Topic: Before You Chose God, He Chose You [RICK WARREN Devotional 12 December 2019]

BY RICK WARREN — DECEMBER 12, 2019

“You were chosen according to the purpose of God the Father and were made a holy people by his Spirit” (1 Peter 1:2 GNT).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. He said one reason we can have a radical hope is because 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 GNT).

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 can give you hope.

The highest honor you will ever receive is this: God invites you to spend eternity with him. That’s a big deal!

And it’s why we can have hope, no matter what’s going on in our lives.