Worthy Of The Call

“As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received.”  - Ephesians 4:1
                       

Lord, 

Teach Your people to accept the call You have for them.  Teach us to say yes to You.  May we live lives worthy of the call.

Amen

The Same Power!

 “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.  I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which He has called you, the riches of His glorious inheritance in His holy people, and His incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength He exerted when He raised Christ from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come.  And God placed all things under His feet and appointed Him to be head over everything for the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills everything in every way.”  - Ephesians 1:17-23

Wow!  The same power that raises Christ from the dead and seated Him as the right hand of God has been given to all who believe!  What an incredible gift, what a great responsibility we have been given.

Lord,

Teach us to live in the power that You have given us.  Teach us to use the full potential of the power that is living inside of us in Your spirit.  Teach us to pray using this power and to live in it.  Teach us to never back down from the strongholds of the Devil, but to confront them and overpower them with the “incomparable great power” living in us.

Amen

May This Be True For All Generations

“For He chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight.”  - Ephesians 1:4

From the mouth of David:

“Who am I, Sovereign LORD, and what is my family, that You have brought me this far? And as if this were not enough in Your sight, Sovereign LORD, You have also spoken about the future of the house of Your servant—and this decree, Sovereign LORD, is for a mere human! What more can David say to You? For You know Your servant, Sovereign LORD.  For the sake of Your word and according to Your will, You have done this great thing and made it known to Your servant. How great You are, Sovereign LORD! There is no one like You, and there is no God but You, as we have heard with our own ears. And who is like Your people Israel—the one nation on earth that God went out to redeem as a people for Himself, and to make a name for Himself, and to perform great and awesome wonders by driving out nations and their gods from before Your people, whom You redeemed from Egypt? You have established Your people Israel as Your very own forever, and You, LORD, have become their God. And now, LORD God, keep forever the promise You have made concerning Your servant and his house. Do as You promised, so that Your name will be great forever. Then people will say, ‘The LORD Almighty is God over Israel!’ And the house of your servant David will be established in Your sight. LORD Almighty, God of Israel, you have revealed this to your servant, saying, ‘I will build a house for you.’ So Your servant has found courage to pray this prayer to You. Sovereign LORD, You are God! Your covenant is trustworthy, and You have promised these good things to your servant. Now be pleased to bless the house of Your servant, that it may continue forever in Your sight; for You, Sovereign LORD, have spoken, and with Your blessing the house of Your servant will be blessed forever.”   (2 Samuel 7:18-29)

A New Creation

“Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything; what counts is the new creation.”  - Galatians 6:15

Thank You Lord for the freedom we have in You.  Thank You for allowing us to be made new.  Lord, may I become more and more like You every day.

Amen

Grace, Sweet Grace

“You who are trying to be justified by the law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace.”  - Galatians 5:4

Here is the source of our freedom in Christ.  Once again all I can say is:

Thank You Jesus.

Freedom!

“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.”  - Galatians 5:1  

Contrary to any religion, with Christ there is freedom!  No impossible requirements to meet, no list of do’s and don’ts, just pure, simple freedom.  

Thank You Jesus!

Give Us A Righteous Zeal

Those people are zealous to win you over, but for no good. What they want is to alienate you from us, so that you may have zeal for them.”  - Galatians 4:17

Lord,

Help us to be zealous for You.  Help us to have the same kind of zeal to make Your name great as the people of this world have to make their names great.  Teach us to have zeal for You and Your kingdom.  Teach us to “seek first His kingdom and His righteousness” (Matthew 6:33).

Amen

Know Me Lord

 “But now that you know God—or rather are known by God—how is it that you are turning back to those weak and miserable forces? Do you wish to be enslaved by them all over again?”  - Galatians 4:9

I just found it interesting that Paul chose to highlight the difference between us knowing God and Him knowing us.  I didn’t look into what this verse is about or why it is stated how it is.  It just made me stop and think about the truth to the words.  Whether or not we allow God to “know” us, He is continually making Himself known (whether we choose to acknowledge it or not); on the other hand although God is all knowing it is our decision as to allow Him into our lives or to live on our own.  I think that is what this verse is getting at.  No matter what God is God and He has given us Himself (through His creation, word, and spirit), however it is our choice whether or not we give ourselves back to Him.  It reminds me of Matthew 7:21-23 when Jesus says:

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.  Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name and in Your name drive out demons and in Your name perform many miracles?’  Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’”

This doesn’t mean God did not “know,” it simply means we never let God in.  Once again this places the responsibility on us and not God.  Which is how it should be.

Thank You Lord for the reminder to give myself to You.  For I know that if I am not conscientious of dying to myself and living for You, I won’t die to myself and live for You.  As Wed Neal states “If you are not consciously thinking His thoughts, you are not thinking His thoughts.”  Lord help me to consciously think Your thoughts, and willingly live for You.

Amen

Christ Became A Curse, We Received His Blessing

“Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: ‘All nations will be blessed through you.’ So those who rely on faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith…. Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: ‘Cursed is everyone who is hung on a pole.’ He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.”  - Galatians 3:8-9, 13-14

Once again the idea of Christ’s blessing appears in Scripture.  I couldn’t help once again notice that we are blessed to be a blessing. 

I also find it interesting that the gospel was said to be foretold with God’s blessing to Abraham when God said “All nations will be blessed through you.”  This reiterates the fact that the gospel must me shared to “all nations.”  The gospel isn’t simply the story of Christ’s life, death and resurrection.  But it is this story told to “all nations,” inspiring all nations and cultures to live in faith.  What a great process to be a part of; bringing the gospel of Christ to all nations so that they can have faith and be blessed with the very Spirit of God!

Dear Lord,

Let us hold to the vision You have for the future of Your name.  Let us announce the gospel to “all nations” so that You may receive the honor due Your name, and so that all peoples can enjoy the blessing that comes with knowing You.

Amen