November 29: Trade
Can we trade our despair, anxiety, and disappointment for rest and peace? Impossible, you may say, but not so. God made the impossible into I'm possible through Christ Jesus. Paul had to learn the art of contentment. I call it art because every art project begins messy and is a work in progress. Rest and patience come from knowing the God who has it figured out and knows how He will accomplish what he promised he would do. Paul's contentment came from knowing God and recognizing his limitations. His strength, understanding, compassion, and grace are infinite. In our measure world, He is immeasurable.
November 22 Fighting through loss, seeing with clarity is part of the mystery of chosen-ness.
Proverbs 27:17 -As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend. It is difficult to let God heal our wounds, to let God sharpen us for the battles of this world, to cry, and to let him catch every tear.
Proverbs 56:8-You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in your bottle. You have recorded each one in your book.
Knowing God bottles your every tear means your hurt is not lost.
Love hurts but with hope, love heals. Hope lies beyond our regrets and loss. Hope restores the heart and clears the way for renewed dreams. Hope rests on the foundational truth of Jesus Christ. When we've lost our way, hope shines a light. It dispels the darkness of despair. The heart responds. Hope carries the vital healing power of frankincense and myrrh. Its soothing components restore our faith and love.
Hope heals!
November 15: Void-a feeling of want or hollowness.
Can grace fill the void when current circumstances leave us feeling empty?
It is not the things or objects but the memories tied to a moment in time that fleshes out echoes of the past with family and friends. Raise a child correctly; when they are old, they will find the truth again. It is a beautiful promise that I have not yet seen. Hindsight can dredge up loss, and old hurts with family and friends.
Imagine God holding a ribbon of time, the beginning in one hand and the end in the other. He surveys all time simultaneously. This time-ribbon has its beginning, its seasons, and its end. We are wonderfully made and placed in this ribbon of time to know Him.
We have "the wondrous works of him who is in perfect knowledge" (Job 37:16) and sees all. Psalm 131 is a picture of a heart at rest before God, free from not knowing and yet, trusting His plan even if we cannot see.
Let grace fill our void when circumstances leave us feeling empty. God has chosen us for this time.
The voids in our life are redeemed by God. He makes everything beautiful in its time. Every sorry or harm we suffer will be redeemed by God.Eccles 3:11
Long version:
Time is always moving forward to its finality. As a fixed entity (having a beginning and an end), time has a purpose which is unchangeable and set for a season of salvation to measure man's free will. Hebrews 6:11. Omnipresent. Page 94- There is no place, no time where God is not. He is immeasurable by our standards and our limited knowledge. But that does not mean he is unknowable.
We are wonderfully made and placed in this ribbon of time for the purpose of knowing Him. God has ordained my days perfectly. Herein lies the paradox of my human limits and God’s sovereignty to bring about eternal results in my life and the life of others. Page 15- We cannot measure God’s thoughts or His ways.
Knowing the Lord brings about an awe-inspiring fear and amazement that it draws us closer to God. When we experience this type of awe, we become less individualist, less self-focused, and less materialistic. Sovereignty Page 145. We only have a glimpse of Him. He is knowable.
"Because we are created in God’s image, we possess both the right to life and the responsibility to protect it. No other human has the right to take life from us, because God is the origin and the giver of life.” [None like Him by Jen Wilkins, p. 47.] We are guardians of life giving to us by God.
Page 43-45- God is self-existent and creative down to the last straw. I see His creativity in his wondrous works all around me (Job 37:16). We have it in us to reflect His creativity.
Psalm 131 is a picture of a heart at rest before God, not knowing and yet, trusting His plan even what we cannot see or understand.
His plan is incomprehensible, yet I am included in it. Psalm 145:3 Page 31
God has chosen us for this time. Only God is Self-Sufficient so we can rely on Him. He is immeasurable, immutable and is therefore a rock that I can stand on. He is not bound by my limited understanding; I can trust His immanence.
The voids in our life are redeemed by God. He is eternal. Page 72.
Application: Can grace fill the void when current circumstances leave us feeling empty?
It is not the things or objects, but the memories tied to a moment in time that fleshes out echoes of the past with family and friends. Raise a child correctly; when they are old, they will find the truth again. It is a beautiful promise that I have not yet seen. Hindsight can dredge up loss, and old hurts with family and friends.
