Chosen for a reason?

Yesterday I thought about being chosen by God — for no reason, at least not in me. But He does have a reason. He told His disciples:

You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. (John 15:16)

There are three reasons in this verse. One is that I will bear fruit. All through the NT, fruit-bearing is defined as a changed life produced by the Holy Spirit and often through discipline. This implies that the person chosen has much that needs changing. That is one reason He picked me. I did and still do need changing.

Second, this fruit abides, continues, endures. It is not incidental but a lasting habit. Habits of any kind are a challenge and take much repetition to form — even with the power of the Holy Spirit behind them. They require learning and relearning. With my selfishness plus attention-deficit, this is the second reason He picked me.

The third reason is so He would be glorified in answered prayer. This does not mean that I am a strong prayer person. Instead, it implies that there is no other reliable virtue or skill in me so I must pray to accomplish anything, not just the fruit of being His child, but all things. I cannot eat or drink to the glory of God, never mind speak His will or fathom His ways without prayer. More and more I realize my helplessness and that helplessness is the third reason He picked me.

Sometimes the Bible seems to put the onus on God’s sheep to do the doing, the fruit producing, making it a habit, and do the praying. Realizing my impotence changes my view. To me, passages like this one are descriptive of those who have been blessed because we are chosen, and are not or have not done anything to become chosen:

Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber. But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers. (John 10:1–5)

Jesus explains that He is the door and we listen to Him. He came to give us life so we could live like His sheep.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. (Ephesians 1:3–6)

How does this make sense? It is because God knows the ones who are the most qualified to glorify Him; it is the least, not the most likely in our eyes, or His . . . .  

For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. (1 Corinthians 1:25–29)

PRAY: This week is a steep learning curve, yet when You speak to me, dear Jesus, I hear your voice and You change my life. More and more I see my foolishness, weakness, lowliness and lack of wisdom. More and more I see how much I need You and am willing to share with others that anything I accomplish is because of You. Yet I also see, more and more, how much more I must learn.

No One like Him!

Today Tozer’s words direct my thoughts to God in a way that is deeper than normal. He writes about holiness and says the original root word was about something beyond, strange, mysterious and awe-inspiring. That is, the holiness of God is heavenly, awesome, yet mysterious and fear-inspiring. I sit for a moment thinking about this — and worship. Who is like our God? No one. There is no one like Him.

Then Tozer says, “Now, this is supreme when it relates to God, but it is also marked in men of God and deepens as men become more like God . . . Holiness is not a condition wrought in us. It is simply the Holy One in us ruling, filling.”

When I read the command to be holy as God is holy, my mind cannot comprehend it. God says it and it must be possible, yet my knowledge of myself would produce laughter if this were not such a serious matter. As incredulous as it seems, it explains why the monks isolated themselves from the world and why many Christians stop at this point and throw their hands in the air. Capitulating to ‘being like everyone else’ is far easier and far more appealing than being a holy person like God. Who can imagine being mysterious, heavenly, and awe-inspiring?

Yet God says this is for each of His children — holiness and blessed in Jesus Christ . . .

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.” (Ephesians 1:3–6)

The first phrases of this passage may be the clue to taking a better stab at it. Paul says, “Blessed be the God . . . who has blessed us . . .  chose us . . . predestined us . . . to the praise of His grace.”

My eyes are more often on myself and my performance. I focus on what I must do — be holy and blameless — and who I am rather than on the God and Father of my Lord Jesus Christ who makes all these things possible. It isn’t about my efforts or plans or glory; it is about what He does and can do and will do. It is about praising Him, bowing to His will, and giving Him glory.

^^^^^^^^^

Jesus, You have granted every spiritual blessing so Your followers can be holy and blameless. I am Your child for the purpose of fulfilling Your plans and giving You glory. I must decrease. You must increase. Forgive the self-focus and keep my eyes, thoughts, words and all I do turned toward You.

Jesus is our faithful peacemaker . . .

Someone called me yesterday in great anguish. A person close to her had verbally attacked her, viciously unkind and accusing her of things not true. My friend felt as if a demon had attacked her, but she was unsure and wondered what she had done to deserve this.

I’m certain she had done nothing, but rather than focus on the attack, she needed to focus on the remedy. We talked about the loving power of God and how the Holy Spirit never stabs us. Even when He convicts us of sin, He does it with a hug and with clarity. The enemy always accuses with fuzziness, making us uncertain and fearful. God is faithful; He does not treat us with accusations and a mean spirit. I encouraged my friend to pray for this other person. This would help her avoid an attitude of retaliation. It is the enemy that promotes strife and ruined relationships. Besides, in prayer God would help her know the best response.

