Joan Boney ... apostle/prophet
Psalm 65:4 ... Blessed is the man whom thou choosest,
and causest to approach unto thee, that he may dwell in thy courts: we
shall be satisfied with the goodness of thy house, even of thy holy
temple.
The apostle Paul didn't choose God: God chose Paul. Acts 9 ... And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest, 2And desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues, that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem. 3And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven: 4And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? 5And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. 6And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do.
Abraham didn't choose God: God chose Abraham. Gen 12 ... Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee: 2And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: 3And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.
4So Abram departed, as the LORD had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran. 5And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother’s son, and all their substance that they had gathered, and the souls that they had gotten in Haran; and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan; and into the land of Canaan they came.
Concerning Jacob and Esau, Paul explains ... Romans 9 ... (For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth;) 12 It was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger. 13As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.
God chose Isaac also ... Isaac was of the promise where Ishmael was of the flesh.
God chose Solomon above his brothers. Not because Solomon was good but because that was the will of God.
All through the Bible, Old and New Testaments, we see the chain of people chosen by God. It is because it is God's will and not because of any achievement of the human.
Jeremiah said: Then the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 5Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations. Jeremiah 1
We see this happened before Jeremiah was even born, before he could do good or evil. He was chosen by God because it was the will of God.
None of this is of ourselves nor of our goodness but it is simply the will of God.
God has always had a "chosen" people. It is not because the people are good. After God reveals HIMSELF to the person, that person is changed by the revealing of God. We are changed over and over as we hear words from the Spirit of God as we go through life. We are changed with each word into the image of Christ. This happens many times as we go through life. But all this is of God by HIS will. And it is of God that we have understanding. God gives understanding and opens our eyes to see. Some people try to have understanding by their own efforts, by listening to preachers, by trying to understand. But all understanding comes from God as HE wills. HE opens our eyes to understand the scriptures. It is not of ourselves nor of our efforts.
If you are chosen by God, HE will recreate you in HIS image by HIS Word as you go through life.
Recently, I heard these words ... "You didn't choose ME, but I chose you and ordained you ..."
As I thought about what I heard from the Spirit of God, I remembered that was exactly what I heard shortly after I was born again in 1975.
Through the years, many have come to me telling me they want to serve God as a pastor. One person came to me saying he was a pastor but hoped to achieve to apostle.
We don't achieve to pastor nor apostle ... These are given to certain individuals by the will of God to benefit the church. It is not because we are good that we are chosen. It is because it is the will of God. We are gifts given to the church by Jesus when we are set into the ministry offices of apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor, teacher.
It has nothing at all to do with us nor our efforts. It is simply the will of God. And when God determines this for an individual, God works on that individual to give that individual what is needed in order to do the work to which he is called.
Eph. 4 ... Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men. 9(Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth? 10He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.) 11And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; 12For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:
And if you are a member of the body of Christ, it is because God chose you and revealed HIMSELF to you and put HIS Spirit into you. It is not because you are worthy. It was simply because of the will of God. Romans 9