God: "I looked for someone to take a stand for me, and stand in the gap" (Ezekiel 22:30)
I am a disciple of the Messiah. I will not let up, look back or slow down. My past is redeemed, my future is secure. I am done with low living, small planning, smooth knees, mundane talking, chincy giving, and dwarfed goals. I no longer need pre-eminence, prosperity, position or popularity. I don't have to be right, first, tops, recognized, praised or rewarded. My face is set; my goal is sure. My road is narrow, my way is rough, my companions few. My God is reliable, my mission is clear. I cannot be bought, compromised, detoured, delayed or deluded. I will not flinch in the face of adversity, not negotiate at the table of the enemy or meander in the maze of mediocrity. I am a disciple of the Messiah. I must go until He comes, speak of all I know of Him and work until He stops me. And when He comes for His own, by the grace of God, He will have no problem recognizing me, because my colors are clear.
[Jonathan] Edwards reminds us that God doesn’t choose men because He foresees excellence in them, but “He makes them excellent because He has chosen them.” Or again, “God doesn’t choose men and set His love upon them because they love Him, for He hath first loved us” (1 John 4:10). “Nor did God choose men because He foresaw that they would believe and come to Christ. Faith is the fruit of election and not the cause of it.” “Nor is it from any foresight of men’s endeavors after conversion, because He sees that some will do much more than others to obtain heaven, that He chooses.”