From Ephesians 1.
God has blessed us with ALL spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ.
- I like the way these things are stated as having happened.
- Where are all these blessings? In heavenly places. In Christ.
- What are all these blessings? Whatever they are, according to the Psalmist, 'they make you rich, with no added sorrow' - that's one way to know the source of your 'blessings'. If they're from God, there's no side effect or sorrow associated with it. So you actually get to enjoy the stuff.
- This statement in Ephesians 1:3, is the basis for the so-called 'Law of Attraction', except that when talking about this law, the 'In Christ' bit is left out, and so the people who practice that form of the law, miss out on the full, permanent, blessing that comes with it.
- Everything you could possibly need or desire, ALREADY EXISTS. In Christ, it's all here NOW, only it's in spiritual form. The Word of God doesn't leave us clueless as to how to bring these things into physical form though. But more on this later.
- What about the 'In heavenly places' part of that verse? The relevance of this becomes clear in subsequent chapters so stay tuned...However, it talks about your posture, when you've become a person In Christ. Your position, your vantage point. The fact you're above, not beneath, any and every circumstance.
The Power of His Acceptance: You've been accepted...if you accept it, that is.
He has chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, to be holy and blameless before Him in love. He also predestined us to be adopted by Jesus Christ because it pleased Him to do so.
- If you ever feel lonely, if you ever feel like you don't belong, if you ever feel like you have no family, you need to remember these words. But for these words to apply to you, you've got to be part of God's family - let Jesus Christ adopt you so that you receive power to become a Son/Daughter of God.
- If you are already a child of God and you're ever tempted to feel this way, come meditate on these words and give God praise and thanksgiving for accepting and loving you as you are.
- He adopted us to be holy...in love
- He adopted us to be blameless...in love.
- ALL our actions must be fuelled by love.
