Have you ever had to pinch yourself?
You know … at those moments in life that somehow seem just too good to be true.
I have to pinch myself from time to time … and this week is definitely one of those weeks.
Ever since I was a little girl … sitting in Mrs. Dombrowski’s second-grade classroom … I have dreamed of becoming an author.
That little girl’s dream is now an adult reality.
My 16th book, titled, “Timeless – The Living and Enduring Word of God” has just released.
It is a deep, rich, practical, and hopeful Bible Study based upon the book of I Peter in the New Testament. Not only is it a captivating book … but you can also order a Leader’s Guide as well as 9 video downloads to do in a Sunday School class, a Bible Study, or in a Book Club.
My gift to you this week is an excerpt from “Timeless.”
I hope that you will read it and be forever changed.
Timeless – The Living and Enduring Word of God
Do you remember those days in elementary school when you wondered if anyone would choose you to be on the kickball team? High school prom gave me that kind of angst. I waited for someone—anyone—to choose me as their date. In college, I watched other girls enjoying numerous dates with handsome boys while I languished in the dorm room most Friday nights. Would anyone ever choose me?
When someone chooses you, it attaches value to who you are as a person. Whether you are eight years old, eighteen years old or seventy-eight years old, a woman aches to know she is worthy to be chosen. Let me assure you, my friend, you are chosen.
Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who reside as aliens, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, who are chosen. (1 Peter 1:1)
Peter is a man on a mission from God. He identifies himself as an apostle or a delegate sent forth with specific orders. In ancient days, when writing a letter, the writer identified the authorship at the onset of the communication, whereas today, the writer makes himself or herself known at the end. In the passage above, not only does Peter inform the reader who he is, but instantly he reminds the reader who he or she is as well.
You are chosen. You were “picked out” or hand-selected by God to be part of His enormous and loving family that extends through the ages of time.
After experiencing the liveliness and perpetual motion of three rambunctious boys, we were then blessed with two delightful, peaceful little girls. I wept each time I gave birth to a child because my heart felt so overwhelmed with gratitude that God would entrust me as the guardian of the next generation.
I must say, however, when the doctor’s voice exclaimed, “It’s a girl!” with the birth of baby number four, I was so excited I nearly jumped off the birthing table.
With mascara running down my weary cheeks, I looked into the deep blue eyes of my dearly loved husband and declared, “Now I get to go down the doll aisle at Christmastime.”
I couldn’t wait to bequeath my childhood canopy bed to a little girl and then read Anne of Green Gables and Little House in the Big Woods together. Then, nearly four years after the birth of Carolyn Joy, we were given a surprise baby girl, whom we named after both of our mothers, Joni Rebecca. We completed our family with three older brothers and two little girls.
Every night when I tucked my little miracles dressed in pink-flowered nighties into their white-and-pink canopy bed, I reminded them. “If Jesus gave me a catalog filled with the faces of all the little girls from around the world and said to me, ‘You can choose whichever ones you want,’ I would look at all of the pages until I found your faces. I would choose you. You are the little girls I have always wanted!”
Did you know God, the Father, feels the exact same way about you? He chose you for His very own. You were specifically chosen by the Lord to bask in His love and to splash in His goodness. His work on planet earth will not be complete without your enthusiasm and potential.
When you realize you were chosen by the Creator of the Universe, you will begin to comprehend there’s no need for you to have a crisis of identity. You were designed in His image and created for His marvelous plans.
For You formed my inward parts;
You wove me in my mother’s womb.
I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Wonderful are Your works,
And my soul knows it very well. (Psalm 139:13–14)
You are a woman of timeless significance because the One who made you values you. The One who created you determines your worth as a woman. If you struggle with self-esteem or comparison issues, remind yourself of this eternal truth every day, I am chosen by God.
The Greek word for “chosen” is eklektos and is a compound of the words ek and lego. The prefix ek means “out,” and the root of the word lego means “I say.” When these two words are joined and form a compound word, the newly built word literally means “Out. I say.”
God loves you so much, dear one. He has called you out of eternal darkness and invited you to a timeless life of significance in His kingdom of righteous- ness, peace, and joy. Your life matters to Him—you were personally selected by Him. Your acceptance or denial of this truth impacts where you focus your thoughts.
This word eklektos can also be translated as “choice, select, i.e. the best of its kind or class, excellence preeminent; by implication, favorite.”
One way you were especially chosen by God is for service. At once, it holds great encouragement and serious responsibility. You are His favorite daughter and He deems everything about you excellent or the best of its kind. Again, remind yourself of this timeless truth every day: I am chosen because God values me. I am chosen because God made me. I must agree with God’s assessment of my value and worth. I must not argue with God.
The word eklectos expresses anything especially chosen because it is out-standing in its field, such as “choice fruit” or “choice meat.” It also implies being chosen for a great exploit in the manner that troops are handpicked for battle or a painting set aside for its stunning beauty.
You have been chosen by the Lord and He will utilize your unique abilities, your divine talents, and your sanctified personality for His eternal purposes.
You are chosen to:
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Love difficult people
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Bring light to dark places
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Inject hope into hopeless situations
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Choose joy in the midst of discouragement
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Live righteously in the midst of compromise
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Pray for heaven to invade earth
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Make hell smaller and heaven bigger
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Encourage the discouraged
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Pray for the sick
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Be a friend to the lonely
God hand selects, in every generation, men and women who are bold enough and audacious enough to serve Him wholeheartedly. God only requires your yes for service in His household.
But you are a chosen generation. (1 Peter 2:9 NKJV
This is an updated edition of a post originally published on Carol McLeod Ministries
Featured Image by Blake Cheek on Unsplash
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