“CHOSEN!”

 

Luke 9:23-27                       (ESV)

Take Up Your Cross and Follow JESUS

“[23] And HE said to all, “If anyone would come after ME, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow ME. [24] For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for MY sake will save it. [25] For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself? [26] For whoever is ashamed of ME and of my words, of him will the SON of MAN be ashamed when HE comes in HIS glory and the glory of the FATHER and of the holy angels. [27] But I tell you truly, there are SOME standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of GOD.””

Matthew 22:14                   (ESV)

“For many are called, but FEW are “CHOSEN”.”

The CHOSEN are FEW!  Simon Peter, the Apostle Paul, King David, and EVERY other person who has EVER been CREATED has been born with a “sin nature, a propensity to choose bad over good, unrighteousness over Holiness!  Then WHY are they CHOSEN by a HOLY GOD to be a servant of HIS???  A more powerful question is WHY am I CHOSEN???

Formerly I was very “full of myself”, trying to “be the best that I could be”!  But the “road” that I was assigned led me “through the valley of the shadow of death“ more than once, and my EYES were OPENED to SEE that I didn’t have the ability to even “breathe” without HIS GRACE (Isaiah 42:5)!  

ALMIGHTY GOD has directed my paths (Proverbs 3:5-6) to reveal to me that HE IS THE ONE IN CONTROL, not me!!  Ephesians 2:8-10 (ESV) says very clearly “For BY GRACE YOU HAVE BEEN SAVED through FAITH. And this IS NOT YOUR OWN DOING; it is the GIFT OF GOD, NOT A RESULT OF WORKS, so that no one may boast. For WE ARE HIS workmanship, created in CHRIST JESUS for good works, which GOD PREPARED BEFOREHAND, that we should walk in them.”  EVERYTHING is about HIM, and not about me!!

JESUS says in Luke 9:23 “If anyone would come after ME, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow ME”!  Following HIM means that we go where HE is leading!! We are “CHOSEN” to take up our cross daily and follow HIM, not to be whatever we desire to be!!!

“THIS IS NOT YOUR OWN DOING!”

 Ephesians 2:1-10                           (ESV

BY GRACE THROUGH FAITH

“[1] AND YOU WERE DEAD in the trespasses and sins [2] in which you once walked, following the course of “this world”, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—[3] among whom we all “once lived” in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. [4] BUT GOD, being rich in mercy, because of the GREAT LOVE with which HE loved us, [5] EVEN WHEN we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with CHRIST—BY GRACE YOU HAVE BEEN SAVED—[6] and raised us up with HIM and seated us with HIM in the heavenly places in CHRIST JESUS, [7] so that in the coming ages HE might show the immeasurable riches of HIS GRACE in kindness toward us in CHRIST JESUS. [8] FOR BY GRACE YOU HAVE BEEN SAVED THROUGH FAITH. And “THIS IS NOT YOUR OWN DOING”; IT IS THE GIFT OF GOD, [9] NOT A RESULT OF WORKS, so that no one may boast. [10] For we are HIS WORKMANSHIP, CREATED IN CHRIST JESUS FOR GOOD WORKS, which GOD prepared beforehand, that WE SHOULD WALK IN THEM.”

2 Thessalonians 2:11-12              (ESV)

“[11] Therefore GOD SENDS THEM A STRONG DELUSION, SO THAT THEY MAY BELIEVE WHAT IS FALSE, [12] in order that all may be condemned who DID NOT BELIEVE THE TRUTH but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

I had NOTHING to do with the recovery from the Brain Hemorrhage in 2007.  The WORDS “THIS IS NOT YOUR OWN DOING” used to be a HUMBLING thing, that I couldn’t do something?  But from where I am today, it has never been so clear that even my next breath IS NOT MY OWN DOING, but IT IS A GIFT OF GOD!!!

FATHER IN HEAVEN, I thank you for OPENING my EYES to SEE the TRUTH of “THIS IS NOT YOUR OWN DOING”!  I don’t possess the intelligence to make it through ONE DAY without YOUR GUIDANCE and DIRECTION!  Thank YOU for being YOU and for causing me to SEE that “THIS IS NOT YOUR (MY) DOING”!!!

“HOLY, HOLY, HOLY!”

 Isaiah 6:1-3                             (ESV)

Isaiah’s Vision of the Lord

“[1] In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the LORD sitting upon a throne, HIGH AND LIFTED UP; and the train of HIS robe filled the temple. [2] Above HIM stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. [3] And one called to another and said: 

    “”HOLY, HOLY, HOLY” is the LORD of hosts;

    the whole earth is full of HIS GLORY!””

