Chosen                                                                                           09-13-13

John 15:16 (NASB) ¹⁶  "You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you.
I was at work last night musing over what to write about today, when my attention was drawn to a picture in the Wall Street Journal. It was a picture of a Syrian refugee cradling his young daughter in his arms. At first, I glanced at it and kept walking, but as I read the underlying caption "....his wounded daughter..." I did a double take and saw that precious child's injuries. She was a pretty thing, about three,maybe four years old. She had been dressed in a little girl's dress with hairbows and earrings. Just another precious little girl, until you noticed her arms,legs and feet. They were beet red as the first layer of her skin had apparently been burnt off. As I stood there and stared I was verging on tears but composed myself and moved on. As I replayed that photograph in my mind something settled in my spirit. It was as if the Lord was asking me a question. "Ronnie, do you really appreciate how blessed you are?" "I CHOSE you." Now, I don't know if that was the Lord talking to me or my own spirit, nevertheless it set me to thinking. I'll try to explain.

Look at that verse again. That's as spiritually heavy a statement as you are going to find in God's Word. Jesus was talking to His disciples in this context but the idea that God chose us for His own is taught in numerous passages in the Bible. Ephesians,Romans, 1st Peter and elsewhere.

Ephesians 1:4-5 (NASB) ⁴  just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love
⁵  He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will,

Romans 8:29-30 (NASB) ²⁹  For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren;
³⁰  and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.

1 Peter 1:1-2 (NASB) ¹  Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who reside as aliens, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, who are chosen
²  according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, by the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with His blood: May grace and peace be yours in the fullest measure.


Now my purpose here is not some theological treatise on predestination. I'll leave that to the scholars. But, this truth is staring me in the face today. The man in that picture, carrying that precious child could have been ME. Except for the grace of God, it could have been my child that had her skin burnt off. While I thought about that man and his little girl,my mind considered other realities.

Only God's grace and mercy allowed me to be born in this country. It seems that most people living today outside of the industrialized world live on about two dollars a day. I reflected on this while comparing the income levels and standards of living that we  Americans EXPECT just because we are Americans. I'm not speaking critically here; it's just a well known fact that we are a blessed people, maybe above all the earth. God chose this Eden as my place, my country if you will. Didn't have to be that way. Getting my drift?  Now, this country has a whole host of issues that may or may not be resolved. BUT, at least we still acknowledge the God of Israel and His Son Jesus Christ. Amen? I could be walking from a war torn hell on earth into a Turkish refugee camp carrying my wounded daughter.

But, even more important than any of this is that somewhere in eternity past God chose ME, yes, little ol' me to be one of His own. Before the foundation of the world, He appointed me to salvation through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. If you are naming the name of Christ, He chose YOU also. It's mind numbing when you sit down and realize that God chose you and me for eternal life. Before any of this was even created, we were in His mind and heart. Children of the Almighty God. To put this in an earthbound perspective, let me make an observation here. I,or for that matter you could have been born in a country that stands against the one true God. We could have been DENIED the privilege of attending Sunday School, vacation Bible School and on and on while we were growing up. It happens everyday to innocent children all over the world. ONLY His mercy stands between us and that.

Brothers and sisters, somewhere eons ago, God in His sovereignty decided that in 1975, when I fell off the turnip truck, He would pick me up and bestow His grace upon me. He decided to bless me with a blessing that defies description. He and He alone allowed me to live in a nation that calls Him God. He picked me up in my filth and shed His Son's blood in my heart and saved my soul. For that reason, I can only bow my head and say thank you; and, offer up a prayer that He does the same thing for that Syrian man and his child. We are truly blessed above all people.

Psalm 146:5 (NASB) ⁵  How blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, Whose hope is in the LORD his God,



God Bless