“I HAVE CHOSEN!”

 Isaiah 43:10                    (ESV)

        “”You are MY witnesses,” declares the LORD,

        “and MY servant whom “I HAVE CHOSEN”,

    that you may KNOW and BELIEVE ME

        and understand that I AM HE.

    Before me no god was formed,

        nor shall there be any after ME.”

There are MANY places in the HOLY BIBLE where GOD REVEALS HIMSELF as the ONE WHO CHOOSES we that are BLESSED enough to be a CHILD OF THE KING!  I just saw a video of a famous person in the United States of America who plainly said that he was CHOSEN by the CREATOR, not because of his name, but because he was CHOSEN by the ONE WHO says “I HAVE CHOSEN” you!!!

No more MAGNANIMOUS words in humanity than to be recognized as a human that ALMIGHTY GOD has said “I HAVE CHOSEN” you!!!

“IF!”

 James 1:5-8                    (ESV)

“[5] “IF” any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask GOD, WHO gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. [6] But let him ask IN FAITH, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. [7] For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the LORD; [8] he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.”

Growing up in a so called “broken family” is a label that can unknowingly be used to describe a condition that can be possibly misidentified, even by well meaning people!  Having spent Monday through Friday last week alone at a mountain place with very poor communication with “this world” might have driven me to madness even a few years ago.  But connecting to and LISTENING TO GOD is a cure for ailments that humanity tends to be almost oblivious to for the ANSWER because we haven’t been exposed to LISTENING TO GOD much in our lives!

GOD “used” a seventeen day coma in 2007 to slow me down to get my headings corrected.  Now seventeen years later I am STILL learning the benefits (physical and SPIRITUAL health benefits combined!) from BEING STILL brings to this humble servant!  GOD CHANGED me in numerous ways since July 09, 2007.  Formerly I was a very “in charge” type of person.  Now I understand that GOD is the ONE WHO is “in charge” of everything and we are simply here to honor and Glorify HIM!  My body temperature is considerably lower.   Even my disposition is CONSIDERABLY more laidback!  I was DIFFERENT, but in ways that revealed themselves in ways that weren’t obvious to anyone.  

As CREATED beings, we don’t have the capabilities to KNOW EVERYTHING!  WE ARE NOT IN CONTROL!!  GOD uses ALL KINDS of methods to achieve HIS PLAN, so that we will GLORIFY HIS NAME!  I had a plan for my life on July 08, 2007 when I went to bed.  On July 09, 2007 at 5:30AM I awoke and fell in the floor because my brain had began leaking and my body was not functioning properly!  

“IF” things would have gone as I had planned, I would have operated my plan for underprivileged children to go to trade school or college.  BUT GOD had a PLAN that far exceeded anything that I could have ever dreamed or imagined!  I could not SEE that HIS PLAN for a “massive brain hemorrhage” and an almost two year hiatus from work was directly in front of me!  But I wouldn’t change the journey HE has brought me through for anything!!  

“IF” I could possibly SEE what HE has in store for me to fulfill for HIS GLORY, it wouldn’t take FAITH for me to follow!  But Scripture states what I can ULTIMATELY expect WHEN I get to HEAVEN, not “IF”!!!  

“LET GO!”

 

“GOD HAS HIGHLY EXALTED HIM!”

 Philippians 2:9-11                    (ESV)

“[9] Therefore “GOD HAS HIGHLY EXALTED HIM” and bestowed on HIM the NAME that is above every name, [10] so that at the name of JESUS every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, [11] and every tongue confess that JESUS CHRIST is LORD, to the glory of GOD the FATHER.”

One of the quickest ways to get me into a “bad place” is to disgruntle my wife, the one GOD revealed to me that HE had CHOSEN for me over 40 years ago!!  To irritate me very quickly and deeply, that is a sure fire way of setting me off!

Why then does it not bother me as badly when the name of THE LORD is used “in vain”, or without respect to what is meant!  Considering who each human is and where we are headed, it seems to be almost impossible to BELIEVE that JESUS CHRIST would sacrifice HIS LIFE for us, especially when most of us won’t SEE HIM as HE IS until THE JUDGEMENT?  

You may hurt someone’s wife or any other person, but ONE DAY we will ALL SEE precisely WHO JESUS is!!!  “Every knee” indicates that everyone “in heaven and on earth and under the earth” will acknowledge that HE is WHO GOD says!!!  “GOD HAS HIGHLY EXALTED HIM” indicates that there is NO OTHER ahead of HIM!!  Thankfully HE has OPENED my EYES to SEE that TRUTH!!!

“YOU ARE HOLY!”

 Psalm 22:1-6                    (ESV)

Why Have You Forsaken Me?

To the choirmaster: according to The Doe of the Dawn. A Psalm of David.

    “[1] My GOD, my GOD, why have YOU forsaken me?

        Why are YOU so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning? 

    [2] O my GOD, I cry by day, but YOU do not answer,

        and by night, but I find no rest.

