And realize what this really means— we have the privilege of worshiping Yahweh our God. For he is our Creator and we belong to him. We are the people of his pleasure.
We have become his poetry, a re-created people that will fulfill the destiny he has given each of us, for we are joined to Jesus, the Anointed One. Even before we were born, God planned in advance our destiny and the good works we would do to fulfill it!
And we know that the Son of God has made our understanding come alive so that we can know by experience the One who is true. And we are in him who is true, God’s Son, Jesus Christ—the true God and eternal life!
So then, those who suffer for following God’s will should enfold their lives into the Creator, who will never fail them, and continue to always do what is right.
You were like sheep that continually wandered away, but now you have returned to the true Shepherd of your lives—the kind Guardian who lovingly watches over your souls.
For God, who said, “Let brilliant light shine out of darkness,” is the one who has cascaded his light into us—the brilliant dawning light of the glorious knowledge of God as we gaze into the face of Jesus Christ.
Then they remembered God’s deeds in days past, the days of Moses and his people. And they asked: “Where now is Yahweh, who brought them miraculously through the Red Sea along with Moses, the shepherd-leader of his flock, and put his Holy Spirit among them?
But you are God’s chosen treasure —priests who are kings, a spiritual “nation” set apart as God’s devoted ones. He called you out of darkness to experience his marvelous light, and now he claims you as his very own. He did this so that you would broadcast his glorious wonders throughout the world.