Pondering in My Heart

Celebrating Christmas is not being with family or spending time with friends.  It's not giving presents or going to parties.  It's not ice skating or wearing scarves.  It's not shopping or eating family dinners.  It's not watching movies or getting time off of work.  And it's certainly not lying to children about Santa.

Most of us enjoy these things and that's fine (except for the lying part).  However, celebrating Christmas is really much more than all of those things.  Contemplating what Christmas really means will bring more joy than all of the above mentioned things.  

Mary had it right.  She was there that night and she knew how to truly celebrate the birth of the Savior.  On that very first "Christmas" - the night Jesus was born - she celebrated by pondering Jesus and what had just taken place.  She "treasured up" all that had happened in her heart.  She took the incarnation and simply thought about it.  She pondered it; she treasured it.  

If we are seeking JOY this Christmas, if we are seeking LOVE, if we are seeking PEACE - there is only one place to look - Jesus.  Jesus brings joy, love, and peace unlike anyone else ever could.  The incarnation of Christ is love come in the flesh.  It's the greatest gift we could ever receive.  It brings peace that surpasses human comprehension.  

When we celebrate Christmas by spending time with family, or eating cookies, or buying gifts, let's make sure that it's accompanied with thoughts of joy and gratitude towards our Savior.  Truly celebrate your Christmas by taking some time to ponder Jesus in your heart as Mary did.  Take some time today to truly ponder the incarnation.  Take a moment and think about the Word becoming flesh for you and for me.  Say a prayer to thank Jesus for lowering Himself to the take human form for us. 

Merry Christmas!

My Journey through 2 Corinthians

I just finished up my personal study through 2 Corinthians.  There are so many fun and awesome passages throughout this book.  I thought I would share a few of the little treasures that I've found along the way.

11 You also must help us by prayer, so that many will give thanks on our behalf for the blessing granted us through the prayers of many.

1:11  Paul asks for the prayers of the people.  SO THAT "many will give thanks."  I love that Paul always turns everything back around to focus on God.  He asks for prayers not just because he personally really wants something.  But he asks for prayers so that thanks can be given to God upon His answer of those prayers.  God likes to work through prayer in order to bring us closer to Him because after He answers prayer - we thank Him!  Let this be my perspective when I pray and ask for prayer from others.

15 Because I was sure of this, I wanted to come to you first, so that you might have a second experience of grace.

1:15  Paul wants to visit the Corinthians so that they can have a "second experience of grace" or a double blessing.  Being around encouraging believers (like Paul) is a means of grace that we shouldn't take for granted.  Encourage relationships with Godly people in your life!

5 Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God, 6 who has made us sufficient to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

3:5-6  "Our sufficiency is from God."  Paul again turns the attention from himself to God - the One who deserves the fame.  We are incompetent in ourselves.  It is only through God that we are able to be ministers of the gospel.  Nothing comes from us - all of our sufficiency, competency, and worth comes from God.

7 Now if the ministry of death, carved in letters on stone, came with such glory that the Israelites could not gaze at Moses' face because of its glory, which was being brought to an end, 8 will not the ministry of the Spirit have even more glory? 9 For if there was glory in the ministry of condemnation, the ministry of righteousness must far exceed it in glory. 10 Indeed, in this case, what once had glory has come to have no glory at all, because of the glory that surpasses it.11 For if what was being brought to an end came with glory, much more will what is permanent have glory.

3:7-11  The old covenant was necessary for a time.  It was glorious in that time and we see evidence of that because the people could not look at the face of Moses because it radiated the glory of God.  However, it was temporary.  How much MORE glory will the permanent new covenant have!   This passage says the new covenant "far exceeds" the old.  Thank you, Jesus!

7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.

