John 15:16-17
16 You didn’t choose me, but I chose you, and appointed you, that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain; that whatever you will ask of the Father in my name, he may give it to you. 17 “I command these things to you, that you may love one another. (WEB) You were chosen. Before the foundation of the world, the Godhead chose you to be part of their glorious family. Though there was a time for all of us to respond to the invitation and say 'yes' to Christ, our salvation was not based on our own initiative. It was the God who knew you before you were conceived and chose you to be part of the greatest family in the universe before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:3-6). When we know that our salvation is not based on our own effort but on God's desire to save us, it takes the pressure off of us trying to feel responsible for it. In Ephesians 2:8-9, Paul the Apostle reminds us... 8 for by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, that no one would boast. (WEB) The greatest gift that our Father could ever give us is the gift of His one and only Son as a sacrifice for our sin. In 1 John 4:10, we read John's description of love when he says... In this is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son as the atoning sacrifice for our sins. (WEB) When you were young, if you have ever played with other kids on a sport's field and were the last person to be picked when teams were decided, you know the feeling of not being the first choice. Some people feel this way when they think of how God must value them but it is the farthest thing from the truth! You were chosen first! We all were chosen first! There are no second choices with our heavenly Father! My prayer today is that we would all know our immeasurable value to our heavenly Father. He literally gave up everything that He loved to secure our love. May you carry in your very being the knowledge that God chose you to be part of His family. May this revelation cause you to bear an abundant amount of fruit in all that you do knowing that you are absolutely and completely loved by God both now and for all eternity. Ephesians 1:3-6 3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ; 4 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and without blemish before him in love; 5 having predestined us for adoption as children through Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his desire, 6 to the praise of the glory of his grace, by which he freely bestowed favor on us in the Beloved, (WEB) Comments are closed.
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