John 15:16 “You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you.

We have a false thought when we say I choose Jesus. It is a good thought but not factual. The real truth is that Jesus chose us. In Jeremiah 1:5 it says, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you.” So not only is God our Creator but He knows His creation. When Jesus died on the cross He thought of us. We only accept Christ after a prompting by the Holy Spirit. So he created us, died for us and draws us to Him. The whole plan of salvation is entirely upon Him.

There is another false thought. This one is once I am saved from my sin I can stop because I am saved. The saved portion is true, but there is a calling to go forth and bear fruit. No where is it found in the scripture to just stop. We are called to go forth. Then we are to plant seed so fruit can grow. What is this seed? Telling people about Jesus and making disciples. Being disciples is a life long task of learning and imitating what is taught. There is no retirement in this process.

There is one more false thought. If we ask for anything of the Father He will give to us. This is not what the scripture says. It says whatever we ask the Father in Jesus’s name He will give you. So we are to ask for the things Jesus would approve of. These things would be wisdom, understanding, the ability to teach and receive the gospel. The power to give a healing word. And similar things. This is not a line to gather things of the flesh. The most important thing we can ever receive is salvation from God. I pray that you have this gift of eternal salvation.