1 00:00:02,720 --> 00:00:13,360 Speaker 1: Life Audio. Hello, and thank you for listening to your 2 00:00:13,440 --> 00:00:17,000 Speaker 1: Daily Bible Verse podcast set examines one verse each day 3 00:00:17,400 --> 00:00:19,400 Speaker 1: to learn more about God and his will for us. 4 00:00:20,120 --> 00:00:23,280 Speaker 1: I'm your host Jessicavin Rokel and I wrote the book 5 00:00:23,400 --> 00:00:27,480 Speaker 1: Reframing Rejection How looking through a different lens changes everything 6 00:00:28,080 --> 00:00:32,040 Speaker 1: to help you reframe your rejection experiences so that you 7 00:00:32,080 --> 00:00:36,080 Speaker 1: can live without fear. Find it at Amazon or Christian Book. 8 00:00:37,040 --> 00:00:39,760 Speaker 1: After the short word from our sponsor, we'll dive into 9 00:00:39,960 --> 00:00:55,960 Speaker 1: today's Bible verse. First Thessalonians chapter one, verse four. Do 10 00:00:56,040 --> 00:01:00,080 Speaker 1: you find yourself doubting if God really loves you? Today? 11 00:01:00,240 --> 00:01:04,280 Speaker 1: Bible verses for you? First the Salonians, chapter one, verse four, 12 00:01:05,440 --> 00:01:08,800 Speaker 1: For we know brothers loved by God, that He has 13 00:01:09,080 --> 00:01:14,160 Speaker 1: chosen you. Who remembers the gym class where teams were chosen. 14 00:01:14,840 --> 00:01:16,920 Speaker 1: We learned at a young age that to be chosen 15 00:01:16,959 --> 00:01:20,119 Speaker 1: first meant we had worth, and to be chosen last 16 00:01:20,560 --> 00:01:24,039 Speaker 1: meant we were unwanted. That early lesson followed many of 17 00:01:24,120 --> 00:01:27,480 Speaker 1: us into adulthood. We send a text and it goes unread. 18 00:01:27,920 --> 00:01:31,520 Speaker 1: Social media gives us the unfollow or block option. A 19 00:01:31,560 --> 00:01:35,640 Speaker 1: group text starts without us. We aren't invited to the party. 20 00:01:36,000 --> 00:01:39,280 Speaker 1: The coffee date or the inside jokes. Many of us 21 00:01:39,360 --> 00:01:44,360 Speaker 1: now live braced for rejection, and to that fear, Paul 22 00:01:44,440 --> 00:01:50,280 Speaker 1: speaks steady assurance. He says, we know God's love isn't uncertain, 23 00:01:50,600 --> 00:01:54,840 Speaker 1: and it doesn't depend on performance, mood, or popularity. And 24 00:01:55,160 --> 00:01:58,040 Speaker 1: I am so glad for that because I've never been 25 00:01:58,080 --> 00:02:02,560 Speaker 1: part of the popular crowd. God's choosing is the safest 26 00:02:02,720 --> 00:02:06,360 Speaker 1: place to build our life upon. Scripture tells us God 27 00:02:06,440 --> 00:02:10,000 Speaker 1: takes the first step. He renews our broken relationship with 28 00:02:10,120 --> 00:02:13,520 Speaker 1: him by sending Jesus Christ, who gave his life to 29 00:02:13,560 --> 00:02:16,959 Speaker 1: deal with our sin. Long ago in the garden of Eden. 30 00:02:17,600 --> 00:02:22,639 Speaker 1: Sin caused this great divide between God and humanity. Jesus 31 00:02:22,720 --> 00:02:26,640 Speaker 1: came to bridge the gap. Our faith doesn't begin, though, 32 00:02:26,639 --> 00:02:29,839 Speaker 1: with us choosing God. It begins with God choosing us 33 00:02:29,880 --> 00:02:33,440 Speaker 1: because He loves us. Some of you listening may be 34 00:02:33,600 --> 00:02:37,280 Speaker 1: new to faith in God and wondering what it looks 35 00:02:37,400 --> 00:02:40,919 Speaker 1: like to live for him. Others may have followed Christ 36 00:02:41,040 --> 00:02:44,640 Speaker 1: for years and still struggle with believing God truly chose you. 37 00:02:45,720 --> 00:02:48,600 Speaker 1: Doubt has a way of creeping in when life gets hard. 38 00:02:49,800 --> 00:02:55,519 Speaker 1: The Thessalonian Church understood hardship as well. They faced persecution, poverty, 39 00:02:55,639 --> 00:02:59,520 Speaker 1: and pressure from the culture around them, Paul reminded them 40 00:02:59,600 --> 00:03:03,480 Speaker 1: of something more powerful than their circumstances. He called them 41 00:03:03,600 --> 00:03:07,920 Speaker 1: beloved by God. This wasn't a title reserved just for 42 00:03:08,040 --> 00:03:12,960 Speaker 1: spiritual giants. Paul applied it to ordinary believers who were struggling. 