I love the way the NLT bible puts this verse. KEEP AWAY from ANYTHING that MIGHT take God’s place in your heart. This verse shows how important it is to keep God first above everything and to protect ourselves from the world’s distractions or maybe the distraction is even ourself! God’s proper place of order is ABOVE ALL, including our spouses, kids, jobs, or *place something or someone important to you here*. Has there been something you’ve been putting first before your relationship with God? What is your first priority? What way can things be put in proper order? Too much of a good thing can become idolatry. Start with a small amount of time and go to your quiet place and spend time with God. Get an accountability partner if this is something you struggle with. A little encouragement can go a long way!
Also, a really awesome book to go along with today’s devotion is- God’s At War by Kyle Idleman.
Back when I was in elementary school I was always really excited when someone chose me to be on their kickball team. In high school, I was ecstatic when I finally was chose to play on the volleyball team. I am now, thankful, my husband chooses to love me every single day. We all love the feeling of being accepted and that someone wants us.
Did you know God chose YOU?
“For you are a holy people [set apart] to the LORD your God; the LORD your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be a people for His own possession [that is, His very special treasure].”
DEUTERONOMY 7:6 AMP
Chose:
eklégomai (from 1537/ek, “out of” and 3004/légō, “speaking to a conclusion”)
properly, to select (choose) out of, by a highly deliberate choice (i.e. real heart-preference) with a definite outcome (as with the destination of divine selection for salvation).
The same guy who made the earth with all its beautiful landscape decided he needed one of you too.
To me, I’m just like wow, really? You, the guy who can say “Let there be light!” & there was light, needed me!?!?!?
I feel like the world we live in thinks that we choose him…
That we are higher than God…
Like being a Child of God, in a sense, is a choice…
Which to a certain extent it is, because God gave us free will. He gave us free will to choose to love him, choose to live in his presence and to choose to abide by his will.
Many of you know part of my testimony. Dealing with mental illness and the suicidal thoughts that went with them for most of my life. I look back now and realize that I can now help the lost and broken because of everything I’ve went through. If I would’ve taken my life all every time I wanted to, I wouldn’t have seen the miracles happen before me. I wouldn’t of been able to have been healed and live my life without tormenting thoughts. I wouldn’t have been able to have been healed of the abuse and trauma. I wouldn’t be able to help others who have been through the exact same thing and are in the position I once was is. I realize, even though God doesn’t want his children to hurt, that I would go through everything all over again just to help people know who God truly is. I realize that God chose me. That I am worthy of love, laughter, and joyfulness. I am worth so much more than what the enemy snuck in and told me I was worth. If I committed suicide, I wouldn’t of lived to see my prayers answered to marry Brad. A couple people know, but most of you don’t… When I was lost, I prayed for this man to be my husband. I saw something in him that I was attracted to. Now I know, that it was Christ. If I committed suicide I would’ve never moved to Louisiana and I wouldn’t have my dreams begin to unfold before my eyes.
God chose you because he knows how much this crazy world can benefit from you being in it!
God chose you because he accepts you exactly where you are in life.
God chose you because he loves you.
God chose you because other people need you to help them exactly what you’ve been through or gone through.
God chose you because he sees what amazingly beautiful things you can do!
The list is endless of why God chose you.
It still blows my mind to this day to think that God chose me to be his daughter. God is the best thing that’s ever happened to me. I pray that if you haven’t invited God into your life that you do so. He wants to love on you like you’ve never been loved on before. His love is pure. If you do know God I pray that you meditate in the beauty of being his child and chosen by him. It’s truly beautiful when you think about it!
Scripture:
“For you are a holy people [set apart] to the LORD your God; the LORD your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be a people for His own possession [that is, His very special treasure].”
DEUTERONOMY 7:6 AMP
“You have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you and I have appointed and placed and purposefully planted you, so that you would go and bear fruit and keep on bearing, and that your fruit will remain and be lasting, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name [as My representative] He may give to you.”
JOHN 15:16 AMP
“So then you are no longer strangers and aliens [outsiders without rights of citizenship], but you are fellow citizens with the saints (God’s people), and are [members] of God’s household, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus Himself as the [chief] Cornerstone, in whom the whole structure is joined together, and it continues [to increase] growing into a holy temple in the Lord [a sanctuary dedicated, set apart, and sacred to the presence of the Lord]. In Him [and in fellowship with one another] you also are being built together into a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.”
EPHESIANS 2:19-22 AMP
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, 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, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.”
Ephesians 1:3-6 NKJV
Self-Reflection Questions:
What do you think God thinks of you?
What does it mean to you to be chosen by God?
Are your thoughts of yourself as precious as what God thinks of you?
