You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you.1
This truth is a game changer. Nothing can snatch us out of God’s hand. I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours. All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them.2 There is a need for clarity with regards our identity in Christ lest we be swayed by any form of deception.3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him, in love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, . . . In him you also when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until . . .4
Thus, boldly we may confess that the LORD is my . . .
1. Shepherd. The LORD is my Shepherd; I shall not want.5 We have a quiet confidence that he who watches over us is unchanging and covenant keeping. We have the assurance that he will care for us as we trust him. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters.6
2. Strength and Shield. The LORD is my strength and my shield; in him my heart trusts, and I am helped; my heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to him.7 Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.8
3. Light and Salvation. The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?9 Nevertheless, I am continually with you; you hold my right hand. You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will receive me to glory. 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.10
What is man that we deserve this grace? If not to serve his purpose. Likewise, my brothers, you also have died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to him who has been raised from the dead, in order that we may bear fruit for God.11 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.12
Be strong, and let your heart take courage, all you who wait for the Lord!13
Notes:
1. John 15:16
2. John 17:9
3. Ephesians 6:11
4. Ephesians 1:3-14
5. Psalm 23:1
6. Psalm 23:2
7. Psalm 28:7
8. Isaiah 40:30-31
9. Psalm 27:1
10. Psalm 73:23-26.
11. Romans 7:4
12. Romans 8:28-30
13. Psalm 31:24
