CHOSEN AND DESTINED FOR GREATNESS, PART 2

In Jeremiah 29:11 God tells us that He gives us a future and an expected end, a hope in our outcome in life.  Hope in God.  Godly hope is an eager anticipation that is developed from meditation of the Word of God.  Bible hope comes from the Word of God.  The Word develops an expectancy in us that is not quenched by any earthly evidence contrary to that expectancy.

In Jeremiah 31:3 God tells us that He has loved us with an everlasting love.  He tells us that His love draws us to Himself and that He continues faithfully to love us.  He is faithful in His devotion to us.  He is faithful in His loving-kindness toward us.  He is faithful, loving, and eternal.  He never changes His mind or fails to express His love for us.

God has chosen you.  He has destined you for a great plan.  His plans for you are good plans.  The thing you and I have to do is to yield to Him, to allow Him to do what he needs to do to accomplish that plan.  He knows the future.  And one thing I need to point out to all of us is that the Holy Spirit dwells within each of us as God’s children and He shows us things to come, if we are in close communion with Him.

God has a love for you that cannot be quenched or stopped.  He loves you unconditionally.  His love does not depend on how you act:  what you do right or wrong.  His love also does not depend on whether you have a good or bad attitude.  He has a plan for you.  Yield yourself to Him completely and let Him work in your life.  He is calling you to higher places in Him and deeper understanding of His ways, that you may complete the work He has called you to do.  Yield to His plan for your life.  All you have to do is ask for direction and then listen for instructions.  He will never fail you nor forsake you.  He is right there.

CHOSEN AND DESTINED FOR GREATNESS, PART 1

The minute you were conceived in your mother’s womb, you were chosen and destined for greatness.  God had you on His mind long before you were born.  We have already looked at Psalm 139.  Go back to yesterday’s confession of Psalm 139 and listen to this with your heart and let the Word of God minister to you and wash away any doubt of your value, of your worth to God.  He loves you.  You are special to Him.  You are the apple of His eye.

Do you see from these passages how much God cares for you and watches over you?  He loves you with a love that would not let you take the punishment you deserved.  He loves you with a love that will not let you alone in your sin.  He loves you with a love that will not leave you nor forsake you.  He loves you, yes, you.

We have an enemy.  His name is satan.  He is the devil.  He hates us and wants one thing for us.  He wants us to think that we are no good, are not worth anything and even if we are worth anything, we will never have anything because we are not capable of having the kind of faith that it takes to be somebody.

Well, let me put to rest these lies right now.  Satan is a liar and the father of liars.  He is no good.  God is the Father of Truth.  He is good.  He thinks you are valuable, precious, like the finest jewelry in the earthly realm.  You are a gem, one of a kind, designed by the Maker Himself, and He does not make any mistakes in creating you.  You are His creation, created in His likeness when you are born again, when you become His child.  And your Father, in Whose image you are created, is perfection itself.  He doesn’t create any seconds.  We are all firsts, first in His mind and first in quality.  The quality control of heaven is perfect, no imperfections.

I don’t care what you think.  What you must ponder is what God thinks about you.  Focus on His Word regarding your preciousness.  Study His Word to find out what He thinks about you.  Meditate His Word in your mind and heart until you have a clear image of what you look like in the Kingdom of God.  Then carry that image until you see it become reality in this earth.  Nothing is impossible with God.  What has He shown you about your destiny?  What has He chosen you to do?  You do have a place and a purpose.  You were not just randomly created.

GOD’S VIEW OF ME

Today, we are going to make Psalm 139:1-18, 22-24 from the New Living Translation our prayer and confession.  What a beautiful Psalm which shows the Lord’s love for us whom He created.

O LORD, you have examined my heart and know everything about me.

You know when I sit down or stand up.

You know my every thought when far away.

You chart the path ahead of me and tell me where to stop and rest.

Every moment you know where I am.

You know what I am going to say even before I say it, LORD.

You both precede and follow me.

You place your hand of blessing on my head.

Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too great for me to know.

I can never escape from your spirit!

I can never get away from your presence!

If I go up to heaven, you are there; if I go down to the place of the dead, you are there.

If I ride the wings of the morning, if I dwell by the farthest oceans, even there your hand will guide me, and your strength will support me.

I could ask the darkness to hide me and the light around me to become night—-but even in darkness I cannot hide from you.

To you the night shines as bright as day.  Darkness and light are both alike to you.

You made the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb.

Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex!

Your workmanship is marvelous—-and how well I know it.

You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb.

You saw me before I was born.

Every day of my life was recorded in your book.

Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed.

How precious are your thoughts about me, O God!

They are innumerable!

I can’t even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand.

And when I wake up in the morning, you are still with me!

Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my thoughts.

Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life.”

How beautiful you are in God’s eyes!  Take a few moments today to ponder His workmanship in you.  He makes all things perfect!  Yes, it is through Him that we are perfect and wonderfully made!