IMPUTE: to lay the responsibility or blame for (something) often falsely or unjustly

GOD IS “HOLY, HOLY, HOLY”!!!  What was the THOUGHT then behind JESUS coming to earth  and suffering separation from HIS FATHER for a wretch such as I?  JESUS the CHRIST was the ONLY SACRIFICE that could live a PERFECT LIFE and then offer those who were CHOSEN HIS SACRIFICE so that we can WORSHIP and PRAISE HIS forever!!  In Revelation 4:8 it is written that angels NEVER cease to say “HOLY, HOLY, HOLY”!  

Then why do I sin daily, choosing to edify self instead of the KING OF KINGS and LORD OF LORDS?  It took GOD IN THE FLESH to be HOLY enough to cover my wickedness, yet HE WILLINGLY gave HIS LIFE to RESCUE we who were CHOSEN BEFORE THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD (Ephesians 1:4)!  The act of IMPUTATION by JESUS had to be done by GOD IN THE FLESH to pay the sin debt for the chief of sinners (1 Timothy 1:15).  

Because of HIS GRACE and unimaginable GIFT, the RIGHTEOUSNESS of JESUS is seen when my life is examined by GOD!  When HE sees me it is my desire for HIM to hear “HOLY, HOLY, HOLY” for the rest of eternity!!!

“YOU HAVE NO LIFE IN YOU!”

John 6:51-59                           (ESV)

“[51] I AM the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is MY flesh.”

[52] The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, “How can this MAN give us HIS flesh to eat?” [53] So JESUS said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, UNLESS you eat the flesh of the SON of MAN and drink HIS blood, “YOU HAVE NO LIFE IN YOU”. [54] Whoever feeds on MY flesh and drinks MY blood has ETERNAL LIFE, and I will raise him up on the last day. [55] For MY flesh is true food, and MY blood is true drink. [56] Whoever feeds on MY flesh and drinks MY blood abides in ME, and I in him. [57] As the living FATHER sent ME, and I live because of the FATHER, so whoever feeds on ME, he also will live because of ME. [58] This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread the fathers ate, and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.” [59] JESUS said these things in the synagogue, as HE taught at Capernaum.”

One commentary about the focal passages today offered these words in part for the aforementioned verses:

“Jesus again engages in “obnoxious discourse.” When the crowd is bothered and confused by Jesus’ claim to give his flesh, he makes an even more offensive statement: they will need to eat his flesh and drink his blood (verse 53). The vocabulary of the text only heightens the scandal. In verses 49-51, Jesus had spoken about “eating” the bread from heaven, using a very common word (esthio). In verse 53, however, Jesus switches to a less common word, trogo, a rather onomatopoetic word that has a connotation closer to “munch” or “gnaw.” It is a graphic word of noisy eating, the sort of eating an animal does. The audibility of the eating, however, is not the important point; this is eating that is urgent, even desperate. It is eating as though life depends on it, because it does.”

“Chewing the Cud” is the words that comes to mind when I read this commentary on John 6:51-59.  The Greek word “trogo” literally means to “to gnaw, munch, crunch” while the Greek word “esthia” means “to eat”.  Humans generally “eat” (esthio) food, and we very seldom “chew the cud” (trogo) our meals.  JESUS was NOT speaking about our physical feedings however.  HE was encouraging people to Spiritually “chew the cud” continually, letting HIS WORD transform our lives to be more like Him!

After reading these definitions, my feeble brain recalls Joshua 1:8 which says “This Book of the Law shall NOT depart from your mouth, but you shall MEDITATE on it DAY AND NIGHT, SO THAT YOU MAY BE CAREFUL TO DO ACCORDING TO ALL THAT IS WRITTEN IN IT. For THEN you will MAKE YOUR WAY PROSPEROUS, and then YOU WILL HAVE GOOD SUCCESS.”

According to what I am reading today, we are instructed to TAKE IN (ingest) the WORD OF GOD continually, to ingest (take in) it as we live, and MEDITATE (chew the cud) throughout the day to allow IT to TRANSFORM to become instruments that can be USED by GOD ALMIGHTY for HIS GLORY!   WHY DO WE INGEST THE WORD OF GOD, THEN “SPIT IT OUT” BEFORE WE CAN “CHEW THE CUD” AND LET IT CHANGE US FOR HIS GLORY???

Is there any wonder that “this world” has trouble SEEING TRUTH when as Believers “YOU HAVE NO LIFE IN YOU”?  TRULY, are you BORN AGAIN, or do you still give our OLD SELVES artificial respirations to fit in with our friends and neighbors are doing?  If you have been BORN AGAIN, you must have DIED at some point?  We must have LIFE in us to be a CHILD of the KING!  HE died on Calvary, and unless humanity has been BORN AGAIN,  “YOU HAVE NO LIFE IN YOU” and we are without HOPE!!!

