Ephesians 1: 1 – 8 NLT
1 This letter is from Paul, chosen by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus.
I am writing to God’s holy people in Ephesus, who are faithful followers of Christ Jesus.
2 May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace.
3 All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ. 4 Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. 5 God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure. 6 So we praise God for the glorious grace he has poured out on us who belong to his dear Son. 7 He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins. 8 He has showered his kindness on us, along with all wisdom and understanding.
Today is a praise day. Paul begins his letter to the Ephesians with reasons why we should praise God. In fact, you will find as we go through the first 3 chapters of Ephesians, that Paul is telling us many things we can praise God for. Sometimes I really think we need to concentrate on praise. In our busy and complicated lives, prayer can so easily become a list of requests. We pray for our families, our friends, our church, ourselves – and we need to do that. Stop for a moment, and recite the Lord’s Prayer to yourself. How much of that prayer Jesus taught us is actually praise? At least half of it?
So let’s go through those verses in Ephesians that we read today and use them to praise our Father in Heaven.
“All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ.” We sometimes use that word “blessing” so casually; we will say “Bless you” when someone sneezes. God is giving us an amazing blesssing, nothing casual at all. We are “united with Christ”. We belong to Him! As a result we have the many spiritual blessings. Blessings like love, joy, peace, patience, kindness … and many more.
Praise God for that!
“Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure.” God created this world and he planned it from start to finish. He offered salvation to everyone – “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life”. (John 3: 16) He also knew that you personally were going to accept his wonderful Son and your decision gave him great pleasure. He adopted you into his own family.
Praise God!
“So we praise God for the glorious grace he has poured out on us who belong to his dear Son. He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins. He has showered his kindness on us, along with all wisdom and understanding.” God is so kind and gracious, he was willing to give his own son who experienced a horrendous death and took all our sin on himself. He has forgiven us and has given us the wisdom and undestanding we need to be in his family.
Praise God!
Throughout today, try to make a promise to stop once in the morning, once in the afternoon and once in the evening to praise God for all he is and all that he has given you.
Our song for today is Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow by Hillsong Worship.