers and sisters. Keep your eyes open. Keep each other’s spirits up so that no one falls behind or drops out.

And don’t forget to pray for me. Pray that I’ll know what to say and have the courage to say it at the right time, telling the mystery to one and all, the Message that I, jailbird preacher that I am, am responsible for getting out.

Chapter 2

Who is Jesus?

Most importantly, it is essential that we know He is God. Some question the Trinity; however, the following equation may be helpful in understanding how the three can be one: 1 x 1 x 1 = 1—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit is God. Jesus is more than a great moral teacher, as C. S. Lewis explains in his book Mere Christianity.A

How Can We Know This Is True?

1. Jesus said He was.

• Jesus said, I and the Father are one(John 10:30 NIV), and in John 10:33 (NIV), the Jews responded in anger and wanted to stone Jesus. They said, We are not stoning you for any of these, but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God.

• In John 8:58–59 (NIV), the Jews wanted to stone Jesus for saying He was God. Jesus had said, I tell you the truth before Abraham was born, I am! I am refers to the Old Testament name of God in Exodus 3:14 (NIV), where God told Moses that His name was I am.

2. Eyewitnesses said He was.

• John 1:1 reads, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And John 1:14 says, And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

• Thomas the disciple said to Jesus in John 20:28 (NIV), My Lord and my God, and Jesus didn’t correct him.

• In Titus 2:13 (NIV), Paul describes Him as our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. And Colossians 1:19 tells us, For in him [Jesus] all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell.

• The apostle Peter said the same thing in 2 Peter 1:1 (NIV): our God and Savior Jesus Christ.

• These men knew Jesus personally, and they were willing to stand up to the consequences of prison and death for calling Him God.

3. Old Testament prophecies of Christ said He was.

• Isaiah 9:6 (NIV) announced His deity: For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

• Isaiah 7:14 is repeated in Matthew 1:23 (NIV): A virgin shall give birth to a son and his name shall be Immanuel, which means God with us.

He Also Is …

• The Son of God (John 3:16);

• Savior (Luke 2:11, 2 Tim. 1:10, Titus 3:2);

• The Answer;

• The Beginning and the End (Rev. 21:6, 22:13);

• Christ the Lord (ninety-four times from Luke to Revelation);

• The Door (John 10:7, 9);

• Friend (John 15:15);

• The Great Physician (Mark 5);

• King of Kings (Tim. 6:15);

• Lord of Lords (Rev. 17:14, 19:16);

• Master (six times in Luke and once in Jude 1:4);

• Messiah (John 4:24–26);

• Prince of Peace (Isa. 9:6);

• The Redeemer (Isa. 48:17);

• Teacher (Mark 13:1, Luke 7:40, John 1:38);

• The Word (John 1:1, 1:14); and

• The Way, the Truth, and the Life (John 14:6).

This is only the tip of the iceberg as to who He is. There is no end to this list of who Jesus is because as Anne Graham Lotz titled her book, My Jesus Is Everything.B

For further, more in-depth study, two very good books on the subject are The Case for Christ, by Lee Strobel, and Jesus, a Biblical Defense of His Deity, by Josh McDowell and Bart Larson. Another book that was recommended by my apologetics professor at Northwest College is Evidence that Demands a Verdict, by Josh McDowell.

What Did Jesus Do?

He came in the form of a human baby.

• The Christmas story in Matthew 1:18–2:12 and Luke 2:1–38.

He fulfilled more than fifty prophecies (some say over one hundred).

• About his birth;