FJWL_02:540
         Have I not said that these are the days of choices? I am showing My children that which I wish, that which I want, and wherein lie My blessings--for I am showing them My highest will. I am showing them where My blessings reside and where they can be reached; then I am making them make the choice as to how close to Me they will follow.
         They choose how much of those blessings they wish to receive by choosing how closely they wish to follow. No longer is it someone else saying to them, "You're not following closely, you're not obeying this, you're not doing that." For now they themselves make these decisions, and I judge them and reward them accordingly.
         In time they will learn that I bless those who follow closely. They are growing and maturing, and they must learn these lessons, that he that follows closest is most blessed, and he that follows afar off struggles more and cannot receive the full abundance of the blessings that I would give him.
         Let them choose, so that they do the things that they do because they have chosen to do them, and they are fully set in their hearts to do these things by their own choice, by their own desire, and out of their decision to obey, because they want to be close to Me and to please Me.
         For it is in learning to make the right choices and to follow Me closely that they will be strengthened for the days ahead. Forced obedience is no obedience, but true obedience comes from the acceptance and the willingness to obey from the heart, from the decisions made in the mind and heart of man. (ML #3033)



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