Chosen to Become. Baptized in the Spirit. Commissioned to Go.
“You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you.”
(The Gospel According to John 15: 16 NASB)
When you consider the fact that the Lord chose you, and that you did not choose Him, then the enormity remains in this statement: You Are Part of God’s Family.
Sit there. Dwell there. Remain there in this moment.
Consider the amazing love the Lord has displayed to choose you for His family. Adopted into, Selected for, and Invited into His Family. Words cannot even begin to describe this wonderful love that has been displayed and received. It’s not hard to reflect on the author of these words (the physician Luke), who more than likely delivered his fare share of babies born in the 1st Century. Luke knew the parents as he cared for the newborn baby. He knew the joy when he handed that baby over to its mother, watching as she counted all the fingers and toes, so grateful that her baby had arrived safely into the new world.
- Did the mother thank God for her baby?
- Did she wonder about her baby’s future?
- Did she question what the child would become, what career the child would choose, or what the future would hold for her small one?
Yes, like so many parents, those who lived during that 1st Century may have asked the same questions, experienced similar joys, and held fears for their newest addition to the family.
As a believer in Jesus, as one who has received God’s gift of salvation, you have been invited into God’s family. When you were saved, the Lord had plans for your spiritual life, plans that would coincide with the number of earthly days God allotted to you when He created you in your mother’s womb.
“Chosen” by Matthew West displays through melody this wonderful truth. Listen and Enjoy.
Then, consider these truths:
- God created you. &
- God chose you to become His child. &
- Jesus commissioned you (once you believed) to follow Him. &
- God promised you eternal life with Him when this earthly life was completed.
Today’s calendar reads May 14th, a mid-point day in the month of May but also a birthday of a good friend and also a birthday for my deceased and beloved maternal grandmother. Each of those indicators make this day special; however. what causes May 14, 2026 to be MOST GLORIOUS is that today is ASCENSION DAY!
“The first account I composed, Theophilus,
(The Acts of the Apostles 1: 1-2 NASB)
about all that Jesus began to do and teach,
until the day when He was taken up to heaven,
after He had by the Holy Spirit given orders to the apostles whom He had chosen.”
Jesus—Alive though He died! Since Jesus’ resurrection from the dead, He had walked on earth, revealing His resurrected body to those who believed. To those who doubted, He showed them His nail-pierced hands and feet, to those who were confused, He taught them the Scriptures, and to those who felt shame for their previous actions before the crucifixion, He covered their shame with His unfailing love. The forty days that Jesus revealed Himself to those who believed (over 500 individuals) would have been a time of celebration.
JESUS HAD RISEN FROM THE DEAD—JUST AS HE SAID HE WOULD!
The tomb was empty, and Jesus was living alongside them. He was eating with the disciples, comforting their fears, and speaking of baptism they were to receive.
“To these He also presented Himself alive after His suffering, by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days and speaking of the things concerning the kingdom of God.
(The Acts of the Apostles 1: 3-5 NASB)
Gathering them together, He commanded them not to leave Jerusalem,
but to wait for what the Father had promised,
“Which,” He said, “you heard of from Me;
for John baptized with water,
but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”
Again, ponder the truth of God:
- The Lord chose you, and you did not choose Him.
- God invited you to become His child. &
- Jesus commissioned you to a task, just as He called His apostles, to follow Him.
- You Are Part of God’s Family. &
You Have Received the Promised Spirit of God as PROOF of your position in God.
“So when they had come together, they were asking Him, saying,
(The Acts of the Apostles 1: 6-9 NASB)
“Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?”
He said to them,
“It is not for you to know the times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority; but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”
“And after He had said these things, He was lifted up while they were looking on,
and a cloud received Him out of their sight.”
Ascension Day: the day Jesus was taken up to heaven as His disciples stood there watching.
If you are a student of the Bible, then you are aware how Jesus came and appeared across the territory, how He permeated through locked doors, and how He revealed that He truly was alive. They had shared so many days in Jesus’ presence, since He arose from the dead, and maybe they were wondering: What now, Lord? How do we share in Your presence now?
ON ASCENSION DAY, JESUS COMMISSIONED HIS DISCIPLES TO BE HIS WITNESSES.
I once read that God’s Word is His Story, and today’s Scripture reveals how His Story continues with us—with His children.
- Is it not amazing that as a child of God, baptized by His Holy Spirit, you now have a part to walk within His Story?
- Are you not overcome with emotion to consider how Jesus has chosen, baptized and commissioned you to go into all the world: preaching, teaching, and leading others to believe in Him?