Chosen of God 😊

 

Scripture Text

Isaiah 43:10-11

Intro: There are so many Christians that go through life never making an attempt to know what God chose them to do. God wants us to focus on Him and get to know Him better. When we get to know God more intimately, all other things will find their place.

A. We Christians have been chosen by the Lord. Isaiah 43:10 (NKJV) "You are My witnesses," says the LORD, "And My servant whom I have chosen, That you may know and believe Me, And understand that I am He. This passage is for Israel but it is good for us as we are made one with the Jews in Christ. Some Christians believe that they chose God but the bible is plain in Isaiah 43:10 that says God chose us. Ephesians 1:3-5 ³  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, ⁴  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, ⁵  having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will. Just like Israel we are His chosen people and there are four things that God has chosen us to do.

I. God chose us to be His witnesses. Isaiah 43:10 Before Me there was no God formed, Nor shall there be after Me. What are we to witness? That There are no other gods besides Jehovah, the God of Israel. There were no gods before Him and there will be none after Him. There are many different religions that say they worship god, but there is only one true God Jehovah the God of Israel. He alone is the Lord our Savior. There are not many different ways to God but only one, that is Christ God's Holy Son. [John 14:6] There is no other name under heaven by which men must be saved. [Acts 4:12] All religions are not the same! Any religion that teaches another way to God is false. We are to be witnesses to that fact!

2. We were chosen to know the one true God. Isaiah 43:10b (NKJV) That you may know Me, The bible tells us we come to personally know God by confessing our sins to Jesus and then asking Him to forgive us and save our souls for heaven. This is the beginning of our knowledge of God. We are then to grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus until the day He takes us home to be with Him and the Father. 2 Peter 3:18 but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen. 1 Peter 2:2 as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby. We as Christians “grow in grace” as we understand that we are living by God’s grace alone—so everything we do is a result of that grace. Its not by our effort we have anything, its by God's grace that we have everything. We are to grow into an experiential knowledge of God whereby we experience Him in our lives every day. To grow in knowledge of our Lord Jesus we must make Him first in our lives by Reading the bible, meditating on what we it says and communing with God in prayer!

3. Third reason we are chosen is to believe God. Isaiah 43:10b (NKJV) “That you may know and believe Me, And understand that I am He. Before Me there was no God formed, Nor shall there be after Me.” Hebrews 11:6 (NKJV) ⁶  But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
To believe God is to have trust in Him and His word. We must believe He is and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. Believing God means that you build your life on God’s Word; you conduct yourself according to God’s Word and reckon that God guides everything and He rewards those who diligently seek Him. There are many who say they are Christians but they don't believe everything that God says in His word because they show it by their lifestyle. God truly rewards those who diligently with careful and persistent effort or attention: seek Him. We seek Him through prayer, reading and meditating on His word. He tells us this lifestyle will bring His favor and blessings.

4. We were chosen is to understand God. Isaiah 43:10b (NKJV)And understand that I am He. We will never understand God completely but we are to understand God as He presents Himself in His word. He is the only God. There was no other god before Him and there will be none after Him. (Isiah 43:10b) Understanding the works of God is an important part of understanding Him. God created the world (Genesis 1:1) There was no big bang. God created mankind in (Genesis 1:27) We didn't evolve. He sustains everything by His power. (Colossians 1:17). He is now fulfilling His eternal plan for the world (Ephesians 1:10) God wants all men to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth. (1Timothy 2:4). He will judge the world (Revelation 20:11-15). The way to understand God a little more is a study of His attributes. His characteristics, as revealed in the Bible, are crucial to understanding the truth about God, who He is, what He is like, and what He does. Reading the bible and studying it is the only way to begin to understand what God wants us to know about Him.

Conclusion: We are not chosen to focus on what we can do for God but we are chosen to focus totally on who He is, what He is like, and what He does. God chose us to glorify Him by putting Him first in our lives and surrender ourselves totally to Him.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, those of us who have been chosen by You are so very thankful that we belong to You. Now help us to fulfill the reason that we were chosen to be Yours! If there is one viewing this message and has not accepted Your invitation to be saved may right now be the time that they confess their sins to Jesus and ask Him to save them before its eternally too late I pray in Jesus' name.

