Ephesians 1:3-14 Because we first believed!

2 Samuel 7:12-16 12 When your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, I will set up your seed after you, who will come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. 13 He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. 14 I will be his Father, and he shall be My son. If he commits iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men and with the blows of the sons of men. 15 But My mercy shall not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I removed from before you. 16 And your house and your kingdom shall be established forever before you. Your throne shall be established forever.” ’ ”

The house of David is a genetic bloodline that leads to the Redeemer King, Jesus the Christ. God promised that He would come from the line of David. As the King of kings and Lord over all He will rule forever. If Israel commits sin God will chastise them but never will His mercy leave them. His covenant people will be established for eternity. 

Colossians 1:12-14 thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. 13 He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, 14 in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.

As the believers in Jesus and His birth, death and resurrection we form the Body of Christ predestined to abide with Christ forever. 

Ephesians 1:3-14 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, 4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, 5 having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, 6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace 8 which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, 9 having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself, 10 that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth—in Him. 11 In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, 12 that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory. 13 In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.

Our citizenship is in heaven not in the earthly. It is spiritual and not in the physical. Those who first trusted in the birth, death and resurrection of Jesus, all-man/all-God have been adopted as sons of the One true living God.  In the  unmerited and undeserved grace of our God to us who believe we  look forward to abiding forever with our Savior, Jesus the Christ. Carla

Blessed is an expression of praise known in Hebrew as the berakhah, which means blessing. Paul praises God for what He has done through Christ and reminds believers of their status and privileges in Christ. Paul’s blessing highlights the roles of the Father (Ephesians 1:3–4), Christ (5–7), and the Spirit (13–14).

In Christ refers to the believer’s union and identification with Christ. Paul repeats this phrase throughout the letter to emphasize the work of Christ and the blessings that believers obtain through Him.

He chose refers to the believer’s union and identification with Christ. Paul repeats this phrase throughout the letter to emphasize the work of Christ and the blessings that believers obtain through Him. Adoption refers to the bestowing of familial rights and privileges on a person born outside the family. Paul uses this metaphor to illustrate believers’ privileges in Christ. As children of God, they now have a heavenly inheritance 

In Paul’s writings, the Greek word used here, mystērion, refers to God’s plan of salvation, which was formerly kept secret but is now revealed in Christ. This plan includes the unification of Jews and Gentiles into one new people of God. Faithlife Study Bible 

The blessings of Christianity are largely spiritual. God does not guarantee health, wealth, and prosperity to the New Testament believer. The phrase in the heavenly places suggests that a Christian living anywhere in the world is even now in a spiritual sense seated with Christ on high. Love here is agape in Greek, the love that is by choice or one’s will, not just a sentimental feeling. 

The Beloved may also be translated “the One He Loves,” namely, Jesus Christ. In Colossians 1:13 Paul uses the similar title “the Son of His love.” The Beloved is a messianic title, referring to God’s Son. Jesus is not simply one among others who are loved by God. He is the Beloved Son. The word redemption means “buy back” or “ransom.” In ancient times, one could buy back a person who was sold into slavery. In the same way, Christ through His death bought us from our slavery to sin. The blood of Christ is the means by which our redemption comes. The Old Testament and the New both clearly teach that there is no forgiveness without the shedding of blood. Blood here is a vivid symbolic equivalent of death. It recalls the sacrificial system of the old covenant, which looked forward to the self-sacrifice of Jesus Christ that took away the sin of the world. 

In Paul’s usage, the word mystery refers to an aspect of God’s will that was once hidden or obscure, but now was being revealed by God (Romans 11:25). The word translated dispensation means “house rule.” The English word economy is derived from this Greek word. The word refers to God’s administration or arrangement of all history to fulfill His plan of salvation. While God never changes, His plan for the salvation of humanity has distinct phases. In this context, dispensation probably refers to the time when God will establish His eternal kingdom. 

The seal or mark of ownership in believers’ lives is the Holy Spirit. The guarantee of our inheritance is the Holy Spirit Himself. 

Interestingly, the Greek word for guarantee can also be used to indicate an engagement ring. As Christ is the Bridegroom and the church is the bride, so the Holy Spirit is the down payment, the earnest money, in the long-awaited marriage of the two (Revelation 19:7, 8). 

The Old Testament described the nation of Israel as God’s special treasure, one He had purchased by His mighty acts of deliverance during the Exodus (Exodus 19:5; Deuteronomy 7:6). Here Paul describes Christians as the Lord’s own possession, one bought with the blood of His own Son. The NKJV Study Bible

Romans 8:14–39 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.”…

Romans 3:24–25 being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, 

Matthew 3:17 And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”

1 Corinthians 1:21 For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. 

Ephesians 1:20–23 which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come.

