Chosen

Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you. John 15:16

Chosen, chosen by Him, how amazing is that. It should be enough to drive all the shadows away from your life. To be chosen is the desire of everyone, from little children to their parents, from children to their friends, on the softball team, to the one we want to marry someday, we all want to be chosen. To be chosen is to be accepted for who we are with our strengths and weaknesses; counted as value to parents, friends, entity, and for sure to that someone who holds a special place in our hearts. This is all earthly and natural, but to be chosen by Jesus himself, is a whole different story. He does not replace the need to be chosen by those around us, but when we are chosen by Him, we are able to much easier deal with the disappointment of not being chosen by those around us. In fact, He, Jesus, faced much disappointment and sorrow when He was on this earth, because of rejections, so He understands what it feels like. In this verse He was talking with those around Him but that promise is carried on to all His children as well as the whole world. In Psalm 50:1, He has said he has called the world from the rising of the sun until the going down thereof. He is choosing each and every person on the earth to bestow His love upon them, if they will simply choose Him.

So, if today, you are feeling lonely and blue, not sure what to do with your life; then remember that He has chosen you. Yes, He has chosen you to find security and fulfillment in His heart, His love, and His plan for your life. Men may fail you, they may not understand you, your friends may reject your ideas, but Jesus never fails. I will repeat, Jesus never fails. Take heart, oh soul in that promise, He will never leave you nor forsake you.

Those are all easy words to say, another to put into practice. Yet, we need to know that Jesus really does care, especially when it seems those words have a difficult time of sinking down through the drought of our own perception to the soil of our parched heart. No one said it would be easy, or that it would be a onetime trip to take. However, it is more than just something we muster up on our own, bracing ourselves and our spirits to believe. No, it is a work that Jesus can and will do, which changes the preconceived ideas and hard beliefs of our heart. It also takes a bit of faith to believe and to keep on believing day after day that we can rely in the truth of His word. I said, “day after day,” but it’s more like, moment by moment then minute by minute before it can become hour by hour followed by day by day. Why do I say that? Because these preconceived ideas are core beliefs which have formed into thinking patterns and may not change easily. It will take an effort, asking God to help us, and gradually our thinking patterns will change. Like I mentioned already, this is difficult without first experiencing the revelation of Jesus Christ upon our heart, shedding clarity on the way we perceive things. There are very self-controlled and motivated persons who may be able to change their way of thinking by shear will power, but that does not renew their vision to the realization that Jesus Christ is real and loves them with an everlasting love. If it were possible to change by will power, then why would we waste the time and energy to put these promises down in written word. I have hope that eventually I will be able to change some of my own core thinking patterns, but until then; I will live moment by moment until one day I have hope I will be able to look back at this valley and the lessons I have learned. Then one day, we will say:

“Lord it all looks so little from here, yes it all looks so little from here.”