WEEKLY DEVOTION

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ….” Ephesians 1:3 (Read v. 1-14)

What has God done for our salvation? Listen to the Word of God recorded in St. Paul’s letter to the church in Ephesus: He “chose us in Him before the foundation of the world”; He “predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace”; “He made us accepted in the Beloved”; “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace”; He “made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself, that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth-in Him”; “In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory”; “In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is theguarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.”

What this means to you as a believer is that God loved and chose you to be His child before the foundations of the world and predestined you to be saved eternally. In time, He sent His Son to shed His blood and bear upon the cross the just punishment for your sins. He also caused you to hear His life-giving Word and brought you to trust in His mercy for Christ’s sake. He gave You His Holy Spirit as a surety that He will keep His Word and raise you up on the Last Day to life everlasting.

How great is His love and mercy toward each of us, and He continues His work to create and sustain faith in your hearts that you might have life everlasting in Christ Jesus!

O gracious and merciful Father, in Your love and mercy, You set Your eye upon us and graciously chose us to be your own. You gave Your only-begotten Son to redeem us, and You called us to faith and keep us that we might be with You forever in heaven.We bless and praise Your name for Your grace to us in Christ Jesus.

Amen.

Devotion by Randy Moll. [Scripture taken from the New King James Version.

Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.]

News, Pages 8 on 06/29/2011