Am I chosen by God?

 

We do not know whether people are ULTIMATELY called or not, we evangelise in the hope that all will respond.

You might be saying that you feel that you are not chosen, you cannot hear the voice of God, you do not feel attracted by Him and you think that because you feel like that now you are not ULTIMATELY chosen. But let me tell you a little about my history, when I was young I was a slave to sin, in love with the world and what it had to offer me. To everyone it looked like I was not chosen - you would swear that I was not going to heaven.

HOWEVER! Galatians 4:3-7 states that

So also, when we were children, we were in slavery under the basic principles of the world. 4 But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, 5 to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons. 6 Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.” 7 So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir.

So we see that all humans are born as slaves to sin (theological term - Original Sin), under the curse of the law and then Christ redeemed us at an appointed time. We are called, redeemed, saved from slavery and it says BECAUSE you are sons THEN God will send his Spirit into your heart. I pray God will send his spirit into your heart soon in case you turn in despair declaring you cannot be a Christian, ever. Just because you do not feel the call of God today does not mean that you are not chosen to be His child, if you, right now, decide to come to Jesus and say sorry for rejecting his offer to be your Lord and saviour and Father and then believe that He died to pay the penalty of your sin instead of you, THEN YOU ARE CHOSEN, its that simple.

God guided me to go to church when I was 20 and I felt the call, I heard the Shepherds voice (Jesus), I recognised it. I hadn't realised that Jesus Christ was my leader/Lord until I was 20! So all those years before I could not hear his voice but now I was awakened to it. So we can never say "oh this guy is going to hell" about ANYONE, ever!

So when we as Christians says that a person is not chosen, we mean at this present moment. That person might not be within the sheepfold now, we are not saying that they will never be! We are not God! He knows who will be in his Kingdom, we don't get to invite ourselves in, He has the invite list.

To support my view on this I will give two more scriptures

Galatians 6:7

7 Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. 8 The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.

Now we see that we have a choice in life, I am by no means doing away with accountability for our actions by being a believer in the total Sovereignity of God, of course we have repercussions for our actions. My view does not state that we do not have volition (act of the will) but our wills are guided by our environments and we are not ultimately free in our wills in that we are bound by limitations such as laws of nature and time frames and inclinations (If a man had a gun to your head and said "Your money or your life?" you are left with only two choices only, give him your money or risk loosing your life by trying to escape, you are not free to choose outside of those two!). God sets man within his boundaries and time (Acts 17:26 From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live.)

Charles Spurgeon calls us free moral agents. Sproul and Jonathan Edwards say that your act of will is steered by your highest motivation or strongest inclination, therefore intent is involved and we always choose according to that which benefits us the most. Your will is determined by that which motivates an action that is in your best interest. Whatever the mind deems as most desirable is that which the will choses. (Jonathan Edwards) We are faced with choices and we choose according to our strongest preference.

Now with that in mind turn to 1 John 3:9 9 No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God. 10 This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brother.

Our choices are guided or steered or controlled by that which is our strongest inclination. If you are a child of God your inclination will be to please the father and therefore your act of will is in the direction of good. If you are a child of the devil then your act of will is in the direction of self pleasure. Whatever motivates us drives our choices. My motivation is to please my Father and therefore my choices are towards good. We see that WE CANNOT choose outside that which is our strongest inclination. If we love God then we are inclined to make choices that are inline with His purpose and towards that which benefits us and Him and others at the same time. And if we love the world and what it has to offer then we choose according to that which benefits us the most regardless of anyone else. Of course Christians do sin and this is the theological debate of the two natures of man versus the one but we wont get into that now.

So finally we cannot judge who will be chosen by God by looking at a person in his current state, if a person is not sowing to please the Spirit right now then he is not in his chosen state right now. This indicates that they are yet to come into the sheepfold of God, if they are in fact one of his sheep. You will respond to his voice and recognise it in time to come if you are one of his sheep. Do not be disheartened and in despair and declare that you cannot be saved. There are zero conditions for being a Christian, you cannot do good to be saved. Whether you are a Christian depends on one thing and one thing only - WILL YOU SUBMIT TO JESUS.

In regards to why we pray I say that if God is not all powerful and supremely in charge of this Universe and if we are self governing and self-determinate creatures as well as the devil being autonmous etc THEN why pray to God!? Because it is not CERTAIN that He will triumph against self governing bodies, who is to say that He will win the battle? The outcome is not certain if He does not govern everything. Think about that

How can I explain the Trinity?

