Category: Ephesians

Posted on

The Gift of Adoption

I recently watched a video of a young couple who adopted a little baby girl. It was a very touching story – made me cry! Their desire for this child was overwhelming; the news of her birth filled their hearts with joy and their eyes with tears. Then came the moment that they saw her for the very first time – the cradled her in their arms, kissed her repeatedly and yes, there were more tears. Finally they had the opportunity to introduce her to the rest of the family, grandparents, cousins, aunts and uncles and nieces and nephews. What joy!

The video finally ended with them speaking vows of commitment to her. (Remember the power of words) They united themselves to her, to love and provide for her, to give her everything she needed (not wanted) for life. They promised to protect, to nurture, to love, to encourage, to listen, to correct.

An adopted child is a chosen child. Your heart reaches out to hold what you didn’t conceive. The bond is just as strong!

Did you know that we have all received the gift of adoption?

The Apostle Paul writes about that in Ephesians and Romans and tells us that we have been adopted by God in heaven and it’s Jesus would did all that was necessary to make the adoption complete.

“Before the world was created, God had Christ choose us to live with him and to be his holy and innocent and loving people. 5 God was kind and decided that Christ would choose us to be God’s own adopted children. 6 God was very kind to us because of the Son he dearly loves, and so we should praise God.” Ephesians 1:4-6 CEV

And in another translation

“Even as [in His love] He chose us [actually picked us out for Himself as His own] in Christ before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy (consecrated and set apart for Him) and blameless in His sight, even above reproach, before Him in love.

5 For He foreordained us (destined us, planned in love for us) to be adopted (revealed) as His own children through Jesus Christ, in accordance with the purpose of His will [because it pleased Him and was His kind intent]—

6 [So that we might be] to the praise and the commendation of His glorious grace (favor and mercy), which He so freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.” Ephesians 1:4-6 AMP

Read through that again. I know it’s lengthy but break it down phrase by phrase. God the Father, the loving heavenly father, picked us out from himself. He made a way for us to be blameless (that’s grace) and He loves us!

We’re His kids and He wants us to come Him the same way loving, earthly fathers want their kids to come to them. He wants to teach, protect us, enjoy life with us. He wants us to come often and with excitement to be in his presence.

“The true children of God are those who let God’s Spirit lead them. 15 The Spirit that we received is not a spirit that makes us slaves again and causes us to fear. The Spirit that we have makes us God’s chosen (adopted) children. And with that Spirit we cry out, “ Abba,(Daddy) Father.” 16 And the Spirit himself speaks to our spirits and makes us sure that we are God’s children.” Romans 8:14-16 ERV

My Dad was a good guy – I enjoyed my time of hunting and fishing with him. He was strong and protective. He was honest and accepting. He wasn’t perfect and he was a strict and a disciplinarian but he taught me right from wrong. He was a good example of what a dad should be so when I think about my heavenly Father I have a good basis of what a Father is and does. I know that not everyone has that ability because their earthly fathers weren’t kind.

Let me leave you with one verse this morning.

“So whenever we are in need, we should come bravely before the throne of our merciful God. There we will be treated with undeserved kindness, and we will find help.” Hebrews 4:16 CEV

Take time to go to your Heavenly Father this morning and thank Him for adopting you. Thank Him that you were chosen and that He invites you to come to Him any time, no matter the need and that He will help and treat you with kindness. And then, if you don’t have a good image of a Father, ask Him to show you what it really means to be his adopted child. He’ll be glad to demonstrate His love in a way that you can understand!

“But God clearly shows and proves His own love for us, by the fact that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8 AMP

Oh yes, what a joy to be adopted!

Posted on

The Gift of the Plan

Yesterday I showed you how the Lord has always used His words to bring things to pass. He has always had a plan. In fact, He is the master planner!

When I was in the business world, back in the dark ages before smart phones and computers, I operated my life from the pages of my Day Planner. My life as wife, mother, home school teacher, administrator, ministry coordinator and my social commitments would have been in disarray had I not written everything down. It was then that I was reading in Proverbs, the book of wisdom, that the Lord showed me this verse.

“Roll your works upon the Lord [commit and trust them wholly to Him; He will cause your thoughts to become agreeable to His will, and] so shall your plans be established and succeed.” Proverbs 16:3 AMP

By giving the Lord my plans each morning, I let Him direct my steps and I know it saved me time, effort, and anguish. This is when I learned to say “no” to some things. I learned it was important to seek God’s counsel before I accepted invitations and new responsibilities. I learned to trust the Lord when I needed to do personnel evaluations and suggest alternate ideas of operation. I learned to hear God’s voice prompting me to encourage and support those who needed help and hadn’t asked for it.

