God Speaks
Dear Christian friends at Ephesus, ever loyal to the Lord: This is Paul writing to you, chosen by God to be Jesus Christ’s messenger. 2 May his blessings and peace be yours, sent to you from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord.
3 How we praise God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every blessing in heaven because we belong to Christ.
4 Long ago, even before he made the world, God chose us to be his very own through what Christ would do for us; he decided then to make us holy in his eyes, without a single fault—we who stand before him covered with his love. 5 His unchanging plan has always been to adopt us into his own family by sending Jesus Christ to die for us. And he did this because he wanted to!
6 Now all praise to God for his wonderful kindness to us and his favor that he has poured out upon us because we belong to his dearly loved Son. 7 So overflowing is his kindness toward us that he took away all our sins through the blood of his Son, by whom we are saved; 8 and he has showered down upon us the richness of his grace—for how well he understands us and knows what is best for us at all times.
9 God has told us his secret reason for sending Christ, a plan he decided on in mercy long ago; 10 and this was his purpose: that when the time is ripe he will gather us all together from wherever we are—in heaven or on earth—to be with him in Christ forever. 11 Moreover, because of what Christ has done, we have become gifts to God that he delights in, for as part of God’s sovereign plan we were chosen from the beginning to be his, and all things happen just as he decided long ago. 12 God’s purpose in this was that we should praise God and give glory to him for doing these mighty things for us, who were the first to trust in Christ.
13 And because of what Christ did, all you others too, who heard the Good News about how to be saved, and trusted Christ, were marked as belonging to Christ by the Holy Spirit, who long ago had been promised to all of us Christians. 14 His presence within us is God’s guarantee that he really will give us all that he promised; and the Spirit’s seal upon us means that God has already purchased us and that he guarantees to bring us to himself. This is just one more reason for us to praise our glorious God.
15 That is why, ever since I heard of your strong faith in the Lord Jesus and of the love you have for Christians everywhere, 16-17 I have never stopped thanking God for you. I pray for you constantly, asking God, the glorious Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, to give you wisdom to see clearly and really understand who Christ is and all that he has done for you. 18 I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can see something of the future he has called you to share. I want you to realize that God has been made rich because we who are Christ’s have been given to him! 19 I pray that you will begin to understand how incredibly great his power is to help those who believe him. It is that same mighty power 20 that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God’s right hand in heaven, 21 far, far above any other king or ruler or dictator or leader. Yes, his honor is far more glorious than that of anyone else either in this world or in the world to come. 22 And God has put all things under his feet and made him the supreme Head of the Church— 23 which is his body, filled with himself, the Author and Giver of everything everywhere.
Version: The Living Bible BibleGateway.com
We Respond
Reflection: When the Apostle Paul wrote this letter to believers in Ephesus, he was in a prison in Rome. Yet he wrote to encourage them. He prayed for them to be blessed and have peace from God the Father and Jesus the Son. He praised God for every blessing believers have in heaven because we belong to Christ. Paul wrote that before God created anything He laid out His unchanging plan to adopt us, sinful human beings, by sending Jesus Christ to die for us and take away all our sins. God did this just because He wanted to! God’s overflowing kindness to us also led Him to shower us with the vast riches of His grace. He thoroughly understands us and knows what is best for us at all times. At just the right time, in His marvelous mercy, God will sovereignly draw together all those who believe in Christ to be with Him forever. These chosen ones will praise God and give Him glory for all the wonderful mighty things He has done for us. All who are saved by trusting in what Christ has done for them are marked with the seal of the Holy Spirit within us. We praise our glorious God because He purchased us with the blood of Christ from the slave market of sin and guarantees to bring us to Himself. This is accomplished by the same mighty power that raised Jesus from the dead and placed Him in the position of highest honor next to God the Father in heaven, That means the Lord Jesus Christ is higher in authority than anything or anyone else (except the Father). He is the head! (Mary’s personalized paraphrase of Ephesians 1:16-19 TLB)
Prayer: Father God, I pray for the readers of this blog. I thank You for them. I ask You, the glorious Father of the Lord Jesus Christ, to give them wisdom to see clearly and really understand who Christ is and all that He has done for them. I pray that their hearts will be flooded with light so that they can see something of the future You have called them to share. I want them to know that You have been made rich because we who are Christ’s have been given to You. I pray that they will begin to understand how incredibly great Your power is to help those who believe You. It is the same power that raised Jesus from the dead and seated Him at the Father’s right hand in heaven. I pray that they will truly grasp that You have made Jesus the head of His body the church which He fills with Himself, the Author and Giver of everything everywhere! AMEN
Action (Ask God, the Holy Spirit, which one of these He wants you to work on or something else more personal that He points out.)
- I will make a list of at least five tangible things Jesus has given me here on earth and thank Him for them.
- I will make a list of at least five intangible things Jesus has given me here on earth and thank Him for them.
- I will make a list of at least five tangible things Jesus has waiting for me in heaven and thank Him for them.
- I will make a list of at least five intangible things Jesus has waiting for me in heaven and thank Him for them.
Share
I plan to share what I’ve learned with __________.