Ephesians 1:4-6, "According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: 5) Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, 6) To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved."
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| We Are CHOSEN! |
How beautiful! God chose US! We are all chosen, made in His likeness, and born at a specific and designated time and place. In Jeremiah 1:5, it's probably said the best, "Before I formed you in the belly I knew you; and before you came forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained you a prophet unto the nations." This tells us that each and every one of us, He knew long before we were conceived and more importantly, that He CHOSE us, chose to create us!! Not one single person living or who has passed on before us, or who will be born after us, was or is or will ever be a mistake! All for His glory, for His purpose and for His Will. Although this verse says we have been chosen, it does not say, nor does it infer, that we are SAVED. Being chosen is incredible to say the least but we must choose whether to accept Jesus' free gift of Salvation. That is part of our choice on whether or not we will hear His calling upon our hearts and accept Jesus as our personal Savior. He lovingly gave us that choice and did not nor will not force us to love Him or believe in Him. That's true love! Now before I continue, I would like to say that I am repurposing a very old thought I wrote about by the same name years back before I understood what God wanted me to do with this blog. I've mentioned before that if I use all or parts of old writings/thoughts to update or expand upon as I'm led, I will tell you up front. In the first few years, for those who are new to my blog, my writings were more of thoughts and not in depth studies and every once in awhile I'll be led to re-read something and be inspired to use it all or in part to expand upon it in greater detail. This is such the case now. I have been pondering over the intense emotional strain along with the spiritual and mental strain that this orchestrated "pandemic" has been causing millions of people worldwide. It's breaking my heart in a way I wasn't expecting. The longer it lasts, the more deception is being spewed, the more grieved I become. I've mentioned my own struggles with the isolation, the job loss, the unknown. I've shared my own concerns about how some people drifted out of my life for whatever reasons unknown to me. I've shared the unease about living in a world that is unknown to me. Now that it's been a year and we're now a few months into another new year, the toll this has taken on millions of people worldwide is beginning to rear its ugly head and become quite apparent. People are feeling abandoned. They are experiencing a loneliness like they've never experienced before. People are force to die alone or with the strangers of the medical field at their side, if at all. They are feeling separated from a societal group, separated from a support structure. People are depressed. People are anxious. I fully understand! These changes are irreversible and no matter how badly everyone desires to return to "normal." that will never happen, not the way it was before this whole thing took place. I believe in the back of everyone's minds, they secretly know this too. With this, comes more depression, anxiety, relearning how to live in a world that wants to keep everyone separated from eachother, relearning how to function in a world nobody recognizes. Sure there are some, many actually, that are content with this new "life" but it's not normal. The long term effects on all of us, and on our children, have yet to be seen. I shudder to think what the future holds!
In the early beginning for the first few months, people were genuinely believing things would return to normal. They were believing their "leaders" and main stream media who were perpetuating this cruel and unusual manipulation en-masse. People had hope. They still felt like there was a purpose. However, as the lies continued to grow, snowballing out of control, (and yes, the "pandemic" IS a deception, but the "virus" is real and is just a variant of the seasonal flu and literally no worse) people began to be shaken from their shock to realize it's never going to go back to the normal we all once knew. Let me repeat something just one more time since it's been awhile since I've mentioned this, but this "pandemic" "viral pathogen" has a 98.9% SURVIVAL rate for the majority of the entire world's population! The seasonal flu was much worse which has suddenly "disappeared." The world needs to focus on the survival rate NOT the "cases." It's important to put this whole thing into perspective! I've said this from my first writing at the beginning of the "pandemic." I knew. I knew because this is how it has to be for the bible prophecies to be fulfilled. I didn't want others to lose hope, but I am a watchperson on guard who can see things unfolding right before our very eyes and, as a Christian, I'm to warn of the impending danger, and incoming "missiles" so to speak! We're at the fork in the road and there are choices that will need to be made, some very real, difficult choices and we all must make those choices by being fully informed and wisely educated. I understand how "forceful" the media and leaders and "professionals" has been to keep force feeding repetitive information to the masses in order to instill fear and unease. It's for a twisted purpose. Fear. Control. Manipulation. Choices will need to be made that are going to be a test of our faith but the most important choice above all others is who will you choose to serve for eternity? Will you choose Jesus Christ and accept His free gift of Salvation and rest in His peace and security or will you choose the rebellion and deception of Satan and spend eternity in Hell writhing in torment? Time is running out and remember, we are not promised tomorrow. As a matter of fact, we aren't even promised the rest of any given day. I urge all of you, from deep within my spirit, with love, who have been feeling the knocking at your door, a tugging at your heart and the prompting from the Lord, to answer His call! Don't wait! The only time it's too late is when it is....it's when you perish without Him!