4:7  When we think of treasure we think of money, earthly fortunes, possessions that we put in a special treasure box.  But when Paul says treasure, he's referring to the gospel!  That is true treasure.  Where God has placed this treasure?  In the hearts and minds of believers - in "jars of clay"!  Again at the end of this verse Paul points to God.  The reason Paul says that we have this treasure is "to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and NOT to us."  God is BIG and worthy of praise, and we are little and nothing without Him - a theme I keep seeing in 2 Corinthians.

15 For it is all for your sake, so that as grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God.

4:15  Again Paul says that as we extend grace to each other and as God extends grace to us, we will see an INCREASE in thanksgiving to God.  God deserves our glory.  If you've received grace today - the reason was so that you would glorify God with thanksgiving.  Don't waste God's grace!

16 So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. 17 For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, 18 as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.

4:16-18  Eternal perspective, people.  This momentary affliction, no matter how big or small, is just that - momentary and insignificant in comparison with the ETERNAL weight of GLORY.  Death, the worst human experience imaginable, is just the beginning of eternal bliss for the Christian.  We can't even dream up how wonderful it will be to be in the presence of God.  Open my eyes, God, to look at this world through the vision of eternal perspective.

8 Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. 9 So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him.

5:8-9  Continuing on with his plea for an eternal perspective, Paul says that he longs to be away from his earthly body and at home with the Lord.  But verse 9 is what I love.  He says that no matter where he is - here on this earth or with God in heaven - it is his aim to PLEASE GOD.  That is your purpose in life.  Strive to live it out diligently.

17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 18 All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. 20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

5:17-21  These are some of the best verses ever.  In just a few short sentences we see the heart of the gospel.  We are a new creation in Christ.  We may not feel "new" on the outside.  Life may proceed pretty normally as we know it, but eternally our lives are radically different.  Eternally, our spirit has been joined with God.  Our future went from a place of torment to a place of glory.  The all-powerful Creator of the universe went from being our enemy to being our Father.  We have been reconciled to God and we've been given the ministry of helping others come into covenant relationship with God.  Our sins are erased and forgiven and we have the greatest treasure we could ever imagine - a personal, intimate, wonderful relationship with the All-mighty.  We now have the opportunity to do something for this wonderful God who sent His Son to die for us.  We are His ambassadors.  Jesus became sin for us, what will we do to say thank you?

4 but as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: by great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, 5 beatings, imprisonments,riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger; 6 by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, the Holy Spirit, genuine love; 7 by truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left;8 through honor and dishonor, through slander and praise. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; 9 as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold, we live; as punished, and yet not killed; 10 as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, yet possessing everything.

6:4-10  Paul's life so radically follows this eternal perspective I've been talking about.  Read these verses and tell me Paul's life is not worse than yours.  Paul enduring so many hardships yet at the end of explaining all of these horrible things he says these antithetical statements: impostors yet true, unknown yet known, sorrowful yet rejoicing, poor yet rich, having nothing yet having everything.  There is only one thing we can gather from these paradoxes: having JESUS means having EVERYTHING.  Having Jesus means nothing else matters.  Please, Jesus, make this my perspective.

8 For even if I made you grieve with my letter, I do not regret it—thoughI did regret it, for I see that that letter grieved you, though only for a while.9 As it is, I rejoice, not because you were grieved, but because you were grieved into repenting. For you felt a godly grief, so that you suffered no loss through us.

7:8-9  Paul is a no-nonsense kind of guy.  He tells the Corinthians that he is glad that they were grieved.  Paul wrote them a letter, basically chewing them out.  And then in this letter (2 Corinthians) here in verses 8-9 he says that he's glad that it made them grieve, not just grieved for grieving sake, but grieved into repenting.  Paul doesn't care about the process of grieving that they may have gone through.  He cares about the end result which is repenting and making movement towards God.  His stern letter caused them to repent and that is the end result he was looking for.  Being in leadership is difficult because sometimes we must show "tough love" in order to help people turn to Christ in repentance.  It's all about moving towards God.  The process may not be fun, but the end result is a closer relationship with God.