Imagine God holding a ribbon of time, the beginning in one hand and the end in the other. He surveys time simultaneously. This time ribbon has its beginning, its seasons, and its end. We are wonderfully made and placed in this ribbon of time to know Him.
We have "the wondrous works of him who is in perfect knowledge" (Job 37:16) and sees all. Psalm 131 is a picture of a heart at rest before God, free from not knowing and yet, trusting His plan even if we cannot see. The voids in our life are redeemed by God. He makes everything beautiful in its time. Every sorry or harm we suffer will be redeemed by God. Eccles 3:11
Let grace fill our void when circumstances leave us feeling empty. God has chosen us for this time.
Paraphases or referances are marked by page numbers from None Like Him by Jen Wilkins.
Cain refused to worship God but offered his effort as an offering. God cursed the ground when Adam sinned, but Cain knew the ground was cursed, yet he offered his self-effort instead of accepting grace. Only God saves and offers forgiveness. Our efforts always fall short.
November 8: Look towards
Trees whisper in the wind as the gentle river flows downstream before the coming storm—a girls' retreat and back porch sharing. We listen. Leaves whistle one last time in a psithurism wind before letting go. As sienna hues blanket the ground, we count our blessings with each falling leaf.
Even with the coming seasonal changes, we are to enjoy the present. Yet, knowing as the seasons shift, storms will come. Here is where we trust the Lord to bring in the beauty of each moment as we walk through life's changes.
leaf-whistles,
needles oscillate in
a psithurism wind
Proverbs 10:30 The righteous will never be uprooted
2 Corinthians 6:18 ESV
And I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty.”
November 1: Unexpected. Being chosen by God through the Holy Spirit is elusive and mysterious. What does it mean to be selected by the Chooser?
Chosenness is a mystery worth pursuing, with a surprising destination. Our pilgrim’s progress is fraught with perils. We hold on to our pain, hurts, and losses, which keep us looking inward and not upward. Yet, we are chosen for a holy, special, and particular purpose. We discover this purpose by building a relationship with the Chooser.
This concept may seem antithetical to a humble heart, but elitists view themselves above everyone else. If they could, they would dictate every aspect of your life. But not so with God the Father. He gave you free will to discover who He is. First, all creation is an expression of Him. His spirit reveals more of Who He Is. And the Father chose to set us free from spiritual bondage to live in the freedom of His promises.
11 responses to “Unexpected- The Mystery of Chosenness”
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The Israelites were chosen
to be God’s favoured few,
to have their hearts unfrozen
so that in joy they’d do
His will down through the ages,
and in His heart remain,
but turn history’s pages,
and you will find their pain
leading to the classic joke
when Aaron went to Moses,
and thusly to his brother spoke,
“I know, dude, that God chose us,
but we can’t tighten no more belts…
maybe next time He’ll choose someone else?”
LikeLike
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There is really something
’bout a psithurism wind,
and the blessing it can bring
when you know you’ve sinned.
The restless rustling, trees in leaf,
speak of soft eternity,
and you can hold to the belief
of sternness and of mercy,
for these must always be combined
that forgiveness finds its meaning;
stern alone is brutal-blind,
and lone mercy is dreaming,
but put together like they is,
and the result is a catharsis.LikeLike
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There’s a God-shaped hole inside of me,
and I think this may sound odd,
but could perhaps might there just be
a me-shaped hole in God?
A space that only I can fill,
a missing puzzle-part,
that requires my free will
to give Him my whole heart,
and if I choose to hold it back,
to stand aloof and proud,
there’s something He will always lack,
even with a holy crowd,
for I am not just anyone;
I’m His well-loved adopted son.
LikeLike
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If I could trade the pain and dread
of cancer for a lighter load,
would I then come out ahead,
or would this be a slower road
to where I’m meant by God to be,
the place where all His answers live?
If I exchanged I might not see
the vistas that my trials can give,
and thus I might become quite blind
to the meanings of my life,
not finding what I was to find,
boxed in heartache, wrapped in strife,
and so I guess it’s best to stay
in the game God bid me play.
brontebrown2 
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