In everyone's life, we all want to be
someone's chosen one! We want to be their number one that they sought
out. To be that "special" someone. Just knowing that they
chose US. We all deserve that. During these isolated, lonely,
distanced days we've had to endure and that we have all been thrust
into, those feelings have become a powerful driving force in many
people's lives as they increasingly became isolated from people. It
has given way to creeping thoughts that the enemy slips in from time
to time. Loneliness can be a very deadly, but powerful, emotion. So
many people don't know how to be alone and it frightens them on a
different level than the average person. Keep in mind, God did not
create us to be alone. He created Eve for Adam because God knew Adam
needed a companion to be beside him. God knew it wasn't good for man
to be alone. But being lonely begins to play tricks with your mind
and thoughts further separating you from what you actually do have in
your life. No matter how badly we desire to be someone's "chosen
one," we must realize that we already ARE chosen and we are
already God's chosen one! He chose us by creating each of us uniquely
and individually! Each of us have been chosen by our Father in Heaven
and no matter how lonely one feels, how empty, disconnected or out of
sorts on this fallen earth we may feel, we need to always seek His
face because the ONE thing is for certain, friends, family and
acquaintances will come and go but God the Father, Son and Holy
Spirit will NEVER leave you or forsake you as promised, first in the
Old Testament, in Deuteronomy 31:6, "Be strong and of good
courage, do not fear nor be afraid of them; for the Lord your God, He
is the One who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you."
then again, consistently in the New Testament, in Hebrews 13:5-6,
"Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such
things as you have. For He Himself has said, “I will never leave
you nor forsake you. 6) So we may boldly say: "The Lord is my
helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?" Think about that for just a moment....God chose you. He knew you long before you were conceived. He knew your parents. He knew His plans for you. He knew why you were going to be born, when you were born, where you would be born and the exact second you would be born. He knew every hair on your head and numbered them. He knew, planned and chose every single detail about YOU! That's pretty profound! When I have felt alone or feel alone, feeling like I'm wading through the mud of life, feeling rejected, and feeling like I'm having to claw my way through this life at times, I HAVE to stop and remind myself of those verses above. No matter how much MAN has rejected me, left me, or hurt me, God has NEVER done any of those things! Quite the opposite actually and holds to His promises to be with me, to go with me and before me, and to never forsake me. He is unfailing! Just knowing He has chosen ME, little old sinful- natured wretched me, is really humbling because He didn't have to put me on this earth. He didn't have to create me, but He DID! Why? Because He CHOSE to! He had/has a purpose. A plan. It's NOT because He NEEDED me, but because I NEED Him and because He LOVES ME! In Acts 17:24-25, it says, "God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands. 25) Nor is He worshiped with men’s hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things." Then in Jeremiah 31:3, it makes it clear on His love for us, "I have loved you with an everlasting love" He has loved US with an EVERLASTING LOVE! A love that never dies. Never ends. Goes on FOREVER. He CHOSE us!
