Ephesians 1 Devo

November 6th, 2016

Devotional

“Exploring Ephesians: Lavishing Grace”  - Eph 1: 3-14

Keep the sermon topic and Biblical text preaching all week by following Pastor Michelle on twitter @tinypastor and reading her sermon blog www.revmichelle.blogspot.com

Monday: “Spiritual Blessings” - Eph 1: 3

One of my areas of passion is spiritual formation - digging deeper into our spiritual lives through things such as spiritual disciplines (prayer, fasting, studying God’s Word, etc). I believe that when we are intentional about our spiritual formation, we are blessed spiritually. This is not some sort of trade off  - telling God that you will pray if God will bless you. Instead, it is being intentional because there is rich blessing simply by growing in our relationship with God. The deeper we go in our relationship with God, the more we discover the blessing is the relationship itself - knowing that we have been blessed through Christ on the cross. 

What does spiritual blessings mean in your life?

How have you been blessed because of Christ? 

Prayer: Lord, help us to cling to your spiritual blessings. May we recognize the sacrifice of Christ on the cross and respond with open hearts to receive all that you have for us, this day and always. Amen. 

Tuesday: “Adopted” - Eph 1: 4-6

I have some friends that have adopted children. In addition to birthdays they celebrate a very special day - “Gottcha Day” - the anniversary of when they were picked up for adoption. While adopted children can struggle with questions about why their biological parents could not take care of them, “Gottcha Day” reminds the kids that they were chosen by their adoptive parents. That they were fully welcomed into being part of a family, perhaps not marked by blood, but marked by love.

We are adopted into a family that is marked by both blood and love. For God so loved the world that God gave us Jesus that if we believe in him we can have eternal life. Praise be to God! God welcomed us to be part of this family, even when we were far away, denying God with our hearts and lives that were steeped in sin. We were still welcomed! Let us celebrate our own “Gottcha Day”s, when we came to know Christ and were welcomed into the family of the living God! 

What does it mean to you to be adopted into the family of God? Is this important to you? Why or why not?

How do you celebrate your adoption into God’s family?

Prayer: Lord, thank you for making a way for us when it seemed that there was no way. Thank you for welcoming us into your family when our hearts were so far away from you. Above all, thank you for Jesus, and the love that he showed to us on the cross, which changed our lives forever. Amen. 

Wednesday: “The Gospel in a Sentence” - Eph. 1: 7-8

If I had to describe the Gospel in one sentence, the author of Ephesians did it perfectly. Because of Jesus giving his life for us on the cross, we have been redeemed, forgiven, and have come to know the riches of God’s grace. Amen! 

To be redeemed is to be to be bought. We were bought by the blood of Christ from a debt to sin that we could not pay. Tracing the whole back to the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve, we have strayed from the love of God by the enticing nature of sin. But here is what we aren’t told about sin as we are caught up in it, it comes with a high price. In Paul’s letter to the Romans we find that the wage for sin, or the price of sin, is death. But Christ exchanged his life for ours and bought us back from that death.

We are also forgiven - or given a pardon from the debt that we owe for sin. Christ not only bought us back, but forgave us for all that we have done that lead to his death in the first place! One of the folks in our parish points out that even if you were the only sinner, Christ would still go to the cross to die for you! Christ would still forgive you! That is the love of our gracious God!

How can you share this gospel sentence this week with people in you life?

Prayer: Lord, we can never repay you for all that you have done for us - for the forgiveness and freedom that we find in your love. Help us to share this powerful, life changing message with others so that the can come to know this love in their life as well! Amen.

Thursday: “Inheritance” - Eph 1: 9-11

Have you ever been at a funeral that went really badly? Where family mistreated one another? Where no one seemed to be focusing on honoring the deceased? One of the triggers for such behavior I have found is an unknown inheritance. Where folks are not celebrating the life of their loved on but instead are wondering how much they are going to get.

Inheritances are meant to be expressions of love that are passed on after someones life on earth have ended, but sometimes we can act like the prodigal son - demanding our inheritance instead of seeing it as a gift we cannot earn. 

If you want to see equally bad behavior in churches as what was described above for funerals, find folks who start to demand their inheritance of heaven, listing all of the reasons they have earned their way their instead of remembering it is a good gift given to us from God without our own merit involved. In Christ we have an inheritance - let us celebrate it for the good gift that came at a steep price that it is. 

How do you hold in balance remembering that Christ earned your salvation on the cross with living into the gift that it is? In other words, how do you balance honoring God with your actions and remembering that salvation is a unearned gift?

Prayer: O God, remind us that our inheritance in Christ is not something that we have earned or that we have a right to demand. Help us, instead, to celebrate the precious gift that it is by living our lives as Christ has lived, sharing the good news of your Kingdom with our words and actions. Amen. 

Friday: “Hope on Christ” - Eph 1: 12-14

I think we all can agree hat things in this world are not as they should be. However, I think as Christians we spend far too much time talking about how the world is deteriorating and not nearly enough time talking about the hope that we have in Christ. When we focus on our present circumstances, but forget the hope we have in Christ, it is as if we disregard the gift that Christ freely offered us - thinking that the state of the world is far more important than what Christ has to offer or Christ’s ability to redeem even our troubling times. We need to first set our hope on Christ - praising God for who He is and what He offered us in Christ Jesus.

How do you focus daily on the hope that is found in Christ?

Prayer: God, thank you for offering us hope - hope for a better tomorrow, hope for today. Help us to cling to that hope during rough times and proclaim that hope at all times. Amen. 

Saturday: Preparing for the Word

You are invited to pray over next week’s topic and text - “Exploring Ephesians: Alive in Christ” - Eph 2: 1-10

Family Activity: Give each child a small gift. Talk to them about why we give gifts - as an expression of our love. What gifts has God given us to show his love?