2 for in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part. 3 For they gave according to their means, as I can testify, and beyond their means, of their own accord,

8:2-3  Paul praises the churches in Macedonia for their extreme generosity.  They gave even "beyond their means."  Shame on us - we can pay for ridiculous phone bills, Netflix, movies, and Starbucks, but we say we are "broke" and can't give anything extra to the furtherment of the gospel.  Give to the Lord first, then if you have extra, you can go see that movie for $10.50.

11 You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way, whichthrough us will produce thanksgiving to God. 12 For the ministry of this service is not only supplying the needs of the saints but is also overflowing in many thanksgivings to God.

9:11-12  Again Paul shows the meaning and purpose behind giving.  He says that the people's generosity will "produce thanksgiving to God."  He says that giving does not merely provide supplies for the work of the apostles, but it is an overflow of thanksgiving to God.  God has given us an "inexpressible gift" (vs 15), so how can we hold back in also giving to God.

15 We do not boast beyond limit in the labors of others. But our hope is that as your faith increases, our area of influence among you may be greatly enlarged, 16 so that we may preach the gospel in lands beyond you, without boasting of work already done in another's area of influence. 17 “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”

10:15-17  Paul talks of his ministry to the Corinthians in that he brought the gospel to them and that his hope is that their faith increases and that the influence of the gospel increases.  His desire is that the gospel spread into lands beyond them.  He again brings it back around to say that he is not boasting in himself, but in God and that work that God has done.  Paul is not doing anything praise-worthy, only God is praise-worthy.  "Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord!"

4 For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or if you accept a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it readily enough. 5 Indeed, I consider that I am not in the least inferior to these super-apostles. 6 Even if I am unskilled in speaking, I am not so in knowledge; indeed, in every way we have made this plain to you in all things.

11:4-6  Paul is jealous over the Corinthians.  He does not want to share them with the false teachers.  Paul pleads with them to not let their thoughts be lead astray by the devil or those he uses to influence them.  He warns them against those who will bring a different gospel to their ears.  Paul defends his ministry by saying that it's not about how well he speaks or how well-trained he was as an orator, but it's about the power of the gospel.  The gospel is what changes people.  God works through our depravity to cause the gospel to go forth.  We cannot let our ears even hear or entertain the idea of another gospel.

9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

12:9-10  These well-known verses always give me this sense of the awesome power that comes with the presence of God.  Even though we may plead with God for a certain outcome in life, God says, "I'm in control and what I desire is my glory to be shown through you.  Be satisfied in that."  His grace is sufficient in that we see a bigger picture of God as we suffer.  His power is shown and we are made small - just as it should be.  Paul says that we can boast in our weakness because it makes God look bigger.  Paul was content with hardships because God's glory and power are shown more clearly through his sufferings. God's purposes cannot be thwarted by this fallen world.  God still works through our depraved intentions and actions to accomplish His will.

5 Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test! 6 I hope you will find out that we have not failed the test. 7 But we pray to God that you may not do wrong—not that we may appear to have met the test, but that you may do what is right, though we may seem to have failed. 8 For we cannot do anything against the truth, but only for the truth. 9 For we are glad when we are weak and you are strong. Your restoration is what we pray for.

13:5-9  Paul urges the Corinthians to do a self-check to see if they are in Christ.  Assurance of our salvation comes when we can see fruit in our lives.  If we see no fruit, then something is wrong.  The reason Paul wants them to check themselves is so that they will "do what is right."  He says he is praying for their "restoration."  If they realize that they've never fully trusted Christ for salvation, then they need to make that first step.  If they have, but their life is not showing that proof, then they need to turn to Christ and do what is right.  Paul is urging them towards holiness.  He wants them to walk according to the truth.  Paul's desire is their restoration in Christ.  He doesn't want to have to rebuke them again when he comes to see them.

