09/01               Psalm 119:1-8

1 Joyful are people of integrity, who follow the instructions of the LORD.  2 Joyful are those who obey his laws and search for him with all their hearts. 3 They do not compromise with evil, and they walk only in his paths. 4 You have charged us to keep your commandments carefully. 5 Oh, that my actions would consistently reflect your decrees! 6 Then I will not be ashamed when I compare my life with your commands. 7 As I learn your righteous regulations, I will thank you by living as I should! 8 I will obey your decrees. Please don’t give up on me! 

INSTRUCTIONS

The Bible is God’s instruction book for living an abundant life.  Follow the Instruction Manual!  Life works better that way.  Follow the Lord. 

08/31          Ephesians 2:21-22 

We are carefully joined together in him, becoming a holy temple for the Lord. 22Through him you Gentiles are also being made part of this dwelling where God lives by his Spirit.

NEW

We are made new in Christ. He gives us a new heart and a new spirit.  In Him we have total access to the Father.  Jesus is at work in our life changing us into this new creature that we have become.  New In Jesus. New in the Lord.  We are no longer what we were, dead in our trespasses and sin but are new Creatures in Christ. 

08/30          Ephesians 2:20 

Together, we are his house, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. And the cornerstone is Christ Jesus himself.

BELONG

Christ brings us into the Family of God, His kingdom, and we belong to Him.  He is our Father and Christ Jesus is our elder brother.  The Holy Spirit convicts us of our sin and quickens us to the Word of God which is a light unto our feet so that we will walk with Jesus.  Jesus teaches us how to live and lives in us.  He is Lord. 

08/29          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. 

MEMBERS

We belong to God, we are members of His family.  He rejoices in giving us His strength.  We are loved and valued.

08/28          Ephesians 2:18 

Now all of us can come to the Father through the same Holy Spirit because of what Christ has done for us. 

EQUAL

Each one of us has equal access to the Father through Jesus Christ.  God has only one Son and none of us are favorites.  The only way to the Father is through Jesus Christ. 

08/27          Ephesians 2:17 

He brought this Good News of peace to you Gentiles who were far away from him, and peace to the Jews who were near. 

HE

Jesus in His flesh brought the Good News straight from the Father to you.  He made the two, Jew and Gentile, into one and brought them both into the Kingdom of God.  This is an amazing accomplishment.  The prophets through the ages had been speaking about this.  All of Creation pointed toward this.  The Messiah had come and He brought us peace with God. 

08/26          Ephesians 2:16 

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. 

CROSS

The ground is level at the foot of the Cross and each one of us come into the kingdom the same way-by faith. Jesus paid the price for our new life by His shed blood.  He is our life and is the life giver for us, in Him we live and move and breathe. Jesus gives us life and light for living. 

08/25          Ephesians 2:15 

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. 

YOURS

Lord I am yours.  I belong to you-my mind, my heart and my soul.  I want to know you better-help me to pray. I want to be useful-guide my hands and feet.  Help me as I read your Word-make it a light for my dark path.  I need you Lord.  I need you. 

08/24          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. 

UNITED

We are united in Christ. No longer an outsider, we are in the family of God in Christ.  We are now one in the Family of God.  Life in Christ is real life. 

Lord today help me to know you better.  Equip me to walk in the light and be a light for the lost.  I can do nothing without you Lord.  Help me to be useable and useful. 

08/23          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.

BOUGHT

We are bought with a price-the shed blood of Jesus Christ.  His sacrifice brought us into the Family of God.  He is our Lord and Savior.  He walks with us and talks with us and guides us in the way we should go.  In Christ we have everything we need to lead a victorious daily life.  Jesus is Lord.