S - For this reason I too, having heard of the faith in the Lord Jesus which exists among you and your love for all the saints, do not cease giving thanks for you, while making mention of you in my prayers
O - Lots of team work going on here! The congregation is loving and taking care of each other, and Paul is remembering to pray for them.
A - I love the Lord's church. I love the people in the church. I love being around them. I love how they are my family. I love how we take care of each other and pray for each other.
P - Lord, today I am reminded how lucky I am to belong to a wonderful church family. Thank You for putting me at Monterey. Thank You for how you have blessed us and continue to do so. May I never cease looking for opportunities to serve and care for those in our congregation.
Showing posts with label Ephesians week 1. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ephesians week 1. Show all posts
Monday, January 23, 2012
Saturday, January 21, 2012
Ginny - Ephesians 1:13-14
Good Morning Girlz!!! Hope everyone's had a great start to their weekend!
S - In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation - having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God's own possession to the praise of His glory.
O - Listen, Believe, Sealed. Listen to the truth. Believe in what you hear. And you will be sealed in Him.
A - That first steps speaks to me this morning. Listen to the truth. It's not so much the listening to the truth that is hard, but the NOT listening to the dark. The world sees things differently and accepts things that shouldn't be accepted. I see this in government, dating relationships, health decisions, finances. If I am sealed in Him, I must believe His ways and His rules and push the world's advice aside.
P - Lord I pray for all of us that we would stand for truth. That we would saturate ourselves in what You teach so that when the world comes along with a different version we will not be swayed. Seal us up tight Lord Jesus. Protect us from the tactics of Satan that we may live lifes of LIGHT!
Love you gals!
Friday, January 20, 2012
Ephesians 1:13-14: Karlyn
HAPPY HAPPY FRIDAY MORNING!!!!!
S - And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession to the praise of his glory.
O - The Holy Spirit is a "deposit" for guarantee of my redemption. I've never thought of the HS in this way. I'm so glad that God uses the HS in this way. He doesn't just leave us here to figure out the salvation and redemption and growing in Christ he leaves himself in the HS here with us always to guide, convict, help, comfort. I don't know how people make it without him!
A - I need to continue to listen and follow the Holy Spirit's guide in my heart. For example...this morning I didn't do this first thing and it has been chaos and rush and frustrating this morning. Then I heard this little voice say to me I want time with you first! So I stopped and put him first and I'm reminded of my inheritance in Christ and my responsibility to him!!!!
P - Lord help me to listen to the HS calling and to feel secure in where he leads. Thank you for this gift of redemption!
Have a really great weekend! I have a baby shower tomorrow and a very close friend getting married tomorrow afternoon! FUN weekend. Miss everyone!
S - And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession to the praise of his glory.
O - The Holy Spirit is a "deposit" for guarantee of my redemption. I've never thought of the HS in this way. I'm so glad that God uses the HS in this way. He doesn't just leave us here to figure out the salvation and redemption and growing in Christ he leaves himself in the HS here with us always to guide, convict, help, comfort. I don't know how people make it without him!
A - I need to continue to listen and follow the Holy Spirit's guide in my heart. For example...this morning I didn't do this first thing and it has been chaos and rush and frustrating this morning. Then I heard this little voice say to me I want time with you first! So I stopped and put him first and I'm reminded of my inheritance in Christ and my responsibility to him!!!!
P - Lord help me to listen to the HS calling and to feel secure in where he leads. Thank you for this gift of redemption!
Have a really great weekend! I have a baby shower tomorrow and a very close friend getting married tomorrow afternoon! FUN weekend. Miss everyone!
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Ginny - Ephesians 1:11-12
S - (The Message) It's in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for. Long before we first heard of Christ and got our hopes up, he had his eye on us, had designs on us for glorious living, part of the overall purpose he is working out in everything and everyone.
O - Lots of good stuff in here! A good reminder that it is all about Him. HIS love. HIS grace. HIS power.
A - Every morning I read a short little devotional. Yesterday and today have really hit home with me. Yesterday the day focussed on "Follow Me" and today the focus was on "Seek Him." Two commandments I have heard over and over through out my life, but they are speaking volumes to me right now. Follow Him, watch Him, listen to Him, seek Him, and just do what He does. Get to know Him so that I can be a person that copies Him. He has a purpose as today's verses say. He has a design, my job is to follow.
P - Lord help me to block out that which isn't important and focus on being like You. Thank You for saving me and continuing to work on me.
O - Lots of good stuff in here! A good reminder that it is all about Him. HIS love. HIS grace. HIS power.
