July Devotional

“I have chosen you and have not rejected you” (Isaiah 41:9b).

You have been chosen by God. To be chosen by God is to be loved by God. What a glorious truth! 

To know this truth is simple, yet to experience it’s transforming power seemed to escape me for so many years as a Christian. Why? Because God’s love surpasses knowledge (Eph. 3:19). If it surpasses knowledge, then it is not good enough for me to simply know that God loves me. I need to press in and experience His love for me. 

To know that God loves me does not require much from me. But to experience His love requires me to draw near to Him on a daily basis. I began to experience the power of His love when I asked Him to activate my spiritual senses, “I want to see You, Lord. I want to hear You and feel You. Reveal Yourself to me in meaningful ways as I read Your Word.  Speak to my heart. Show me Your love today in a way that is unmistakably You.”

To this day, I still pray and ask God to reveal the depths of His love for me. I will do this for the rest of my earthly life. I don’t want a shallow relationship with the God of this universe Who desires an intimate relationship with me. I want a vibrant, jump-up-and-kick-my-heels-together relationship with the God who has chosen me!  I want to see His glory. I want to experience Him. And in this world where American culture fights for the right to define who I am, I need my God, the Creator of my identity to remind me who I am and whose I am: He has chosen me!  I am His.

He has chosen you and you are His, sweet friend! 

He has chosen you in Christ, to be holy and blameless in His sight (Eph. 1:4).

He has chosen you to be His daughter (1 Jn. 3:1).

He has chosen you to be a crown of splendor in His hand (Is. 62:3). 

He has chosen you to be a world changer (Jn. 14:12).

He has chosen you to live with Him forever (Eph. 2:6)).

Friend, you are precious and honored in the sight of God (Is. 43:4). All creation waits for the [daughters] of God to be revealed (Rom. 8:19). God will reveal you glorious and radiant, without blemish or stain. Your present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in you (Rom. 8:18). God has raised you up with Christ and seated you with Him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus (Eph. 2:6). 

Press into your God who has chosen you to be the object of His affection. Ask Him to help you experience the transforming power of His love.  Shake off the dust of shame, fear, insecurity, doubt, loneliness, depression, or anything else that tries to cover up your royal robes. Clothe yourself with strength. Put on your garments of splendor. Rise up!  Sit enthroned (Is. 52:1-2). For you are Chosen and Crowned.

After much prayer, I have given my ministry the name, Chosen and Crowned Ministries. Our mission is to teach, encourage and equip women to live in and experience the power of God's transforming love through a personal relationship with Him.  It is our desire to walk with each woman through the pages of God's story for her by offering Bible studies, devotionals, blog posts, television, and speaking events.  Our prayer is that every woman would know and experience the truth that she is Chosen and Crowned.