You see, God created us to fulfill His eternal plan. I could write pages and pages about this, but suffice it to say that God, in His infinite wisdom, chose to make us a part of His eternal plan. What part do we play in this plan, you might be wondering? Well, the Bible is full of instructions for how we should live our lives. But here are a few key verses to remember: 1) Deuteronomy 6:5, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength" 2) Matthew 22:39, "Love your neighbor as yourself" 3) Ephesians 2:10, "We are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do" 4) 1 Peter 2:9, "But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light." and 5) Ephesians 2:10, "For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." We're also part of the war between God and Satan, and God's ultimate plan to defeat Satan. By putting our faith in God, we can defeat Satan and his lies (see Ephesians 6:10-18). Perhaps the most important part we play in God's eternal plan is to point people to eternal life with God solely through His Son Jesus Christ. The Bible calls this our "ministry of reconciliation" as found in 2 Corinthians 5:18-19, "Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, 19) that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation." That's why we're here. Plain and simple. We are the testimony for the Lord Jesus Christ Almighty God! I was just telling a dear friend of mine that I can't imagine going through what the world has thrust us all into without knowing the Lord on a personal basis! The difficulties, the trials, the hardships I've endured has been defeated because of Jesus! I've endured because He promised not to leave me or forsake me and I know He is faithful! I'm living proof! When I shared that with her, I prefaced it with I couldn't imagine how those who aren't saved was getting through any of this because there's a certain kind of peace and joy we have in Christ that surpasses all understanding that those who aren't saved don't have or know. God had, and HAS, a purpose for each of us....but we have a CHOICE whether we return His love by accepting Jesus Christ as our personal Savior that was God's only begotten Son, sent to die on the Cross for our sins, paying them in full, or we reject Him and all that He has done for us! You're alive because He chose you! Will you choose Him?
When God created us, He didn't make us pawns in a universal chess game. We're not his toy soldiers that He made just to play with. No. He gave us a purpose. He gave us a reason. He created us in His likeness. God gives us freedom of choice. How could we turn our backs and hearts on Him? I can't understand how people can do that because I've lived so long knowing Him, but I do know many do and have turned their backs on Him and everything He IS! It saddens me because if they don't belong to God, they belong to Satan. That's why it's so important for me to help spread the Truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the lost and unsaved. I don't want anyone to perish. That's why I try with all my might to help others understand it's a CHOICE of who one serves and that it's not too late to make that choice. I've directed many to my post, "Simple Salvation," found here. It's a good place to start. One doesn't have to do anything first. You don't have to "clean up your act" first. You don't have to get it together first. You don't have to try to make your life better first. You come as you are, who you are and where you are and God will meet you there! THEN your transformation begins! Also, the "ABC's of Salvation" is a wonderful tool and can be found on J.D. Farag's website, found here. He has some wonderful weekly update teachings on the end time prophecies and weekly sermon lessons. Worth looking at in your leisure. You see, God may not need us, and indeed He created us unselfishly, but we certainly need him! No two ways about it! Let's look at John 15:16, "You did not 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 ask the Father in My name He may give you." In John 15:19, Jesus tells us, "If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you." Jesus tells us clearly where He chose us from. He did not choose us out of the "vast majority of those who are seeking God." He did not choose people who were first inclined to Him. He did not choose people who had already chosen Him. He did not choose people He was partial to. No, He says that "I chose you out of the world." The world is described in this passage as being against God and hating Him. "If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you" (v. 18-19). Simply put, all people are by nature haters of God and at war with Him. No one in the world would therefore ever seek God on their own. But God, in His mercy and infinite Grace, chooses people out of this world to be saved. Those who are "seeking" God are perhaps better described as people who are being drawn by God to Himself. God must cause a person to seek Him. And He must choose a person before they will ever believe.
