You, like me, may be asking the question “who are you?”.  What merit do I have in writing a blog or trying to teach others when I am so unqualified?  I am not equipped to use my words to grow others in their faith when I still have so many questions of my own.  I am a fraud and people will see through that.  Ever had similar thoughts when starting something new?  These are just some of the many thoughts that came to my mind each time the book idea popped into my head.  These are the thoughts that invade my brain when I think of using my gifts to help others.  It has taken continual pushes from the Holy Spirit to make me realize those thoughts are not from God, but from the enemy… that annoying friend that continually puts negative thoughts in our brains.  

So why does God choose us?  Why would God choose us when there are far more qualified people for the position?  Well, why does God choose Nazareth over Jerusalem for Jesus to reside?  Why does God choose the forgotten over the highly recognized people in society?  It’s almost like God chooses the lowly to bring light to the ones in high places.  Tim Keller made such beautiful points in his book “Hidden Christmas”.  “He came not in strength but in weakness, to a poor family in a stable.  Jesus doesn’t behave like a king the world expects.  He did not have any academic credentials.  He had no social status.”  He later goes on to say “the world has always despised people from the wrong places with the wrong credentials.  We are always trying to justify ourselves.  We need desperately to feel superior to others.  And everything about Jesus contradicts and opposes that impulse.”  God chose Israel over a more powerful nation.  God chose the shepherds to hear the message from the angels that Jesus Christ was born.  He didn’t choose a King or someone of high, respected status, but a lowly shepherd with no status to share the good news.  He chose death on the cross to give life to each of us.  God is a rule breaker, in the best kind of way.  He goes against what we have deemed is the correct way to do things.  So with all that, we, I, can have confidence that I am exactly the right person to write this blog.  You are exactly the right person to write and read these devotionals.  You and I are the exact right people for the job because we are chosen, set apart for His glory and picked first by God.  So read on, chosen one.