Why has God chosen you for His service?
5 Jun 26
Today's devotional: taken from YouVersion, Devotions on F.I.R.E. Year One
Readings:
2 Chronicles 17
2 Chronicles 18
2 Chronicles 19
John 15
You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit (John 15:16).
Why has God chosen you for His service?
Jesus teaches His followers, “You did not choose Me.” The verb “choose” occurs in the middle voice and carries the idea that “You did not choose Me for yourselves.” Our Lord then gives the adversative “but,” which shows a strong contrast. He continues, “But I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit.” Again, the verb “chose” appears in the middle voice and shows that Jesus called His apostles for His own purpose. Paul also uses the middle voice verb concerning our calling. He writes, “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” (Ephesians 1:4). Our purpose in life derives from Him!
Employment Point: Follow the Lord, who has called you to Himself.
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Reflections
Indeed we did not choose Him but He chose us. ‘Chose’ is past tense. It also meant that He chooses us before we choose Him.
“The Lord was with Jehoshaphat because he followed the ways of his father David before him. He did not consult the Baals The Lord established the kingdom under his control; and all Judah brought gifts to Jehoshaphat, so that he had great wealth and honor.”2 Chronicles 17:3, 5 NIV
- it is true that the Lord never shortchanged anyone. Anyone who is devoted to the Lord will definitely be blessed, even more so the king of the nation for he has the power to lead his people.
“The king of Israel answered Jehoshaphat, “There is still one prophet through whom we can inquire of the Lord, but I hate him because he never prophesies anything good about me, but always bad. He is Micaiah son of Imlah.” “The king should not say such a thing,” Jehoshaphat replied.”
2 Chronicles 18:7 NIV
- This is a reminder for us to seek the truth. The truth may be hard to bear, not nice to listen to, sometimes we may not even want to hear it but let us not be in denial. It is easier to face the truth than to run away from it
“Then Zedekiah son of Kenaanah went up and slapped Micaiah in the face. “Which way did the spirit from the Lord go when he went from me to speak to you?” he asked.”2 Chronicles 18:23 NIV
- I don’t think Zedekiah believed what Micaiah had said. That the Lord has placed a deceiving spirit in the mouth of the prophets for He has decreed disaster on King Ahab.
- It seemed to be pride that seemed to say Micaiah is the true prophet and Zedekiah were just like the others.
- Sometimes truth hurts and the person who speaks the truth may also be subjected to persecution. But would you still speak the truth?
“The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “I will enter the battle in disguise, but you wear your royal robes.” So the king of Israel disguised himself and went into battle. When the chariot commanders saw Jehoshaphat, they thought, “This is the king of Israel.” So they turned to attack him, but Jehoshaphat cried out, and the Lord helped him. God drew them away from him, for when the chariot commanders saw that he was not the king of Israel, they stopped pursuing him.”2 Chronicles 18:29, 31-32 NIV
- Ahab has no shame. He somehow knows what Micaiah said is true. He was afraid and therefore asked Jehoshaphat to wear his royal robes, so that the enemy will think that is the king of Israel and kill him instead. This is plain evil. But the Lord delivers the innocent. The Lord heard Jehoshaphat’s cries and helped him.
- The Chinese has a saying. 害人之心不可有 防人之心不可无. It translates to “do not have a heart that wants to harm others yet have a heart who protects ourselves from harm.”
“But someone drew his bow at random and hit the king of Israel between the breastplate and the scale armor. The king told the chariot driver, “Wheel around and get me out of the fighting. I’ve been wounded.””2 Chronicles 18:33 NIV
- to me this is a lesson learnt about trying to change our own destiny. We can’t and we also don’t have the ability to do so. Only the Lord has the ability and power to change our destiny.
“He appointed judges in the land, in each of the fortified cities of Judah. He told them, “Consider carefully what you do, because you are not judging for mere mortals but for the Lord, who is with you whenever you give a verdict. Now let the fear of the Lord be on you. Judge carefully, for with the Lord our God there is no injustice or partiality or bribery.””2 Chronicles 19:5-7 NIV
- Even though the commands are for judges, it is for us as well. We are to lead a righteous life, one filled with integrity and free from injustice.
“Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.”John 15:4 NIV
- Remain steadfast as the Holy Spirit guides us through our life. It will lead us to the fruit of the Holy Spirit-Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control, as against all these there is no law
““I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”
John 15:5 NIV
- The branches takes the nutrients from the vine. Similarly we study God’s word from the bible and we need to do this everyday to keep ourselves nourished. Without God we are nothing and if don’t take in those nutrients regularly, we will experience stunted growth or even become a dead plant.
- It takes consistent effort to grow a plant. It takes consistent effort for us to grow in our spiritual life as well. If you forgot to water your plants for 3 days and try to water 4 days worth of water on the 4th day, your plants may not survive well. It may just choke on water. Small consistent efforts are more sustainable than trying to pack everything in at one go.
“My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.”John 15:12 NIV
“This is my command: Love each other.”
John 15:17 NIV
- The Lord stresses on this. Love each other. He is not asking if we can. This is His command to us. Put all grudges aside, forgive and love each other. Give no room to hatred, bitterness, unforgiving, jealousy, etc to dwell in our hearts. Chase them out of our hearts as they can find dwelling with the devil but not with God’s people.
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God’s Assurance
BY OSWALD CHAMBERS
June 05
He Himself has said….So we may boldly say… —Hebrews 13:5-6
My assurance is to be built upon God’s assurance to me. God says, “I will never leave you,” so that then I “may boldly say, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not fear’ ” (Hebrews 13:5-6). In other words, I will not be obsessed with apprehension. This does not mean that I will not be tempted to fear, but I will remember God’s words of assurance. I will be full of courage, like a child who strives to reach the standard his father has set for him. The faith of many people begins to falter when apprehensions enter their thinking, and they forget the meaning of God’s assurance— they forget to take a deep spiritual breath. The only way to remove the fear from our lives is to listen to God’s assurance to us.
What are you fearing? Whatever it may be, you are not a coward about it— you are determined to face it, yet you still have a feeling of fear. When it seems that there is nothing and no one to help you, say to yourself, “But ‘The Lord is my helper’ this very moment, even in my present circumstance.” Are you learning to listen to God before you speak, or are you saying things and then trying to make God’s Word fit what you have said? Take hold of the Father’s assurance, and then say with strong courage, “I will not fear.” It does not matter what evil or wrong may be in our way, because “He Himself has said, ‘I will never leave you….’ ”
Human frailty is another thing that gets between God’s words of assurance and our own words and thoughts. When we realize how feeble we are in facing difficulties, the difficulties become like giants, we become like grasshoppers, and God seems to be nonexistent. But remember God’s assurance to us— “I will never…forsake you.” Have we learned to sing after hearing God’s keynote? Are we continually filled with enough courage to say, “The Lord is my helper,” or are we yielding to fear?
WISDOM FROM OSWALD
The remarkable thing about fearing God is that when you fear God you fear nothing else, whereas if you do not fear God you fear everything else. “Blessed is every one that feareth the Lord”;…
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Reflections
How sure are we as the children of God? Do we truly identify with our identity and as co-heirs of Christ?
Often times we either procrastinate too much, worry too much, or have too many reservations pertaining to the unknown. But who is our anchor? It ought to the our Lord God Almighty. The One who is omnipresent, omnipotent and Omniscient. If we truly believe the One True God, we should have no doubts about His hands that is definitely in our lives, guiding us and growing us spiritually. However, what plagues us are often the fears, and perhaps our unbelief.
Well there is nothing wrong with fear for we are all human. But it becomes a problem when we allow fear to consume us, taking over of lives, and especially to a point where we are paralysed by fear.
A child who is centered in the Lord may still have certain fears but they will not allow that fear to rein in their lives. For who is greater than the Lord God Almighty? We have a God who is greater than any problems we may be facing. He never said that we will be free from problems but He promised us that He will walk with us throughout the journey. But do we trust Him enough to allow Him to rein in our lives?
Let’s pray:
Father help us to be able to stand firm in Your Word. To allow us courage to speak Your truths even in the face of persecution. Help us not back down from coercion or threats but be ready to stand for You and with You. Help us also, to be as sure footed as the deers, having no fear as we move forward in the direction You have paved for us. In the name of Jesus we ask and pray. Amen 🙏🏻
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