Word of God

Intro: It is easy to go astray from God’s word. When we go astray from what God says in His word we are on sinking sand. As the old hymn goes, all other ground is sinking sand. We see and hear many different opinions and ideas every day via TV. radio, and newspaper. We need a foundation on which we can build our lives that will not fail when the going gets tough. We need something that we can depend on that has stood the test of time. That’s why the word of God is so important. It’s our road map as we travel through this world. God made us and He knows what is best for us. The word of God is true and accurate with no error. It is the way to victorious living.

We need the word of God to make our way successful. Joshua 1:8 (NKJV) This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. We are to speak God’s word each day over our circumstance and situation. Meditate-To engage in thought or contemplation; reflect. Even when we wake up at night we should be thinking about God’s word instead of worrying. Then we are to obey it. What good is God’s word if we are not going to follow it. Like going to the Dr. but not doing what he says. When we read and speak God’s word and then reflect on it and then do it,the promise is our way will be successful. Psalms 1:2-3 (NKJV) ² But his delight is in the law of the Lord, And in His law he meditates day and night.³ He shall be like a tree Planted by the rivers of water, That brings forth its fruit in its season, Whose leaf also shall not wither; And whatever he does shall prosper. We need the word of God to help us get thru the hard times. We will all face problems in our lives and we need something to strengthen us and help us overcome and make it thru. When we delight in God’s word and we read it and meditate on it we become strong like a tree by the water. Well-fed and nourished on God’s word we become fruitful no matter what situation we are facing. We will not fold up or be overcome by the problems of life. The word of God will do that for us. This scripture says we will prosper in whatever we do. When we have a season of trouble, we will bring forth good fruit and not rotten fruit. What else will promise you that in this life? We need God’s word to overcome Satan and all his devises that he uses against us. Jesus gives us the example of how to overcome Satan every time in Luke 4:1-12 (NKJV)¹  Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness,²  being tempted for forty days by the devil. And in those days He ate nothing, and afterward, when they had ended, He was hungry.³  And the devil said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread."

⁴  But Jesus answered him, saying, "It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.' "⁵  Then the devil, taking Him up on a high mountain, showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.⁶  And the devil said to Him, "All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish.⁷  Therefore, if You will worship before me, all will be Yours."⁸  And Jesus answered and said to him, "Get behind Me, Satan! For it is written, 'You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve.' "⁹  Then he brought Him to Jerusalem, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down from here.¹⁰  For it is written: 'He shall give His angels charge over you, To keep you,'¹¹  "and, 'In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone.' " ¹²  And Jesus answered and said to him, "It has been said, 'You shall not tempt the LORD your God.' " We need God’s word to make the right decisions in life and to know the right and wrong way to go. 2 Peter 1:3-4 (NKJV)³ His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue,⁴ by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. God’s divine power has given to us in all things that pertain to this life and how to live godly. That covers it all. We have been given many promises from God in the bible and through these we partake of God’s divine nature and escape the corruption that is in this world all around us. Now that is powerful and it gives incentive to read God’s word, reflect on what it is saying to us and then when we understand what that word is saying we act on it. Because until we act on God’s word, it does us no good. James 1:22 (NKJV) But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. We must read God’s word to not be lead astray and to be successful and prosperous in this life.

Invitation: The choice is yours. If you are wise, you will begin to read God’s word so you can be successful in this life and prosper in all you do. You will never be successful or be an over-comer if you don’t know Jesus as your personal Savior and Lord. Has there been a time where you stopped and admitted your sins against God and asked Jesus to forgive you? Have you invited Him into your life to take charge of you? If not confess your sins to Jesus right now wherever you are and ask Him to forgive and save you from hell. Then be baptized to show you are sincere and as a public testimony of your faith in Jesus as your Savior and Lord.