Chosen

Chosen: Selected. Choose: to pick out freely, and after consideration, from a number of things, possibilities, etc.

I. GOD said, "Up on your feet! Anoint him! This is the one." Samuel took his flask of oil and anointed him, with his brothers standing around watching. The Spirit of GOD entered David like a rush of wind, GOD vitally empowering him for the rest of his life. 1 Samuel 16:12 - 13 The Message.

II. Israel loved Joseph more than any of his other sons because he was the child of his old age. And he made him an elaborately embroidered coat. When his brothers realised that their father loved him more than them, they grew to hate him - they wouldn't even speak to him. Genesis 37:3 -4 The Message.

Wrath: Strong fierce anger esp. based on the desire to punish someone for harm done to oneself.

I. As they returned home, after David had killed the Philistine, the women poured out of all the villages of Israel singing and dancing, welcoming King Saul with tambourines, festive songs, and lutes. In playful frolic the women sang,

Saul kills by the thousand, David by the ten thousand!

This made Saul angry - very angry. He took it as a personal insult. He said, "They credit David with 'ten thousands' and me with only 'thousands'. Before you know it, they'll be giving him the kingdom!" From that moment on, Saul kept his eye on David. The next day an ugly mood was sent by God to afflict Saul, who became quite beside himself, raving. David played his harp, as he usually did at such times. Saul had a spear in his hand. Suddenly Saul threw the spear, thinking, "I'll nail David to the wall." David ducked, and the spear missed. This happened twice. 1 Samuel 18:6 - 11 The Message.

II. Joseph had a dream. When he told it to his brothers, they hated him even more. He said, "Listen to this dream I had. We were all out in the field gathering bundles of wheat. All of a sudden my bundle stood straight up and your bundles circled around it and bowed down to mine!" His brothers said, "So! You're going to rule us? You're going to boss us around? And they hated him more than ever because of his dreams and the way he talked. Genesis 37:5 - 8 The Message.

Experience: Something that happens to one and has an effect on the mind and feelings. To feel, suffer or learn by.

Perhaps we expect life to be smooth-sailing once we are acquainted with none other but GOD Almighty. Then we get all upset, crushed and angry with God when life gets tough, people get rough and things start falling apart. And maybe, after having expended our energy on fighting our "enemies", we save our last breath for God. Raving at Him, empathizing with ourselves, almost pathetically.
Why is one chosen by God yet persecuted by men? Is there a price to pay for being chosen? What did Paul mean when he said, "Yet indeed I also count all things lost for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith." Philippians 3:8 - 9 NKJV.

What did he mean that he may gain Christ? What is the righteousness from God by faith? The Message puts it as such, "Yes, all the things I once thought were so important are gone from my life. Compared to the high privilege of knowing Christ Jesus as my Master, firsthand, everything I once thought I had going for me is insignificant - dog dung. I've dumped it all in the trash so that I could embrace Christ and be embraced by him. I didn't want some petty, inferior brand of righteousness that comes from keeping a list of rules when I could get the robust kind that comes from trusting Christ - God's righteousness." To know Christ Jesus firsthand so that he could embrace Christ and be embraced by him! To get the robust RIGHTEOUSNESS THAT COMES FROM TRUSTING CHRIST, not from keeping a list of rules. An equity of character, innocent, holy. How is trust developed? When is one most in need to trust in God?

Perhaps all that we experience in life as a disciple of Jesus Christ is that through them God may reveal His character to us, to make know His heart to us, to let us know that He is real and that He is with us always. Barring divine intervention and intention, that we may choose how we can learn and grow from a particular experience that we go through. Hence, being in relationship with God and choosing how we can respond to wraths with an earnest trust in God. And this trust will deepen with every "valley" experience as we encounter a real and living God. For we know that David the persecuted, eventually became the King of Israel and reigned for 40 years and Joseph the betrayed brother-slave-prisoner, became the Prime Minister of Egypt and saved his entire family from famine in Canaan. The LORD has good thoughts toward us, but that doesn't mean that we skip the experiences and lessons necessary to mould us and transform us to be just like Jesus.

Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God,

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