    [3] Yet “YOU ARE HOLY”,

        enthroned on the praises of Israel. 

    [4] In YOU our fathers trusted;

        they trusted, and YOU delivered them. 

    [5] To YOU they cried and were rescued;

        in YOU they trusted and were not put to shame.

    [6] But I AM A WORM and not a man,

        scorned by mankind and despised by the people.”

Sometimes I get so overwhelmed by my sinful actions that despair and grief consume my thoughts and I can’t comprehend HOW a HOLY and RIGHTEOUS GOD could possibly LOVE a wretch such as I?  King David must have been experiencing a similar time when he wrote Psalm 22?  While David was spoken about by Samuel in 1 Samuel 13:14 as a man after GODS OWN HEART, he himself wrote in the Scripture above “My GOD, my GOD, why have YOU forsaken me”???

Why did ALMIGHTY GOD select these words as far back as when HE was having David write this Psalm 22, yet use them HIMSELF in Matthew 27:46?  I’m no Bible Scholar, but perhaps GOD wanted me to KNOW that there WILL BE TIMES when I will have to have HIS ASSURANCE that HE WILL BE with me, even when HIS PRESENCE seems far away!!!

It is IMPERATIVE that we UNDERSTAND that JESUS PAID THE PRICE to inhabit my body with HIS HOLY SPIRIT even when I am “the chief of sinners” (1 Timothy 1:15)!  “YOU ARE HOLY”, and I am NOT! I am SO BLESSED that YOU CHOSE me “before the foundation of the world” (Ephesians 1:4)!!!

“HE CHOSE US!”

 Ephesians 1:3-4                    (ESV)

Spiritual Blessings in CHRIST 

“[3] 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, [4] even as “HE CHOSE US”, in HIM before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before HIM.”

I AM CHOSEN!

Those of us who are CHOSEN don’t have an explanation of WHY we are CHOSEN, we just know that we are!!!

When I was recovering from the Brain Hemorrhage in 2007, I was very slow in my responses as my word-recall was damaged during the seventeen day coma.  I had to re-learn to verbally respond to people who were trying to communicate with me.  To this day, I still don’t have the WORDS to adequately express myself when describing my condition during “the recovery”!  

The same can be said about my SPIRITUAL condition.  On January 08, 1978 I went to church like I previously had done most of my life.  On that evening I had made a “profession of faith”, like I had done a few times before, but those words never regenerated my heart.  That evening I was “searching” for a meaning for life in general.  I “begged” JESUS to take away the pain and discontent that was enveloping me and replace it with HIS PEACE.  HE DID precisely that, but not because I was worthy, but because I AM CHOSEN BEFORE THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD!!!  

In John 15:16 JESUS PLAINLY says “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.”  The closest explanation in Scripture I know of is written above, SPOKEN by the CREATOR HIMSELF!  

Not only am I CHOSEN, but the CREATOR OF THE UNIVERSES CHOSE me before the foundation of the world to GO AND BEAR FRUIT!  I am so BLESSED that “HE CHOSE US” to be just a small part of HIS MAJESTIC PLAN!!!

“WALKING ON THE SEA!”

 Mark 6:45-52                    (ESV)

JESUS Walks on the Water

“[45] Immediately HE MADE HIS disciples get into the boat and go before HIM to the other side, to Bethsaida, while HE dismissed the crowd. [46] And after HE had taken leave of them, HE WENT UP TO THE MOUNTAIN TO PRAY. [47] And when evening came, the boat was out on the sea, and HE WAS ALONE ON THE LAND. [48] And HE saw that they were making headway PAINFULLY, for THE WIND WAS AGAIN THEM. And about the fourth watch of the night HE CAME TO THEM, “WALKING ON THE SEA”. HE meant to pass by them, [49] but when they saw HIM walking on the sea they thought it was a ghost, and cried out, [50] for they all saw HIM AND WERE TERRIFIED. But immediately HE spoke to them and said, “Take heart; IT IS I., DO NOT BE AFRAID.” [51] And HE got into the boat with them, AND THE WIND CEASED. And they were UTTERLY ASTOUNDED, [52] for THEY DID NOT UNDERSTAND ABOUT THE LOAVES, but THEIR HEARTS WERE HARDENED.” 

One would assume that a person who has been WHERE I have been would grasp that “NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE WITH GOD” (Luke 1:37)!  But if I were on the water in a boat and a man came walking up to my boat ON THE WATER, I might be a little bit shook!!!

In the passage of Scripture above the Disciples had to be a little out of sorts because they were battling the Sea of Galilee PAINFULLY and they saw a “MAN” walking towards their boat.  They thought that JESUS was still dealing with the throngs of people that HE had ministered to, but HE was precisely where HE was needed, in the midst of the Sea of Galilee!!  

I am learning (through my THICK skull!) that this same JESUS is there for me today!  After I had been in a drug-induced coma for seventeen days in 2007, HE came “WALKING ON THE SEA”!  After I had my anomalous coronary arteries bypassed ten years later l, HE came “WALKING OK THE SEA”!  HE IS THERE FOR ME, but SEVENTEEN YEARS LATER my EYES have to be OPENED so I can SEE HIM “WALKING ON THE SEA”!!!

