Ephesians 1:1-14

So I realized that I hadn't posted this even though I wrote this like a year ago...

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.
In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.
Eph 1:3-14

Wow, awesome passage! This entire passage, Paul talks about blessings from Jesus, our adoption by Jesus, Jesus' resurrection, and just the Gospel really.

Verses 4-14 are the verses I'm going to focus on right now.

Verse 4, 'even as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world,' Check this out. Do you see what this says? 'even as he chose us.' Do you realize how crazy and AWESOME this is? Now look at verse 5, 'He predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of His will,'

Before the world was made, God knew each one of us. He adopted us! He made us His family when we had none. He loves us unconditionally when we deserve to burn in hell. He forgave us when we just needed a good kick in the pants. He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to die an agonizing death so we could be in His family, His sons and daughters. And THAT is crazy. Crazy love.

Anyhoo, adoption. Picture this, you are an orphan. A little girl or boy who all he remember is that his parents died or left him there when he was a kid. He's never known real love from anyone. A couple walks in and sees him sitting in the corner. They see him and thus begins a new journey for that kid.
They love this child with all their heart, and he loves them back. A sense of happiness fills his heart. He loves this family that saved him from being unloved for the rest of his life.

This child is you. You were a child, left alone with no one to care for you. But God steps into the orphanage and pulls you into His arms. You are adopted into His family.

The sad thing though, is though He saved us from eternal damnation, some of us don't love Him like we should. How come, when He saved is from that, we aren't always like the orphan that was adopted? Why don't we show our Father the same unwavering love that this child shows to his new parents? Doesn't our Father in heaven deserve to be loved and worshiped?

Well, moving on...

7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, 8 which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight 9 making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ 10 as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.
Eph 1:7-10

What's this talking about here? Um the Gospel!! 'In Him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses.'
Whose blood? Jesus' blood. Forgives what trespasses(sins)? OUR sins. AWESOMELY AWESOME!!!!!

Verses 9 and 10 'making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.'
Here Paul is reminding/showing us what Jesus wants us to do. 'to unite all things to him, things in heaven and things on earth.' This is what Jesus wanted to teach us. Go, disciple, and reach. That's putting it simply. The Great Commission.

'In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, 12 so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory'

Verses 11 and 12. Do you see what he is saying here? The inheritance, God's love and a place in heaven. Awesome! What greater inheritance could we possibly want?

But wait, listen to verses 13-14.
'In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.'
Paul didn't wait long to hit us with the Gospel again, but that is what this guy lived for. Anyway, the part 'in him you also...were sealed with the promise of the Holy Spirit.' Sealed. Back then, something that was sealed was a BIG thing. A document that was sealed by the king was taken very seriously. So when Paul says that we are sealed with the Holy Spirit, he is talking not about a BIG thing, but a HUGE thing. A MONUMENTAL thing. Our salvation. When we accept God's gift of salvation, we are filled with the Holy Spirit. That is God's seal. That is the KING's seal on your life. It is a seal no one can break, no one can take. It'll stay with you forever.

Awesome, right?

I hope that this has been a help to someone.

This has been a random thought/rambling of a teen Jesus follower.

Trust Him

Things happen.

Life goes on.

Things change.

Life still goes on.

People...they change.

You have changed.

Why do some of these things happen?

There is a reason.

Why do things have to change?

God has a plan.

Why, why do people change?

Trust Him

I don't understand.

You don't always have to.

But why must I wait for things to make sense?

God has His reasons.

Why all the pain?

Trust Him

Why all the tears?

Trust Him.

When will it end?

In His time.

What must I do to make it through?

Trust Him

Is that all it takes?

He'll help you through.

All I have to do...

Trust Him

Is trust...

Trust Him

Trust the One Who died for me?

Trust Him, He'll carry you through.

Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act.
Psalms 37:5 (ESV)

I will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.”
Psalms 91:2 (ESV)

Every word of God proves true; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him.
Prov 30:5 (ESV)