Before You Chose God, He Chose You
By Rick Warren
“You were chosen according to the purpose of God the Father and were made a holy people by his Spirit” (1 Peter 1:2a TEV).
There are many people in our broken world asking why things don’t seem to go right so much of the time. They want to know, “Is there hope?”
Hope is essential.
You and I need genuine hope — not just optimism. Optimism is psychological. It’s based on the way you think. Hope is theological. It’s based on who God is and his relationship with you.
Optimism is positive thinking. Hope is passionate trusting.
The book of 1 Peter is a letter of hope. Peter wrote it to Christians who were suffering persecution in the Roman Empire.
In the first seven verses of 1 Peter, God gives us five roots of radical hope. Over the next few days in these devotionals, we’ll look at each of those five roots.
The first is this: God chose us before we chose him.
The Bible says, “You were chosen according to the purpose of God the Father and were made a holy people by his Spirit” (1 Peter 1:2 TEV).
Your salvation is no accident. Long before you chose God, he chose you. It was his idea. Before God even created the universe, he decided he wanted to create you.
You were chosen according to the purpose of God. He has a purpose for your life. He wants to make you holy for heaven.
Understanding this simple truth gives us hope.
The highest honor you will ever receive is this: God has chosen you to spend eternity with him. That’s a big deal!
And it’s the first reason we can have hope, no matter what’s going on in our lives.
PLAY today’s audio teaching from Pastor Rick >>
Talk It Over
Why do you think so many people struggle with hopelessness today?
In what ways does God develop holiness in you?
How does the truth that God has chosen you give you hope?
For more Daily Hope with Rick Warren, please visit pastorrick.com!
Put Jesus at the center of your Christmas!
Many people step into the Christmas season run down and worn out. And by the time January rolls around, they’re so exhausted that they’ve completely missed the real reason for the season.
But there’s really no better time to recalibrate your heart toward Jesus than during the holidays. And Pastor Rick Warren’s book, The Purpose of Christmas, can help you fill your Christmas with more of God’s love and peace by making Christ the center of your life.
This resource shows you . . .
• What Christmas means for your salvation
• How to surrender to God’s will
• Practical steps to overcome discouragement
• Why we celebrate Christmas at all
• How Christmas can be a time to make peace with others
The Purpose of Christmas is our way to thank you for your gift below to help more people learn, love, and live the Word – so request your copy when you give!
From all of us at Daily Hope, may you experience God’s peace and joy this holiday season!
This devotional © 2017 by Rick Warren. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
You can listen to Rick Warren on OnePlace.com.