Chosen

By Jordan M Riedel

In Jordan M. Riedel's book "Chosen.", you will discover what it truly means to be chosen by God. Mr. Riedel examines the lives of Judas Iscariot (the man who betrayed Jesus Christ) and the Apostle Paul. Discussing how the Apostle Paul (originally named Saul) went from killing Christians to becoming one of

• Language: English
• Publisher: Jordan Michael Riedel
• Release date: Feb 24, 2021
• ISBN: 9781641844697

Book preview

Chosen

Jordan M. Riedel

Copyright 2020 Jordan M. Riedel

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. This book contains material protected under International and Federal Copyright Laws and Treaties. Any unauthorized reprint or use of this material is prohibited. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without express written permission from the author/publisher.

ISBN: 978-1-64184-468-0 (paperback)

ISBN: 978-1-64184-467-3 (hardback)

ISBN: 978-1-64184-469-7 (eBook)

Dedication

First and foremost, this message is dedicated to God. Thank you for sending your Son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross, that I may be saved.

Also, I would like to dedicate this to my beautiful wife, Natalie. God has truly given me more than I could have ever asked for in our marriage. You are such a blessing to me. Thank you for putting up with all my time at the computer writing for hours on end. I love you.

And to my and Natalie’s children. One, we will get to meet at a later time in Heaven, and our two sons, Tyler Preston and Henry Callen, who we get to enjoy time with here on Earth. May God bless their lives, that they may follow the one true God.

To my parents Mike and Rhonda Riedel, for raising me up in the church and teaching me how to have a relationship with the one true God.

Table of Contents

Introduction

The Opening

Judas Iscariot

The Paths

Choosing to Follow God

The True Mystery of God’s Plan

Choose to be Chosen

The Last Chapter

Introduction

For the entirety of the After Death era—or whatever people call it now to be politically correct—two specific questions have been raised: Who was Judas Iscariot? and Why did he betray Jesus Christ? Growing up in the church, I frequently asked myself these questions. I couldn’t and still cannot understand why Judas, one of the twelve disciples, one of Jesus Christ’s main followers in his ministry on Earth, and his well-known friend, turned away from his teachings so drastically that he traded Jesus’ life for 40 pieces of silver. In doing so, he was, and still is, labeled as one of the most deceptive people of all time. The Bible tells us in Romans 3:23 (KJV), For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. But what drives a man who is devoted to a cause (in this case, devoted to the Son of God Himself), to turn on it only for the sake of money? Like any problem, there has to be a root cause behind his methods and thinking.

God has put it on my heart to write about two characters from the Bible—Judas Iscariot and the Apostle Paul. Judas Iscariot is the man who betrayed Jesus, as all the apostles will remind us, and keep reminding us throughout the scripture. The Apostle Paul is known for killing Christians of the early church, and then changing his life around to follow the teachings of Jesus, writing approximately two thirds of the New Testament scripture. They were two drastically different men with two drastically different purposes in life. I have always been the kind of guy to believe that free will is something we have and something that can never be taken away from us. The Bible gives many examples of God giving man freedom to choose. Some examples are:

Genesis 2:16-17 (NIV) ¹⁶ And the LORD God commanded the man, You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; ¹⁷ but you must not eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you certainly die."

John 1:12-13 (NIV) ¹² Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—¹³ children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.

Revelation 3:14-20 (NIV) ¹⁴ To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation. ¹⁵ I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! ¹⁶ So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. ¹⁷ You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. ¹⁸ I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see. ¹⁹ Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent. ²⁰ Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.

Of course, there are many more examples within the Bible. The Bible also pushes back on free will to some extent. It makes it almost seem that God has predestined some individuals to be His Chosen or Elect. There are some verses given that allude to this thought:

Proverbs 16:9 (NIV) In their hearts humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps.

John 15:16-17 (NIV) ¹⁶ You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. ¹⁷ This is my command: Love each other.

Ephesians 1:11–12 (NIV) ¹¹ In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, ¹² in order that we, who were the first to put our hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory.

1 Peter 1:1–2 (NIV) ¹ Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To God’s elect, exiles scattered throughout the provinces of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia, ² who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to be obedient to Jesus Christ and sprinkled with his blood: Grace and peace be yours in abundance.

