A Life Worthy

And you were also included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. (Ephesians 1:13).

You belong.

You’re in the club.

You’re on the team.

You’re one of the cool kids.

Well, maybe we won’t go that far.

Beloved, if you have ever felt excluded, odd man out, on the outside looking in, left out, left over, or overlooked, know this:

You are part of the only truly important club in the history of the world. You’ll get a code name, a club jacket…the works.

So don’t ever worry about fitting in.

You already fit.

You’re already in.

Happy Tuesday, Beloved.

And he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment–to bring all things in heaven and on earth under one head, even Christ… (Ephesians 1:10).

I like my Study Bible.

It has all kinds of useful information in it.

For example, it tells me that the word Paul used here that is translated head has multiple meanings. It can mean “head,” as in, you know…your head.

It can mean “authority,” which is how I’ve always read this verse. God’s plan is for every knee to bow and every tongue to confess Jesus as Lord.

Amen to that!

The word can also refer to the sum of a column of figures, the reconciling of various numbers that may not seem to relate to one another.

So, Jesus makes a senseless world make sense.

Feeling like life is a little too random, Beloved? Seem like the equation doesn’t balance?

Fear not; in the end, it all adds up

to Him.

Happy Friday, Beloved

And he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure… (Ephesians 1:9).

Pssst…

Let me let you in on a little secret–

You’re in on the big secret.

Happy Wednesday, Beloved

In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us…(Ephesians 1:8)

Lavish

To give freely, to bestow generously upon, to shower with

God has not been miserly with his grace, Beloved.

He has not been frugal.

He has lavished.

When the Lord of the Universe saw your sin, he didn’t hand you a spiritual wet wipe.

He bathed you.

Grace is, quite possibly, the most costly thing in all of creation, yet God showers us with it. He doesn’t measure it out and give us and give us a jarful, saying “Use it sparingly. Once it’s gone, it’s gone.”

He pours it over us in endless waves.

We determine the value of something by what someone is willing to pay to obtain it.

So, what is your value to God?

Exactly

Happy Monday, Beloved.

In him we have redemption through his blood…(Ephesians 1:7)

When I was a kid, years before I came to Christ, I briefly attended a local church’s youth group. I remember singing this song:

I’ve been redeemed by the blood of the Lamb.

I’ve been redeemed by the blood of the Lamb.

I’ve been redeemed by the blood of the Lamb, filled with the Holy Ghost I am.

All my sins are washed away, I’ve been redeemed.

There was a second verse…had something to do with roller skates. The point is, I had no idea what that song was talking about at the time, but the words and the silly tune stuck in my head.

Today I understand, at least a little.

There’s a pawn shop a mile or so from my house. Today, someone will go there and trade a prized possession for a little cash. The cash will soon be spent, the pleasure it bought dissipated, and the prized possession will be locked away, out of reach. The only hope is that Someone will come and pay the price to redeem that which is so precious, and which was so foolishly traded away.

You know what I like about you Beloved? I don’t have to explain my analogies.

Happy Thursday