“You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatsoever you ask the Father in My name He may give you.” John 15:16
God in Christ is the Great Re-Aligner, that One who by the Holy Spirit has come, not only to comfort the believer on this earth, meeting his every need so that he glorifies God, but that he remains in that position of fruitfulness, of fulness, being aligned with Christ. But how is this to be? The first thing one must consider, and be convinced of in this life of faith, is not only the true nature and identity of the true and living God, The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, the great “I AM,” the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End, but the One whose purposes are clearly, convincingly defined and put forth in Scripture.
It was the Apostle Paul who, being led by the Spirit, wrote to the believers in Rome: “For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.” (8:29) He goes on to write: “Moreover whom He predestinated, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.” (v.30) When the Apostle speaks of predestination, and the foreknowledge of God concerning an individual soul, He does so to make it clear that salvation from beginning to end is the act, and continual action of God, not derived from man. A clear understanding of this fact, though never complete because of the believer’s limitations, is essential if faith is to rise up and lay hold on Christ for all that God desires to accomplish in and through the life. In that divine “plan” of God, that alignment of the believer with the thoughts, intents, and perfect will of God, there is the definite “calling” of God, one which secures the individual soul in blessed union with Christ. By the gift of faith, the justified believer is brought into fellowship with Christ and the Father by the Spirit and begins that journey and life whereby he is conformed into the image of Christ. It is in the knowledge first of all of the will and purpose of God that the believer is called upon to place all of His trust in the One who alone can lead him, guide and protect, and provide for every need so that Christ will be formed in him, whether by life or by death. This is why, in the matter of alignment, God spoke to Israel concerning where to look, and what to understand. He said to Israel through the prophet Isaiah, “Look to Abraham your father, and to Sarah who bore you; FOR I CALLED HIM ALONE, AND BLESSED HIM, AND INCREASED HIM.” (Is. 51:2) God begins the alignment process by bringing one face to face with His calling. This He did through Isaiah for Israel, and this He did through the Lord Jesus in the writings of the Apostle John concerning God’s calling of the believer. The great purpose of His working is to bring the believer to trust wholly in the sovereign power and goodness of God, faithful and true, who has provided in Christ by the Spirit for every need of the believer so he can rise up and follow Christ. It is for this reason that God speaks through Isaiah concerning an awakening.
In Isaiah 51:9, there is a short prayer to God for His intervention in the life, and the nation of Israel. He writes: “Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the Lord! Awake as in the ancient days, in the generations of old.” The call of the heart is for God’s deliberate, decisive intervention, in the life, to bring about his eternal purposes. The second call to “awake” is one to “stand up” by faith. The third call to “awake”, is one to appropriate God’s strength, His liberty to follow Christ.
Dear Father, Work to awaken us. In Jesus’ name, Amen.