I AM: Chosen Week Three - Day Two

By Central Women

Have you seen the movie The Help? One of my favorite lines from the movie is when Aibileen, the maid played by Viola Davis, tells the little girl she is a caretaker for, “You is Kind. You is Smart. You is Important.” She knows what the little girl is up against in this world and she makes it a priority to speak truth to her to combat the lies.

You guys! Jesus spent his life on Earth doing that for us. Everywhere he went and everyone he spoke to, he reminded us of how much we are loved. So much so that the Pharisees were offended by how welcoming Jesus was to sinners, which ultimately led to Jesus being crucified for us!

Check out this parable Jesus told in Luke 15:3-7:

“Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’ I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.”

I don’t know where you are in your faith right now, but I know that we all get off track sometimes. We gradually start to drift. We spend less time in our Bible, we stop meeting with other believers, and before we know it we look up and we are all alone, trapped in the lies of satan.

But listen, don’t miss this.

Jesus goes searching for us. He pursues us. He calls us out of the darkness of satan’s lies and ushers us back into the light.

He is waiting for us to rejoin his flock. And when we find our way back, He is so excited,

He invites everyone around to rejoice with Him.

How does this make you feel?

Take a few moments to examine your life right now. Are you drifting? Are you alone? If so, stop right now and ask God to help you find your way back.

Friends, I know it is hard living in a world that sends us mixed messages about who we are and who we should be. The number one question I get while teaching Bible study is, “but how?’ How do we live in the truth? We start by recognizing the voice of God.

“The shepherd walks right up to the gate. The gatekeeper opens the gate to him and the sheep recognize his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he gets them all out, he leads them and they follow because they are familiar with his voice. They won’t follow a stranger’s voice but will scatter because they aren’t used to the sound of it.” (John 10:2-4 MSG)

When we fix our eyes on Jesus, stay in His Word, binding them in our hearts and minds, we can tune out the voice of satan because he becomes a stranger to us.

When we do that, we become so comfortable with the voice of God, He can lead us into our God-given purpose.

What steps can you take to make sure you recognize the voice of God?

How do today’s parables correlate with you being chosen by God?

Reflect:

Commit Ephesians 1: 4 – 5 to memory and repeat it anytime you start to struggle with self-doubt.

Father God, help us to not be like the people of this world but change the way we think so we will know how to do everything that is good and pleasing to You. (Romans 12:2)