14 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

13:14  This is a trinitarian verse if I even saw one!  Here we see the roles of all three persons of the Trinity: the LOVE of the Father, the GRACE of the Son, and the FELLOWSHIP of the Spirit.  This is our God!

I've thoroughly enjoyed my time walking through this book.  I am so thankful for a God who continues to refresh my enjoyment of Him through books of the Bible I've read over and over before!

Learning Leads to Living

It's funny how Paul begins most of his letters with such rich theology and then only after he has displayed these sometimes difficult theological topics, that he then says "therefore - live this way."  I think this pattern teaches us that LEARNING is what is suppose to LEAD us to Godly LIVING.

Every Christian is a student of God's Word.  Some are good students and some are bad students.  But we are all called to study God, read God's Word, know God, deal with the difficult passages about God, so that we truly get to know Him.  Not doing so, is sin for the Christian.

Without knowing God, our moral efforts mean nothing.  God is not pleased with piousness that doesn't reflect the gospel.  Just look at the Pharisees.  They were pious, "moral," and they followed the rules etc.  But to what end?  Without the redeeming love of Jesus as reflected in the gospel, our works mean nothing.

Good morals are the overflow of our relational knowledge of God.  Being told to obey God or "follow rules" is not what makes people follow rules, knowing God's Word is what produces obedience to God.  Good works should be spilling out of us if we continually learning about Him.  We are to love God with all of our MIND (Luke 10:27).  Not just our emotions or affections are involved in loving Jesus, but our minds as well.  God gave us minds so that we can use them to think about Him, to learn about Him, to grow in our knowledge of Him.

What makes us want to obey God?  What fuels a desire to follow Jesus?  Knowing Him!  Growing up in church and getting formal Biblical training through going to Bible college has made me realize that the more I learn about Jesus, the Bible, and theology the more I want to follow Him.  The more in depth I know His Word and learn about Him, the more it pushes me to live for Him.

I've heard it said that we are to try to live a moral life that pleases God, then once we master that, if we have time, we can study theology.  This could not be further from the truth!  In fact, the opposite is true.

Learning theology leads to Godly living.
Learning about the cross leads to Godly living.
Learning about the Levitical system leads to Godly living.
Learning about the life of Paul leads to Godly living.
Learning God's Word leads to Godly living.
Learning about the miracles of Jesus leads to Godly living.
Learning about the book of Amos leads to Godly living.

No matter what book of the Bible I read, no matter what theological topic I study, learning and studying it stirs in me a longing for God and a desire to spread the gospel.

Life is about the gospel and living  it out is what happens when you truly study theology.  If you are struggling to "do the things you want" and not do the "things you hate" (Romans 7:15-16) then these are the things that have helped me:

1.)  Study God's Word - don't just read it, study it.  Use commentaries, lexicons, etc.  Actually study it as if you were in Bible college.  :)
2.)  Read Theology Books - Piper, Sproul, MacAurthur, Chan, Platt, Grudem, Carson, Chandler (and so many others)
3.)  Engage in Church - don't just sit in the pew then go home.  Talk with your fellow believers and pastors.  Engage in real relationships with them.  They will teach you.  

Live for Jesus - it's the only way to truly live.

One of the Great Things about My Life

One of the great things about my life is the time I spend with God every night.  Since I was about 14 years old, I've tried to make a habit of reading God's Word every night - whether I feel good, feel up to it, feel guilty, feel sleepy, feel angry, feel nothing at all - I need to read Scripture.

Perhaps at first I just felt it was something Christians were suppose to do.  But as I have fallen more in love with my Savior, I've come to love the time I spend in His Word.  I love reading passages that I've read many times before and finding new intricacies that I never noticed before.  This is when I know His Word is alive and active.

My time with Jesus every night is so precious to me, as it's the one time of day that I can be alone and focus in on what the Creator and Sustainer of my life has to say to me.  I say I want to serve Him.  I ask for more opportunities to serve Him.  So I have to remain in His Word.

