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 would be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us to adoption 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.Here are the first five verses of Ephesians; the theme of the book could be called "Maturing in Christ," and I think all Christians want to do that. Paul is the writer here, and he is not berating the church at Ephesus for any wrong. Rather, he is encouraging them and explains some of the great teachings of Christianity so we can all better understand and serve the Lord.
I've included a picture of a Cedar of Lebanon tree in this post to remind us of how majestic the tree can become. Just the same, there is magnificent potential for the Christian who simply lets Jesus take over.
As you read the above Scripture, realize that as Paul writes this magnificent book, he is in prison! He's suffering for the faith, but no whining here.
Read the passage again and note that we have already been given a blessing from God.
Listen to what Charles Spurgeon says:
“We are not sitting here, and groaning, and crying, and fretting, and worrying, and questioning our own salvation. He has blessed us; and therefore we will bless him. If you think little of what God has done for you, you will do very little for him; but if you have a great notion of his great mercy to you, you will be greatly grateful to you gracious God.”
I think of my old friends, the Rohr farming family in Ohio. They faced bankruptcy, the near-death of a child, and Mrs. Rohr barely surviving a botched surgery. I never saw these people complain! They were newly saved out of a restrictive and dead-end religion, coming to Christ one by one until their whole family (11 of them) could confidently say they had Jesus as their Lord and Savior. I remember the Bible studies we used to have. What a wild time! These people were a riot - they were clamoring to know more about the Bible. These people couldn't help but rejoice in the freedom and blessing they received in Christ, no matter what the outside circumstances!
Today, take a check of your life. Is it met with complaining and a "me first" attitude? Have you stopped to thank Jesus for what He's made available to you?