“BE SILENT!”

 Exodus 14:14                    (ESV)

[14] The LORD will fight for you, and YOU HAVE ONLY TO BE SILENT.”

James 1:19                      (ESV)

Hearing and Doing the Word

“[19] Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, SLOW TO SPEAK, slow to anger;”

Proverbs 29:11                       (ESV)

    “[11] A fool gives full vent to his spirit,

     but A WISE MAN QUIETLY HOLDS IT BACK.”

Proverbs 11:12                    (ESV)

    “[12] Whoever belittles his neighbor lacks sense,

        but a man of understanding REMAINS SILENT.”

Proverbs 10:19                      (ESV)

    “[19] When words are many, transgression is not lacking,

        but whoever RESTRAINS HIS LIPS is prudent.”

Psalm 4:4

    “[4] Be angry, and do not sin;

        ponder in your own hearts on your beds, and “BE SILENT”. Selah”

Scripture says MANY TIMES in MANY WAYS that we need to GUARD what comes out of our mouths!!!!  For some people who seem to be blinded by an agenda, ALMIGHTY GOD is MORE than capable of quieting a person down…….with or without their concurrence!!!!

“THE DEAD MAN!”

 Luke 7:11-17                              (ESV)

JESUS Raises a Widow’s Son

“[11] Soon afterward HE went to a town called Nain, and HIS disciples and a great crowd went with HIM. [12] As HE drew near to the gate of the town, behold, a man who had DIED was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow, and a considerable crowd from the town was with her. [13] And when the LORD saw her, HE had compassion on her and said to her, “DO NOT WEEP.” [14] Then HE came up and touched the bier, and the bearers stood still. And HE said, “Young man, I say to you, arise.” [15] And “THE DEAD MAN” SAT UP and BEGAN TO SPEAK, and JESUS gave him to his mother. [16] Fear seized them all, and they glorified GOD, saying, “A great prophet has arisen among us!” and “GOD has visited HIS people!” [17] And this report about HIM spread through the whole of Judea and all the surrounding country.”

There was a movie about 30 years ago named DEAD MAN WALKING.  It never made sense to me because I understood that once a person died, then came the JUDGEMENT (Hebrews 9:27)!  But WHO determines precisely WHEN A MAN DIES???  When does LIFE leave a man? That question apparently is answered by THE ONE WHO gives LIFE!!

In the past several days I have been reminded about Scripture saying that we must DIE TO SELF and LIVE FOR HIM to be used for HIS GLORY.  Matthew 10:38 “And whoever does not take his cross and follow ME is not worthy of ME” said JESUS!  The cross is emblematic of death, the end of a PHYSICAL life!  

In the passage of Scripture above it says “THE DEAD MAN” SAT UP and BEGAN TO SPEAK!  JESUS has THE POWER to raise dead people to LIFE, even without asking their permission! This particular young man was in a coffin, on his way to the burial ground, and JESUS INTERRUPTED his exodus!  

Can a DEAD MAN walk?  JESUS CHRIST IS LIFE (John 14:6), so HE can do whatever GLORIFIES THE FATHER!  Although I reportedly have been VERY close to death, GOD stepped in and worked HIS WAY in my life and restored me!  Like “THE DEAD MAN” in Luke 7:15, GOD uses we that are CHOSEN to GLORIFY HIS NAME!  How BLESSED are we???

“CONSIDER YOUR WAYS!”

 Haggai 1:2-6                                         (ESV)

“[2] “Thus says the LORD of hosts: These people say the time has not yet come to rebuild the house of the LORD.” [3] Then the Word of the LORD came by the hand of Haggai the prophet, [4] “Is it a time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses, while this HOUSE lies in ruins? [5] Now, therefore, thus says the LORD of hosts: “CONSIDER YOUR WAYS”. [6] You have sown much, and harvested little. You eat, but you never have enough; you drink, but you never have your fill. You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm. And he who earns wages does so to put them into a bag with holes.”

Mankind has a peculiar sense of the “needs” of humanity!  FROM EXPERIENCE, we only “need” our next breath.  Everything else is simply a GIFT!  Now I can’t remember much from my time in the coma nearly seventeen years ago, but I can remember that I couldn’t fathom paying for the care that I was receiving.  Being placed in the coma was something that I could not have imagined, and giving up control over EVERYTHING, including breathing air was something that ALMIGHTY GOD took out of my hands!!!

