I LOVE THAT I'M LOVED!

Ephesians 2:8-9

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast. 

Let's keep this simple and to the point.  You did nothing to warrant, deserve or contribute to God's gracious act on your behalf.  Salvation is His gift to you.  Furthermore, the faith it takes to believe cannot even be produced by you.  The faith it takes to believe in this gift of salvation is simply a trustful response on your part.  A trustful response.  He already did the work to bring you to this place of trust, and trust is your response to that work.  It is not to be misconstrued as an effort or action on your part that helped the process along.  It's like simply loving to be loved.  You did nothing to be loved by God or to earn that love.  Loving that your loved by Him is your response to a God that loves you!  The Holy Spirit produces faith in us.  We cannot produce it ourselves.  Salvation is a gift of God's grace; it is the unmerited favor of God to you and to me.  To take any credit, or to boast about any action on my part in achieving salvation is altogether out of place.

He did it all!  I love that I'm loved!
Kerry

Images for this post can be found at www.freymanc.com.

DEAD OR ALIVE! PART II: WALK -ABOUT

 Ephesians 2:2-3

 . . . in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient.  All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. 

You were dead in your transgressions and sins in which you used to live. The word here "live" in the Greek literally means "walk about." That's right! Like in Australia when you hear them talking about going "walk about." There it means they're going to go travel about a bit and see what they can see. It has a similar meaning here only add a zombie-like attitude to the traveler. This is how you used to walk about this life before you came to know Jesus. The walking dead. Transgressions and sins used to be your manner of living. True life, real life, was not something you could grasp, although it was always within your reach. It's like being in a prison cell with the keys hanging within reach right outside the bars, but you don't see them or know they're there.

The evil one, the devil, is identified here as the ruler of the kingdom of the air. Taken literally, the air signifies the atmosphere around the earth and the earth is Satan's abode. According to ancient cosmology, the atmosphere was believed to be the habitation of demons. I'm sure you would agree that it's not a big stretch to see this world as being ruled by the evil one. When you consider everything that bombards us on the daily news reports, it's certainly easy to see the evil one at work. That's not to say that the work of the Holy Spirit isn't just as prevalent -- but those reports never hit the daily news. The devil is the spirit who is at work in those who are disobedient -- those who refuse to believe in the saving power of Jesus Christ. He is constantly at work keeping God's creation from choosing life -- from becoming alive and aware of the life God created for you. But, take heart. The Holy Spirit is also constantly at work in those of us who are obedient to call of Christ.

Paul started out in chapter 2 addressing the Gentile Christians, but in verse 3 he's addresses the Jews. Jewish believers were no better, despite their inclination that God's promises to them somehow made them better people and exempt from God's wrath. All of us have lived in the grip of sin, Paul included. "This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus." Romans 3:22-24, NIV  Human beings are sinful and we have numerous ways (too numerous to count, actually) of expressing our sinful side. We lie, we lust, we hate, we seek revenge, we are ungrateful. In fact, we are so sinful by nature that we need very little help from the devil, if any at all. One thing about Paul, he is very clear on the condition of humankind. Gentile, Jew . . . we're all the same and we all have to come to the same place to gain life: the foot of the cross. You have to remember that when Paul wrote this letter he was a Jew of the highest quality, sent to minister to the Gentiles, who every Jew considered to be of lesser quality, and had to find a way to make this Gospel message real and appealing and believable to both. He could not allow the Jewish believers to think of themselves as better nor could he allow the Gentiles to think of themselves as unworthy of God's promises. Therefore, we are ALL deserving of God's wrath.

Alive! Gwen Meharg

Here's what Paul is saying: though you lived, you used to be counted among the dead and those that followed the evil one and his ways, even without knowing it. But not now, believer. Yes, you still sin. We all do. The difference is transgressions and sins no longer define who you are. It's true for all of us. I'm not better than you and you're not better than me. We were all there at one time, ruled by sin and deserving God's anger. Faith, love, truth, life . . . these are the things that define you now. You walk about this life ALIVE!  The devil may rule this earth, but Jesus Christ rules your heart!

Defined by Life,
Kerry

WE HAVE IT ALL!

