Jeremiah 1:5 Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; Before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations.
Romans 8:29 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son,
Ephesians 1:4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love,
Ephesians 2:10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
These past few days, writing about the will of God, has reminded me of the prophet Jeremiah, and how the Lord knew him – even before he was in his mother’s womb, and he was sanctified by God as a prophet to the nations. A similar foreknowledge and ordination of God belongs to us who are under the New Covenant. God’s foreknowledge of His people is clearly stated in scripture. We were chosen in Him before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless, and created in Messiah Yeshua (Christ Jesus) unto good works which He foreordained that we walk in them. It is clear that a life of holiness and good works is an integral part of our destiny in salvation, a fundamental aspect of His original plan for each one of us.
This plan, instilled in us even before the foundation of the world, seems to insure that good works will follow the believers in Yeshua. We could never work our way into heaven, our salvation is wholly an act of God – yet, just as Jeremiah’s calling was foreknown and foreordained by God, our ordination unto good works was too. Walking in good works is walking in a manner worthy of our calling, it is powerful evidence for the genuineness of our salvation, and it is walking in the will of God.
From the foundation of the world, according to God’s plan, you were created and ordained to live a sanctified life filled with good works. If you walk in His will for you, when your life is over, you may expect to hear these wonderful words: “Well done, thou good and faithful servant!”
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[worthy_plugins_devotion_single_body]A woman once asked John Wesley what he would do if he knew that he would die at midnight the next day. "Why, Madam," he replied, "just as I intend to spend it now. I would preach this evening at Gloucester, and again at five tomorrow morning, after that I would ride to Tewkesbury, preach in the afternoon, and meet the societies in the evening. I would then go to Martin's house...talk and pray with the family as usual, retire myself to my room at 10 o'clock, commend myself to my Heavenly Father, lie down to rest, and wake up in glory."
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