If you have any thoughts of suicide or self-harm please reach out for help. I know what it’s like! I am also free to talk!
Before you start reading this…hear me out…read it all the way through.
The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life. “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd sacrifices his life for the sheep.”
John 10:10-11 NLT
“God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.”
John 3:17 NLT
“God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.”
1 John 4:9-10 NLT
“So Jesus told them this story: “If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them gets lost, what will he do? Won’t he leave the ninety-nine others in the wilderness and go to search for the one that is lost until he finds it? And when he has found it, he will joyfully carry it home on his shoulders. When he arrives, he will call together his friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep.’ In the same way, there is more joy in heaven over one lost sinner who repents and returns to God than over ninety-nine others who are righteous and haven’t strayed away!”
Luke 15:3-7 NLT
“And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love.”
Romans 8:38 NLT
“He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us.”
2 Corinthians 1:4 NLT
These are just a few of many verses that shows Abba’s love for us. Before I started my walk with God, I was looking for love in all the wrong places…I mean all of them. I would try to fill this void in my heart with whatever I could get my hands on…boyfriends, drinking and drugs, food, a promotion at work, money, friends, popularity, and yes, even social media. No matter what I did, I was never satisfied. I knew in my heart there was something more. I didn’t understand. Now, most of the things I listed above are what the world thinks as “bad”. If you try to fill the void of God’s love with anything, including your spouse, bodybuilding, healthy eating, a productive hobby, etc….it becomes a bad things. Some things that are really good for us can become an idol, something that we put before God which in turn, can turn out really bad. My point of this post is that really what our world is looking for is love…and God is love. (1 John 4:8) We are all searching for a deep intimate relationship with Abba.
What I love about God is that he believes that bringing one of us home to the Kingdom of God, is of great importance. He is a good father that doesn’t want anyone to perish. He looks at us as his masterpieces. He looks at us with love and tells us we are worthy of love. We are made to be loved. I heard that “we are made to be loved.” & I was like ugh….Abba, my heart.
When my relationship with God first started really developing, I was blown away with how many lies the thief, aka satan, aka, the enemy, had snuck into my life. Everything I believed about God was untrue. I had to let go of who I thought he was & who I thought I was. I began to read and study the word daily, praying more than I ever before, and started having fellowship with other people following Jesus, and I started to understand my identity.
I am a Child of God.
Before really pursuing my relationship I was searching and searching, trying to fill the void, and really I just needed God. I needed his true, pure, reckless love. I can speak about his love for me all day long. I know that he loves you too. But, getting to know his love is something you have to do. By this I mean, his love is individualized. He loves you and every “flaw” you think you have. His love never changes no matter the mistake you may make or what your past looks like. God loves you no matter where you are at in this very moment. He is willing to leave the 99 to come get the one. Are you the one?
His love doesn’t just stop at me, it doesn’t just stop at you…he uses all the things we’ve been through for the good. He uses it to help others that may be struggling. To me, that is so beautiful. How his love just travels and travels through people and for all generations to come.
Like I said, I can speak about God’s love for you all day long, but it’s for you to decide to get to know him on that intimate level.
I know we will never reach the depth of his love here on earth…and I think that’s one of the things that really sets a fire inside of my soul. I can just keep reaching out to him and he keeps pouring his love back upon me. We can never outgive God. His love is overwhelming to the point of tears of joy. His love is reckless and is unstoppable. His love is constant. His love is everything I’ve ever needed and more. Thank-you Abba for who you are.
One of the hardest things for us to do is really look at our hearts. The tendency of the human heart is to always see that what we are doing is right. What we are doing is always justified. The more I grow into a deeper intimacy with The Lord, the more I realize that I need to take this walk seriously.
I watched a Sermon given by Francis Chan that stirred up conviction, emotion, and a deep passion inside of me. A deeper passion then before…
He talked about the earth, how we are literally…right now…sitting in a ball of water, but the core is molten hot lava, moving at 1,000mph, revolving around the sun. & the sun being at the perfect distance, the earth being tilted at a perfect angle, just for us to live. Have you ever walked outside and been like “Wow, this is beautiful.”? When you walk outside, when you just look around, you can see his beauty all around you. God created beautiful views for us to view, for us to be in awe, for us to be memorized by. He also created us. He said, “I need one of you” & placed us here at the perfect timing to fulfill the purpose he has for our life.
Y’all God can do whatever he pleases, whenever he pleases…
If Jesus came back today, would you live differently?
Would you spend more time pursuing him?
Would you get up in the morning to read scripture even though you’re tired?
Would you stop watching that TV show because it’s profane and shows nudity?
Would you talk to him more?
Would you pray for someone when Holy Spirit told you to?
