Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you.
JOHN 15:16
Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.
JOHN 15:14
WE have not chosen Thee,
But us Thou deign'st to choose,--
Not servants, but Thy friends to be,
Whom Thou wilt never lose:
For never wilt Thou change
Who art all change above:
Nor life nor death shall us estrange
From Thy most perfect love.
GEORGE B. BUBIER
WE offer Christ the submission of our hearts, and the obedience of our lives; and He offers us His abiding Presence. We take Him as our Master, and He takes us as His friends. Our Lord takes us up into a relationship of love with Himself, and we go out into life inspired with His spirit to work His work. It begins with the self-surrender of love; and love, not fear or favor, becomes the motive. To feel thus the touch of God on our lives changes the world. Its fruits are joy and peace, and confidence that the events of life are suffused, not only with meaning, but with a meaning of love. The soul that is bound by this personal attachment to Jesus has a life in the eternal, which transfigures the life in time with a great joy.
HUGH BLACK
This is a public domain version of Joy and Strength.