Pressing On with Allen Bach and Clay O’Brien Cooper
As told to Dee Ann Burkes
“I
press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me
heavenward in Jesus Christ.” Philippians 3:14
Allen: Choices.
They are something we make every day and they affect every area of our lives.
The most dangerous thing God ever gave us was our free will. If you think you
are saved because you said the sinner’s prayer and you’ve got your "fire
insurance" then you’re wrong and Satan will have a hey day with you. Our
free will is a keg of dynamite. If you don’t choose to seek after God every
single day, then you are making a choice to not be as close to him as you could
be. Jesus wants us to take that one step towards him and he’s right there. But
if you take a step the other direction, you are putting more distance between
God and you and that’s bad news.
Clay: Our will is what sets us apart from everything God created. He made man in his own image. We are made in the likeness of God, the image of God. That’s an awesome thought. We are spiritual beings. He has given us the ability to make decisions and choose what we are going to have, what we are going to be and what we are going to do. God gave us his word: "This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice and hold fast to him." (Deuteronomy 30:19-20.)
Allen: It isn’t
always going to be Easy Street. There are going to be some tough days in our
life; we will be forced to make tough decisions. It starts in our childhood,
who we choose as friends can affect us 15 or 20 years down the road. The
decisions we make don’t just affect us; they affect our families and people
around us too. Choosing a husband or wife is a huge decision to make. The most
important choice you’ll ever have is to accept Jesus as your savior and enter
into the family of God. God didn’t make us robots; he won’t make us love
him. He loves each of us so much it is unreal, and for us to not return that
love is painful for Him. He could make us love him, but he wants it to
be a decision from our hearts. A lot of choices come up after the choice
to receive salvation. Yes, we want to please Him, but we also have our own free
will and we have a lot of choices to make.
Clay: I was raised
in a home and taught to try to make the right choices, but not really from a
godly standpoint. In my early years, I was left making decisions by myself that
I wish I would have had a more Godly influence. As a parent, I realize the most
important thing is to teach my kids that life is about making decisions and
providing them a Biblical knowledge base to make decisions from. There are
opportunities to make decisions every day, those choice are what makes our life
turn out good or they can affect it in a bad way. Just faith itself becomes a
choice. The more we read the Bible, the more we learn about what we have in
God. The choice to love God is up to us. "Therefore everyone who hears
these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built
his house upon the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose and the winds
blew and beat against the house; yet it did not fall, because it had it’s
foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not
put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The
rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that
house and it fell with a great crash." (Matthew 7:24-27) Where we choose
to build our foundation is up to us.
Allen: God wants
you to have life and life more abundantly - but those decisions along the way
are up to you. Bad decisions will get you in a bad predicament. Each decision
you make, even the small ones you make during the day, need to be aligned with
God’s word. Everyday choices are what establish your future. But just because
you feel you are making good, Godly decisions doesn’t mean your life will be
perfect. The perfect life is waiting for us in Heaven. Until we get there,
there are going to be some tough times, even with the right decisions made. But
even during those tough times, God can be blessing you -- if you allow him too.
If you are truly seeking Him, you will find those blessings.
Clay: Our walk
starts by accepting Jesus as the Lord and Savoir in our life, and then it’s a
daily decision to do His will. Storms will come and circumstances will rise
against us. We need to stand in faith in God’s word and stay with the choice we
have made to do God’s will. It comes down to choosing what is right by God’s
word and sticking to that. That is what is going to make the change happen in
your life. God’s power of provision will manifest in your life then. The enemy
comes in and tries to get us to second guess our choice or retract it, but the
more we mature in the Word, the more confidence we have in our decisions. When
God’s Word becomes life to us, His power and provision is manifested in our
life. There is a reward for that.
Allen: I have
continually had to make the choice to surrender my roping career to Him. I have
tried to do it on my own and ended up letting the spirit of competition kind of
dominate me. I would focus on my roping so much that I would start to suffer in
other parts of my life, places where God intended fruit. I had to surrender
myself to him and say, "Not by my will, by thy will, God." Paul said
he had to die daily. His carnal mind kept praying that he would let God have
His way with him so he would do what he wanted to do. Several times I’ve said,
"God, if you want me to quit roping,
if you have something else for me to do, then
that’s what I’ll do." That was the hardest thing for me to do - to tell
God I would lay down my roping. I’ve gone through three or six months of not
roping until I struggled and struggled and finally came back to it. And He
rewarded me for it - in many different ways. He didn’t want me to quit roping, he just wanted it to stop dominating my life and
have me surrender to him again.
Clay: It comes back
to the simple truth of making the decision to do it God’s way. Stick with it
and you will be rewarded, just like it says in Matthew 6:33: "Seek ye
first his kingdom and his righteousness and all these things will be given to
you as well."
Allen: Chapter 28
in Deuteronomy talks about the choices you can make and the consequences that
will result. God tells the Israelites that if they follow his instructions,
they will be blessed in the city and the country, when they are coming and
going. All kinds of blessings will be with them when they obey God. But the
next paragraph tells the Israelites if they choose not to obey God and follow
his commandments, they will be cursed in the city and the country, cursed in
their coming and their going. The choice was completely up to them. God is
basically saying, "If you choose to follow my instructions, you don’t have
to chase blessings, they will follow you." His hand of blessing will be on
you. You will never regret the decision to follow God. Take an inventory of
your life. That’s something I have to do on a regular basis. What kind of
decisions are you making? Are you giving God access to your heart? Are you
allowing Him to work in the areas where you really need Him most? In 1 John he
says "I will know you by your fruit." Are your choices bearing fruit?
You have the choice to every day, in every way, to seek Him will all your
heart. Make the right choice and be blessed.
If you have any
questions or a response to this article, you can submit it to Allen and Clay
via e-mail: claycooper@cactusropes.com or allenbach@cactusropes.com