I learned to trust God’s plan!

“With all your heart you must trust the Lord and not your own judgment. 6 Always let him lead you, and he will clear the road for you to follow.” Proverbs 3:5-6 CEV

Did/do I always get it right? No, but what I learned from the times I failed was to listen better next time. God doesn’t make mistakes so if there was a failure it was mine and I needed to be more attentive to what He was saying. I like that the Lord can take our failures and rework them for good.

“I say this because I know the plans that I have for you.” This message is from the Lord. “I have good plans for you. I don’t plan to hurt you. I plan to give you hope and a good future. 12 Then you will call my name. You will come to me and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will search for me, and when you search for me with all your heart, you will find me.” Jeremiah 29:11-13 ERV

I’m sure Noah wondered about God’s instruction to build an ark when there had never been rain. Then there was Joseph who had a promise that he would be a ruler and he was in prison. Dear sweet Mary certainly had to learn to trust God’s plan being a young, unmarried, pregnant woman. God’s plans always give us hope and a good future.

Now you may be saying “that’s great Kristi for those folks in the Bible but I’m not sure God has a plan for me”. Glad you said that.

“You were saved by faith in God, who treats us much better than we deserve.This is God’s gift to you, and not anything you have done on your own. 9 It isn’t something you have earned, so there is nothing you can brag about. 10 God planned for us to do good things and to live as he has always wanted us to live. That’s why he sent Christ to make us what we are.” Ephesians 2:8-11 CEV

God’s first plan for us was our salvation and after that He has a plan for us to do good things. Yes, there is a plan and if we stray or lose our way the Lord will help us recalculate and come back to the path.

I’m so very glad that God designed a plan just for me. What a wonderful gift!

Posted on

Gift of Kindness

Sometimes you just know what you need to say and then circumstances around you back it up. That’s how I feel this morning.

Last night Dave and I were watching TV and saw a commercial we have seen 100’s of times before. You know, it’s the one where the young adults are walking out the door of a building and there’s a mother with a stroller coming out behind them. The door closes before she gets through and one young man looks around and then goes back to hold it open for her. See you know exactly which one I’m talking about.

Well Dave asked me last night, “why did that kid have to stop and think about holding the door for her? It’s a no brainer.” That used to be true but these days so many are caught up in their own lives they don’t take time to be helpful, considerate or kind. It’s not a no brainer. Writing a note of appreciation, saying thank you, being patient in the checkout line, giving someone the parking space, helping someone in need, supporting someone who is hurting – these should all be commonplace but they aren’t.

When I went to the Bible Gateway app this morning the verse of the day on their home page was this:

“Everything you say and everything you do should be done for Jesus your Lord. And in all you do, give thanks to God the Father through Jesus.” Colossians 3:17 ERV

Everything…everything we do should be done for Jesus! With this thought in mind it certainly helps us in our fast to avoid criticism and complaining. Now look at what Jesus said about kindness.

“Then the king will say to the godly people on his right, ‘Come, my Father has great blessings for you. The kingdom he promised is now yours. It has been prepared for you since the world was made. 35 It is yours because when I was hungry, you gave me food to eat. When I was thirsty, you gave me something to drink. When I had no place to stay, you welcomed me into your home. 36 When I was without clothes, you gave me something to wear. When I was sick, you cared for me. When I was in prison, you came to visit me.’

37 “Then the godly people will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and give you food? When did we see you thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you with no place to stay and welcome you into our home? When did we see you without clothes and give you something to wear? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and care for you?’

40 “Then the king will answer, ‘The truth is, anything you did for any of my people here, you also did for me.” Matthew 25:34-40 ERV

It’s important that we realize our lives have purpose and meaning. It may not be that we become famous and the world knows our name and our accomplishments. It is important, however, that they know our kindness and compassion. Jesus said that the world will know we are his disciples because of our love. If you need motivation for loving others take a look at this last verse.

“Be kind and loving to each other. Forgive each other the same as God forgave you through Christ.” Ephesians 4:32 ERV

Kindness is a gift that you can give freely to everyone you meet but it isn’t cheap.

Posted on

Thankful that His Love Has No End

I woke up this morning and lay in bed for a while thinking – my mind filled with beautiful thoughts; a Montana sunrise, an Arizona sunset, snow sparkling on the branches of a fir tree, a baby’s smile, my husband’s blue eyes, a cup of steaming hot coffee, a plate full of rolled tacos with guacamole. Seeing our daughter as she tried on her wedding gown, our oldest daughter and I as we sat in the middle of a mountain stream in our lawn chairs, our son at the helm of his boat, friends gathered on the patio of our home for good bar-b-q; yes, it was quite a way to wake up and start the day!