Now since He chooses a person before they believe, meaning creating us in His image and knowing us before we were ever conceived, then the act of us turning a heart cold and black against Him and His Mercy and Grace is a great heartache to Him! But therein lies again, choice. God did not decide who would believe and who would disobey, as mentioned a million times, He gave us a choice. He did, however, determine that those who would believe, who CHOSE to believe, WOULD BE SAVED. That's very powerful in and of itself. If you choose to believe, and are sealed by the precious shed blood of His Son Jesus Christ that was shed on the Cross to pay our sin debt in full, then you are saved for ETERNITY! Remember our free will and choice? Well it is clear that the Lord’s predestination of a thing does not negate a person’s freewill. God chose Christ (1 Peter 1:20; 2:4). But Christ exercised his own freewill in the redemptive plan like stated in John 10:17-18, "Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again. 18) No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father." and Galatians 1:4-5, "who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, 5 to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen." If we want to share in the glory God chose for the saved, then we have to submit to His conditions. It's not as complicated as many would have you to believe! Trust the Word because the Gospel was made simple enough that a child can understand! It's incredulous to think God would plead with men who allegedly could not believe. Since people can, and must, respond to the preaching of the gospel, one way or the other, the Lord commanded us to preach the gospel to every creature as commanded in Mark 16:15-16, "And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. 16) He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned." The ones who submit to the Gospel will be saved. Before sin entered into the world by one man's disobedience, God wanted to be a Father to what He had created. God desires, and it's His divine will even unto today, to be a Father to those He has chosen out of this world as we can see in Ephesians 1:4-6, "just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, 5) having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, 6) to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He [a]made us accepted in the Beloved." We are not supposed to live for ourselves but in ALL things seek His will in our lives. Man was not created to be the center. God is the center of all things and all things are for Him! Period. The "us" that we know, must be crucified with Christ, buried with Christ, raised with Christ and ascend with Christ into the heavenly. This happens to us IN Him. It cannot be done without Him and it sure can't be done by our own selves. Our focus has to change to make Christ the center because if Christ is the center, then He will deliver us to a life centered in God where all things are related to Him. If God is our center where we stand in liberty then we are no longer living our victory but rather living in His victory. It is no longer our purpose, but His purpose. It is no longer our dedication, but living in His dedication.
In Paul's writing of his letter to the church in Ephesus, he began by purposefully emphasizing that they were chosen by God from before the foundation of the world! One of the most important and basic part of the faith of a Christian, is believing we are chosen by God; and likewise, that God who has called us is also mighty to accomplish the work He has begun in us. There is definitely no greater calling for any of us than to be called from heaven by God Himself! Also, there is no better life to live than to live the life we were blessed with by living it for the Lord God Almighty! There is nothing greater to fulfill your soul! I mean, just imagine how utterly amazing and wonderful it is to be permitted to be an integral part of the development and work that God is doing in His people all over the world in this specific time of grace! Mind blowing if you really think about it! Our individual roles don't seem all that important on a worldly level but when you look at it in the spiritual realm, where God developed our purpose and created us, it's absolutely incredible! And such a wonderful responsibility that He entrusted to each of His children! Once again, every single person who senses God’s calling in their hearts and feels the tugging, really needs to wholeheartedly pursue that calling and the election that God has given us in His Son, Jesus Christ. It's here that I will remind everyone that God doesn't look at our past, doesn't look at our family dynamics or background and doesn't care what we can accomplish on our own. We can't do anything without Him anyway! Anything we do in the flesh is sure to fail in one way or another. Why? Because what's done in our flesh is done without Jesus! That means it's done from our sinful nature. God calls us to be Jesus' disciples. He can do amazing work in disciples, and that particular work begins when we go knowingly and purposefully walk through that door of the disciple’s. We must forsake everything that is of ourselves, everything worldly and fleshly, and give our heart and life to God through Jesus Christ our Lord. This will continue all throughout our life if we choose to live like Paul writes about in Galatians 2:20, "I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me." This is a vast work of God that we enter when we are a complete sacrifice and no longer live for ourselves. This is a daily doing too. We must give up ourselves daily to be what we're called to be since we all will continue to struggle the sin nature on this side of heaven! Thank you Lord for YOUR Grace and Mercy to us all!
