Rejoice IN HIM!

Let's meditate on the words "IN HIM"

(as we continue meditation of Ephesians chapter 1)

Who is Him?

God: the Three in One. Whose attributes never change. Whose love and power are insurmountable and focused on you! 

His thoughts about you began before light became light. His plans for you extend from before time into eternity where we will be forever in His presence. 

If you have placed your faith in His Son, then He has separated you from your sin as far as the East is from the West. (Psalm 103:12)

1:13 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,

You can run with confidence to Him at any moment. (Hebrews 4:14)

With this in mind Paul writes to the Ephesians; that the only right response is to REJOICE in the Lord always. This is not random rejoicing, it's not a good mood, or happiness caused by current circumstances, this is rejoicing IN HIM. 

We are to rejoice in who He is! 

Ephesians tells us that "in him we have redemption through His blood", 

John  chapter 1 tells states: that In Him all things were made that were made" 

1 John 5 says that our confidence in approaching God is "In Him"(referring to Jesus Christ) . 

1 John 5:13-14  I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.  This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. 

A bee finds "good things" in my back yard lavender

ALL GOOD THINGS ARE FOUND "IN HIM" So why do we waste our time looking in other places? 

Answer: Because we have a hard time putting our faith in something we cannot control or see.

Trust comes from knowing God and placing your trust in who HE SAYS HE IS.

The real question is: Do you know HIM and are you, IN HIM? God in three persons; Father, Son and Holy Ghost. One God, three roles. When we are in Christ, we have the blessings that the Father bestows on those who believe. and are sealed and guided by the Holy Spirit.

Know Him, Trust him, Rejoice in Him.

With this eternal perspective always before us, we are commanded to Rejoice in the Lord Always, and again I say REJOICE! Our Joy is to be " IN HIM"
even while we are in the struggles of this life. 

Philippians 4:4-6
⁴ Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! ⁵ Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. ⁶ Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. ⁷ And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Hope Wirta

What kind of love is this?

Ephesians chapter 1 is so full that it's difficult to choose which part to meditate on first. 

Why did God chose me before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight, redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ? Why is it His good pleasure to do this.  

My? Really?

The truth is: I am blown away that He chose me at all. 

Jeremiah 1:5 States: “Before I formed you in the womb I knew[a] you, before you were born I set you apart;

He did this to the praise of His glorious grace......His glorious grace, because of His unmeasurable love.

God (not bound by time, in his omniscience) expresses His love toward me, in that while I am  still a sinner, Christ died for me (Romans 5:8).
In other words God chose me before the world began, to be saved, knowing I would need redemption to be with Him, He chose to make me clean in His sight while I was still CHOOSING to sin, before I ever came to be......What kind of love is this?

• I know you are going to reject me
• I know your going to believe lies about me
• I know Your going to think accepting my love is somehow depriving you of what you "think" you need
• I know you wont want me as much as I want you
• I know that I will have to sacrifice everything to have you
• I know you will never ,while on earth, understand the depths of my love for you

I want you to know that I want good things for you, and truly good things come only from me
You will keep reaching back for the things that hurt you and took you from me in the first place,
I knew all of this, even before I created you, I know I will have to redeem you,
I choose you

How do you wrap your head around that?

His love wrecks me!

Hope Wirta

Digging in to Ephesians

This week begins a journey to  meditate on the book of Ephesians. The key is to soak it up and think about what it says, not to check of a task on a list.
Ephesians was written by the Apostle Paul to a church in Ephesus.  It is a book about who God is, Who you are to Him, and how to live on a practical basis.

The city of Ephesus was home to one of the seven wonders of the world, the Temple of Artemis. Since trade routes had dried up this became the main livelihood of the city. Paul visited the Ephesians on his missionaries journeys, establishing a Church there with Priscilla and Aquila on his third journey. He lived there for over 2 years eventually handing the church to Timothy. 

Read the chapter through two times.
As you read chapter the third time take out a pencil (or colored pencils) and look for these things:
Circle the things that God has done for us.

What  does the chapter state about God?

What does the chapter state about You?
Find all the reference to the trinity (Father, Son and Holy Ghost)
Mark all the references that are made to " in Him"

Get creative and colorful with your journaling. Take your time, draw our what it means to be "In Christ"

What picture comes to mind. Draw in out. 

Now, pray through the passage and thank God that you are chosen and sealed, In Christ.

For Further study read Acts 18:18-23 and Acts 19.

Hope Wirta

 

New or Not?

2 Corinthians 5:17

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! 

When I think about the voices I listen I have to wonder how much of God's word is mixed in with the news, fears, gossip, magazines, books, Facebook quotes, memes, and tweets. Then of course there is my own voice, comparing, shaming, judging. There are a lot of days I don't "feel" like the old is gone and the new has come. I just feel defeated, tired and a whole lot of old.

Then I remember that feelings matter, but they are not the truth.

The truth is GOD WILL KEEP HIS PROMISE! He will continue His work in my life. My old habits do not have to enslave me, if I choose to walk with Him, one choice at a time.
 I am intrigues by the story Zig Ziegler tells of the fleas in a jar. The fleas are left in a jar with a lid on. They can jump only as high as the lid will allow. Once they have been trained that they can only jump so high, you can remove the lid without fear that they will ever exceed the jar or jump out. They don't believe they can, so they don't 

When the fleas lay eggs, the babies follow the parents example. They also never leave the OPEN jar.
So, I ask myself: Am I living like a trained flea? 

Have the lies of Satan and the messages of the world trained me that I cannot live like the new creature that God tells me I am?
I have an idea....Let's blow the lid off!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TmhoSj3wkDM

                            

References for 2 Corinthians 5:17

• Cross References

• 21 5:17 - S Ro 16:3
• 22 5:17 - S Jn 1:13 ; S Ro 6:4 ; Gal 6:15
• 23 5:17 - Isa 65:17 ; Rev 21:4,5