A - Every morning I read a short little devotional. Yesterday and today have really hit home with me. Yesterday the day focussed on "Follow Me" and today the focus was on "Seek Him." Two commandments I have heard over and over through out my life, but they are speaking volumes to me right now. Follow Him, watch Him, listen to Him, seek Him, and just do what He does. Get to know Him so that I can be a person that copies Him. He has a purpose as today's verses say. He has a design, my job is to follow.
P - Lord help me to block out that which isn't important and focus on being like You. Thank You for saving me and continuing to work on me.
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Thursday Ephesians 1:11-12: Karlyn
S - Furthermore because we are united with Christ we have received an inheritance from God for he chose us in advance and he makes everything work out according to his plan. God's purpose was that we Jews who were the first to trust in Christ would bring praise and glory to God.
O - I know people like to get all ruffled with this passage but I love it! This is how I think of it. God knows past present future and he knew it all at the beginning of time. He knew who was going to accept him and who would reject him. So yes he chose in advance to give believers an inheritance not that he chose who would and wouldn't believe, because he gave us free will but he still knew who would accept and wouldn't. It's a crazy circle I know but that's how I see it in my head!
A - God's plan isn't my plan and I need to adjust my schedule and my thoughts and my time to what his word says and not what I have on an agenda!
P - God I'm so thankful for your all knowing mind and that you have a plan and all I have to do is listen and follow. Help me to be the light you want me to be!
O - I know people like to get all ruffled with this passage but I love it! This is how I think of it. God knows past present future and he knew it all at the beginning of time. He knew who was going to accept him and who would reject him. So yes he chose in advance to give believers an inheritance not that he chose who would and wouldn't believe, because he gave us free will but he still knew who would accept and wouldn't. It's a crazy circle I know but that's how I see it in my head!
A - God's plan isn't my plan and I need to adjust my schedule and my thoughts and my time to what his word says and not what I have on an agenda!
P - God I'm so thankful for your all knowing mind and that you have a plan and all I have to do is listen and follow. Help me to be the light you want me to be!
Ginny - Ephesians 1:7-10
Good Afternoon Girlz!!!
S - (from The Message) Because of the sacrifice of the Messiah, his blood poured out on the altar of the Cross, we're a free people—free of penalties and punishments chalked up by all our misdeeds. And not just barely free, either. Abundantly free! He thought of everything, provided for everything we could possibly need, letting us in on the plans he took such delight in making. He set it all out before us in Christ, a long-range plan in which everything would be brought together and summed up in him, everything in deepest Heaven, everything on planet earth.
O - "a long-range plan in which everything would be brought together" Such completion. Such closure. Such sureness. He has a plan. He has a purpose. He has a focus, that will one day bring it all together.
A - Girls, those are music to my ears! I needed those words today. In the rush and stress, when I do stop to wonder what all this is for it turns more into a pity party than a excited hope. I like hearing over and over again "God has a plan" and His plan will work out better than anything else I could imagine. With him "it all comes together." I love that! "It all comes together."
P - Lord, thank You for having my life in Your hands. Thank you for the ultimate coming together we will experience in Heaven. I trust You. I trust Your plan.
S - (from The Message) Because of the sacrifice of the Messiah, his blood poured out on the altar of the Cross, we're a free people—free of penalties and punishments chalked up by all our misdeeds. And not just barely free, either. Abundantly free! He thought of everything, provided for everything we could possibly need, letting us in on the plans he took such delight in making. He set it all out before us in Christ, a long-range plan in which everything would be brought together and summed up in him, everything in deepest Heaven, everything on planet earth.
O - "a long-range plan in which everything would be brought together" Such completion. Such closure. Such sureness. He has a plan. He has a purpose. He has a focus, that will one day bring it all together.
A - Girls, those are music to my ears! I needed those words today. In the rush and stress, when I do stop to wonder what all this is for it turns more into a pity party than a excited hope. I like hearing over and over again "God has a plan" and His plan will work out better than anything else I could imagine. With him "it all comes together." I love that! "It all comes together."
P - Lord, thank You for having my life in Your hands. Thank you for the ultimate coming together we will experience in Heaven. I trust You. I trust Your plan.
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Ginny - Ephesians 1:5-6
Good Evening Girlz!!!
S - "He predestined us to adopption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved."
O- He freely bestowed grace. Oh His riches, provisions, love, and care He has given, even though I don't deserve them.
A - It's all about Him, and His goodness, and His power, and His might. Make me less that You may become more.