But then I asked, “Father, all of these images that I see can be described but how do I describe your love?” For the most part, I’m pretty good with words but when I try to describe God’s love I am seriously at a disadvantage. However, this morning I heard the answer to my question and it was “You just did!”

You see, every good and perfect gift comes down from the Father and with Him there is no variable or shadow of turning. Which basically means – every good thing that we enjoy comes as an outward expression of God’s love; that’s the way He’s always been and that’s the way He’ll always be! So when I’m thinking on these things that I can describe, I’m describing the Father’s love. Because in every circumstances and situation that I live, I can sense the love of God and know that He is there because God is LOVE!

“In the past God spoke to our people through the prophets. He spoke to them many times and in many different ways. 2 And now in these last days, God has spoken to us again through his Son. He made the whole world through his Son. And he has chosen his Son to have all things. 3 The Son shows the glory of God. He is a perfect copy of God’s nature, and he holds everything together by his powerful command. The Son made people clean from their sins. Then he sat down at the right side of God, the Great One in heaven.” Hebrews 1:1-3

Jesus’ purpose in coming to earth was to bring God’s love to each and every one of us. He brought the message that God isn’t mad at us and that God desires to have relationship with us – not some experience that is staunch and unfeeling or condemning and angry – but a real, where-the-rubber-meets-the-road, every day, I’m always here type of relationship.

“Love is never happy when others do wrong, but it is always happy with the truth. 7 Love never gives up on people. It never stops trusting, never loses hope, and never quits. 8 Love will never end.” I Corinthians 13:6-8 ERV

I’m not saying that everything will be perfect in our lives because our lives aren’t perfect! But I do know that in the imperfect, trying, challenging, frustrating, ugly times of our lives that God is always there and He doesn’t abandon us! He’s always there to offer comfort, help, wisdom, peace and joy even in the midst of our storms. God is love! Jesus brought comfort to those who had lost family and friends to death, He brought compassion to the prostitute, food to the hungry, wine to the wedding, sanity to the demonic and love and forgiveness to all.

“You know about Jesus from Nazareth. God made him the Messiah by giving him the Holy Spirit and power. Jesus went everywhere doing good for people. He healed those who were ruled by the devil, showing that God was with him.” Acts 10:38

So what words can I use to describe God’s love?! This love can’t really be described but it can be experienced. I will leave you with the words of the Apostle Paul:

“I pray that Christ will live in your hearts because of your faith. I pray that your life will be strong in love and be built on love. 18 And I pray that you and all God’s holy people will have the power to understand the greatness of Christ’s love—how wide, how long, how high, and how deep that love is. 19 Christ’s love is greater than anyone can ever know, but I pray that you will be able to know that love. Then you can be filled with everything God has for you. 20 With God’s power working in us, he can do much, much more than anything we can ask or think of.” Ephesians 3:17-20

Yes, I am thankful that God’s love has no end!

Posted on

Grateful for Grace

Heard an old Ray Stevens song on the radio, God’s Gonna Git Ya for That.

Lots of folks have the impression that God is waiting in heaven to throw down thunder bolts when we screw up – so glad that’s not true or we’d all be toast!

Jesus own words say it best “For the Son of man is not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them.” Luke 9:56

So much of religion has preached a message of judgment and condemnation. But true relationship with the Lord focused on His unconditional love and goodness. God sent us His most precious gift, His Son. The reason Jesus came was so to keep us from death and judgment, not give us over to condemnation.

“If you belong to Christ Jesus, you won’t be punished. 2 The Holy Spirit will give you life that comes from Christ Jesus and will set you free from sin and death. 3 The Law of Moses cannot do this, because our selfish desires make the Law weak. But God set you free when he sent his own Son to be like us sinners and to be a sacrifice for our sin. God used Christ’s body to condemn sin.” Romans 8:1-3 CEV

Justice requires that a price be paid for our sin but GRACE paid the price for us.

“I mean that you have been saved by grace because you believed. You did not save yourselves; it was a gift from God. 9 You are not saved by the things you have done, so there is nothing to boast about. 10 God has made us what we are. In Christ Jesus, God made us new people so that we would spend our lives doing the good things he had already planned for us to do.” Ephesians 2:8-10 ERV

Imagine for a moment that God’s love is a two-sided coin. On one side is mercy; mercy is not getting the punishment we deserve. Like a man who throws himself on the mercy of the court – begging the judge for a lighter sentence. Now on the other side of the coin is grace; grace is receiving something wonderful that we don’t deserve. Go back to our man begging for mercy, if he received a full pardon because someone else paid his penalty that would be grace.

