#graceofgod

Jesus Chose Love Even Through Pain ✝️.

Ephesians 1:11-14. “Furthermore, because we are united with Christ, we have received an inheritance from God, for he chose us in advance, and he makes everything work out according to his plan. God’s purpose was that we Jews who were the first to trust in Christ would bring praise and glory to God. And now you Gentiles have also heard the truth, the Good News that God saves you. And when you believed in Christ, he identified you as his own[b] by giving you the Holy Spirit, whom he promised long ago. The Spirit is God’s guarantee that he will give us the inheritance he promised and that he has purchased us to be his own people. He did this so we would praise and glorify him.”

Colossians 1:11b-14. “May you be filled with joy, always thanking the Father. He has enabled you to share in the inheritance that belongs to his people, who live in the light. For he has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son, who purchased our freedom and forgave our sins.”

1 Peter 1:3-5. “All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is by his great mercy that we have been born again, because God raised Jesus Christ from the dead. Now we live with great expectation, and we have a priceless inheritance—an inheritance that is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay. And through your faith, God is protecting you by his power until you receive this salvation, which is ready to be revealed on the last day for all to see.”

(All Bible verses are in the New Living Translation)

“God’s Healing Grace” By In Touch Ministries:

“Because of Christ, our brokenness is being made whole, and we can look forward to a glorious future.”

“In his letter to the Ephesian church, Paul wrote that God brought “all things together in Christ” (Eph. 1:10). This means that because of Jesus, we are being healed in ways we could never have accomplished on our own. His death and resurrection:

• Freed us from sin. We are indwelt by God’s Spirit and have His power to resist temptation and obey. 

• United us with our Savior. We live in Christ and He lives in us. He is with us always, wherever we go. 

• Made us family. God is our heavenly Father, and we are His sons and daughters. Our spiritual family extends all over the world. 

• Transferred us into the kingdom of light. The world is ruled by darkness, but anyone who calls Jesus “Savior” lives in the kingdom of light (Colossians 1:12-13). We are citizens of heaven. 

• Gave us an eternal inheritance. We’ve already inherited the promises of Scripture, but more awaits us in heaven (1 Peter 1:4).

• Initiated sanctification. To sanctify means “to make holy.” With our cooperation, the Spirit transforms us into Jesus’ likeness throughout our years on earth. 

Our verse today is such a very famous verse. Since almost all people who claim to be Christians, or who are Christians know how to pray the “Lord’s prayer” because it is the prayer that the Lord has taught us. Many people don’t want it to be called the Lord’s prayer because of our verse today. If it’s Christ’s prayer, then He is like asking to be forgiven, but He has no sin. Yet, we have to remember that Jesus taught us this so that He will make a good example of how or what our prayer should be. 

Now, let us go deeper and reflect on this verse. It’s a prayer of us asking to be forgiven as we also forgive others. Yet, there are a lot of misunderstandings towards this. Some people think that we will gain the forgiveness of God through forgiving others. However, we must understand that we are saved by grace, thus we are forgiven because of the grace of God. Our forgiveness is not based on how good we are, but we are forgiven because we are pardoned and fully given grace. 

So, we have to remember that this prayer is a prayer after we are already saved. After all, our repentance is an ongoing cycle. We must always acknowledge that we are wrong and that we need forgiveness every day. Indeed, we are saved and have already received the forgiveness of God. Yet we also have to always acknowledge and confess our sins to God so our sins will be forgiven. Thus, this is why we pray this prayer that God will forgive us and that we can also forgive others just as how He forgave us. We must not forgive so that we will be forgiven nor we are forgiven because we forgave. 

Therefore, the paradox lying behind this verse is simply that our forgiveness completely belongs to God, and forgiving others is a manifestation of how we are first shown love and forgiveness by God. So, we must always keep in our minds that we are not doing anything to earn our forgiveness, but it is entirely because of the grace of God. We must forgive others because we know that we are already forgiven and have shown grace even if we don’t deserve it. Thus, even if other people don’t deserve it, we are to forgive them so that we will manifest the love of God and the grace of God.

For more daily reflection, verse, and encouragement, you may follow us. You can also like, follow and visit us on:

Website: https://youngdisciples.org/

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/yd153

Twitter: @YD153

Instagram: @youngdisciples2020

A Prayer

¹¹ For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor. No good things does He withhold for those who walk uprightly.