Today’s devotional is about the faithfulness of God. It is good to be reminded that we rely on Him to help us through life’s puzzling and hurtful events.

“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. The saying is trustworthy, for: If we have died with him, we will also live with him; if we endure, we will also reign with him; if we deny him, he also will deny us; if we are faithless, he remains faithful— for he cannot deny himself.” (2 Timothy 2:10–13)

The psalmist reminds us that we are prone to turn away from God. Like the ancient Israelites, we can even fake our faith and often rebel, yet God remains faithful:

“In spite of all this, they still sinned; despite his wonders, they did not believe. So he made their days vanish like a breath, and their years in terror. When he killed them, they sought him; they repented and sought God earnestly. They remembered that God was their rock, the Most High God their redeemer. But they flattered him with their mouths; they lied to him with their tongues. Their heart was not steadfast toward him; they were not faithful to his covenant. Yet he, being compassionate, atoned for their iniquity and did not destroy them; he restrained his anger often and did not stir up all his wrath. He remembered that they were but flesh, a wind that passes and comes not again. How often they rebelled against him in the wilderness and grieved him in the desert! They tested God again and again and provoked the Holy One of Israel. They did not remember his power or the day when he redeemed them from the foe . . . .” (Psalm 78:32–42)

I know that God will take care of my friend and bring something good out of this for her. Trusting Jesus when another person turns against you is a difficult and challenging test, one that we cannot endure on our own. It is so important to cling to the faithfulness of God.

“The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. ‘The Lord is my portion,’ says my soul, ‘therefore I will hope in him.’ The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him.” (Lamentations 3:22–25)

It is also good to remember just how dependent we are on the Lord. He chose us; we did not initiate or cause our salvation or our walk with Him. He began it and He will finish it:

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.” (Ephesians 1:3–6)

“In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” (1 John 4:10)

“He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit.” (Titus 3:5)

My friend needs to guard herself from sinning as a backlash to this unexpected and unfair treatment, but even if she remains angry and retaliates, the Lord Jesus has it covered:

“My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.” (1 John 2:1–2)

^^^^^^^^

Jesus, because You cover the sin of the world, we also need to forgive those who sin against us. You died for the sin I commit, yet You also died for the sins people commit against me, against those I love. Forgiveness is a huge peacemaker. I pray You will bring peace to my friend’s heart and to the relationship between her and this other person who attacked her seemingly with no reason. You are our faithful Prince of Peace, and we need You for this and for everything else in our lives.

Being on the winning team . . .

We watched the western Canadian semi-final football game yesterday. Our team didn’t win, yet it interests me how sports teams are picked. The owners and team managers do not put the entire world on their roster. They narrow their options by location, skill at the game, and what they can afford to pay them. Using that and other criteria, they select those whom they think would be able to win and then play against the eastern finalist team in the game called the Grey Cup.

God makes choices too, but He has a bigger prize in mind. He sent His Son to be the Savior of the world. This Son would be born to a virgin, but who would be that woman? God narrowed His choice to Israel, a relatively small group, to be His people for that task. While they were given other responsibilities, it was through them the Savior would enter this world. God would also use the Israelites and their history to illustrate redemption, and to set on them His special love. He explains:

 “For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the Lord set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples, but it is because the Lord loves you and is keeping the oath that he swore to your fathers, that the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.” (Deuteronomy 7:6–8)

Most of Israel loved to be considered the people of God. Most of them still do. In biblical days, their musicians praised the Lord for what He had done:

“Praise the Lord, for the Lord is good; sing to his name, for it is pleasant! For the Lord has chosen Jacob for himself, Israel as his own possession.” (Psalm 135:3–4)

While some of the Jewish people remained true to their calling, not all of them did. However, it was out of this people of God that their Messiah would be born. When He came, God again narrowed His choices. Through Jesus and faith in Him, the people of God are now called Christians. These have become His blessed people, chosen to be holy and blameless, God’s adopted children:

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.” (Ephesians 1:3–6)

Even though these words speak highly of this ‘team’ that God blesses, it isn’t because we are large, lofty, or mighty. God even says otherwise and explains why:

“For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, ‘Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.’” (1 Corinthians 1:26–31)

If a football team was selected in the same way, the players would be light-weight weaklings without any skills or track records. Imagine that team in the Grey Cup. It would be the laughing stock of the league and appear totally helpless. If they won, it would not be because they had what it takes but because God produced a miracle in their efforts and their lives. Oh my . . .

^^^^^^^

Jesus, that image spells out what it means to be called as Your child. I have no qualifications to be here or to do Your will. I fall far short. The only way I can accomplish anything is by grace through faith, truly a gift from You — that I might not boast. Blessed be Your holy name!