Part of our identity as believers of Jesus Christ is good works. Doing good works on our own is exhausting and frankly, not possible for long. God gives us the means to “abound in every good work.” That is only possible through His grace. As I study God’s Word and seek to live it, I learn more about how God’s grace works. This is a life long pursuit.
Dear Heavenly Father, please help me to focus on Your grace. I want to live the sufficiency that brings. Thank You for providing.
Our anxieties are often a part of our identity. We can feel humiliated by them. However, 1 Peter 5:6-7 tells us that we need to “humble ourselves” and “cast our anxieties on God”. According to Thomas Constable, Peter is encouraging the believers to submit to God’s hand in their suffering. God uses difficulties to perfect us.
In the United States, we don’t experience suffering the way New Testament believers did under Nero. Stories of what Nero did to Christians are terrible. While we don’t face extreme persecution, we still have troubles in life. This passage applies to us today just as much as in Peter’s day.
Dear Heavenly Father, thank You that we can cast our anxieties on You. We need Your care in trials. Please help us to humble ourselves under Your power until “the proper time.” We need You now.
I fear as believers we sometimes assume we are walking in wisdom when we are not. The apostle Paul reminded the Christians in Ephesus to walk as wise and to use time with that same wisdom. Clearly, we all need to hear it.
The best source of wisdom is God’s Word. We need to continue to read and study the Bible to make sure we are “making the best use of the time”. Please, friends, don’t assume you are walking in wisdom. Make sure by reading and studying the Bible, spending time in prayer and with believers who will encourage your spiritual growth.
Dear Heavenly Father, please guide me towards wisdom. Please help me to put the continued effort towards becoming like Your Son. Please direct my path to believers who can help me and whom I can help. I want more of You.
Ephesians 1 is loaded with expressions of God’s generosity. I like verse 18 – as we follow what Ephesians 1 has been talking about we will have our “hearts enlightened”. The “what” is the hope and riches that God promises. I think sometimes we have the wrong kind of hope and the wrong kind of riches in mind. God is more interested in the eternal and we end up getting stuck in the temporal. My desire is to continue studying Scripture to learn about the “whats” in Ephesians 1:18. At least as much as is possible in this life. I expect to learn by leaps and bounds in the next life.
Dear Heavenly Father, thank You for the many blessings I can learn about from Your Word. Please guide me as I learn the “what” You tell us about in this verse. Help me to share this with others.
Hello Friends, welcome to 2023 (tomorrow). Each year I pick a theme for my blog. 2022 was wisdom/fear of God. I spent much of the year in Proverbs. For 2023 I want to focus on a Biblical self-image. We live in a society that has an “it’s all about me” attitude. We have added pressure on ourselves to measure up to an impossible and very selfish standard. The Bible is the only place for us to gain freedom from this prison.
Most of my audience are people who claim a relationship with God based on the gospel (good news) of Jesus death, burial, and resurrection. We need to make sure our life focus is based in the Bible. I hope to help with that in my weekly posts.
Dear Heavenly Father, please guide me to share the truth of who we are in Christ. Please let my words direct people to You. Thank You for all You will do in the coming year.
I have noticed how easy it is to complain. I think that has always been an issue, but it has been even more prevalent in the last two and half years. I know I should thank and praise the Lord more than I do, but sometimes it feels awkward. I want to work on changing that.
There is great wisdom in praising and thanking God. He has given so many good gifts. If you don’t know what they are, read the Bible.
Dear Heavenly Father, I praise You for Who You are and the many wonderful things You have done. Thank You for the gift of salvation, the ministry of the Holy Spirit, and Your Word that gives so much insight for life.
We talk a lot about hope. We hope things will go well. We have hope for a better future. Earthly hope is more of a wish. There is no guarantee. Heavenly hope is certain. For those who have trusted in Jesus, we know with absolute certainty that we will spend a glorious eternity with God. When I spend more of my time thinking about eternity – the sure hope I have in Christ – the more joy I find. If I think about my friends who know Christ and the future we will have together in heaven, I smile a whole lot more. If I focus on the here and now, I am more likely to get bogged down in negative emotions. While we need negative emotions to be honest about living in a sin cursed earth, we cannot let them dictate our outlook. This is a balance I will fight for my entire life.
The first step towards eternal hope is following God’s way by trusting in Jesus Christ to save us from our sins. Then we need to search Scripture to learn God’s way. I like the strength God’s way gives.
Dear Heavenly Father, there is so much need for true Biblical hope. Thank you for providing the way to find the joy that hope brings. Please help me to continue to seek Your way. I need You every day.
17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him, 18 having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which He has called you, what are the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints, 19 and what is the immeasurable greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His great might 20 that He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places,
Ephesians 1:17-20
I was pleasantly surprised when I found a New Testament passage that spoke of wisdom and referred to the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Just in time for Easter. I am thankful for the way God brings passages from His Word for encouragement and help. These verses were a part of the Wednesday night Bible study I attend. I knew this would fit my blog for the day before Easter.
Here is my shortened version of Ephesians 1:17-20: Wisdom comes from knowing God. Those of us who have trusted in Christ have hope. God’s power works in us – the same power that raised Christ from the dead.
Wow.
God is so good.
Dear Heavenly Father, thank You for the filled treasure chest of thought in this passage. Thank You for providing wisdom, hope, and power for those who call on You. Thank You for Christ dying on the cross to save those who trust in Him.
Pleading in Prayer 