WEDNESDAY, April 16th, 2008

Ephesians 2:1-10

1 And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins,
2 in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience,
3 among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.
4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us,
5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),
6 and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,
7 that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,
9 not of works, lest anyone should boast.
10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

This passage was written to us to show us what we came from and what we have now. So, where did we come from? Verses 2 and 3 make that clear: We followed the pathway of Satan (the prince of the power of the air) and we lived like the world. We followed our own lusts and our fleshly desires. We were followes of the world and therefore followers of Satan. BUT! God saw us while we were dead in sin and He made us alive as we read in verse 1 and verse 4. So we were low-life pond scum and Christ took us, made us alive, raised us up, and will put us in heavenly places all because of His grace! Now that is some AMAZING GRACE! There is nothing that I could have done to save myself! I WAS DEAD! But God saw this dead man and chose you and I to be his "workmanship", His most prized creation, so that we would live for Him. I am so glad that God chose me! Arent you glad that he poured his grace on you and made you alive?

14 comments:

Rachel☺; said...

i read this and thought of it as a before -and what we should be thankful for- after. God saved us in the only way we could be saved; graciously and with love that saw past how sinful and dead we were. When he saved us, it was for a reason. To do good for Him with our life. Verse 10 where it says "we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works,, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them." was kind of the big instruction for me. Not only does God deserve our life, to live what he has planned for you is only going to make your life amazing, so we should stay open hearted so his way can be done in us. Along with that, i think it is saying to look where he pulled us out from (worldliness) and should strive to pull others out and show them the love we were saved with through the Lord.

Rachel☺; said...

ohh! && im going to get to church tonight :],

Brizzle24 said...

This is an AWESOME passage! and helps me realize that everyone has sinned in the past,present,and future but god will put that aside no matter what you did, and by his grace those sins will be washed away. wow this is awesome because some people may say, "oh god wont take a criminal like me to heaven, ive killed people he doesnt want a gangster like me up there." but he does he will forgive you for that and this would be a good passage to explain to someone when they feel unwanted and like god hates you. I liked todays devotions a lot.

Anonymous said...

Hey Y'all! Thanks for getting in the word today. I pray your service tonight is awesome and a fun time for you all as well as a special time in the LORD. Will you be at church this Sunday? I hope to see you there! :o)
God bless!
Will's Florida Gramma

Aznricerunr[PN] said...

In this passage it tells me that everyone has sinned it is our nature to but through god you can be saved. just because you made mistakes in the past doesnt mean that you cant be saved by god. God sent his son to die for everyone not just the good kids but for everyone able to accept him and beleive in him. It also says that you are saved when you beleive in him but not by the doings of good work merely by faith. Once you get saved your fasith will show in your actions like for example leading other people to god or to stop lusting.

Amy :) said...

before I was saved I was dead in trespasses and in sin like is says in verse #1 but whenever I got saved when I was 12 I felt like I was made alive and made into a new person.my life is full of sin and by grace I have been saved through Jesus Christ.

Anonymous said...

God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that who shall ever beleve in him should not perish but having everlasting life. Basically that what this passage is saying we were living in sin but GOD love us so much that he gives us the gift of eternal life.
Jon Massey

Jessica M said...

I want to start off this devotion with a pray to God that He will teach me something in these passages of scripture and all the rest to come. I want to grow from it daily and not for it to become just a habit that I do that just becomes part of my daily routine!
These verses do tie in with what Pastor Lee talked about tonight-in Youth. That if we give our everything to God and trust Him with everything we have then the blessings will just overflow! I know that God is just looking to bless us and bring good into our lives.
It makes me feel so overwhelmed to know that God chose me even though I mess up and even though God knows that I was going to mess up even before I was created. Because of our lusts and earthly desires and bad choices sin was brought into the world. Which means that we are deserving of hell for eternity. But because of the grace of God I can receive salvation and live forever with my Savior.
I have always known that I needed to live for God but recently it has hit me like whipped cream in my face J that I need to LIVE 4 HIM. What else is there? He gave me the most amazing gift that could be given the least I can do is live 4 Him! I still struggle with lying and judging and all sorts of things, but I have STILL been forgiven! What more could I ask for? Well there is some things like a CAR :) but maybe that isn’t a need but I know that if it was I would be provide with it!

Jessica M said...

Sorry mine are so long, once I get typing I can't seem to stop all my thoughts that are going on in my head there is just some much I want to say about the things I read...like right now ok I will stop for good now :)

Daemis WolfBorn said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Daemis WolfBorn said...

Jesus Christ is our savior and there is no other that can save us. He has given us a gift that no other can give, and that is a gate way to heaven. He saved us from ours sins. ^.^



Hah posted before Mccue AND Alex roger Beals...High five anyone? *put his hand in the air for a high five*

Anonymous said...

In this passage God lets us know that we all are sinners and the only way out of sin is the through the heavenly Father.one of my favorite verses says "if we confess our sins he is faitful and just to forgive us our sins and to clense us of all unrightousness" this passage spoke to my heart and reminded me that all we have to do is ask and our sins are forgiven.WHAT AN AWESOME GOD!!!

Jessica beals

Kacey! said...

These verses are basically talking about God's amazing grace. We don't deserve to even know Him, but He is so loving and caring that He wants a relationship with us even though we are sinners. It's amazing how loving He is. He even died on a cross for us. That way of dying is said to be the most painful, but He still did it. He felt the pain that we should be going through. If you really just stop and think about it, we don't deserve anything. Thank God for forgiveness!

HADOKEN!!! said...

This passage talks about us. It states how we were drowning in sin until Jesus saved us from that sin. It also says tat he will take us to heavenly places and that salvation is the only way to heaven, not good works. God tells us right there that being "good" ain't gonna cut the mustard.

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