Ephesians 1:3–4 (NASB 95)
3 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, 4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love
Explain / Examine
God the Father is worthy of praise. The Father wants to speak well of us. But to do so, He had to bring the Word down to earth, which was His plan before the earth was even created. He knew that Jesus would come and die for us so that we could stand blameless before Him. His love for us was at the cost of Him dying for our sins on the cross.
How do I apply this to my life?
How am I praising God? How am I receiving spiritual blessings from the heavenly places in Christ? How am I living out my life so that I remember I am blameless before the LORD? Where am I thankful for every good and perfect gift from God? Do I think about the miracle that is my salvation set in motion before God spoke existence into existence? Isn’t that why God is worthy of praise? He gave a way to get back to Him. The greatest gift given to us was His son dying on the cross in my place and then rising from the dead three days later. Yes, we get the Holy Spirit dwelling in us when we believe. He is the one who also gives us gifts to advance the kingdom of God, but we would not have those gifts without Jesus’s resurrection. Through that resurrection and my belief in who He is, I can stand blameless before the creator of existence. How fast do we forget that? How many of us sitting in church on a Sunday morning are missing our calling because we have forgotten that we were called in the first place? How many are missing out because no one is discipling other men? We have 8,760 hours in a year. If I get eight hours of sleep a night, that leaves me with 5,864 waking hours. So, if all I am doing is going to church for two to three hours a week, that is less than three percent of the hours I’m awake and “devoted to God.” What kind of life are living? One that is a blessing and blessed? Can we be spoken of well? Like what? “Oh, I saw Jared at church every Sunday morning and Wednesday night!” Is that the sum of my life known for two days of the week? More! We should be more because of the abundance that is living inside us due to the savior’s sacrifice. But are we? Or is there an abundance of watered-down churchianity all around us? Are we saying that we are attempting to reach people, but in reality, we are still stuck in a cookie-cutter program doomed to fail? Not that some won’t be reached, but where are we headed? Are we trying to have a building full of believers serving with inch-deep knowledge, or do we get some of the people to the deep end of the pool? Do we throw them into the deep end? No! Do they need floaties and a coach to get them out there? Yes! Will some take longer than others? Absolutely! But how do I get them to want to be in the deep end of the pool?
What is my response?
Father, I believe You have a calling and purpose for me: to build leaders, to love and encourage others to make disciples, and to give me a vision of what kind of community I should be in. Am I ready for You to show me the next step? Can I see where we are headed? Marriage ministry and leadership coaching, which I find crazy because I feel unqualified in both of those areas. I am remarried and not shown how to lead. But You are great at both of those things. If I trust and follow You, whatever happens will be successful. Not a success of money, relationships, or any worldly conventions. But success in that the kingdom of God would be advanced even in my failure. Because success is not dependent on me but rather that I only obey You. Am I ready for the next step? Can I listen and obey Your commands and nudging? I have a healthy fear of the unknown. It makes me reliant on You. I pray that I don’t lose focus on what is essential. Jesus!
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