Why God Chose You - Purity 1326

To see today's photo, go to mt4christ.org or follow me, M.t. Clark, on Facebook or Twitter. Good morning. Today's photo of an Eric Carle illustration of the dove returning to Noah's Ark carrying a freshly picked olive leaf in its beak, proclaiming good news that the floodwaters had receded, comes to us from yours truly as I imperfectly captured this work of art and a reflection of my wife and myself in the glare during my visit to the Eric Carle Museum in Amherst, Massachussets, this past Saturday. Eric Carle's illustrations were featured in Isaac Bashevis Singer's children's book that answered the question, "Why Noah Chose the Dove?" I can't tell you why Noah chose the dove just yet because I never read that book. My wife and I only learned of its existence on Saturday, and yes, even though it's out of print. Tammy Lynn did track it down and ordered a copy of it before we left the exhibit displaying this work from it. So maybe I'll take some photos of it when we receive it to reveal what Sanger came up with. Stay tuned. Anyway, it's Monday, and after a week's staycation at my place down by the river that gave me time to rest and recuperate after a particularly busy first quarter of the year, I am ready to get back to work as my vacation gave me the opportunity to rest my body and mind, but it also allowed me to lose focus with my health goals as I compromised in the discipline department when it came to fighting the good fight against my food addiction by indulging in foods that should be avoided and to eat too much in general. When it comes to overcoming addiction, we really have to change our lifestyle, and to do that, we must change the way we think. Unfortunately, the beliefs that vacations are for taking a break and, uh, you mustn't waste food, uh, combined their efforts against me and caused me to eat— clean out my freezer of foods unhealthy and forgotten. Now they're gone. And to give up and just give in in general with comfort foods by week's end. So I'm ready to repent and get back on track. My idle time also gave the enemy plenty of opportunity to attack me as I was plagued by frantic thoughts concerning the future, condemning thoughts about the past and present, and had a couple of disturbing dreams as well. I rolled with the punches, of course, but this morning upon waking, I said some quick prayers of confession to cover anything I had done or left undone that could be considered sin. And I also prayed and chose to forgive those who had offended or hurt me, including myself and God, just to be on the safe side and to be able to be free of any guilt, shame, or condemnation for my shortcomings and to rise to newness of life. The enemy's anxiety-laden attacks caused me to doubt my future, my adequacy, my identity, and my purpose in life, and even caused me to ponder the question, why would you ever choose me, God? Uh, the demonic-driven or self-inflicted anxious ponderings was that I came up were declaring the antithesis of a Stuart Smalley affirmation. I'm not good enough, I'm not smart enough, and doggone it, people don't like me. So why would God choose me or any of us, Lord? Luckily, I've learned that when we want wisdom We are to ask God for it, and the depository of God's wisdom to mankind is contained in His Word, the Holy Bible, and is delivered to man through His Holy Spirit. So as I seek to be built up in my faith again and started to wonder about this question of why God would choose me, the Holy Spirit brought a few things, a few verses to mind reminding me why He chose us. Part of the condemning dialogue that low self-esteem or the enemy brings to us has to do— has us to consider more worldly or our more worldly or successful neighbors. Coveting is a sin for a reason. It drives us to sinful thoughts and actions to obtain what our flesh considers to be precious. So we perceive ourselves to be less than in some regard and condemn ourselves for not being good enough. To which the Holy Spirit pointed me to 1 Corinthians 1:26-29 that tells us, remember, dear brothers and sisters, that few of you were wise in the world's eyes or powerful or wealthy when God called you. Instead, God chose things that the world considered foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise, and he chose things that are powerless to shame those who are powerful. God chose things despised by the world, things counted as nothing at all, and used them to bring to nothing what the world considers important. As a result, no one can ever boast in the presence of God. We are not, um, we are, we are not to put our self-worth in the things of this world, for we are rich in Christ. And although the things The world thinks God's— world thinks that Christians are fools to be pitied. God intentionally chose us to show the wise that it is not through earthly wisdom, wealth, or accomplishments that we are approved by God. It is by grace and faith in Christ alone that we are accepted by God. So that answers the not good enough and not smart enough condemnation. No, we are not good enough or smart enough by the world's standards, but we have been given God's goodness and divine wisdom that will confound this sinful and prideful world when God brings his kingdom to earth. Instead of being dragged into despair over our shortcomings, we should rejoice that God accepts us in spite of them and invites us to walk with him to accept them and possibly overcome them through him. Another poison pill in the whirlwind of condemnation that blew in my