 The Trinity


The best way for me to explain this is to quote Jonathan Edwards, read this a few times over and meditate upon it to get the full weight of what he is saying:

"IT IS COMMON when speaking of the Divine happiness to say that God is infinitely happy in the enjoyment of Himself, in perfectly beholding and infinitely loving, and rejoicing in, His own essence and perfection, and accordingly it must be supposed that God perpetually and eternally has a most perfect idea of Himself, as it were an exact image and representation of Himself ever before Him and in actual view, and from hence arises a most pure and perfect act or energy in the Godhead, which is the Divine love, complacence and joy. The knowledge or view which God has of Himself must necessarily be conceived to be something distinct from His mere direct existence. There must be something that answers to our reflection. The reflection as we reflect on our own minds carries something of imperfection in it. However, if God beholds Himself so as thence to have delight and joy in Himself He must become his own object. There must be a duplicity. There is God and the idea of God, if it be proper to call a conception of that that is purely spiritual an idea.

The Father is the Deity subsisting in the prime, un-originated and most absolute manner, or the Deity in its direct existence. The Son is the Deity generated by God's understanding, or having an idea of Himself and subsisting in that idea. The Holy Ghost is the Deity subsisting in act, or the Divine essence flowing out and breathed forth in God's Infinite love to and delight in Himself. And I believe the whole Divine essence does truly and distinctly subsist both in the Divine idea and Divine love, and that each of them are properly distinct Persons"

How do I overcome lifes problems?

Overcoming life and its problems by looking to the future Glory!


: : Every human needs hope to survive this life. Today I want to spark a renewed hope in you to see the glory of God so that it will ignite a passion to live this life and to be eager to live for Christ and to enjoy Him in this life and the next. : :


Helen Lemmel
O soul, are you weary and troubled?
     No light in the darkness you see?
     There’s light for a look at the Saviour,
     And life more abundant and free!
         
           Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
           Look full in His wonderful face,
           And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
           In the light of His glory and grace.

Through death into life everlasting
     He passed, and we follow Him there;
     Over us sin no more has dominion—
     For more than conquerors we are!
His Word shall not fail you—He promised;
     Believe Him, and all will be well:
     Then go to a world that is dying,
     His perfect salvation to tell!

---

Number 1- a heart after God rather than the world
When we look to Jesus the things, the attractions and the lure of this world, like football, money, toys (x-box, iPad) play, cars, start to loose there shine. What we once treasured and found precious here on earth no longer has a strong pull on us. When your heart yearns after things outside of yourself your problems will seem less significant and life will seem brighter! 



Christianity is a heart that treasures Christ and His glory more than football, money, power, popularity, play, toys.  (John Piper)


My story:


: : GYM and attractions: When I was in my late teens going on 20 I used to be obsessed with body building. I would live, eat, drink and sleep gym, I would buy the latest gym books, speak about gym to my gym buddies and always be thinking about it. I poured large amounts of money into my diet and other supplements because that is what I lived for BECAUSE it gave me self worth and confidence. Gym in itself is not a bad thing its only bad when you draw your self worth and your meaning for life from it that it becomes a bad thing. : : 


Psalm 73: 25-26
Whom have I in heaven but you?
  And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.
My flesh and my heart may fail,
  but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

I enjoy the Apostle Paul’s outlook on life where he says

Phil 1:21
for me to live is Christ and to die is gain.


Wired to give things praise

- We are wired to give praise to things that are beautiful
- to give glory to things that are magnificent.


When we see Christ and his GREAT BEAUTY we are naturally going to give him praise and praise means give him glory.


Grand designs - old ruin of a castle has been restored to its former glory? what do i mean to say of “its former glory”? When they show the new restored castle - What comes to mind, give me some words?
== splendor, beauty, grandeur, greatness, opulence, a wow factor ==


Romans 5:1-2
Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.


Quote John Piper
Romans 5:1-2 And the greatest thing that Christians hope for is to see and enjoy the greatest beauty in the universe—the greatest good and the greatest power and the greatest justice and grace, namely, the glory of God—the beautiful totality of God’s infinite and manifold perfections. Verse 2: “We have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.”
In Romans 8:18, Paul says this hope makes all the sufferings we have to experience in this life worth it: “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.” The glory of God will be so overwhelmingly satisfying that the horrors of a long illness and a painful death will be as nothing in comparison. To Quote (2 Corinthians 4:17).“For this slight momentary affliction [this whole painful life seen as momentary!] is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are temporary and short-lived, but the things that are unseen are eternal.”