That’s exactly what Jesus did for us. Yes, Grace – Amazing Grace!

So now it’s time to express our thankfulness for the grace that God has given us in Jesus.

These are Jesus words: “A thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy. But I came to give life—life that is full and good.” John 10:10 ERV

Thank God for His grace and mercy. Take time to thank Him for the good in your life today and for His protection from the evil one!

Posted on

Are You Grounded?

Are you grounded? If I asked that question of a teenager, I might get an answer of “not currently”.

Being grounded can have several different connotations. To a pilot it means they can’t fly; to a kid it means they can’t hang out with their friends; to a horticulturalist it means their plants have a good root base and to an electrician it means the wires are safe.

The basis is the same. Grounded: rooted attached, secured, stabilized, immovable.

Yesterday a friend told me that my morning devotions were peaceful and got her grounded for the day. That stuck with me!

Lord, I want to be grounded. I don’t want to fly off if conditions aren’t safe. I don’t want to be hanging out with people that can cause me harm and I certainly don’t want to be touching something that could be shocking.

“16 I ask the Father with his great glory to give you the power to be strong in your spirits. He will give you that strength through his Spirit. 17 I pray that Christ will live in your hearts because of your faith. I pray that your life will be strong in love and be built (GROUNDED) on love. 18 And I pray that you and all God’s holy people will have the power to understand the greatness of Christ’s love—how wide, how long, how high, and how deep that love is.” Ephesians 3:16-18 ERV

I want my life to be like that of a tree that’s grounded. The roots run deep keeping it stable during the high winds and strong storms.

“Great blessings belong to those who don’t listen to evil advice, who don’t live like sinners, and who don’t join those who make fun of God.
2. Instead, they love the Lord’s teachings and think about them day and night.3 So they grow strong, like a tree planted by a stream— a tree that produces fruit when it should and has leaves that never fall. Everything they do is successful.” Psalm 1: 1-3 ERV
So I’ll ask again…are you grounded? I hope so.

Posted on

Make Every Thought Count

I think I told you once that as a child I was plagued with bad dreams. Well, I had a bad dream last night however, now there is a difference. What once were dreams filled with monsters and boogie men have now turned to situations and circumstances that would seek to destroy my peace and rob me of the ones I love. They seem more real and at times harder to deal with BUT…the exciting part is that now I use God’s Word in my dreams to dispel any sense of fear and danger!

In fact, I’ve really started using these night time situations to gauge my stand in the Word. Jesus said to his disciples, “In this world you will have tribulation, but we of good cheer I have overcome the world”. My dreams let me see how I would react to a situation – do I run and hide and let fear overtake me or do I stand firm, established on God’s word and remain at peace?

In II Timothy 1:7 we have a promise that all of us can hold on too.

“The Spirit God gave us does not make us afraid. His Spirit is a source of power and love and self-control.” II Timothy 1:7 ERV

King David said in Psalm 4:8
“When I go to bed, I sleep in peace, because, Lord, you keep me safe.” ERV

If God isn’t the one who sends fear but power and we are confident that the Lord keeps us safe then we can sleep in peace. So what to do with those bad dreams that creep in –

“For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. 4 For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, 5 casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ,” II Corinthians 3:3-5 NKJV

Use your dreams as spiritual training ground. Make them line up with God’s word! The spirit man is always awake and alert – although the physical man needs rest the spirit of man is ready to fight if we keep him energized with God’s Word.

Take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ. Every thought – not just the waking thoughts but every thought. Let the Word of God bring you to victory – speak it out with your mouth, let it control your heart and your actions.

The Apostle Paul says that we are to stand in the full armor of God in Ephesians 6. Part of the armor is the helmet of salvation – the helmet protects the head, the head is where these disobedient thoughts come from. So the helmet of salvation protects our minds from thoughts that don’t line up with God’s word. Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God – the way we get saved is by hearing God’s word, the way we have our mind renewed is by hearing God’s word.

“Accept God’s salvation as your helmet. And take the sword of the Spirit—that sword is the teaching of God. 18 Pray in the Spirit at all times. Pray with all kinds of prayers, and ask for everything you need. To do this you must always be ready. Never give up. Always pray for all of God’s people.” Ephesians 6:17-18 ERV

So whether you’re awake or asleep live in a constant state of prayer – prayer is communicating with the Father. Talk to Him about the things in your life and about things that are in the lives of those you love and then things that are going on around the world with people you don’t know.

Take every thought captive as you do fear will be gone and you will be filled with love, power and a sound mind.