43 00:03:13,600 --> 00:03:19,119 Speaker 1: Faithful and imperfect. Following Christ doesn't make life easier, and 44 00:03:19,360 --> 00:03:22,760 Speaker 1: it doesn't protect us from opposition. When we desire to 45 00:03:22,800 --> 00:03:26,120 Speaker 1: live for Christ and to be like him, resistance will come. 46 00:03:26,840 --> 00:03:30,680 Speaker 1: In those moments, we may question our worth. We may 47 00:03:30,720 --> 00:03:34,240 Speaker 1: discover we still struggle to make decisions that line up 48 00:03:34,240 --> 00:03:37,560 Speaker 1: with God's ways, and if we're not careful, we can 49 00:03:37,600 --> 00:03:40,760 Speaker 1: begin to wonder if God truly loves and chooses us. 50 00:03:41,920 --> 00:03:46,280 Speaker 1: The Bible calls us back to truth. God chose us 51 00:03:46,560 --> 00:03:50,320 Speaker 1: first when we said yes to Jesus as savior. We 52 00:03:50,400 --> 00:03:55,280 Speaker 1: responded to his invitation. Now, day by day and moment 53 00:03:55,320 --> 00:03:59,360 Speaker 1: by moment, we continue to choose him, not to earn 54 00:03:59,360 --> 00:04:03,600 Speaker 1: his love, but because we already have it. We allow 55 00:04:03,720 --> 00:04:08,160 Speaker 1: Jesus to lead our lives, which shapes our character and 56 00:04:08,480 --> 00:04:14,640 Speaker 1: grows our faith. Unfortunately, there is a misunderstanding that sometimes 57 00:04:14,680 --> 00:04:18,920 Speaker 1: circulates among believers. It is the idea that faith means 58 00:04:18,960 --> 00:04:23,040 Speaker 1: saying yes to Jesus one time and then living. However, 59 00:04:23,200 --> 00:04:27,680 Speaker 1: we want real faith, though, is more than words. When 60 00:04:27,720 --> 00:04:30,599 Speaker 1: we sincerely admit our sin, turn from our own way, 61 00:04:30,640 --> 00:04:34,599 Speaker 1: and surrender our lives to Christ, we find security, not fear. 62 00:04:35,480 --> 00:04:39,800 Speaker 1: Obedience becomes our response to love, not a requirement to 63 00:04:40,000 --> 00:04:44,360 Speaker 1: keep it. Paul said he was confident God had chosen 64 00:04:44,400 --> 00:04:48,640 Speaker 1: the Thessalonian believers because he could see the fruit of 65 00:04:48,720 --> 00:04:52,760 Speaker 1: their faith. They received God's word and desired to be 66 00:04:53,120 --> 00:04:57,520 Speaker 1: like Jesus. Joy flowed from their lives, even in hardship 67 00:04:58,240 --> 00:05:02,960 Speaker 1: as they served God. Their actions did not earn God's choosing, 68 00:05:03,040 --> 00:05:07,360 Speaker 1: their actions revealed it. So when people around you don't 69 00:05:07,440 --> 00:05:11,040 Speaker 1: choose you to be part of their inner circle, remember 70 00:05:11,760 --> 00:05:16,640 Speaker 1: that you are part of God's circle. You are beloved, 71 00:05:17,200 --> 00:05:21,800 Speaker 1: You are chosen. As you continue to walk with Him 72 00:05:22,000 --> 00:05:26,600 Speaker 1: every day, your confidence in that truth will grow steady 73 00:05:26,720 --> 00:05:31,960 Speaker 1: and secure, no matter who else walks away. Hold on 74 00:05:32,160 --> 00:05:37,880 Speaker 1: to this truth today, that you, beloved, are chosen by God. 75 00:05:38,600 --> 00:05:43,920 Speaker 1: Let's pray, Heavenly Father, thank you so much that you 76 00:05:43,920 --> 00:05:48,120 Speaker 1: call us beloved, that you chose us, that you choose 77 00:05:48,200 --> 00:05:51,640 Speaker 1: us every day, that that you love us and you 78 00:05:51,880 --> 00:05:56,960 Speaker 1: like us, and you you have good in store for us. Lord, 79 00:05:57,000 --> 00:06:02,039 Speaker 1: help us not to listen and believe the lies of 80 00:06:02,080 --> 00:06:04,719 Speaker 1: the world that says we have to perform or we 81 00:06:04,800 --> 00:06:08,000 Speaker 1: have to be popular in order to be worthy of 82 00:06:08,040 --> 00:06:11,400 Speaker 1: being chosen. But God, you chose us when we were 83 00:06:11,400 --> 00:06:13,840 Speaker 1: in the middle of our mess. You chose us when 84 00:06:13,839 --> 00:06:16,479 Speaker 1: we were as far away from you as someone could 85 00:06:16,520 --> 00:06:21,960 Speaker 1: possibly get. You said, here's my son. I've chosen you. 86 00:06:22,560 --> 00:06:26,440 Speaker 1: Will you choose me? And God, when we said yes, Lord, 87 00:06:26,480 --> 00:06:30,520 Speaker 1: we became part of your inner circle. So Lord, encourage 88 00:06:30,520 --> 00:06:34,560 Speaker 1: our hearts today, help us to remember that you chose 89 00:06:34,640 --> 00:06:39,280 Speaker 1: us because you loved us. In Jesus same we pray Amen.