Every Day Devotion

Ephesians 1:4 [4] even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love (ESV) We have already considered how amazing it is that before God established the universe and spoke it into existence by his powerful word he chose us.  We were chosen in him before the foundation of the world.  But, let's consider another amazing aspect of the Creator's choosing. He also chose that we should be holy and blameless before him. Now, let me ask you.  Do you perceive yourself as holy and blameless?  Wouldn't that be the height of arrogance?  In fact, wouldn't it also contradict a doctrine of mankind's depravity? Yet, we were chosen to be holy and blameless.  There is another choice that we must mention.  It also happened before the creation of the universe.  God the Father chose for the Son to be killed for the sin of mankind.  God knew that if he was going to choose us to be holy ...

Ephesians 1:4 [4] even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love (ESV) There is something special about being chosen.  A bride finds joy in the fact that she has been chosen above all other women to be with her husband.  An adopted child has a lifetime of wonder that their parents chose them.  Some dog owners think that their fluffy puppy rejoices over being chosen.  I'm not sure about that, but maybe! I remember my childhood encounters with being chosen.  There was the dreaded neighborhood football game.  Two team captains kind of declared themselves in charge.  Then the choosing began. I dreaded that time.  I always wanted to be one of the first ones picked to be on a team.  It never happened.  I was scrawny, small, and had thick glasses.  If the neighbor's dog was playing football, they would have chosen the dog before me. Now, while you get a chu...

Ephesians 1:3 [3] Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, (ESV) Have you ever felt like every one else gets blessed by God and somehow you got passed by?  Do you wonder if there are some "super Christians" and then there is you?  I think the enemy of our souls would like us to think that way.  But, in this verse Paul is telling us that God is supremely worthy of being blessed because of the fact that, in Christ, he has blessed us with every spiritual blessing.  Can you wrap your head around that?  He has not been stingy in pouring out his blessings.  He has not given them to a select few.  Paul encourages all of us with the reality that all of God's spiritual blessings are given to all believers. It is important that, as believers in Jesus Christ, we don't create levels that separate us from each other.  We all have the same access to God th...

Ephesians 1:2 [2] Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. (ESV) Peace is such a wonderful sounding word, isn't it?  We think of the absence of all wars.  No fighting. Perhaps, we think of peace as the lack of stress and fear. What we need to consider in this verse is Paul's understanding of peace. First of all, we discover that this peace is something that comes from God.  That is particularly significant.  We look for peace in so many places.  We think that if we just made a certain amount of money we would have peace.  If we had just the right spouse we would have peace.  If we had just one more drink we might have peace.  The peace that Paul is talking about comes from God, and not from any other worldly source. We find this peace in the person of Jesus Christ.  The prophet Isaiah, when writing about the coming Christ, described him as the Prince of Peace.  This leads me to consider the kind of p...

Ephesians 1:2 [2] Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. (ESV) Ephesians is 6 chapters long.  Yet, the entire message of this letter is summed up in this verse. Grace and Peace.  Let's talk for a moment about grace.  There is no more wonderful doctrine of the church than the doctrine of grace.  Songs have been sung about it.  The great hymn Amazing Grace sums it up.  God's grace is truly amazing.  But why is it amazing? God's grace is amazing because it is undeserved!  One of the most common definitions of grace is "God's unmerited favor."  Here are what a few theologians say about the definition of God's grace.  A. W. Tozer said: "Grace is the good pleasure of God that inclines him to bestow benefits on the undeserving." Berkhof said that grace is "the unmerited operation of God in the heart of man, effected through the agency of the Holy Spirit." While these definitions are accurate they don...

Ephesians 1:1 [1] Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints who are in Ephesus, and are faithful in Christ Jesus: (ESV) As we continue to look at these opening words of the letter Paul writes to the Ephesians, we come to an important element in any letter; the recipients.  Who is Paul writing to? The saints. Now that raises a question.  Who are the saints?  We know that the Roman Catholic Church has elevated certain people who have lived especially godly lives to the status of saint.  However, one of the stipulations about Catholic saints is this: they are dead!  Paul is writing to saints whom he expects to read his letter.  So clearly the saints that Paul is referring to are not dead. The saints in Ephesus are those who have placed their faith in Christ Jesus. There is an important distinction to be made here.  The Catholic notion of being a saint is a reward for earthly behavior that was deemed godly.  The Bib...

Ephesians 1:1 [1] Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints who are in Ephesus, and are faithful in Christ Jesus: (ESV) Perhaps you have heard the expression, "Where there is a will there is a way."  This has some general truth to it.  I think we can agree that those who have found a way to do great things were also people who had a strong will to do so.  They were people committed to a task.  Perhaps you have a strong-willed child and they drive you nuts.  That child may grow up to do great things, provided their will is attached to a good purpose. Paul was a strong-willed man.  By his own efforts he had pursued Judaism to its highest levels.  When this upstart "Christian" faith showed up he not only disagreed with it, he was having Christians put to death for their faith. Paul describes his strong willed behavior in Philippians 3:4-7: [4] though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If anyone else...

Ephesians 1:1 [1] Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints who are in Ephesus, and are faithful in Christ Jesus: (ESV) I have a confession to make.  I have a favorite book of the Bible.  It is the book of Ephesians.  Don't judge me.  I imagine you have a favorite book as well.  The Bible is a collection of 66 wonderful books.  All of them are given to us to reveal our awesome God.  And I love them all.  But this letter that the Apostle Paul wrote to the church at the city of Ephesus is particularly wonderful. In this opening verse, we find Paul saying some profound things.  Let's consider who Paul is, who the recipients of this letter are, and what they have in common. Who is Paul?  In Galatians 1:13 Paul says, "For you have heard of my former life in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God violently and tried to destroy it."  That's a pretty bad history.  How could someone who violentl...