15B24.    Amos 7:12-15.  Amos answered, “The Lord took me from following the flock, and said to me, Go, prophesy to my people Israel.”  God actively directs and shepherds his people through us who choose to belong to him and his Will.

Mark 6:7-13.  “Jesus summoned the Twelve and began to send them out two by two and gave them authority over unclean spirits.”  Jesus empowered his Apostles to drive out demons and cure the sick.  In turn they were to receive what they needed for their physical needs from the people they aided and welcomed them.  “So they went off and preached repentance.”  By driving out demons and sickness, the apostles were encouraging the recipients to repent from their sins so to be spiritually healthy.   God was using those who chose to belong to him and his Will to direct and shepherd his people to heaven.

Ephesians 1:3-14.   God “chose us in him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and without blemish before him. In love he destined us for adoption to himself through Jesus Christ.”  God from all eternity chose us to be holy in his image and likeness as his adopted daughters and sons.  As people who belong to God’s Will, he has chosen us to do the work he wishes us to do.  We, who “have believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, which is the first installment of our inheritance toward redemption as God’s possession, to the praise of his glory.”