When the songwriter wrote the words turn your eyes upon Jesus what was she trying to say?


Number 2- satisfying ourselves in God and not the what the world has to offer
When we look to Jesus the problems and worries of this world start to become, in our hearts and minds, more manageable and more attainable to overcome, where there seems to be no way God makes a way. I lacked in self-confidence when I was in my late teens.

My story:
I used a thing of this world namely alcohol to boost my confidence I used it as a tool to fix my problem but it was always only temporary and not progressive. When i focused on Jesus then I started to grow in a confidence that was built up from knowing that Jesus was personally involved in my life and that He cared for me. I am reminded of these scriptures

Psalm 55:22
Cast your burden on the LORD,
And He shall sustain you;
He shall never permit the righteous to be moved.

1 Peter 5:7 casting all your anxieties on him because he cares for you


What things in this world do we use to help overcome our problems and our need for satisfaction/entertainment instead of God?
Think of examples of your past and if there are times even now when you might do this.

How were people saved in the old covenant?

Jeremiah 31:31-33
31“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, 32not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord. 33But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

God makes promises to us as long as we keep up our end of the agreement. This is a covenant, a promise in other words or an agreement. Much like marriage is an agreement, we make vows to love through the bad times and the tough times and to stick it out and make it work.

The ten commandments are the terms of this covenant which were written on the tablets by the hand of God and then given to Moses and the people of Israel.  

There has to be a leader. Now lets get to know our leader.
What does God promise to those who keep the terms of this relationship?

1. Mercy
Promise: To mercifully forgive repentant sinners.

Exodus 34:6-7
The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.”

There are two kinds of people.
1- Those who are presumptuous and unrepentant God will not forgive them.
2- Those who’s sin have crushed them and brought them to their knees, broken them and led them to God’s mercy for forgiveness.

God is mercifully willing to forgive those who seek out forgiveness.

A covenant relationship based on mercy from the beginning

There are many bible teachers who say that there are two covenants, mainly because of Jeremiah 31. But this new covenant is not really different to the first only in that God supernaturally now writes the commandments not a stone tablets but on our hearts.

When God says in verse 10, "Behold, I make a covenant!" right after declaring himself to be a God who is merciful and who forgives iniquity, transgression, and sin, can we believe that this covenant is not based on mercy? Can we believe that the covenant has no merciful provision for forgiveness in it? And if it is based on mercy and does provide forgiveness, how can it be a covenant of works? If a person sins under this covenant and flees to God for mercy and finds forgiveness, how can we say the covenant is based on merit? Is it merit we offer to God when we plead his mercy and ask for forgiveness?  

maybe this is a covenant of works based on merit even though God shows some mercy and forgives some sins." like and employer - employee relationship.

The main point of Exodus 32–34 is to show that if merit were basis of God's dealings with this people, they would have been destroyed long ago.

2- The basic requirement is worship (and not really following the letter of the law)

The reason is that the basic requirement of the covenant is worship not work. But you can't worship an employer, whose needs you are meeting, in order to earn his wages.

The only kind of being you can truly worship is one whose fullness meets your needs. If God wanted to be pictured in this covenant as an employer who pays wages of blessing to employees who supply him service valuable enough to earn these wages, then he would not have written a so-called job description requiring worship above all else. You can't worship an employer who depends on you to meet his needs.

Exodus 34:13 Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones and cut down their Asherah poles.

The reason for tearing down pagan altars is to guard their hearts for Yahweh alone. The reason for not making covenants with pagan peoples is to escape the snare of divided loyalties. The commands of the covenant don't describe the services God needs as an employer.

They describe the faithfulness he wants from his wife. It's as though he said, 'Don't make dates with other men; don't keep the pictures of your old boyfriends on the dresser, lest they become a snare for you and draw your heart away from me."

God is a jealous husband
"For you shall worship no other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God." The demand of the covenant is for single-minded worship of God alone.

This picture is confirmed by verses 15 and 16 which warn Israel against playing the harlot with other gods. The demand of the covenant is: don't be a harlot. Don't commit adultery against God. Don't let your heart turn from him and go after other things. For your God, your husband, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.

Two Reasons to Stress This Covenant's Merciful Basis

There are two reasons I have stressed that the covenant of Exodus 34 is not a covenant of works but is based on mercy.