P - Lord, You have given me so much more than I deserve. Thank you for the many material things and happiness You have filled my life with. May I remember in the midst of stress, that it's all about You.
Ephesians 1:7-10 : Karlyn
S - He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of His Son and forgave our sins. He has showered his kindness on us, along with all the wisdom and understanding. God has now revealed to us his mysterious plan regarding Christ, a plan to fulfill his own good pleasure. And this is the plan, at the right time he will bring everything together under the authority of Christ everything in heaven and on earth.
O - How awesome is our God. He's no dictator ruler but a loving God! Here is his character:
kind
gracious
unselfish
wise and understanding
shares his kingdom with us
A - I don't deserve the sacrifice of his son nor any of the characteristics he shows above but as a child of God he chooses to lavish those things on me and teaches me to do the same with others around me. So that we all can enjoy heaven together!
P - Lord you are so amazing and I wish I had words to adequately praise you. Help me today to be kind, gracious, unselfish, wise, and understanding. Show me how to live these out!
O - How awesome is our God. He's no dictator ruler but a loving God! Here is his character:
kind
gracious
unselfish
wise and understanding
shares his kingdom with us
A - I don't deserve the sacrifice of his son nor any of the characteristics he shows above but as a child of God he chooses to lavish those things on me and teaches me to do the same with others around me. So that we all can enjoy heaven together!
P - Lord you are so amazing and I wish I had words to adequately praise you. Help me today to be kind, gracious, unselfish, wise, and understanding. Show me how to live these out!
Ephesians 1:5-6: Karlyn
S - God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure. So we praise God for the glorious grace he has poured out on us who belong to his dear Son
O - There are many things I take pleasure in and to think that it gives God pleasure to adopt me into his family is amazing to think about. He created this world and everything in it yet it gives him pleasure to bring me into his family!
A - If I bring him pleasure I need to work harder at pleasing him with my thoughts and actions!
P - Lord help me today to take pleasure in you and thank you for pouring out your grace on me and taking me in as your child! I praise you!
O - There are many things I take pleasure in and to think that it gives God pleasure to adopt me into his family is amazing to think about. He created this world and everything in it yet it gives him pleasure to bring me into his family!
A - If I bring him pleasure I need to work harder at pleasing him with my thoughts and actions!
P - Lord help me today to take pleasure in you and thank you for pouring out your grace on me and taking me in as your child! I praise you!
Monday, January 16, 2012
Ginny - Ephesians 1:1-4
Good Evening Girlz!!!
S - "Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, to the saints who are at Ephesus, and who are faithful in Christ Jesus: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as he chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him.
O - God has taken care of everything. There is nothing He has forgotten. Here he talks about how God made sure they had every spiritual blessing they needed and that He chose them before the foundation of the world. Nothing is beyond His recognition. He has in hand in all of it.
A - I will rest in the fact that God knows exactly what He is doing. He knows what I am going through, and has a plan.
P - Lord tonight I pray that as I stand in this place in life that I will rely totally on Your soverignty. You are worthy to be praised. Your strength is perfect. Your ways are higher.
Ephesians 1:1-4
S - This letter is from Paul chosen by the will of God to be an apostle to Christ Jesus. I am writing to God's Holy people in Ephesus who are faithful followers of Christ Jesus. May God our father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace. All praise to God the father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ. Even before he made the world God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes.
O - 1. They needed prayer for grace and peace - it wasn't easy to be a follower of Christ. 2. They and we are blessed with every spiritual blessing that we need here on earth to get through this life and make it to heaven!
A - In our present world it's still hard to be a faithful dedicated Christian, but I've got to use the spiritual blessings of the Holy Spirit, discernment, prayer, the Bible, and all the other things he gives us to make it through each day and stand firm in him and guide others to him.
P - I am so thankful you didn't leave us here high and dry with no direction or help. I want to be better at using the spiritual blessings you give us and become stronger and more faithful to you. Thank you for grace and peace and that you are always with us.
O - 1. They needed prayer for grace and peace - it wasn't easy to be a follower of Christ. 2. They and we are blessed with every spiritual blessing that we need here on earth to get through this life and make it to heaven!
A - In our present world it's still hard to be a faithful dedicated Christian, but I've got to use the spiritual blessings of the Holy Spirit, discernment, prayer, the Bible, and all the other things he gives us to make it through each day and stand firm in him and guide others to him.
P - I am so thankful you didn't leave us here high and dry with no direction or help. I want to be better at using the spiritual blessings you give us and become stronger and more faithful to you. Thank you for grace and peace and that you are always with us.
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