The Determination

UV 2274/10000 The Determination
Thou whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, and called thee from the chief men thereof, and said unto thee, Thou art my servant; I have chosen thee, and not cast thee away.
Isaiah 41 v 9

The Lord ‘s determination is the reason that we are chosen of Him. He has not chosen us from the ends of the earth not as we are qualified to be chosen but purely by His grace. He has not chosen the wise of this world, the scholars, the super talented, the brilliant, the mighty, powerful and wealthy so that none can boast of their glory in His presence. He has chosen the foolish to confound the wise, the weak to confuse the strong. We are chosen from such so that it is evident to all and to us that it is nothing but a work of grace.

We are the hard won inheritance of the Father and of the Son. We have not been won easily or without paying the price. He will not give up on us. He has set His love and hope upon us. The Lord has invested all He is and has in our lives. He expects a return on His investment and it is His determination to obtain it. He has called us to be a servant as also His beloved, His precious jewel, His eternal bride, His proud possession, His kingdom of interconnected hearts beating to the love rhythms of His own heart. We are as cheap coal and mere carbon when He finds us but He turns us into multi-faceted diamonds of excellence and great beauty and power. He qualifies the called and chosen of Him by grace. Like Moses was immune from the power of Pharaoh and Pharaoh was powerless and vulnerable before the power manifested through Moses, the chosen of God are before the high and mighty of this world. Those who are not chosen are like the dust and chaff before the chosen. They might seem resplendent in the glory of this world but it will last only for a time and eventually will be reduced to dust or nothingness like all the kings and mighty men of history.

The Lord raises us up to reveal His glory, grace and power to the entire world. We serve Him by being His truthful and faithful witnesses. The word “witness” in normal parlance means one who sees a particular event or happening in his presence. But in kingdom terms, it means one who experiences the love, grace, mercy, power, victory and determination of the Lord. In some aspects, we are passive witnesses who just need to wait for the Lord to act. In some aspects, we are active witnesses who have a responsibility and a role to play in seeing that our choices as the chosen of God are aligned with His word and will. We are to follow the path of least resistance to God’s will, word and determination and maximum resistance to our own wills, the desires and demands of our own flesh and egos, the patterns, conditioning and “golden calves” imposed on us by the world, our peers, our contemporaries.


Prateep V Philip