Chosen and Marked

Chosen and Marked

 

 Sorry, Stevie Wonder,

God wrote the words to this song first.

  

Every once in a while I hear a song

or think of a song from the past and

I wonder what would that song sound like

if it were written by a Christian.

Stevie Wonder sings a song that makes me question

if he didn’t hear the words from God and

directed them towards a woman, rather than God.

The Song is “Signed, Sealed, Delivered”

 

Just change two words “girl” and “baby”

to God and this is what you get.

 

Like a fool I went and stayed too long
Now I’m wondering if your loves still strong
Oo God, here I am, signed, sealed, delivered, I’m yours

Then that time I went and said goodbye
Now I’m back and not ashamed to cry
Oo God, here I am, signed, sealed, delivered, I’m yours

Here I am God
Oh, you’ve got the future in your hand
signed, sealed, delivered, I’m yours

Here I am God,
Oh, you’ve got the future in your hand
signed, sealed, delivered, I’m yours
I’ve done a lot of foolish things
That I really didn’t mean
Hey, hey, yea, yea, didn’t I, Oh God

Seen a lot of things in this old world
When I touched them they did nothing, God
Oo God, here I am, signed, sealed, delivered,

I’m yours, Oh I’m yours

Oo-wee God you set my soul on fire
That’s why I know you are my only desire
Oo God, here I am, signed, sealed, delivered, I’m yours

Here I am God
Oh, you’ve got the future in your hand
signed, sealed, delivered, I’m yours

Here I am God,
Oh, you’ve got the future in your hand
signed, sealed, delivered, I’m yours

I’ve done a lot of foolish things
That I really didn’t mean
I could be a broken man, but here I am

With your future, got your future God (here I am God)
Here I am God (signed, sealed, delivered, I’m yours)
Here I am God, (here I am God)
Here I am God (signed, sealed, delivered, I’m yours)
Here I am God, (here I am God)
Here I am God (signed, sealed, delivered, I’m yours)

 

 In Ephesians 1, we are told God

has chosen us in Christ Jesus

and marked us with a seal.

You and I are marked with

the promised Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance

until the redemption of those who are God's possession

— to the praise of His glory.

Stevie said, “you’ve got the future in your hand”

…as wonderful as babies and girls are,

they can not hold the future in their hand.

God has you and I

signed, sealed and ready for delivery

by the Holy Spirit.

A glorious inheritance signed by God Himself.

The same Spirit that raised Jesus

from the dead lives in you and I.

Now that is hope!

Scripture Reading

Ephesians 1:11-14 NIV

11 In him we were also chosen,

having been predestined according to the plan of him

who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will,

12 in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ,

might be for the praise of his glory.

13 And you also were included in Christ

when you heard the word of truth,

the gospel of your salvation.

Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal,

the promised Holy Spirit,

14 who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance

until the redemption of those who are God's possession

— to the praise of his glory.

Romans 8:9-11 NIV

9 You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit,

if the Spirit of God lives in you.

And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ,

he does not belong to Christ.

10 But if Christ is in you,

your body is dead because of sin,

yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness.

11 And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you,

he who raised Christ from the dead

will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit,

who lives in you.

Chosen By Grace

Chosen By Grace

Some look and say what a shame.

God looks and says,

I can restore that to the glory I originally had in mind!

 

What is your favorite color?

What is your favorite thing?

Who is your favorite person?

There is something I know

about all of those things.

You like them around you and
you give them special attention.

It is pretty easy to identify

the things people favor

by the way they treat them.

 

My neighbor has restored several Model A Fords.

People all the time are praising him

for the fine job he did in restoring them.

They have become his pride and glory.

Our being chosen by God

before the foundation of the world

and God choosing to adopt us,

 is to the “praise of His grace.”

We are chosen by God’s grace,

 in fact it says in Ephesians 1:7,

“the riches of His grace.”

God is rich with grace,

 that means He is rich with favor.

It gets better…

 He extravagantly or lavishly

spends His grace/favor on you and I.

Hold on there is more…

With His favor He has for you,

comes all wisdom and understanding.

As an added bonus,

you also get the knowledge of His will

which removes the mystery.

God’s grace and favor for you and I

comes in Christ Jesus.

God’s choice for you and I

is to be blameless and holy;

that seemed impossible until Christ.

God never planned on you

rusting away in some junk yard.

God’s favor, that wonderful grace,

comes to light as Jesus restores us

to the place of holiness.

God has chosen us,

so let’s be His pride and glory.

The fact that He had grace on you

is reason to praise Him.

Scripture Reading

Ephesians 1:3-10 NIV

3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,

who has blessed us in the heavenly realms

with every spiritual blessing in Christ.

4 For he chose us in him before the creation of the world

to be holy and blameless in his sight.

In love 5 he predestined us to be adopted

as his sons through Jesus Christ,

in accordance with his pleasure and will—

6 to the praise of his glorious grace,

which he has freely given us in the One he loves.

7 In him we have redemption through his blood,

the forgiveness of sins,

in accordance with the riches of God's grace

8 that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding.

9 And he made known to us the mystery of his will

according to his good pleasure,

which he purposed in Christ,

10 to be put into effect when the times

will have reached their fulfillment

— to bring all things in heaven and on earth

together under one head, even Christ.

Ephesians 1:3-6 The Message

How blessed is God!

And what a blessing he is!

 He's the Father of our Master, Jesus Christ,

and takes us to the high places of blessing in him.

4 Long before he laid down earth's foundations,

he had us in mind,

had settled on us as the focus of his love,

to be made whole and holy by his love.

5 Long, long ago he decided to adopt us

into his family through Jesus Christ.

(What pleasure he took in planning this!)

6 He wanted us to enter into the celebration

of his lavish gift-giving

by the hand of his beloved Son.