Thank you, Jesus, for giving us Your Word that I have the freedom and time to read.  Thank you for what it teaches me daily.  Please never let me neglect the reading of Your Word.

God's Electing Love

If God is sovereign, then I have to believe that He is sovereign over everything - and that includes salvation.  This, however, does not sit well with the human heart.  There are many objections that fly in the face of the doctrine of election because of our prideful human hearts.  This God-exalting doctrine is what Scripture teaches.  Let's look closely at what Scripture says about this doctrine in contrast to the objections that we may think or feel.  I ask that you put your emotions to the side and look at what Scripture says.

IF GOD IS SOVEREIGN OVER SALVATION, WHY SHARE THE GOSPEL?

Many have said to me that if the doctrine of election is true then, why should we bother sharing the gospel.  This is silly to me because the fact that God is sovereign is what should fuel our passion for sharing the gospel.  We should be even more excited to share the gospel because we can rest assured knowing that God is the One who does the work of salvation.  We are just the messenger - doing what God has commanded us to do.  In Paul's ministry he said that the reason he endures in ministry is because he knows that God is still working - He is still bringing His people to Himself.  "Therefore, I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory." (2 Tim 2:10).  Paul continues on in ministry because of the elect, not in spite of them.

Romans 10 says, "How are they to hear without someone preaching?...how beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!"  God has ordained that the gospel be spread through people, so, when we share the gospel, we are fulfilling the calling and commission of God to "make disciples of all nations." (Matthew 28:19).  Knowing that God is the One who saves a person, should fuel our passion for sharing the gospel because we know that there are still people out there (His elect) who God is in the process of calling to Himself.  We have the privilege of being a part of that process.  We have the opportunity to be the instrument God uses in this process.  There are still people who will respond positively to the gospel, so this should ignite a passion for ministry and gospel-sharing. 

BUT I CHOSE TO GET SAVED, DIDN'T I?

In a word, yes, you did.  But let's look at what Scripture says about what has happened in eternity past up until that point.  Ephesians 1 tells us when God's election of us took place.  It was "before the foundation of the world."  That is when God chose us to be in Christ.  The idea that we are chosen because of "foreseen faith" of any kind is not found in Scripture.  This idea would make humans sovereign (in control) and not God.  (What a scary thought!)

There are a few things that Scripture tells us that are foundational in understanding God's sovereignty in salvation.  The first is that Scripture describes us as dead spiritually.  Ephesians 2 says, "But God...even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive..."  Colossians 2:13 says something similar, "And you, who were dead in your trespasseses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with Him..."  We are dead, and as spiritually dead people, we can't do anything to make ourselves alive.  We can't just awaken ourselves to life.  Romans 3 tells us that "no one seeks for God."  These verses demonstrate the inability of a person to come to God or "find God" on their own.  We are born dead and there is nothing we can do about it - just as a physically dead person can do nothing about their state.  

So since this is our spiritual state, it must be an act of God that saves a person.  We see this in Ephesians 2:8-9 which says, "For by grace you have been saved through faith.  And this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast."  In this passage, the word "it" refers to both the "grace" and the "faith" that we receive from God, showing that God gives us faith.  (In the Greek the word "it" is neuter which means it refers to the clause before.  Both "grace" and "faith" are feminine so if it was just referring to "grace" then the "it" would be feminine also.  But it's neuter referring to the whole clause including grace and faith.  This means that God gives us "grace" and He gives us "faith." The faith we have to believe in Him is a gift from Him according to this passage.)  