Posted on

A Gift Called Wisdom

We have a real need in our world today for wisdom – God inspired, God given wisdom! We don’t need intellect or education – that’s knowledge. Knowledge without wisdom is futile.

Good old common sense, isn’t so common anymore.

I was doing a search on wisdom and what I found was really cool. Really it was! Wisdom, the word, is first used in Exodus chapters 28 – 36 when the Lord showed Moses how to make the Tabernacle. It talks about all the workers who were assigned the tasks …of building. It says that they were all filled with a spirit of wisdom.

“I have chosen Bezalel from the Judah tribe to make the sacred tent and its furnishings. 3-5 Not only have I filled him with my Spirit, but I have given him wisdom and made him a skilled craftsman who can create objects of art with gold, silver, bronze, stone, and wood.” Exodus 31:2-4

Then it goes on to show that Joshua was filled with wisdom and Solomon had wisdom. Solomon said wisdom was of more value than gold and we should “pursue” it!

Wisdom brings understanding; understanding of God’s ways and the blessings He has given to us as His own children.

“So I never stop being grateful for you, as I mention you in my prayers. 17 I ask the glorious Father and God of our Lord Jesus Christ to give you his Spirit. The Spirit will make you wise and let you understand what it means to know God. 18 My prayer is that light will flood your hearts and that you will understand the hope that was given to you when God chose you. Then you will discover the glorious blessings that will be yours together with all of God’s people.” Ephesians 1:16-18

God has promised to give wisdom to anyone who asks – so as you are looking at your day, your occupation, your marriage, your kids… Let God fill you with His wisdom and it will definitely make a much more favorable outcome.

“If any of you need wisdom, you should ask God, and it will be given to you. God is generous and won’t correct you for asking. 6 But when you ask for something, you must have faith and not doubt. Anyone who doubts is like an ocean wave tossed around in a storm.” James 1:5-6

If you need wisdom today – ask and you will receive it.

Posted on

The busier I go…

There was an old saying I remember from growing up – The busier I go, the behinder I get!

So many times we times we get wrapped up in doing that we lose traction and fall behind in what’s important. Does that happen to any of you?

Work, work, work. No time for rest – there’s always another project, always another errand, always another “to do” that needs to be crossed off the list. Sound familiar? We all fall into that trap – overdoing. It’s time to unplug, even for a few hours. Give yourself permission to rest or relax – it’s not God’s plan to have every minute filled with activity. I’m not advocating laziness either, there is a balance!

This same frantic compulsion to work can also carry over into our spiritual lives. We think that we have to being “doing” things for God so that He will be pleased with us. And that mindset is more destructive to us than the physical labor that we put in.

“Christ died for us when we were unable to help ourselves. We were living against God, but at just the right time Christ died for us. 7 Very few people will die to save the life of someone else, even if it is for a good person. Someone might be willing to die for an especially good person. 8 But Christ died for us while we were still sinners, and by this God showed how much he loves us.” Romans 5:6-8 ERV

Before we could do or even had a desire to do anything for God, Christ died for us. His unconditional love made provision for us when we were unable to do anything to save ourselves. And His love is still unconditional toward us once we accept Him as our Saviour.

If you are living a life of “doing” things for God to earn His favor, you don’t understand grace. There is nothing you can do to get God to love you more and there is nothing you can do that would cause God to love you less. His love comes to us by GRACE! So does that mean you just go out and do whatever you want because you know that God will always love you – to coin a phrase from the Apostle Paul, God forbid!

Our lives should reflect the gratitude and love we feel for the great sacrifice that Jesus made on our behalf but it shouldn’t be done trying to earn it. There is nothing that we can do to earn God’s love.

“But God is rich in mercy, and he loved us very much. 5 We were spiritually dead because of all we had done against him. But he gave us new life together with Christ. (You have been saved by God’s grace.) 6 Yes, it is because we are a part of Christ Jesus that God raised us from death and seated us together with him in the heavenly places. 7 God did this so that his kindness to us who belong to Christ Jesus would clearly show for all time to come the amazing richness of his grace.
8 I mean that you have been saved by grace because you believed. You did not save yourselves; it was a gift from God. 9 You are not saved by the things you have done, so there is nothing to boast about. 10 God has made us what we are. In Christ Jesus, God made us new people so that we would spend our lives doing the good things he had already planned for us to do.” Ephesians 2:4-10 ERV

So take a break today…stop working to be good enough for God. Our efforts will never accomplish that but instead take time to rest and enjoy God’s grace and let love flow from your heart to His!

Privacy Policy Proudly powered by WordPress