"How blessed is the one whom Thou dost choose, and bring near to Thee, To dwell in Thy courts.
We will be satisfied with the goodness of Thy house, Thy holy temple." Psalm 65:4

In the last message. we looked into Scripture that spoke of 'How blessed is the one whom...'
Verse 4 goes on to say,
"How blessed is the one whom Thou dost choose, and bring near to Thee...'

Let's look at some of the verses in Scripture that refer to those of God's choosing -- the chosen ones.
"For you are a holy people to the Lord your God; the Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for His own possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth." Deuteronomy 7:6

Now if you think that because this verse is in the Old Testament that it refers to the Israelites only, I refer you to 1 Peter 2:9-10, "But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; for you once were not a people, but now you are the people of God..."
To verify this we read in Ephesians 5:8, "For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light."

Ephesians 1:3-4 makes it clear just who the 'chosen ones' are and when they were chosen -- they are those in Christ and chosen before the foundation of the world! The elect of God! Because we were so great? NEVER! We were His enemies! He chose because it was His desire and pleasure to do so!! What GRACE! -- It is God's unmerited, undeserved favor!
Vs. 3 says,
"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,"
Vs. 4 in the Amplified Bible says,
"Even as [in His love] He chose us [actually picked us out for Himself as His own] in Christ before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy (consecrated and set apart for Him) blameless in His sight..."

The Apostle Paul tells us in Romans 8:14-15.
"All who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ..."

This we can be sure of:
"For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son (Christ Jesus), that He might be the first-born among many brethren; and whom He (God) predestined, these He also called; and whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified." Romans 8:29-30 (My parentheses)

PREDESTINED, CALLED, JUSTIFIED, GLORIFIED This is GRACE beyond measure!

The mighty God of all creation has personally chosen each one of us who believes and He brings us near. What an amazing thing! It is really beyond our ability to comprehend the fathomless truth of this. It takes the Holy Spirit of God to open it up to each one, "All Scripture is inspired by God..." therefore it takes Him to interpret it.

Let us each commit ourselves to a daily study of God's word, looking to the Holy Spirit to lead and guide us as we do so. For 1 Peter 3:15 tells us, "But sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence."

Lord, we are so blessed and we give You all the glory! Amen