Tag: Ephesians 1:4
Set apart from before conception!
Scripture reading for August 3: Jeremiah 1-6
When does life really begin? This debate has been going on in our nation for a number of years. Some say life begins at conception while others say it begins when the fetus is able to maintain life on it’s own outside of the womb. Others say that life begins only after birth. But God’s Word states another truth!
“The Word of the Lord came to me, saying, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.” (Jeremiah 1:4-5) This Scripture and others in the Bible indicate that God knows each person before they are formed in the womb! Ephesians 1:4 states that God chose us to be in Christ before the creation of the world! We are more significant than we might think to God and He has a plan for each of us before we are conceived!
Before he was born, Jeremiah was appointed by God to be a prophet. Prophets were to listen to God and then speak His thoughts and Word to people. As he spoke, God promised to be with him and deliver him. I don’t know about you, but if God told me that He would deliver me, I would be asking what I would be involved in that called for deliverance! But when any prophet spoke the Word, it always brought some kind of response. God uses His Word to uproot and tear down, or to build up and plant. (Jeremiah 1:7-9) Prophets often need deliverance from the response of those who hear them!
Next God gave Jeremiah a vision of an almond tree. The almond tree was the first tree to bloom in the spring in Israel and it was watched by all the people as a sign that spring was coming. God spoke to Jeremiah through that vision that God Himself would watch over His Word to bring it to pass. (Jeremiah 1:11-12)
I believe that as we read through Jeremiah God will speak to us about our time and day! Listen closely for God speaking to you and confirming His call. Let Him show you how He has watched over His Word and is still watching over it to bring it to pass. It will revolutionize your faith and daily walk.
Pressing on to the goal!
Scripture reading for February 14th: Exodus 32-34, Philippians 3
Philippians 3:13-14 “Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”
Inside of each person is a dim knowledge of eternity. (Ecclesiastes 3:11) We are all creations of God who had our existence in God before the creation (Ephesians 1:4). When we are born again through faith in Jesus Christ and study and receive His Word as truth, we begin to understand and long for our true home and the fullness of salvation. The fullness of salvation will include a glorious body, like Christ’s resurrected body. It will not suffer from the effects of sin or pain or sorrow or sickness or disease. There we will behold God face to face in His glory, not needing the light of the sun or moon or stars. This is the goal of our faith that Paul focuses his mind and attention on. Moses had a taste of that transformation spending time in God’s presence. He refused to leave unless God went with him!
Philippians 3:18-21 “For many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, Who will transform our lowly body to be like His glorious body, by the power that enables Him even to subject all things to Himself.”
Prayer: Father God, thank You for the down-payment of our salvation, the Holy Spirit living inside of us. Thank You for the ongoing work of transformation here on earth that fits us for eternal life with You. But I long for the fullness of life in Your presence, seeing Your face and worshiping You in Your glory in a glorified body! May I reflect Your glory here on earth to those in darkness.
Exodus 34:29-30 “When Moses came down from Mount Sinai, with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand as he came down from the mountain, Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God. Aaron and all the people of Israel saw Moses, and behold, the skin of his face shone, and they were afraid to come near him.”
God has a plan for each person!
Scripture reading for August 5th: Jeremiah 1-6
“The word of the Lord came to me, saying, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.” (Jeremiah 1:4-5) This scripture and others in the Bible indicate that God knows each person before they are formed in the womb! Ephesians 1:4 states that God chose us to be in Christ before the creation of the world! God knew everything before anything visible was even created! We are more significant than we might think to God and He has a plan for each of us!
Jeremiah was appointed by God to be a prophet. Prophets listen to God and then speak His thoughts and word to people God wants to talk to. God doesn’t do anything by way of judgment without warning people by the prophets. (Amos 3:6-7) When God spoke to Jeremiah he was only a child. God told him not to worry about his youth and inexperience, but to speak the word of God.
God promised to be with Jeremiah and deliver him. When any prophet spoke the word of God, it always brought some kind of response. God used His Word through the prophet to uproot and tear down or to build up and plant. (Jeremiah 1:7-9) God’s decrees often brought conflict that caused the need for His deliverance!
God gave Jeremiah a vision of an almond tree and asked him what he saw. The almond tree was the first tree to bloom in the spring in Israel and it was watched by all the people as a sign that spring was coming. God promised Jeremiah that He would watch over His word to bring it to pass. (Jeremiah 1:11-12)
I believe that as we read through the Bible, God will speak to us about our time and day! Listen closely for God speaking to you and confirming His call. He wants each of Jesus’ followers to share God’s Word and live by faith in it. He will watch over it and bring it to pass! We have a calling planned by our Father God before we were formed in the womb!