Before redemption became necessary, our Father had an original purpose, an original plan, which did not necessitate redemption for its realization. Not in the least. He didn't plan man's sin so that He could use redemption as the glorious means of demonstrating His Grace. Many people still are confused about this. Maybe in a future blog, I may delve a little deeper, but for now, this particular post will continue on focusing on being chosen. I will say that long before Adam was created and before sin entered into the world, God perfected the glorious means of redemption into His plan and demonstrated the "riches of his grace." Revelation 13:8, "Jesus Christ was the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world." In 1 Peter 1:20 "Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you." Though God did not predestine and cause man's fall, God already had a remedy in His Son Jesus Christ. That's how much He loves us and that's how DEEP His love runs! I don't know one single person in the flesh that has that kind of true, deep, LOVE! Agape love! We are not capable of that kind of love no matter how hard we try! Oh but that glorious day will come when we reign with Him and will know it fully! You see, God wasn't the one who tempted man with the fruit from the tree of knowledge. It was that old sneaky, slithering snake, the devil! First, we are called into the "fellowship in the gospel" as evidenced in Philippians 1:5, "for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now," Secondly, we are led into the "fellowship of the Spirit" as spoken of in Philippians 2:1, "Therefore if there is any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and mercy," Then we are called into a deeper relationship "fellowship with His Son" as found in 1 Corinthians 1:9, "God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord." As we learn the mind of Christ we are called into "the fellowship of his sufferings" Philippians 3:10 tells us, "that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death," These are beautiful words! By being His Chosen Ones, we are spiritually richly blessed in His Kingdom, for His Purpose and in His Perfect Will for our lives.
1 Corinthians 1:26-29 says, "For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. 27) But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; 28) and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, 29) that no flesh should glory in His presence." This is really about how God delights in calling, using and growing those people that the world passes by and counts as nothing. God really doesn't care about the color of the vessel, the price of the vessel, the hierarchy of the vessel. What God cares about greater is the vessel that has yielded fully unto His will and purpose. The vessel that says to the Lord, "Sure, Lord, point me in the direction that you would have me to go! I trust you!" The vessel that is weathered, broken, fractured and looked upon as not worth much is the very vessel the Lord counts as the most valuable! The one that wants to be used, that desires to be used and the one that isn't selfish about being used! t is truly amazing what God can, and will, do through someone’s life who doesn’t have to have the credit. Those are the ones God uses the greatest it would seem because we are all to give glory to God in all that we do but some people, more often than not, take the credit and jeopardizes His witness through them. God uses all kinds of people, don't get me wrong. But it's those yielded vessels that become the strongest vessels. It's when you feel like you don't have much to offer, that you aren't capable of doing something so "grand" that deems you perfect for the "job!" You see, the reason you'd be perfect for the job is because when God does do great things through you, He will get the credit because everyone will know it was Him and not you! And that is the way it is supposed to be anyway! God is always looking for yielded vessels that He can use in a dynamic, grand way. Until our souls are completely broken of their own strength through the Cross, they will continue to influence, lead, and direct us. And oftentimes, that influence and direction is our own desires, our own wills and of the world. Once we fully submit our souls to Jesus Christ, and our natural strength and worldly influence is broken, we’ll then be able to serve God as He desires, in His power, in His will, for His purpose and in His strength.
Being chosen is an incredible feeling and knowing God is entrusting us with some of the most important tasks known to man is truly wonderful! Surrendering ourselves unto His will and plans for our lives is a difficult thing for many to do because it means giving up control. Most of the world's population feels the ingrained need to control things. We all struggle with this but being able to surrender fully to the Lord will open up healing and growth in ways you can't imagine! God knows our hearts and He knows who desires to surrender themselves to be used by Him in His perfect Will! Control is often times misconstrued as strength and they are very different indeed. Being a strong individual isn't always a controlling individual and vice versa. The world tends to see someone's natural, worldly strength as a formidable and viable asset. Others see it as a demonstration of a strong character. I admire strong characteristics in people but God, however, says just the opposite. In 2 Corinthians 12:9–10, we find this, "And He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness." Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10) Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong." He’s saying in these Scripture that only when we are weak then can we be made strong. Only when we are yielded vessels can His strength work through us. According to the Bible, it's through the weakness of man and the foolish things of the world that God’s power can be seen. This is confirmed in 1 Corinthians 1:27, "But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty;" Let's take a quick look at some of the examples that God uses "the weak things of the world in order to confound the things that are mighty" and the "foolish things to confound the wise."