In a quiet, peaceful way, GOD orchestrated a healing process that even my doctors give HIM credit for!  “You have sown much, and harvested little. You eat, but you never have enough; you drink, but you never have your fill. You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm. And he who earns wages does so to put them into a bag with holes” is something that could have been said about me.  

Since then, it is as if GOD is telling me “Don’t CONSIDER the ways of others, but “CONSIDER YOUR WAYS””!!!  Certainly not always, but I try to find out what THE LORD is trying to say to me, not what others need to hear from HIM!  In the passages above, GOD is telling HIS CHOSEN to “CONSIDER YOUR WAYS” and build MY HOUSE!  Quit trying to build your personal wealth and BUILD MY KINGDOM!  

We are CHOSEN IN HIM BEFORE THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD (Ephesians 1:4), yet we MUST continually be drawn to HIM because “the enemy” seeks to destroy THE LORDS PLAN!  We are HIS (Romans 8:38) and NOTHING CAN SEPARATE US from HIS LOVE!!!  HIS PLAN shall be my endeavor and I need to “CONSIDER YOUR WAYS” before doing anything in life!!!

“YOU DO NOT BELIEVE!”

 John 10:22-30                             (ESV)

I AND THE FATHER ARE ONE

“[22] At that time the Feast of Dedication took place at Jerusalem. It was winter, [23] and JESUS was walking in the temple, in the colonnade of Solomon. [24] So the Jews gathered around HIM and said to HIM, “How long will YOU keep us in suspense? If YOU are the CHRIST, tell us plainly.” [25] JESUS answered them, “I told you, and “YOU DO NOT BELIEVE”. The works that I do in my FATHER’s NAME bear witness about ME, [26] but “YOU DO NOT BELIEVE” because you are NOT among MY sheep. [27] MY sheep hear MY VOICE, and I know them, and they follow ME. [28] I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and NO ONE WILL SNATCH THEM OUT OF THEM OUT OF MY HAND. [29] MY FATHER, WHO has given them to ME, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the FATHER’s HAND. [30] I AND FATHER ARE ONE.””

JESUS said in Ephesians 1:3-10 that “HE CHOSE US BEFORE THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD”, so HE KNEW us long before we were born!  In John 10:30 HE says “I AND THE FATHER ARE ONE”!  So GOD the FATHER, GOD the SON, and GOD the HOLY SPIRIT fully KNEW us since BEFORE THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD and CHOSE us anyway?!?

Why were we CHOSEN BEFORE THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD?  We hadn’t even drawn a breath or done anything to advance HIS KINGDOM?!?  HE CHOSE us to fulfill HIS PURPOSE of using the “least of these” to accomplish HIS PLAN.  Moses was a stuttering person. David was a womanizing person. Paul was a murderer.  Yet HE CHOSE all of them to GLORIFY HIMSELF because HE knew what the outcome would be in their lives.  

Therefore, one must acknowledge that if we are CHOSEN, there MUST be those who are not CHOSEN!  Just as JESUS spoke in Matthew 10:27, “…NO ONE WILL SNATCH THEM OUT OF THEM OUT OF MY HAND”, HE also said in Matthew 10:25 “I told you, and “YOU DO NOT BELIEVE”!  

Has HE CALLED you???  Answer HIM while you still can!!!

“AWAKE, O SLEEPER!”

 Ephesians 5:6-21                     (ESV)

“[6] Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of GOD comes upon the sons of disobedience. [7] Therefore do not become partners with them; [8] for at one time YOU WERE DARKNESS, but NOW YOU ARE THE LIGHT in the LORD. Walk as CHILDREN OF THE LIGHT [9] (for the fruit of LIGHT is found in all that is good and right and true), [10] and try to discern what is pleasing to the LORD. [11] Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. [12] For it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret. [13] But when anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible, [14] for anything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says, 

    “”AWAKE, O SLEEPER”,

        and arise from the dead,

    AND CHRIST WILL SHINE ON YOU.”

    [15] LOOK CAREFULLY then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, [16] making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. [17] Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the LORD is. [18] And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the SPIRIT, [19] addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the LORD with your heart, [20] giving thanks always and for everything to GOD the FATHER in the name of our LORD JESUS CHRIST, [21] submitting to one another out of reverence for CHRIST.”

This morning the word “AWAKE” was on my heart as I began my day.  “AWAKE, O SLEEPER” says to me that we all sleep from time to time, but some of us are CALLED to wake up and be USED BY OUR CREATOR for HIS GLORY!  

Are you CALLED to “AWAKE, O SLEEPER” and arise from the dead, AND CHRIST WILL SHINE ON YOU”???  It is “imperative” (Necessary or urgent) that we first “AWAKE, O SLEEPER” before CHRIST WILL SHINE IN YOU”!!!