Ephesians 1:18-19a
I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe.

Do you realize how much God has made available to you, dear Believer?  Do you count the promises that are yours in Him who saved you?  If you're like me, you probably go about your day to day life without really considering all that is ours in Christ.  Sometimes in the midst of difficulty, I hope and pray in a rather uncertain way for His word and His promises to be real in my current situation.  "God, are you there?"  "God, do you hear my cry?"   I can't help but wonder, if I lived in this awareness every moment of every day . . . how different I would be and how different would be my sight.  Paul wants his readers to know, to be fully aware, of all that God has made available to those who believe.

The heart is the seat of thought, of understanding, of feeling.  It is in the heart that the Holy Spirit provides that inner awareness of our hope in God, the riches that are ours in Christ, and His power directed toward you.  But let's break it down.  First, that "hope" to which you and I have been called is eternal life.  The hope of something better makes my momentary afflictions seem easier to bear.  First and foremost, our glorious Father wants us to be and remain assured of our future glory. (Titus 1:2; Hebrews 6:17-20)  Second, we have inherited all the "riches" of God and heaven through our faith in Jesus Christ.  Provision, healing, forgiveness, truth, understanding, wisdom and so much more makes me rich! (2 Corinthians 1:20; 2 Peter 1:3-4)  Third, and not at all least, is His "incomparably great power," an unimaginable divine potency that is directed toward all who believe.  (I'll speak more about this power in my next post.)  No power on this earth or below can take me down because my God is more powerful and is always at work in me and surrounding me.  We're marked, remember. (Romans 8:38; 1 Peter 1:5)

Believers, we have it all!  Today I'm praying for the eyes of my heart to be enlightened so that I might know all that God has made available to me.  Today I'm praying for my sight to change.

"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." Romans 15:13 NIV

Enlightened,
Kerry

IT'S A REVELATION!

Ephesians 1:15-17 

For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers.  I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better.

The Ephesians had embraced the word of truth and were sealed with the Holy Spirit and for this reason Paul's thanksgivng for them rises up in prayer.  News had been brought to him in Rome of the Ephesians faith in the Lord and their love for others.  Galatians 5:6 tells us that faith expresses itself in love.  They were on the right track and Paul was expressing his pleasure at what they learned by giving thanks for them and remembering them in his prayers and he was letting the Ephesians know it. The word "remembering" literally means "making mention."  Deeper than that, however, is that it implies that Paul was not just sending up a blanket prayer of thankfulness for the Ephesians as a whole.  Paul was mentioning each one that he knew in the church in Ephesus by name.  The Apostle Paul remained deeply involved in the lives of those with whom he helped to bring to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.  He was no slouch when it came to prayer or study. 

The believers in Ephesus have been taught about the Holy Spirit and Paul was helping them to take it a step further . . . to go deeper.  "Revelation" refers to insight into the mysteries of God's divine truth.  Friends, we cannot even receive Christ as our Savior without first receiving a revelation, insight, that Jesus indeed died for our sins.  You know this to be true by how many people out there have heard this truth but do not believe it to be truth.  A revelation is needed and that can only be given by God, the glorious Father.  The Holy Spirit is referred to as the Spirit of truth at least 3 times in the Book of John. (John 14:16; 15:23; and 16:13)  I cannot over emphasize the importance of reading and knowing God's word.  It is in the pages of God's word where the mysteries are hidden and the truth is found.  And, it is from the truth found in God's word that the Holy Spirit can begin to open the eyes of your heart.  What Paul wants for the believers at the church in Ephesus, and for us now, is to follow suit.  Pray for the Holy Spirit to give us wisdom and revelation into the mysteries of God's word so that we might know Him, the glorious Father who loves us without measure and beyond reason, better.

Please read the following piece from 1 Corinthians 2:7-16 as if the Apostle Paul was writing directly to you as he received it straight from the heart of our glorious Father.

Friends, 
No, we declare God’s wisdom, a mystery that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. However, as it is written: “What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived” the things God has prepared for those who love him—these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit.  The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. For who knows a person’s thoughts except their own spirit within them? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us. This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words. The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit. The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments, for, “Who has known the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ. 

~Paul 

Following suit,
Kerry