A Verse, A Comment, A Prayer, A Blessing

A Verse Ephesians 1:17 I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. A Comment In verse 17, we find Paul asking God for the Holy Spirit to be active in the lives of the members of the church in Ephesus to grant wisdom and revelation according to His nature. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit o...

A Verse Ephesians 1:15-16 For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all God’s people, I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. A Comment Paul thanks God for the faith that the Ephesians have in Christ and the love that they have demonstrated to other believers, the saints of Christ. As the planter of the church in Ephes...

A Verse Ephesians 1:1-14 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God,  To God’s holy people in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus: 2 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. 4 For he chose us in him before the creatio...

A Verse Ephesians 1:13-14 And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory. A Comment The Holy Spirit has marked believers as those who...

A Verse Ephesians 1:11-12 In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. A Comment What does it mean to have obtained an inheritance? As adopted children into the family, all the blessings that belong to us...

A Verse Ephesians 1:7-10 7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace 8 that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding, 9 he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, 10 to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all thin...

A Verse Ephesians 1:7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace , A Comment Every bit of our redemption is rooted in God’s abundant grace, not our heritage, not our works, not our human efforts. God has lavished His grace upon us in Christ in order that we might be set free from slavery to sin and live in righteousness by fai...

A Verse Ephesians 1:7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace A Comment What does it mean to be redeemed? Well, this language of redemption is deeply rooted in Paul’s understanding of the Exodus event from the Old Testament. Exodus 6:6 speaks of how God would redeem the people of Israel from their slavery through his mighty...

A Verse Ephesians 1:7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace A Comment I’ll never forget hearing the story of a so-called pastor in my hometown who instructed his music director to “stop singing songs about the blood of Jesus.” According to this so-called pastor, “songs about the blood of Jesus” made people uncomfortable....

A Verse Ephesians 1:6 To the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. A Comment God has chosen us so that we might rejoice in His grace! That we might make His grace famous! That we might not boast in our goodness, but in His goodness! That we might bless God for having been chosen in Christ. Would you take a moment this morning to consider how you might make...

A Verse Ephesians 1:5 In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will A Comment We, who were by nature, children of wrath as we will see in more detail in Ephesians 2, we were chosen, predestined, that is, pre-determined to adoption to Himself, as sons entitled to the full blessings and rights of a child of God. We who were once “not...

A Verse Ephesians 1:4 For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. A Comment Believers have been chosen in Christ before the creation of the world that they might be holy and blameless in God’s sight. This divine action of God’s choice is directed toward the purpose of our holiness. His choice was not based upon God thinking or believing that we we...

A Verse John 13:34 "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another" A Comment On the night before He would taste death for everyone, Jesus was washing the feet of His disciples. His work would become a paradigm for His disciples’ work. Just as He had loved, they too were to love one another. As those who continue to follow Jes...

A Verse Mark 12:41-44 Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a few cents. Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the...

A Verse Luke 19:46 “My house will be ‘a house of prayer’; but you have made it a ‘den of robbers.’” A Comment On the Monday following His triumphal entry into Jerusalem, Jesus “entered the temple courts and began to drive out those who were selling.” It is most likely that Jesus performed this act in what is called the Court of Gentiles, which is the outer court of the temple. What Jesus found whe...

A Verse Ephesians 1:3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ . A Comment Our enjoyment of God’s blessings does not depend on our performance. Every spiritual blessing that we receive, we receive as those united with Christ. If there was a dominant theme in Paul’s theology, it would be the concept o...

A Verse Ephesians 1:3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. A Comment The reason for Paul’s call to blessing is because God has blessed us in Christ. We bless the one who has blessed us. But Paul realizes that we might not always recall the blessings that are ours in Christ. We might forget God’s...

A Verse Ephesians 1:3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.  A Comment God has blessed us in Christ. In Christ, we behold and enjoy blessings that go beyond the constraints of this present world. As one theologian puts it, “While we may be overwhelmed and waylaid by what is mundane or worse, in C...

A Verse Ephesians 1:3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. A Comment Our God is worthy of our praise. He is the blessed God over all who blesses us with every spiritual blessing in Christ. When we ponder His blessings toward us, we ought to be stirred to worship Him. As we will see throughout th...

A Verse Ephesians 1:2 Grace and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ . A Comment Grace and peace come to us from God our Father through the Lord Jesus Christ. We know this grace and peace because, in Christ, we have become God’s children. Jesus, because His life, death, burial, resurrection, and ascension, has been declared Lord over all and the Christ, the anointed One, who fulfill...

A Verse Ephesians 1:2 Grace and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. A Comment God our Father. We tend to pass over such phrases because they are familiar to us, but when we do so, we miss a depth of riches. God our Father loves and cares for us. He sustains us. He protects us. We are His children. Yet, He was Father before us, for all eternity, in the perfect fellowship of the Tri...

A Verse Ephesians 1:2 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. A Comment Our world is starving for grace and peace. As Paul reminded the church in Ephesus, grace and peace come from God. If you are looking for grace and peace this morning, then look to God. He is the only true and lasting source of such blessings. A Prayer O’ God, in Your mercy, pour Your grace and pea...

A Verse Ephesians 1:1* To God’s holy people in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus: A Comment While we are saints because of our union with Christ, as saints, our lives should be characterized by faithfulness. As one scholar noted, “Saints are those defined and set apart by their life of trust.” As followers of Christ, we are called to trust Him. A Prayer O’ LORD, we believe. Help our unbelief....

A Verse Ephesians 1:2 To God’s holy people in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus: A Comment The NIV translates the Greek word, hagios , as “holy people.” We most often hear this word translated as “saints.” It is vital for Christians to remember that our status as “saints,” as the “holy people of God,” is rooted in our relationship to Christ. We are “saints, holy ones” because we are “in Christ...

A Verse 1 Timothy 4:7 Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives’ tales; rather, train yourself to be godly. A Comment While it would be nice to wake up and realize that we have drifted closer to godliness, that is not how the Christian life works. As the apostle Paul instructed Timothy, there is a place for holy effort, empowered by God’s grace, in the pursuit of godliness. Let us train...