In the simplest terms, it may seem that God had chosen His followers before they even stepped forth on the earth. By these verses, it almost seems that He has predetermined individuals to fulfill His plans. I know what you are thinking. Wow, Jordan, so you’re telling me that it doesn’t matter if I try to believe in God, He has already chosen people to be with Him for all eternity? Or, Why should I even try to follow God if I, like Judas, am destined to fail? There have been times in my life where I have thrown up my hands and asked God the same questions. I still, to this day, ask the same questions. I am a cut-and-dry type of person. I am a very visual person. In a lot of things I do, if I can’t see it, I truly don’t believe it and have doubts about it, whatever it may be. I have loved God my entire life, and I whole-heartedly believe He has never left me throughout any life circumstance and never will. I know I am one of God’s Elect or Appointed. I simply question, What about those who are not? and If someone is destined to fail in life, do I, Jordan Michael Riedel, have the ability to change that? As a Christian, the Bible tells me I must do my best to witness to others about Jesus and how he shed his blood for our sins, as a living sacrifice for all mankind. But if someone is destined to spend eternity in Hell, is it possible to change the will God has for their life and turn them to the one true God, see them truly repent, and become part of God’s chosen people?

I have faith that the God I serve, the one true God, in His all-powerful ways, can influence humans’ hearts and minds. Likewise, so can Satan, the father of lies. There is no gauge on the point of no return for the human mind and heart. I believe it is different for each individual. Is there a point in time when the opportunity of choice has diminished, and one is eternally damned? Surely not. So what is the answer? I believe through this study, all of us will find answers—the answers God would have us find.

I encourage you to pray on the messages God has given me while you are reading this. If you are not a Christian and you’re not too sure about some of these beliefs—or theories, if you will—then dig into them for yourself. Don’t take my words as perfect, for I am simply a human being (imperfect). Though my intentions are pure, this is not the Bible, and do not take these words as such. I will use scripture to validate a point of study in some cases. My purpose for writing this is to glorify God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. By the end of this, I hope you believe as I believe, and hope as I hope. Over all that is spoken, my hope and prayer for you is to find the one true God, the way you are supposed to find Him, and not by my limited knowledge. My hope for you is to, if not already, become one of the chosen people of God.

1

The Opening

From the time I was a child, I have had many questions about life. Why are we here? What is my purpose in life? Why do bad things happen to good people? You know, the types of questions every child asks and some, if not all, adults may as well. The Bible tells us that each person has a purpose and that God has a plan for our lives. I believe this concept wholeheartedly. The most recent question God has placed on my heart is this: Is this ‘destiny’ of mine already determined, or can I control it?

It’s a known fact that people struggle with change, but if you knew that no matter what you did, your life was already predetermined, would you act differently? In studying this topic, my mindset has changed drastically from I can control everything I do and am involved in to I can control everything I do, but there will always be factors in this world I can’t control. I will forever be in a reactionary position. Life is all about how we react to the things around us. Personally, I try to plan and plan and plan, sometimes to the point of driving myself and those around me nuts. I like and appreciate perfect order. I’m not insane; at least I don’t think I am. I may be a little (or a lot) OCD, but I am the way God made me, so I have learned to accept that and work through my struggles the best that I can. Regardless of how we want things to turn out in life, we can’t control everything. We can’t control God’s plan. This world is full of things we cannot control, but God can.

Let’s take sickness and death, for instance. The Bible tells us that death entered into the world when Adam and Eve sinned, for the first time in human history, in the Garden of Eden. With death came ways to die; things that were and are out of human control. Things that were and are out of my control. One of the most difficult ideas for me to grasp throughout my life has been good people getting sick or good people dying earlier than expected. Why would God send us to Earth to live for a short while and then die? In my simple mind, I don’t have a good answer to this question. Yes, it bothers me; I am not the only one it bothers. We all struggle to find our purpose. The Bible says, Seek and you will find. Sometimes that means we need to keep seeking and keep seeking and keep seeking. But things happen for a reason, right? We don’t always understand or fully comprehend why things happen or why people do what they do. We don’t always have the luxury of finding out the answers to all of life’s questions. Even when we keep seeking, we don’t always receive the answer. For some of us, our purpose is to keep seeking (God, of course). For others, you know your specific purpose in life. You have always known your purpose. You will fulfill that purpose at all costs. And you will die with that purpose.

In my life, I look to God and the Bible for answers to life’s questions. The answer the Bible gives is not always clear-cut; t’s not always black and white. Hence, I keep seeking. When God gives me clear direction, I know because it aligns with what the Bible says. To be honest, sometimes, God does not give me a clear answer (I know I’m not alone in this). I think the answer to a question like Why do bad things happen to good people? is Because it does…that’s life. That is just life, and we all have to find a way to deal with it. Not to be morbid, but we only have to deal with it until we die. Then, and only then, will we find out how we lived our lives. We will be in Heaven, or we will be in Hell. Depending on how we lived our lives, we will find ourselves basking in the glory of God for the rest of time, or eternally damned to a lake of fire. Apologies for being so blunt and dark, but life isn’t always cupcakes and