1.15.2008

Well There Ya Go

Ephesians 1:3-14 (NLT), "All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ. Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure. So we praise God for the glorious grace he has poured out on us who belong to his dear Son. He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins. He has showered his kindness on us, along with all wisdom and understanding.

God has now revealed to us his mysterious plan regarding Christ, a plan to fulfill his own good pleasure. And this is the plan: At the right time he will bring everything together under the authority of Christ—everything in heaven and on earth. Furthermore, because we are united with Christ, we have received an inheritance from God, for he chose us in advance, and he makes everything work out according to his plan.

God’s purpose was that we Jews who were the first to trust in Christ would bring praise and glory to God. And now you Gentiles have also heard the truth, the Good News that God saves you. And when you believed in Christ, he identified you as his own by giving you the Holy Spirit, whom he promised long ago. The Spirit is God’s guarantee that he will give us the inheritance he promised and that he has purchased us to be his own people. He did this so we would praise and glorify him."

This is it. This is our whole purpose in a but a few short sentences. We want it to be difficult, we debate theology, denominations, traditions, but this is it. The truth of the matter and what sets us apart from people whom haven't accepted Christ Jesus as their Savior.

  • blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms - Notice the word EVERY in this phrase.
  • we are united with Christ
  • Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us - Before the Bible began, when he separated the ions and made it time, he loved us and chose us.
  • without fault in his eyes - No matter what we do as long as we repent and seek his forgiveness. He knows that Satan made us a fallen people, he doesn't blame us and he doesn't hate us.
  • decided in advance to adopt us into his own family - We are apart of the family of God
  • bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ - we are with him, he brought us to himself through his Son.
  • This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure.
  • purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son - we are paid for in full, we aren't on layaway and we weren't put on credit. We are bought by the blood and belong to him.
  • forgave our sins - All of them.
  • He has showered his kindness on us - and continues to every morning that we wake up and take another breath.
  • He has showered us with all wisdom and understanding - He has given us the Word, will we take the time to read it?
  • God has now revealed to us his mysterious plan - Everyone walks around to us saying, I don't know what to do, I hope God has a plan....not only does he have a plan he has revealed it to us if we will be still long enough, and be there long enough to listen.
  • he will bring everything together under the authority of Christ—everything in heaven and on earth - UNITY the end of strife, oh how I look forward to those days.
  • we are united with Christ - There is that word again, united.
  • we have received an inheritance from God - The Spirit is our inheritance, if invested correctly it can grow exponentially
  • he chose us in advance - We weren't the last ones picked on the sidelines of a school yard game. He picked us before we even volunteered to play
  • he makes everything work out according to his plan - Praise God. I love the word EVERYTHING in this sentence.
  • he identified you as his own - We are discernible in a crowd because he has IDed us as his own.
  • giving you the Holy Spirit - We have a comforter and a teacher that is with us at all times
So here is what I am thinking, if it is this simple, and it is. I know it is. Why do we make it so hard? There is a simple answer to that as well. Going back to the Garden of Eden Satan's entire purpose in dealing with God's creation was to try and convince it that God isn't what he says he is. That Adam and Eve could be more than God had allowed them to be, they could have more knowledge, they could achieve more without him than with him. He was just going to limit them and have them running around naked for all eternity.

That is still Satan's plan. This passage in Ephesians clearly states God's plan and that it has been revealed. It tells us we are loved, unified in Christ, belong to him. Yet in our minds, where Satan can convince us otherwise we doubt all of it to be true. We can't have faith in the Word because we don't have faith in ourselves. There was a saying that we used to say in our church in Florida, "The Bible says it and I believe it". Well if this is what the Bible says, why are we so busy beating ourselves up? God says his payment is enough who are we to say otherwise?

“Open up, O heavens,
and pour out your righteousness.
Let the earth open wide
so salvation and righteousness can sprout up together.
I, the Lord, created them.

“What sorrow awaits those who argue with their Creator.
Does a clay pot argue with its maker?
Does the clay dispute with the one who shapes it, saying,
‘Stop, you’re doing it wrong!’
Does the pot exclaim,
‘How clumsy can you be?’
How terrible it would be if a newborn baby said to its father,
‘Why was I born?’
or if it said to its mother,
‘Why did you make me this way?’” ~Isaiah 45:8-10 (NLT)

Father God, I repent this morning for thinking that I had more authority than you when it came to myself. You have chosen me and I have for the entirety of my life lived as if I decided to choose you - accepting only part of the truth that you have laid out before me. Father, today I come to you and say that I am your creation, yes, but I am your daughter that choses this day to live in the unity that you have created for our relationship. I no longer separate myself from you with my own thoughts of inferiority. I will no longer allow Satan to convince me that I am anything but the apple of my Father's eye. I am not worthless, I am paid in full. The price was high, the cost can't be calculated. Who am I to take what is priceless and deem it not worthy. Father, the all loving, all knowing Father, you sit at the head of the table and ask me to partake of your feast. You don't hold anything back for yourself, everything that sits on this table belongs to me. You have given me every blessing. For so long I have longed for you to pick me up, Daddy this morning I feel your arms around me. I thank you for your love and your kindness. You are everything that I will ever need. Thank you, I love you with all of my being. In Jesus Name I pray. Amen.



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