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. 

08/22          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. 

PARTNER

We partner together with the Lord Jesus Christ as His hands and feet in this world.  We are to love one another and do for others what we would want them to do for us.  Jesus is Lord and we serve a risen Savior.  He is alive in each one of us. 

08/21          Ephesians 2:8 

God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. 

GIFT

Thank you Lord for the free gift of salvation-new life in Jesus Christ.  It is by your grace that I live and by your grace that I experience joy and peace.  Thank you Father for loving me, forgiving me and growing me up in the spiritual realm. 

08/20          Ephesians 2:7 

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. 

VALUE

God gives us value.  We are part of His family and He can point to us as examples of the exercise of His incredible wealth.  We belong to Him-bought with a price.  He is our Father.

08/19          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. 

NOW

Now in Christ we have been resurrected from the dead and are alive in the family of God.  The moment we ask Christ to forgive us of our sin and to save us we are given new life.  It is a reality guaranteed by Jesus. 

08/18          Ephesians 2:4-5
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!)

GIFT

His gift to us is life! Life like His life, eternal. Thank you Lord.  We desperately need life and so often don’t even realize that we do.  When we are lost everything we do is selfish.  We blind and cannot see.  We dead in our sin.  But you have offered us the gift of life.  Thank Lord.  Thank you. 

08/17          Ephesians 2:3 

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. 

LOST

All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.  In our natural state we are lost.  Thank you, Lord, for offering us a relationship with you through Jesus Christ. It is a grace gift giving us what we need and cannot earn. 

08/16          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. 

OBEY

He has called us to obey Him. His Word.  His Son. 

Father help us to come to grips with our sin.  We need cleansed hearts and cleansed hands so that we can move forward in our service to you. We know that doing the right things takes surrender and focus.  Help us meditate on your Word and You.  We are called to obey and it takes Jesus to guide us every day. 

08/15          Ephesians 1:23 

And the church is his body; it is made full and complete by Christ, who fills all things everywhere with himself.

CONFIDENT

You can be confident that your church is the place to be.  You can know this because it is the body of Christ and Jesus is there. Lord help us to be contributing members of our church.  Guide us to do what we do best and to be a helper.  Lord we want to grow in Christ likeness and the church is the best place for us to accomplish constant growth.  Help our leaders and help us to be in the right place.