Workmanship

Ephesians 2:10

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

I love this verse! It is a great reminder that God made us! The word, "workmanship" has a connotation of high quality. So, not only did God make us, but we are of high quality!

Created has the literal sense of forming and shaping us with His hands, but in the Greek, it also means to completely change or transform. So, God formed us, but then also transformed us through Christ Jesus!

God desires all to know Him! He has ordained (made ready) that all should be transformed and walk with Christ.

Have you accepted His transformative power and walk with Christ?

Words of Wisdom Wednesday

Proverbs 20:29

The glory of young men is their strength: and the beauty of old men is the gray head.

So many women spend hundreds of dollars a year on covering their gray hair. Why? God tells us that gray hair is a beauty in old age. It shouldn't be something that we try to cover up.

God's Gift

Ephesians 2:8-9 KJV

8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.

There is absolutely no way we can save ourselves. When we try to be good enough or do enough good, it can never be enough. It is only through the blood of a perfect sacrifice that our sins can be covered.

The only thing we can do is to accept the gift from God of His Son. A gift doesn't mean that it is automatically ours. Just as you need to receive a gift on your birthday, you need to receive the gift from God. He makes the gift available to everyone; however, not everyone accepts it.

Have you accepted God's gift?

Raised Up

Ephesians 2:6

And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:

For some reason, as I read this verse, I picture the scene from Lion King where the father lifts up Simba so all the animals can see. He was so proud of having a son that he wanted all to know.

Isn't it similar with God and us? His desire is for us to know Him and accept Christ's sacrifice. When we do, He is excited about happy. He wants others to know that there is a new addition to His family.

He not only raises us up to be recognized, but raises us from our lowly state to the heavenly realms where we will reside with Christ.

Oh, what a glorious thought!

Words of Wisdom Wednesday

Proverbs 19:14

House and riches are the inheritance of fathers: and a prudent wife is from the LORD.

I read this and see instructions for life. We are to live in such a way as to leave things for our children. I have heard some people say that their children don't deserve anything and they are going to spend it all while they can, but that is just not biblical. As a woman, I am called to be prudent which means wise, understanding, to give attention, to teach. I can't just set back and let my husband do all the hard work.

By Grace

Ephesians 2:5

Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)

Sin brings death (Genesis 2:17, But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.). While Adam and Eve may have thought physical death, it actually meant the spiritual death-death of the relationship with God.

We are able to restore/make alive that relationship with God but there is only one way-through the blood of Christ. God, in His grace and mercy, created a way for us to live again.

We can't do enough good works to revive the relationship. Renewal of life only comes by confession and redemption by Christ's shed blood for us.

Thank you, Lord, for Your grace!

But God

Ephesians 2:4

But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,

But God.

I have come to love those two words. It means that when we feel one way or think one way, that God is different and has different plans.

In the verses preceding this, we are told of how wicked we were before knowing Christ-how depraved our lives were. However, even in that depraved state, God loved us! His love for us was so great that He sacrificed His only Son for us. He showed us mercy not because we deserved it, but because He loves us.

But God.

Those words bring me hope when I hear them!

Quickened

Ephesians 2:1

And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;

quickened = made alive

Why would we need to be made alive? It says right there-because we were dead in our sins.

We aren't physically dead (although physical death is a part of sin), but we are spiritually dead due to sin. Sin separates us from God; therefore, we are spiritually dead.

What I find amazing in all of this is that God not only loved us enough to want to make us alive again-to be spiritually alive, but the cost of doing so. He sacrificed His only Son for us! That is some amazing love!

Holy and Without Blame

Ephesians 1:4

According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:

I have been reading Ephesians 1:1-14 everyday for a while as I study who I am in Christ. For some reason the second half of verse four stood out to me, "that we should be holy and without blame before him in love."

The idea that I can be "holy and without blame" is humbling and mind blowing to me.

As humans, we tend to hold on to past hurts-either our own or those done to us, or even those we have done to others. However, this verse shows that we can stand before God without any of those hurts!

It is not until we are washed in the blood of Christ that we are truly clean. It is only then that we can be found "holy and without blame" because God only sees Christ.

Revelation 1:5 tells us that we are washed "from our sins in his own blood."

The purpose of washing is to remove dirt and grim. We do it to be clean and without blemish. The only way to do that with our sin is with what is pure and holy-Christ's shed blood-blood that was shed for us for that purpose.

Once we are washed, God removes our sin "as far as the east is from the west." (Psalm 103:12). That means they are removed from us so far they are gone. We no longer need to carry them or see them when we look in the mirror.

Praise God for His mercy and grace!

Words of Wisdom Wednesday

Proverbs 18:12

Before destruction the heart of man is haughty, and before honour is humility.

Pride usually blinds our eyes to our shortcomings and areas that need improvement. If we continue to ignore the problems, they will continue to  grow and will cause destruction. However, when we are humble enough to look at our faults and seek wisdom, then we can grow, mature, and become worthy of honor. No one is perfect and only those who are humble enough to know that will receive true honor.