Would you give up your human flesh comfort just to be with him in eternity?
I feel, at times, I waste a lot of time on things that are useless to the Kingdom Of God…
I feel, at times, I live for myself instead of him.
I feel, as though, I could love deeper, forgive easier, and spread the truth of his word, more than I do.
We all have convictions that have stirred up in our heart. We are all working on things. We will never reach the depth of Abba’s love here on earth, so in turn our relationship with him should never stop growing either.
Since I’ve been walking this journey with God, I have been fed many lies. However, because I knew the truth of God’s word, I was able to speak that. I think what I enjoyed about Francis Chan’s sermon is how passionate he is in his relationship with God and how he repeated over and over, how he doesn’t want you to take him at face value. He wants you to read the truth of God’s word yourself.
I cannot stress how important it is to just be in his presence. How important is for the first thing for you to do in the morning is acknowledge who is breathing life into you this very moment. How important it is to talk to him, to read his word, and to praise him through every circumstance. Oh and don’t stop there, this is something you should do all day and all night long. How weird would it be if you had a friend, family member, child, spouse, someone whom you loved being with you all day, everyday, and not talking to them or hearing what they have to say? We get so caught up in the things of this world, that we do this!
God wants us, as brothers and sisters, to join together and hold one another accountable in our relationship with him. (James 5:16, Galatians 6:1-2, Matthew 18:15-17) This world tells you that we need to be independent and do it all on our own. Jesus says, “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. If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.”
John 15:5-8 NIV
The best thing you can do for yourself is follow God. Pursue his heart. Stop caring what the world thinks and follow Him. It can be uncomfortable at times, it can be a struggle, but it is so much more rewarding. The love he has for us is so much greater than anything we can ever ask for. He is everywhere and in everything you do. The more you are aware of him in everything you’ve done or will do, life here on earth will change drastically for the good.
Be intentional in your walk! Spend time with him! He loves you so much! Take life seriously, you never know what tomorrow will bring. Let God take over ever part of your heart, evening it’s uncomfortable. He brings so much more than we could ever bring ourselves.
Below is the link to the video I watched by Francis Chan…the passion he has is beautiful….
The more I learn about Christ and who he is, the deeper my love for him grows. I have been reading for a couple days, wondering what Holy Spirit was going to tell me to write about for this next post. This verse particularly stuck out to me. My thought process was something like this…”Wow, God is so cool. He just doesn’t stop caring at us. He uses his love for us to love others. He gives us the privilege to show his character everyday. Oh man, do I really know who he is? *continues reading* Uh oh, I have some stuff to work on…*Holy Spirit reassures me of how much he loves me* Well, what else do you have to reveal to me God?”
This is going to be a new series of posts of who God is. During these posts, I will be reminding myself that I am called to reflect the character of God (Ephesians 5:1)
This will be a learning process. I am excited!
First and foremost, I want to say that God is love (1 John 4:8).
Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keepsno record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever he truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful and endures through every circumstance. (1 Corinthians 13:4-7)
So if you replace the word Love with God it comes out to be…
God is patient and kind. God is not jealous of boastful or proud or rude. God does not demand his own way. He is not irritable, he keeps no record of being wronged. God does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. God never gives up, God never loses faith, god is always hopeful and endures through every circumstance.
When I was reading this, I was caught by “Love does not demand its own way”.
First I was like, well this is definitely something I need to work on! (HA!)
But, after Holy Spirit revealed something to me. I was like, But God, I thought you wanted us to follow your word and example? (Ephesians 5:1~Psalm 119:133).
& then it hit me…
God gave us free will. He loves us so much that he gave us the option to choose him.
That is selfless. To create everything in the whole entire universe and give your creation the option to follow you. WOW!!!!!!
One of my favorite things about God is that he is so selfless. He is constantly doing things to not only help us, but help others.
When he gives us an answer or tells us to do something, even though the answer may be no or what he’s asking us to do may make us super uncomfortable and may make us change something about ourself, we know that it is for the good of everyone. (Romans 8:28)
We only see a portion of what and who our decisions effect. God sees the BIG picture.
I am so thankful I have a part of God (Holy Spirit) to help guide me and make decisions. Even down to what I should write this post about. It’s an honor to know that if I talk to God about a decision I may have to make, he will have an answer that will make everything turn out the best for everyone.
When you look at God are you viewing him as the definition of Love? Is Love what you thought it was?
God’s love is the love that keeps on giving.
And I pray that Christ will make his home in your hearts through faith. I pray that you may have your roots and foundation in love, so that you, together with all God’s people, may have the power to understand how high and deep, is Christ’s love-although it can never be fully known-and so be completely filled with the very nature of God. (Ephesians 3:17-19)
