{"id":1858,"date":"2022-08-04T09:44:51","date_gmt":"2022-08-04T13:44:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/js1cd06kre.onrocket.site\/?p=1858"},"modified":"2022-08-04T09:44:51","modified_gmt":"2022-08-04T13:44:51","slug":"chosen-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/2022\/08\/04\/chosen-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Chosen"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Throughout the month of August,\u00a0we\u2019re taking a close look at 23 verses of the New Testament.\u00a0 They comprise Ephesians chapter one, which paints one of the Bible\u2019s most comprehensive pictures of what it means for ordinary people to be \u201cin Christ.\u201d \u00a0<\/em>
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A young boy sat down to write God a mid-summer letter concerning the things he hoped to receive for Christmas.
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\u201cDear Lord,\u201d he began, \u201cI have been very good this whole year.\u201d\u00a0 He thought about that for a while and then changed the sentence to, \u201cI have been pretty good the last three months.\u201d\u00a0 Following a twinge of conscience he wrote, \u201cI\u2019ve done my best the last two weeks.\u201d
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Sighing, he got up and went to the closet where his family kept their Christmas decorations.\u00a0 He rummaged around until he found the box marked \u201cManger Scene,\u201d then removed the figure of Mary.
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Then he took a fresh sheet of paper and started over: \u201cDear Lord, if you ever want to see your mother again\u2026\u201d
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The good news is that God cannot be manipulated.\u00a0 Threats don\u2019t faze him.\u00a0 Nor can he ever be bought off with good intentions or sparkling performance records \u2013 as if any of us actually had one.\u00a0 The even better news is that God does not need<\/em> to be manipulated.\u00a0 He is perfectly willing to give us, for free, what we could never earn or deserve.\u00a0
\u00a0
That spectacular news flash dominates the first chapter of Paul\u2019s letter to the Christians at Ephesus \u2013 especially his lengthy opening recitation of God\u2019s blessings in verses 3-14.\u00a0
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He writes in verse four: \u201cFor he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>
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Sometimes, in our daydreams, we fantasize how marvelous it would be to be rich, famous, powerful, beautiful, respected, or feared.\u00a0 Or at least to have claimed a share of last week\u2019s $1.6 billion Mega Millions drawing.\u00a0 But nothing holds a candle to being loved.\u00a0 Wanted.\u00a0 Chosen<\/em>.\u00a0
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Many of us are haunted by memories of not being selected at some important moment.\u00a0 Perhaps you remember being the last kid picked on the playground.\u00a0 Or not getting into the college or study program that was at the top of your list.\u00a0 Or being turned down by the person you had dreamed\u00a0would be your life partner.\u00a0 Being the Not Chosen One can feel like the end of the world.\u00a0\u00a0

But God renders all such dismal headlines null and void.\u00a0
\u00a0
The descendants of Abraham, who became known as the Jews, were chosen by God to be “blessed to be a blessing\u201d \u2013 to come to know God in a unique way and to share their spiritual riches with the rest of the world.\u00a0 But now, according to Paul, followers of Jesus (whether Jews or Gentile) are the new Chosen People. \u00a0Notice that God has chosen us to fulfill a task.\u00a0 Being chosen brings responsibility.\u00a0 We are \u201cto be holy and blameless in his sight.\u201d We are the ones who get to embody Christ’s character and extend his healing mission to people everywhere.\u00a0

Not only that, but God has had his eye on you for a very long time \u2013 from \u201cbefore the creation of the world.\u201d\u00a0

Which means you have always been known, always been loved, and always been chosen.<\/em>\u00a0

It is impossible to overstate how difficult this can be for many people to believe.\u00a0
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If you grew up emotionally crippled in a grace-challenged home, then the message that God\u2019s love for you predates the Big Bang may seem like a farce or a dream.\u00a0 You can accept it intellectually \u2013 perhaps as an article of faith that you have to recite as part of a creed \u2013 but secretly, at the level of your emotions, you struggle to believe this verse is on the level.\u00a0 If you rarely experienced fairness, compassion, or grace growing up \u2013 and if recent circumstances in your life have only tended to reinforce such emotional poverty \u2013 why should you believe that God is willing to bestow such undeserved kindnesses on you?\u00a0 \u00a0
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The answer is that God loves you.\u00a0 And there\u2019s nothing you can do about that but accept his love with empty hands.
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Myriad people are afraid that life has no meaning.\u00a0 Therefore we have to invent such meaning for ourselves.\u00a0 When we ultimately fail at such an important venture, we can always numb ourselves with vodka, vacations, video games, or shopping sprees.\u00a0
\u00a0
To a numbed and fearful humanity, God says, \u201cI have claimed you for myself.\u00a0 I\u2019m not saying this because I\u2019m stuck with you, but because you\u2019re eternally wanted.\u00a0 Even though I\u2019m the one who knows<\/em> you the best, I also love<\/em> you the best.\u00a0
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\u201cTo put it simply, I have chosen you<\/em>.\u201d
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Which means we don\u2019t have to bribe, beg, or manipulate our way into God\u2019s good graces. \u00a0
\u00a0
Or roll the dice to see if our number comes up.
\u00a0
Those who say Yes to Jesus have already won the jackpot.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Throughout the month of August,\u00a0we\u2019re taking a close look at 23 verses of the New Testament.\u00a0 They comprise Ephesians chapter one, which paints one of the Bible\u2019s most comprehensive pictures of what it means for ordinary people to be \u201cin Christ.\u201d \u00a0\u00a0A young boy sat down to write God a mid-summer letter concerning the things he hoped to receive for… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1859,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[483,480],"class_list":["post-1858","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-chosen","tag-ephesians"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1858","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1858"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1858\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1860,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1858\/revisions\/1860"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1859"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1858"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1858"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1858"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}