When God calls someone to Himself, He shows them grace by giving them faith.  In this process, our hearts are softened, our eyes are opened, and we say "yes" to God.  We accept this gift freely and willingly because once our eyes are opened, we want to accept Christ whereas before we would have never sought Him on our own (Rom 3).  So, yes, we choose God, after He awakens us to spiritual life.  His grace is irresistible once we have eyes to see it.  One of the best passages that deals with this is John 6.  Jesus is talking here when He says in verses 37 and 44, "All that the Father gives me will come to me and whoever comes to Me I will never cast out....No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws Him..."  These verses tell us that God is the one who draws people, and ALL that He draws will come.  So either God draws all people and all people are saved (universalism), or God draws His people and they are saved.  We can't get around that according to this passage of Scripture.  Jesus says that ALL that the Father gives Him WILL come.  And no one CAN come unless the Father draws Him.  What powerful words from Jesus!

IF GOD CHOOSES US THEN HOW ARE WE RESPONSIBLE?

This specific question is answered directly in Scripture.  In Romans 9, speaking of Rebecca giving birth to Jacob and Esau, Paul writes, "...Though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad - in order that God's purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of His call - she was told, 'the older will serve the younger.' As it is written 'Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.'"  Paul says this and then immediately gives further explanation to the inevitable objections.  He knows that the human heart is deceitfully wicked (Jeremiah 17), so he goes ahead and raises two questions and answers them.  First he says, "What shall we say then?  Is there injustice on God's part?  By no means!  For He says to Moses, 'I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.  So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy."  Paul knows that we as human won't like the sound of what he just said, so he tells us not to think that this is unfair.  He tells us that our faith has nothing to do with us.  It doesn't depend on us and our human mental abilities.  If this were the case then Christians could say that they are saved because they are smart enough or bright enough to understand God's plan for humanity.  Christians could say that they chose to get saved because they are morally on higher ground than those who don't believe.  They could say that only the smartest, most morally founded people become Christians.  But Paul says exactly the opposite.  He says that we have faith because God is merciful.  Our faith is not based on "human will or exertion, but on God." 

Paul goes on in the following verses and raises a second question, "'Why does He still find fault? For who can resist His will?'  But who are you, o man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, 'why have you made me like this?'  Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honored use and another for dishonorable use?  What if God desiring to show His wrath and to make known His power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, in order to make known the riches of His glory  for vessels of mercy, which He has prepared beforehand for glory..."  This passage speaks for itself in dealing with election and our human objections to it.  I think an interesting part of these verses (that we all know but forget when it comes to election) is that God specifically creates each person.  It's not as though there are all these people and God just decided to choose some of them.  God specifically designed and created each person with a design and intention for each person that He created.  These verses also show us that God desires His glory and mercy to be shown and He has decided to create a world, redeem a people, love and have a relationship with this people in order to show His glory and mercy.  Why God designed things to be this way, we won't fully understand, but we can know that it is what glorifies God the most.  Paul tells us in this passage of Scripture that we have no grounds to even ask this question.  (Thanks, Paul, for the slap in the face - the realization of my wicked and depraved heart!  Who am I to answer back to God?)

GOD IS SOVEREIGN
When it comes down to it, we must decide one thing, who is sovereign?  Is it us and our free will or is it God and His sovereign choice?  Most Christians would say that God, of course, is sovereign.  Many Christians don't doubt this until it comes to the doctrine of election.  God is sovereign and yet we do have a real free will.  Our will was created by God.  We must remember that everything we have - our life, our character, our choices - were all created by God.  The fact that God sovereignly created us and our wills does not make our wills "unreal" or robotic.  God created what "wills" and "choices", so He is the one that determines what a real free will is.

God is sovereign.  This is why we thank God when good things happen.  This is why we pray that God would act to make things happen.  This is why we pray for peoples salvation.  We ask God to save them because He is the only one who can soften a hard heart.  He is in control of that - not us.  And praise God that He does soften hearts.  He makes the blind see.  He brings the dead to life.  He is sovereign.  We need to stop worrying about why God acts the way He does, and be thankful that God decided to show any of us grace in the first place.  The question shouldn't be "Why doesn't God choose everyone", it should be "Why did He even choose anyone!"  No matter which question you are asking, I think the answer to both questions is the same - FOR HIS GLORY!