“IT IS I!”

 Mark 6:45-52                    (ESV)

JESUS Walks on the Water

“[45] Immediately HE MADE HIS disciples get into the boat and go before HIM to the other side, to Bethsaida, while HE dismissed the crowd. [46] And after HE had taken leave of them, HE WENT UP TO THE MOUNTAIN TO PRAY. [47] And when evening came, the boat was out on the sea, and HE WAS ALONE ON THE LAND. [48] And HE saw that they were making headway PAINFULLY, for THE WIND WAS AGAIN THEM. And about the fourth watch of the night HE CAME TO THEM, walking on the sea. HE meant to pass by them, [49] but when they saw HIM walking on the sea they thought it was a ghost, and cried out, [50] for they all saw HIM AND WERE TERRIFIED. But immediately HE spoke to them and said, “Take heart; “IT IS I”. DO NOT BE AFRAID.” [51] And HE got into the boat with them, AND THE WIND CEASED. And they were UTTERLY ASTOUNDED, [52] for THEY DID NOT UNDERSTAND ABOUT THE LOAVES, but THEIR HEARTS WERE HARDENED.” 

The fact that JESUS IS GOD doesn’t always manifest itself to HIS CHOSEN, even when we are doing what we have been instructed to do??  The disciples were being MADE to go to the other side of the Sea of Galilee. JESUS CREATED the Sea of Galilee and was very familiar with the winds that blew over it.  HE didn’t need to RUSH to the precise position going across the water, HE KNEW where they would be AND HE KNEW there would be TURMOIL during their trip!!!

JESUS WENT UP TO THE MOUNTAIN TO PRAY, something that our CREATOR did frequently during HIS ministry.  HIS disciples were on the lowest freshwater lake in the world DOING WHAT THEY WERE INSTRUCTED, going to the other side!  WHEN JESUS finished PRAYING (not before!), HE CAME TO THEM!  They were SO caught up in the wind storm that they thought JESUS was a spirit.  They couldn’t SEE that JESUS was teaching them IN THEIR OBEDIENCE that HE WAS GOD and controlled EVERYTHING, even the winds surrounding the Sea of Galilee!  “HE got into the boat with them, AND THE WIND CEASED.” is recorded in Mark 6:51!  

JESUS had JUST demonstrated WHO HE was, but their hearts were fully recognizing what they SAW!!!  Mark 6:54 says “THEY DID NOT UNDERSTAND ABOUT THE LOAVES, but THEIR HEARTS WERE HARDENED.”  JESUS told the disciples “IT IS I”, but they were not able to SEE precisely WHO HE WAS, for they didn’t have the HOLY SPIRIT until after he was crucified, resurrected and has ascended to Heaven!!!  Their EYES weren’t able to SEE because they were not in CONTROL, JESUS WAS!!!

I can’t SEE things that occur in my life as being a “teaching session” for me to mature in the LORD and HIS PROVISION!  HE delivered me from the Brain Hemorrhage in 2007 and HE hasn’t lost ANY POWER since HE SPOKE the worlds into existence!!!  SEEING “IT IS I” in my life is something that I am SLOWLY being taught!  My EYES will NOT be OPENED to SEE what is going on in my life until “IT IS I” knows that it is time!!!

“DO NOT!”

 Proverbs 3:5-6                    (ESV)

    “[5] Trust in THE LORD with all your heart,

        and “DO NOT” lean on your own understanding. 

    [6] In all your ways acknowledge HIM,

        and HE will make straight your paths.”

Hiding from THE LORD is something that most of us would never admit to doing.  Yet we always want to YIELD to people who are “successful” in this world without any indication that they are connected to HIM??

Having THE LORD living inside of me is something that I usually do not want to publicize?  But is that what Solomon was writing about in Proverbs 1:7 when he wrote “THE FEAR OF THE LORD is the BEGINNING OF KNOWLEDGE; fools despise wisdom and instruction.”  King Solomon was known as the wisest man (1 Kings 4:30-34), yet he succumbed to his own desires , limiting what GOD could do through him. 

What Solomon wrote on Proverbs 3:5 needs to be absorbed by we who THE LORD is trying to use for HIS GLORY!  “Trust in THE LORD with all your heart, and “DO NOT” lean on your own understanding” should be the first thing I see everyday as I serve HIM. I am emphasizing “DO NOT” lean on your own understanding because that is where I generally stray from THE LORD!  I try to get a WORD from GOD, but then figure out a way to make it happen?  That usually leads to tumultuous times???

“DO NOT” lean on your own understanding is what I SHOULD be hearing ALL of the time!  But if I REMEMBER, “Trust in THE LORD with all your heart”, why would I want to TRUST IN my own understanding???  HIS WAY is my desire, and I “DO NOT” want tumultuous times in competing with HIS WAY!!!!