direction this past week was in the area of purpose. In my zeal to serve the Lord, I often beat myself up that I blew my chance or that I'm not doing enough for the kingdom. And when I face difficulties, rejections, or uncertainty of where my life is leading, I, I see my inadequacies and wonder if I can ever do anything right and worry about the future. To which the Holy Spirit gave me, John 15:5, where Jesus tells us, "I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me and I in him bears much fruit, for without me you can do nothing." That tells me that it is only because of God that I'll be able to do anything for the kingdom. So I should give myself a break and just let go and let God, in the sense that I should stop striving and gripping over what I can do for the kingdom, and instead just follow the Lord and let him do what he wants, wants to do through me. And finally, in my condemning ponderings, I thought of the broken relationships I've suffered and the chilly receptions I sometimes receive because of my faith or lack of skill walking through this world. I'm not thought well of by some, and, and when I think of my performance or attributes, I can now I can't necessarily blame them. But to this, the Holy Spirit reminds me of John 15:18-19, where Jesus told us plainly, "If the world hates you, you know that it hated me before it hated you. 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." God chose us. Jesus chose us. This passage indicates that there may be something beyond the visible in the world's rejection of us. It ultimately shows us that the world's opinion of us and their persecution of us do not matter. God chose me, and if you know the Lord Jesus, He chose you too. If you are asking why, let me remind both of us. In John 3:16, Jesus tells us why. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life. God loves us and reveals the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ to save us and to give us eternal life. And we have it now. And God's word tells us in Romans 8:38-39 that nothing can separate us from God's love— neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow. Not even the powers of hell can separate us from God's love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below— indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord. We are chosen, made alive forever, and loved by God. And if you are still wondering why he chose us, or what he wants us to do now, or— or with the rest of our lives, Jesus tells us in Matthew 28:19-20 where he says, "Therefore go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age." God's word assures us that in Christ we are chosen and loved and given a purpose. His word is filled with other directions for us to obey and other promises to fill us with hope. So if the world beats you up or you are putting yourself down, stop it by remembering that you are chosen and free to live in the love of God forever, and the only purpose that you have to worry about is in enjoying and sharing the love of God with others. In Christ, you are good enough. Smart enough, and my Lord, the one who matters most, loves you. So rejoice, don't lose hope, and don't forget who you are now that God has chosen you to live with him, live for him anyway. We move along to the Bible verses of today. Today's Bible verses come to us from the Quick Scripture Reference for Counseling by John G. Kruis. Today's passage of scripture is under the section on death and eternal life, and the scriptures are 2 Corinthians 5:1-8. And the word of God says, for we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling, if indeed by putting it on we may not be found naked. For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened— not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. He who, he who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee. So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body, we are away from the Lord. For we walk by faith, not by sight. Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. Today's verses fall under the 8th point of our counseling reference guide's resource section on death and eternal life. That 8th point is: Believers who have died are absent from the body but at home with the Lord. Today's verses tell us that we need not fear death. Where we will be present with him. That our worst— that's our worst case scenario, right? Death. But in Christ, we live forever. We have peace with God. So enjoy it. Don't be afraid. Uh, the Lord has us in the palm of his hand, and we are forever safe in his love and in his kingdom. So carry on. Uh, anyway, we, uh, always encourage, uh, you all to go to m.tforchrist.org, where we always share sites from prominent Christian theologians and counselors to assist our brothers and sisters in Christ with their walk. Today we continue sharing from According to Your Word: Morning and Evening Through the New Testament by Stephen F. Alford. And in his devotion, uh, Alford directs us to read a chapter of scripture, uh, from the New Testament every day. And today's chapter is John 18, and from John 18, he shares from verse 4, which says Jesus therefore, knowing all things that would come upon him, went forward and said to them, 'Whom are you seeking?' And Stephen Alford writes, 'What grace is this? What love? Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends.' John 15:13. But this man handed himself over to his enemies, not his friends. They had come with the lanterns and torches and weapons. They were his enemies. It was night when the greatest of incidents took place. Judas knew that the Lord Jesus resorted to the garden, but probably could not distinguish him right away in the dim light of the torches and lanterns. But the Blessed Master, with his face set to do his Father's will, never flinched, but walked out to meet his enemies, saying, 'I am he,' John 18:5. And Alfred ends his devotion by praying, Lord, give me the love that knows no fear, the perfect love. Amen. Amen. You know, Jesus, you know, and so yeah, you know, people look at Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane and saying, you know, Lord, pass this cup from me. But, you know, he rose up from that moment. And he, he walked right, right to his accusers. He knew what was going to happen, and he surrendered himself to their arrest. And he basically encouraged his disciples to, to flee, um, and to not fight, uh, to save him, um, which confounds me. You know, when I was a kid, I thought of time machines and going back to saving Jesus. Maybe I wasn't a kid anyway, um, but that's— that would go against the gospel. Um, it was, you know, God's plan was for Jesus to die for us to pay for our sins. Otherwise we would be dead in our trespasses and sins. And Jesus knew his purpose on earth, and he boldly went into it, um, to fulfill the plan that would save us and allow us to, to be chosen, uh, His kingdom, that we're chosen and set free through Christ alone, and we've been given the gift of eternal life. And life can get you down, you know. A lot of things that happened over the last few months were challenging and, you know, still challenge me. And, you know, as, as my purpose for the season has come sort of to a close with the close of the Freedom in Christ course, I was like, what am I doing next? Well, as it turns out, I got things lining up like left and right, but, you know, I guess I was trying to think of even more, um, you know. So I don't know, you know, one of the things we have to be careful of when we walk in the Spirit is not to think too highly of ourselves and not to think too lowly of ourselves. So as much as I like to, you know, have this ministry as a hobby because that's what it is. It doesn't pay me anything. Um, you know, I, I sometimes think of it as more, you know, I want it to be more. Um, I would love for it to blow up and, uh, to support me financially, but for right now it's just a hobby. And maybe that, you know, maybe it calls me to not be afraid and step out in the faith and, you know, into full-time service, but I don't know. Um, right now I don't think, you know, I'm trying to follow the Lord the best I can. So far, me following the Lord in the Spirit, I still haven't gotten the call to quit my job, which is good because it fills me with anxiety to think, you know, of how the bills wouldn't be paid and all that stuff. So we're gonna keep walking and talking with God. I think we're in a transitional period of our life. And if and when I'm called into a higher purpose where I'm, you know, welcome to be part of a ministry or to step out and do my own ministry and rely on it for my finances, I'm going to continue doing what I do. And that means going into work today and being faithful to do my job the best I can, even though that others may do it better or there'd be room to criticize. That's all I can do. That's all we can ever do is do our best, and that's what we'll do every day, you know, whether it's the ministry or, you know, my day job. Um, you know, I'll do my best to share, share my contributions to the, to the world through my labor or through my, uh, words or, or through my life. Um, basically just to try to reflect, um, what I've come to know about this life in the Spirit, that it's a good life and that freedom and victory is possible through Christ and Christ alone. So that's the message, and, and it's a message that fills you with joy and peace. And only when we forget who we are or stop doing what we're supposed to do in Christ do we struggle with that. So no more vacations for me, for for quite some time, um, you know. So we're going to keep walking and talking with God and, uh, you know, fight the good fight to stay grounded in who we are in Christ so we don't get tossed about by these condemnations that come from ourselves or from the enemy. So let's pray. Lord God, Heavenly Father, thank you for another day in your kingdom. Lord, we thank you so much for all that you do for us. We thank you for saving us and for making us new creations in Christ. You've given us a new, a new identity and a new purpose for life that was far better than anything I had come up with, uh, in the 38 years before I said yes to Jesus as my Lord and Savior. Lord, and it's been a while since then, and, uh, things have been tumultuous at times, but you've led me to a better place, and I thank you. And, uh, Lord, we just pray for anyone who might be listening or reading today's message that you come alongside them and their prayer requests and their life of faith, to show them the way they should go, to remind them of why they were chosen by you, and to fill them with the hope that you have for their lives. Um, Lord, we all need your help, and we're calling for you to help us today. So go before us, open our eyes to the things you want us to see, and lead us in the way we should go, because all we want to do is represent you in your kingdom. Amen. And, uh, Lord, we thank you, we praise you, we love you, and we pray all these things in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.