Chosen – Jesus Girl
“and provide for those who grieve in Zion, to bestow on them a crown of beauty
instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of His splendor ~ Isaiah 61:3
After 4 years of working in a very fast pace, demanding and stressful environment, the Lord told me to leave my job and to come and spend some undisturbed time sitting at His feet. What an instruction!!! It would be one of many life changing instructions from my Father. I have found myself spending much time in prayer and communion with Daddy God and His word and much reflective thinking over the last couple of weeks. As I reflected on my 41 years of life, I couldn’t help but see the goodness and mercy of God’s sovereign hand. There was no denying or acknowledging the truth of John 15:16.
John 15:16
“You didn’t choose me, but I’ve chosen and commissioned you to go into the world to bear fruit. And your fruit will last, because whatever you ask of my Father, for my sake, he will give it to you!”(TPT)
You see for most of my life, I didn’t feel chosen. I didn’t feel like much of anything to be honest. But here Jesus is telling his disciples that it is God who chooses us and not only that, but we are appointed and commissioned to be fruitful. Isn’t that amazing!!! I don’t know about you but there have been so many times in my life when I have felt like I was not enough and purposeless. I feel such a burden on my heart that there are many women right now who are struggling with their self worth and feeling like they are not enough. The world tells us that to have worth, that means we have to prove that we are good enough through the eyes of man, through having things and what we have, our jobs, our bodies and a whole host of other things.
Before coming to Christ, I bought into the distorted pattern and world view on what love and identity was. I didn’t feel safe. Growing up, I never knew what it felt like to have the security of a fathers love or stability in my home. Instead I grew up feeling fearful and unsure of myself. I was always so afraid of what other people thought of me and I thought I had to people please to fit in and be accepted. On the other extreme, I would isolate myself and I sought after finding and trying to create stability for myself in my professional life and career. I spent most of my life in the pursuit of love and stability and trying to feel safe according to what the world said. My efforts proved futile and left me feeling even more broken than I started, unfulfilled and empty. My heart became so hardened to receiving love for fear of being rejected or hurt as I had been so many times before in my life.
A few weeks ago, the Lord laid it on my heart to do a study about what it means to be chosen. The word chosen is an adjective, a descriptive word and it means “having been selected as the best or most appropriate“. Let that sink in for a few minutes. Do you mean to tell me that God, Abba Father says that I am the best and most appropriate? That is exactly what I am saying. As I studied the scriptures on what God had to say about being chosen by Him, here is another scripture that I found mind blowing:
1 Peter 2:9
"But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light”(NKJV)
“But you are God’s chosen treasure—priests who are kings, a spiritual “nation” set apart as God’s devoted ones. He called you out of darkness to experience His marvelous light, and now He claims you as His very own. He did this so that you would broadcast His glorious wonders throughout the world.”(TPT)
Did you read that? We are God’s chosen treasure!!! I am my Father’s precious jewel and so are you. Do you believe that? You see it’s wasn’t enough for me to just read the word, I had to make a decision to BELIEVE what it says and then apply the new knowledge I gained from the word. God says it is impossible to please Him without faith. Unbelief paralyzes God and everything He wants to do in your life. Develop a faith that works, a faith that touches God and receive the blessings of the Lord.
Hebrews 11:6
“And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to Him must believe that God exists and that He rewards those who sincerely seek Him.”(NLT)
You must BELIEVE and PURSUE renewal. The book of Romans tells us to renew our minds daily when we are in Christ. The word renew means to “give fresh life or strength to“.
Romans 12:2
"Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—His good, pleasing and perfect will.”(NIV)
“Stop imitating the ideals and opinions of the culture around you, but be inwardly transformed by the Holy Spirit through a total reformation of how you think. This will empower you to discern God’s will as you live a beautiful life, satisfying and perfect in His eyes.”(TPT)
God’s word has refreshed and renewed me and continues to do that everyday. The old is gone and the new creation has come. The word of God gives you new life, it gives you strength, it gives you new perspective. I believe as women and as people on a whole, we tend to go into a default mode of comparison. We allow our minds to think on external things and what we see. We tend to focus on what others are doing better than us, what gifts and talents other people are using that seems more important than ours, what blessings are being experienced in other person’s lives that we would like to see in our own lives.
Do you know that God's word is His seed and it can be sowed in all of us, IF we are willing. Bear in mind however that the enemy sows seeds also and so the question we should ask ourselves is “What seed is being sown in us?” Comparison is a distraction from the enemy that keeps us in bondage and shifts our focus from what God says about us and what He wants to do in our own lives. We have to choose to stand on what God says about us in His word. We have to shift out of our comfort zone and the world pattern that we know and replace it with God’s pattern, the mind of Christ. Growth and change will not take place in our comfort zone. What we truly believe will cause us to act and action is the fruit that makes a difference.
I find it so fitting that the Bible likens the word of God to washing.
Ephesians 5:26
“to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word,”(NIV)
Accepting Christ into my life and into my heart and allowing His word to transform the way I think has brought healing and acceptance. His love is like none other I have ever known. As my heart remains open and I receive from my heavenly Father, the word continues to take on flesh. Eight years later, as I continue to sit at the feet of my Father and spend time in His word, that’s how I really feel; washed!!! My reflections have allowed me to see how the word of God has washed me and has made me new. I am no longer the wounded bird, so broken and empty, so desperate to be loved. My Father’s word renewed my broken mind and heart and He taught me a new pattern. I have been transformed!! I am loved by a King!!! I am his Chosen!!! I am a Jesus girl!!!!
Wearing my Jesus Girl bracelet
God the Father, through Jesus Christ has given me freedom. Jesus has given me life because He is life!! The perfect love of my daddy God has cast out all my fears through the never ending work of the Holy Spirit. The picture above shows me wearing a bracelet but it’s so much more than that. It is a public declaration of who I am and how Jesus has delivered me. Every time I look at it, I am reminded of Abba Fathers unfailing love for me.
John 6:63
“It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.”(NKJV)
God wants us to know HIM!! The word know in Greek is "ginosko" and its a Jewish idiom for sexual intercourse between a man and a woman. That's right!! God is calling us into a personal and intimate relationship with Him through His son Yeshua, Jesus the Christ.
John 8:32
“And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (NLT)
The below was Paul’s prayer for the Ephesian church and today, it is my prayer as well:
Ephesians 3:16-20
“I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God. Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.”(NLT)
You have a father who loves you with an everlasting love, He will never leave you nor forsake you. Beloved one you are loved. You are Chosen.
I love you ladies but Jesus loves you so much more!!!
If this encouraged you or spoke to your heart today, feel free to leave a comment in the comment section below.
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