In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will–to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us…(Ephesians 1:6).
Freely
Given
No strings, no fine print, no Columbo-style,”Uh, just one little thing.”
So how is it that we still, day after day, think we somehow have to earn this?
Are we not the silliest of creatures?
The feast is before you, Beloved. Dig in.
Happy Thursday.
In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will–to the praise of his glorious grace… (Ephesians 1:6).
His glorious grace
I love the sound of those words, and not just because of the alliteration.
His grace–by its very nature I could never earn it, never deserve it, never demand it. His grace simply flows out of his love, out of his goodness, out of his very nature. His grace demonstrates to all who are willing to see what a mighty, merciful God he is.
His grace brings him glory.
Today promises to be a pretty stressful day for me. I plan to hold on to this passage. I am going to remind myself–probably multiple times–that I am his because of his glorious grace.
And I will praise him today.
Care to join me, Beloved?
Happy Wednesday.
In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will (Ephesians 1:5).
Such a huge little phrase
Guess what? God didn’t choose you grudgingly.
He didn’t say to himself, “Manoman, what a mess this kid’s made of things. I guess I’d better take them on board…sheesh, what a pain…fine, you’re saved. Now get out of my hair!”
He knew from the beginning that he wanted you. It gives him pleasure to call you his own. Thinking of you makes him smile.
Beloved, you make the Lord of the Universe smile.
Chew on that today.
Happy Tuesday, Beloved.
In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ…(Ephesians 1:4-5).
I tend to make things up as I go along.
I muddle along, reactive instead of proactive, trying and often failing to MacGyver my way through life.
God is not like Michael.
God had it all figured out before he pushed the “Start” button.
He had a plan. And that plan always included you.
Always
You probably think you’re pretty special.
You are.
Happy Monday, Beloved of God.
For he (God) chose us in him (Jesus) before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight (Ephesians 1:4).
You are the chosen one.
Well, maybe not the chosen one, but certainly a chosen one.
Before he made the world, God had you in mind.
Yeah, you.
He knew who you would be, how you would be. He saw your “We are the Champions” moments, your happy times,
your foolish choices
your many sins
your epic, seemingly endless failures.
And he loved you.
And he chose you.
Wow.
Consider this: God is not bound by time, right? Past, present, future—it’s all kind of now to him. So, when he looks at you he sees you not only as you are, but as you will be.
Holy
Blameless
Complete
His
Now, if only you could learn to see yourself as he sees you, hmm?
Happy Friday, Beloved.
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ (Ephesians 1:3).
Think you aren’t strong enough?
Think you aren’t smart enough?
Think you aren’t rich enough?
Think you aren’t…enough?
You have been blessed with every spiritual blessing. Not some…not even most.
Every.
All.
The Totality
I can’t even imagine what all that means, but I’ll bet it means this much: everything you need to live the life God has called you to, He has already given you.
So what are you waiting for?
Go get ‘em, Beloved.
Happy Thursday
Grace and Peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ (Ephesians 1:2).
Have you ever considered the relationship between the words grace and peace? Paul always puts them together. Look through his letters and you will see that, in almost every case, he pairs these two words.
Go ahead and look. I’ll wait.
So why are these words so often together? And why in this order? Was Paul cutting and pasting his way through life? Perhaps, but I think unlikely. I think it more likely that these words, in this order, are the only way life works. It is only through God’s grace that we can have peace.
Seriously—apart from God’s grace, why should you have peace? You are a hopeless, pathetic lump, destined for destruction.
Feeling encouraged yet?
Ahh, but you are not apart from God’s grace, are you, Beloved? If you belong to Him, you have his grace, sufficient to all your needs. Your pathetic lumpiness has been forgiven, atoned for. You, my friend, are complete, you are whole, you are loved. You are His.
Embrace his grace, Beloved of the Father. Know his peace today.
Happy Wednesday
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus: (Ephesians 1:1)
That’s you.
Paul’s talking to you.
OK, so not specifically you. He’s writing to people on the other side of the world who lived a couple of thousand years ago.
Still…
It’s you.
If you belong to Jesus, you are counted among the saints. You are one of God’s chosen. So don’t let anyone–even you–belittle you, and never no never in all the days of your life think that you are somehow unimportant or unworthy.
You are the child of the King.
You are His Beloved.
Happy Tuesday
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God…(Ephesians 1:1)
That’s not intimidating at all.
I mean, imagine getting a letter from someone claiming to be a direct representative of Jesus…because that’s what an apostle was. There were the 12, then there was Matthias, who replaced Judas Iscariot, and then there was Paul.
Strictly speaking, Paul did not even meet the criteria for apostleship. In Acts 1:21-22, we are told that an apostle had to have been with Jesus for his entire earthly ministry, right up to his ascension to heaven.
Paul doesn’t fit.
Then why does Paul call himself an apostle, and why do we go along with it?
Paul did not meet all the criteria for apostleship, but he met the most important one: he was chosen by Jesus.
You’ve read of how Jesus appeared to Paul on the road to Damascus–if you haven’t, go do that now! The Lord then appeared to a disciple named Ananias in a vision, calling Paul, “My chosen instrument to carry my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel.”
So I feel pretty confident in calling Paul an apostle.
And yes, I find the whole thing pretty intimidating.
And exciting
Happy Monday, Beloved.
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen (Philippians 4:23).
Well, Beloved…we did it.
Pretty much the entire book of Philippians
Go us.
So…Paul signs off with a simple sentence, a benediction to his readers. But it’s more than a simple, “That’s all, folks!” He manages to encapsulate, in a few words, a big chunk of the Christian life:
Take that reminder with you into your Friday.
The Lord of Everything chooses to love you, in spite of…well…you. He’s given you all you need to live and to serve and to be amazing.
So, go live.
Go serve.
Go be amazing.
Happy Friday, Beloved.