08/12               Ephesians 2:19 

So now you Gentiles are no longer strangers and foreigners. You are citizens along with all of God’s holy people. You are members of God’s family. 

FAMILY

We have access to the Family of God because Jesus paid the price of our sin.  Turn to Him and ask Him to forgive you and you shall be saved.  A free gift that requires our acceptance.  Jesus is Lord. 

08/11               Ephesians 2:17-18 

He brought this Good News of peace to you Gentiles who were far away from him, and peace to the Jews who were near. 18 Now all of us can come to the Father through the same Holy Spirit because of what Christ has done for us. 

GOOD NEWS

Christ died for us.  He knew our need and how desperate our situation was and He stepped down out of Heaven into our world.  He lived a perfect life.  He died for our sin, was buried and resurrected by the power of God and now sits at the right hand of God interceding for us this very moment.  The price He paid permits us to have the gift of salvation for free.  Praise the Lord that we can be saved simply by accepting this free gift. 

08/10               Ephesians 2:15-16 

He did this by ending the system of law with its commandments and regulations. He made peace between Jews and Gentiles by creating in himself one new people from the two groups. 16 Together as one body, Christ reconciled both groups to God by means of his death on the cross, and our hostility toward each other was put to death. 

PEACE

Jesus paid the price to reconcile Jew and Gentile.  He is our peace.  His death, burial and resurrection show His great power and victory and His sacrifice brought us into the Family of God.  Jesus is Lord of all and He is Lord of us.

08/09               Ephesians 2:14 

For Christ himself has brought peace to us. He united Jews and Gentiles into one people when, in his own body on the cross, he broke down the wall of hostility that separated us. 

WE

We are one in Christ.  We have been brought into God’s family.  He is our Father.  We belong to Him.  Praise the Lord.  Thank you Father. 

08/08               Ephesians 2:11-13 

Don’t forget that you Gentiles used to be outsiders. You were called “uncircumcised heathens” by the Jews, who were proud of their circumcision, even though it affected only their bodies and not their hearts. 12 In those days you were living apart from Christ. You were excluded from citizenship among the people of Israel, and you did not know the covenant promises God had made to them. You lived in this world without God and without hope. 13 But now you have been united with Christ Jesus. Once you were far away from God, but now you have been brought near to him through the blood of Christ. 

BLOOD

The blood shed by Jesus Christ paid the price for our sin.  God made a way for us who had no way to become members of His family.  It was a free gift so that no one could boast.  We are new creatures in Christ.  Praise the Lord our God for all of His wondrous blessings. 

08/07               Ephesians 2:9-10 

Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. 10 For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago. 

WE BELONG

We belong to God.  He is our Father.  Not because of our work but as a result of His gift of new life in Christ Jesus.  We are new creatures in Jesus Christ.  He is Lord, He is our Lord, He is Lord of all. 

08/06               Ephesians 2:7-8 

So God can point to us in all future ages as examples of the incredible wealth of his grace and kindness toward us, as shown in all he has done for us who are united with Christ Jesus.  8 God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God.

GIFT

We are blessed and covered by God’s wondrous gift of salvation.  We are members of His family.  Christ Jesus has united with us and we are in Him and part of God’s family and that is a free gift from the Lord God. 

08/05               Ephesians 2:6 

For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus. 

SPIRITUAL

We think the spiritual isn’t as important as the physical.  The physical is passing away.  The spiritual is eternal.  Praise God from whom all blessings flow that He has given us eternal spiritual standing with Himself through Jesus Christ.  God is good.  Thank you Lord. 

08/04               Ephesians 2:3-5 

All of us used to live that way, following the passionate desires and inclinations of our sinful nature.  By our very nature we were subject to God’s anger, just like everyone else. 4 But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, 5 that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!) 

GRACE
Grace is what the Lord gives us in abundance.  It is adequate to meet our needs.  It is more than adequate to fill us with God’s eternal love and direct us to follow Jesus.  His grace gives us what we desperately need and cannot earn-His righteousness. 

08/03               Ephesians 2:1-2 

Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins. 2 You used to live in sin, just like the rest of the world, obeying the devil—the commander of the powers in the unseen world. He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God. 

ONCE

We were like the world once but we professed our faith in Jesus and are now a part of the Family of God.  Jesus is with us.  He will never leave us.  We live and move and breathe in His power and strength.  Now we obey the Lord.  He gives us the strength we need to live each day.