- Moses used a staff to command the hand of the Lord. (Exodus 4:20)
- Samson used a jawbone to kill a thousand men. (Judges 15:15)
- David used a smooth stone to kill the giant, Goliath. (1 Samuel 17:40)
- Jesus fed the five thousand with only five barley loaves. (John 6:9–11)
- The widow baked a handful of flour and oil that fed Elijah and her family for weeks. (1 Kings 17:12)
Right now there are many who are reading this, and many whom you know all over this world, who are feeling lonely. Who are feeling like they have been "tossed aside" due to the world's situation. It's purposely being orchestrated this way to break people down, to have them separate, to divide, and ultimately to conquer. Those are the plans of the enemy, not of the Lord! The enemy knows when a people, a country, a world is divided, it falls. When it falls, it needs to be conquered. When it's conquered, it's ultimately controlled. Those doing the devil's handiwork and his bidding in perpetuating this evil agenda, will never fully succeed because God is a loving God and He has already won! Those people, unless they repent and turn from their wicked ways, will not survive the wrath and judgment of God for what they have done! But God is in control. Nothing is a surprise to Him. I know these days feel darker than they used to be and I understand the plight of the loneliness that has engulfed the world. These are very trying times and unfortunately, they are not going to get easier. There are so many struggling all over the world right now, so many events are taking place, so many heartaches, trials and tribulations all over and it's hard not to feel cast aside and lonely. But you aren't cast aside! You aren't alone! You have been chosen....now it's up to you to make YOUR choice. Let the Lord know He's YOUR chosen. Let Him reside inside of your soul and heart and bring you a joy and peace that surpasses all understanding! Sing His praises from the tops of the mountains, whatever mountains you are facing! With Jesus, all of your choices will be easier knowing He will be right there with you, holding you up through the stormiest of weather! You're loved, you're cherished, you're worth is in Him! Let being chosen by God be your "enough." Because in the end, that's all that matters.....
You've already been chosen. It's now up to YOU to choose His Grace, to accept His Son, Jesus Christ, as your personal Savior, to repent of all of your sins, and walk in His Kingdom as you were meant to do.....with HIM! 2 Corinthians 5:17, "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature, old things are passed away, Behold all things are become new." Things become new as we let go of the old. The former things of this life must die and be buried and REMAIN buried. What should be raised up is a person centered in God the Father. Why? In 1 John 4:19, it says "We love him because he first loved us." Always remember, there is someone who is closer than a brother and is ALWAYS with you - Jesus Christ is our friend and comforter! Here's a few reminders through His own inerrant word! Remember you are not alone in feeling lonely nor are you alone in feeling isolated. For those who trust in our Lord God, there is hope found in His word!
1) 1 Samuel 12:22, "For the Lord will not forsake His people, for His great name’s sake, because it has pleased the Lord to make you His people."
2) Psalm 25:16, "Turn Yourself to me, and have mercy on me, For I am lonely and afflicted."
3) Matthew 28:20, "teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Amen."
4) Isaiah 41:10, "Fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’"
5) Matthew 11:28, " Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."
6) Psalm 73:23-26, "Nevertheless I am continually with You; You hold me by my right hand. 24) You will guide me with Your counsel, And afterward receive me to glory. 25) Whom have I in heaven but You? And there is none upon earth that I desire besides You. 26) My flesh and my heart fail; But God is the rock of my heart and my portion forever."
7) 1 John 4:13, "By this we know that we abide in Him, and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit."
The Bible is more than a book of salvation or about the Kingdom. The bible, which is God's written, INERRANT Word, and His Love Letter to us, His children, His Creation, reveals His ultimate purpose and His ultimate plan. All the answers you are seeking are found in this wonderful book! His love. His Grace. His Mercy. His purpose. His plan. His instructions. It's never changed because it LIVES. Because He LIVES! And He's waiting for you to surrender to His voice, to His gentle knocking, to His invitation.....Don't miss your chance....
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