You are chosen!

Each person who has given their lives to Jesus Christ was chosen to be saved by God. Have you ever felt His touch on your heart at a church service or while listening to a sermon on television? If you have felt that at any time in your life…that was when God let your heart know that you have been chosen. Why were you chosen? Because God has something for you to do and it is something that only you can do! There is someone that only you can reach for Him or maybe it is a ministry that He has given you and it is one that only you can accomplish.

God chooses the time of your calling and the way that you are called because He knows you better than you know yourself. He knows when your life will end but He also knows that you can do so many things for His Kingdom. There is some person, maybe a child or a grandchild, that only you can reach…only you can touch their life and cause them to seek out Jesus for their Savior. Why would they do this? Usually it is because of something that you do or say or maybe how you live your life. If God calls you to be a preacher or a teacher in the church then it could be something that you say to someone in your congregation or your class or even how you live your life. It is your testimony that can let people know Who your Savior is.

Each person who has given their lives to Jesus over the past two thousand years was chosen for a specific talent that each of them brought to God’s Kingdom. Some were chosen because of their influence on those around them. Some were chosen because of the message that they would be responsible for and where that message would go. But each of us was chosen because God loves each of us and He calls us to be His messengers to one another. Make sure of your place in His Kingdom while there is time to do so.

Seek the Lord and learn of Him

5 I wait for the Lord, my soul doth wait, and in his word do I hope. Psalm 130:5 KJV https://bible.com/bible/1/psa.130.5.KJV

By His Obedience…

19 For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. 20 Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound: 21 That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord. Romans 5:19‭-‬21 KJV https://bible.com/bible/1/rom.5.19-21.KJV

Jesus went to the cross, knowing the punishment that was ahead of Him in order to save us from our sins. Why? Because He loved us before we were lovable…that’s why!

Fear God…

13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. Ecclesiastes 12:13 KJV https://bible.com/bible/1/ecc.12.13.KJV

Solomon wrote this and even he didn’t follow his own wisdom. We should do this, especially those who are in the church and have given our lives to Jesus…but most of the time we don’t. We listen to a sermon, we hear the words and the wisdom of it and yet we don’t take it to heart. “Good sermon, preacher!” is our normal reply after the sermon but thirty minutes later we couldn’t tell you what the sermon was about. Why?

Because we are not listening with our Spirit and our spiritual ears. The wisdom from the sermon or even the words that we are reading from the Bible are being seen by our eyes but they aren’t comprehended spiritually by our heart and our minds. In the words of Jesus “we are hearing without understanding“. This is a BIG problem in the church today because even though we claim to be Christians, and we may be, we aren’t learning and maturing as Christians.

It’s like we got a present from God, our salvation, and then we sat down with it and never opened it or used it the way we were supposed to. Even after years of being Christians we are still “babes in Christ” and that is not how we should be! Once you have your salvation you should learn about Jesus and grow in your salvation so that you can tell others about Him and what He has done for you and for them. Jesus came here to die for our debt of sin to be paid in full and make our heart clean from the stains of sin.

Obligations

There was a workday at our church this past weekend but I couldn’t attend. The need for getting groceries early because of the heat and our lack of an air-conditioned vehicle seemed greater than the need for one more set of hands at our church. Yet, on Sunday morning I felt as if I didn’t belong there because I didn’t do my part the day before. I prayed for their safety in the heat and for our revival coming up but it still didn’t seem to be enough. Why?

The spirit of “guilt” was affecting my conscience I suppose. Nobody said anything to me about my absence but I still felt out of place. Was it Satan trying to get to me for not being there? It could’ve been.

In spite of our salvation, Satan can and does get into our heads and he can make us feel things that aren’t an issue as if they are. That is how he can split a church over trivial things that shouldn’t matter that much! Many times we make problems bigger when they shouldn’t be actual problems at all. That is his work. He tries to make our lives miserable even when we are serving the Lord. This is when we should recognize that he is behind it and just tell him to stay out of the way in the name of Jesus.

God carries us through each and every day whether they are good or bad days. Our problem is our own minds can and will listen to Satan’s lies making little things seem to be much bigger than they are. Seek to do the will of God on the good days and the bad days. Read His Word and learn of His Wisdom because your own wisdom can get you into trouble far quicker than you can imagine, especially with Satan’s help. If you think you are above listening to Satan, he will prove you wrong and in a big way. He can place thoughts in your mind that can cause you to think things that you wouldn’t otherwise, so be careful.

God loves each of us and He has given us a way to tap into His strength through the Holy Spirit but we have to initiate it through prayer and by knowing His Word well enough to use it for our defense. Read His Word each day, pray about what you have read and ask Him to give you His wisdom so that you can understand the meaning behind what you have read. It is our obligation to know His Word so that we know His voice when it speaks to us as we read it. It is our obligation to do what His Word commands us to do so that others will know about the Savior Who came to give each of us a chance at eternity. Make sure that you know Him and that He knows you before your time here is through.

God is True…

3 For what if some did not believe? shall their unbelief make the faith of God without effect? 4 God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged. Romans 3:3‭-‬4 KJV https://bible.com/bible/1/rom.3.3-4.KJV

Help each other!

2 Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ. Galatians 6:2 KJV https://bible.com/bible/1/gal.6.2.KJV

Spiritual Life is eternal

6 For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Romans 8:6 KJV https://bible.com/bible/1/rom.8.6.KJV

Praise Jesus!

20 Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, 21 Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen. Ephesians 3:20‭-‬21 KJV https://bible.com/bible/1/eph.3.20-21.KJV

Be thankful

If you are reading this, be thankful for your eyes and your ability to read.

Life and living is something that we mostly take for granted but we shouldn’t. In the climate-change oriented world that we live in there are heat strokes and all sorts of problems out there every day that can change your life or even end it, so be careful and thankful for areas of shade or slightly cooler temperatures. The world around us has all sorts of viruses and disease-causing “bugs” that can kill without the proper treatment. Some scientists have even found viruses that we haven’t had exposure to in thousands of years and they found them in the ice of Antarctica. These could be very deadly since humanity doesn’t have any immunity to them.

Be thankful that God froze them for this length of time and hopeful that they won’t get out into our population anytime soon. God cares for us…all of us, and we should be very thankful for that. He is the designer of our solar system and if He had not placed those gas giant planets out away from us, it is likely that some comet or asteroid would’ve wiped Earth of life more often than it did.

Be thankful for all of the wondrous advances that we have access to today but keep God’s Word close to your life and your heart. Why? Because we need Him! He has provided all of the advances and the Way to salvation…essentially everything that we need for our lives. Be thankful for everything that He has provided for your family and for our salvation if we will accept it.