1. To Appreciate the Unity of the Bible
One is to help us appreciate and benefit from the unity of the Bible. The covenant made with God's people at Mount Sinai is the same kind of covenant made with Abraham and made with us in the death of Christ. It is based on mercy, it provides forgiveness, it has divine promises and warnings and commandments, and its basic requirement is single-minded devotion to God alone.

2. To Understand the Context of God's Jealousy
But there is another reason why I have stressed that the covenant of Exodus 34 is not a covenant of works but is based on mercy. I wanted to make sure that we saw the jealousy of God in its true context.
God is not jealous like an insecure employer who fears that his employees might get lured away by a better salary elsewhere. God's jealousy is not the reflex of weakness or fear.
Instead God is jealous like a powerful and merciful king who takes a peasant girl from a life of shame, forgives her, marries her, and gives her not the chores of a slave, but the privileges of a wife—a queen. His jealousy does not rise from fear or weakness but from a holy indignation at having his honor and power and mercy scorned by the faithlessness of a fickle spouse.

The ten commandments are not a job description for God's employees. They are the wedding vows that the peasant girl takes to forsake all others and to cleave to the king alone and to live in a way that brings no dishonor to his great name

The Threat and the Comfort of God's Jealousy

God is infinitely jealous for the honor of his name, and responds with terrible wrath against those whose hearts should belong to him but go after other things. For example, in Ezekiel 16:38–40 he says to faithless Israel, "I will judge you as women who break wedlock and shed blood are judged, and bring upon you the blood of wrath and jealousy. And I will give you into the hand of your lovers and they shall throw down your vaulted chamber . . . they shall strip you of your clothes and take your fair jewels, and leave you naked and bare. They shall bring up a host against you and cut you to pieces with swords."

I urge you to listen to this warning. The jealousy of God for your undivided love and devotion will always have the last say. Whatever lures your affections away from God with deceptive attraction will come back to strip you bare and cut you in pieces. It is a horrifying thing to use your God-given life to commit adultery against the Almighty.

But for those of you who have been truly united to Christ and who keep your vows to forsake all others and cleave only to him and live for his honor—for you the jealousy of God is a great comfort and a great hope. Since God is infinitely jealous for the honor of his name, anything and anybody who threatens the good of his faithful wife will be opposed with divine omnipotence.

(much of this writing comes from desiringgod.org, John Piper)

10 Questions to ask an atheist

1 - If the universe is self existent and eternal why is there entropy? (heat death) and if it’s not self existent and eternal but self-created what was there before its own existence, where did the matter come from which it exploded? Can something create itself?

2 - If all operating systems i.e human body (DNA information drives operation, scientific fact) computer programs, financial and banking systems, CNC lathe machines etc, have to have information preloaded in order to work. How did life start operating with no preloaded information?

3 - How is it more logical to say physical matter gave rise to life as opposed to saying life gave rise to physical matter? By the way the Miller Experiment produced left and right hand amino acids which is poisonous to life and not beneficial for life. He did not use oxygen in his chamber. Life cannot start with oxygen and it cannot survive without it, if there was no oxygen at time of life starting then we had no ozone layer! So therefore life cannot start with OR without oxygen, looks like we need God!

4 - What is energy and where did it come from? (Not what does energy do, not what is its mathematical equivalent) If you says it is the ability to do work then it must have ‘being’ but we know that it does not exist in itself rather you have to concede that energy is simply the power or force exerted by some kind of being.

5 - How does physical matter (hydrogen, oxygen, carbon of which the universe is made) enable human physical matter to have cognitive ability?

6 - If the Universe is finite then how do we have infinite numbers in Mathematics?

7 - How is reason and logic possible if the foundations for true and false are based on human thinking which is flawed and mutable?

8 - How do you account for the judgement of an evil action (this presupposes that you do) if there is no predetermined reference point from which to judge? And if you say “we humans determine that point” then who gets to decide that and why wasn’t I asked what I think it should be?

9 - How do you explain reproduction ability in all life forms if all life forms came from one cell? I.e how did that cell once it supposedly had enough cells after evolving know that in order to stay alive through natural selection that it would have to survive through reproduction and how did it somehow manage to make male and female from one organism? In other words how did the split come about between male and female?

10 - How do you explain the irreducibly complex Bacterium flagellum which has 40 moving parts which are all essential to its existence. Those 40 moving parts have a blueprint (DNA) that tells it what to do and those working parts have to ALL be there in order for the cell to operate. Where did they all come from to make that first cell? (this is called irreducible complexity)