Let’s begin with Helen Keller’s reminder, “I am one, but still I am one; I cannot do everything, but still I can do something; And just because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do the something that I can do.”

Taking Mother Teresa’s words to heart, “If you can't feed a hundred people, then feed just one.”

Amen. 

Changing the big world may not be possible, but changing the small world around us is conceivable. And doable.

I do know this: gratefully, indifference is not an option.

So. I can choose to be kind. One person—one encounter, one word, one gesture—at a time.

I can choose to be generous. To be inclusive. To not demean or shame. This is not because we get points, or rewards in heaven. We can choose because this is a reflection of who we are, at our core. "This little light of mine."

We’ve lost the empowerment that comes from knowing that what is at our core (compassion, generosity, kind-heartedness, our capacity for connection) is greater than whatever change confronts or challenges us.

In other words, we have forgotten our best selves.

We have forgotten that we were made for this, one soul helping another. Sabbath Moments

God, thank You for Your creativity and for making us creative like You. We thank You that You're the Master Artist who put together Your holy and inspired Word for us to study. Help us to see Your skilled work in the sunrise and in Your people, from the gifted baker to the software designer. May we find joy in our creativity too. In Jesus' name, amen. First5

Ezekiel 38:18-23 God’s love given in Jesus is our hope!

Everything that God promised to Abraham and Sarah will come to fruition. He promised that against all odds they would be returned to their homeland and it was fulfilled in our lifetime.

Ezekiel 36:24-28 I will take you from among the nations, gather you out of all countries, and bring you into your own land. 25 Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. 26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them. 28 Then you shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; you shall be My people, and I will be your God. 

Ezekiel 37:15-22 Again the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 16 “As for you, son of man, take a stick for yourself and write on it: ‘For Judah and for the children of Israel, his companions.’ Then take another stick and write on it, ‘For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel, his companions.’ 17 Then join them one to another for yourself into one stick, and they will become one in your hand.

18 And when the children of your people speak to you, saying, ‘Will you not show us what you mean by these?’—19 say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Surely I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel, his companions; and I will join them with it, with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they will be one in My hand.” ’ 20 And the sticks on which you write will be in your hand before their eyes. 21 “Then say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Surely I will take the children of Israel from among the nations, wherever they have gone, and will gather them from every side and bring them into their own land; 22 and I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king over them all; they shall no longer be two nations, nor shall they ever be divided into two kingdoms again.

The house of Israel,  the 12 tribes of the north and the South, including the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, will be renewed and brought back into the land of promise. God’s divine authority will reunite the original 12 tribes of the house of Israel.

Ezekiel 37:26-28 Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them, and it shall be an everlasting covenant with them; I will establish them and multiply them, and I will set My sanctuary in their midst forevermore. 27 My tabernacle also shall be with them; indeed I will be their God, and they shall be My people. 28 The nations also will know that I, the Lord, sanctify Israel, when My sanctuary is in their midst forevermore.” ’ ”

In His everlasting covenant there will be no doubt that God is in their midst and the world will know that God has sanctified His people.

Ezekiel 38:18-23 And it will come to pass at the same time, when Gog comes against the land of Israel,” says the Lord God, “that My fury will show in My face. 19 For in My jealousy and in the fire of My wrath I have spoken: ‘Surely in that day there shall be a great earthquake in the land of Israel, 20 so that the fish of the sea, the birds of the heavens, the beasts of the field, all creeping things that creep on the earth, and all men who are on the face of the earth shall shake at My presence. The mountains shall be thrown down, the steep places shall fall, and every wall shall fall to the ground.’ 21 I will call for a sword against Gog throughout all My mountains,” says the Lord God. “Every man’s sword will be against his brother. 22 And I will bring him to judgment with pestilence and bloodshed; I will rain down on him, on his troops, and on the many peoples who are with him, flooding rain, great hailstones, fire, and brimstone. 23 Thus I will magnify Myself and sanctify Myself, and I will be known in the eyes of many nations. Then they shall know that I am the Lord.” ’

God will end the fight! Because of the nations hatred for the Jews God’s wrath will fall upon them. God will fight them supernaturally and He will be exalted in His show of  power and might. 

John 3:16-18 16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. 18 “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19 And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 

Everyone from every nation and every creed who changes and accepts Jesus as their Savior can be saved. Jesus is the only way to the Father and in Him alone is the peace of the world. Carla

These verses speak of God defending His nation against Gog and his army with supernatural and earthshaking methods. Unusually strong language concerning the wrath of God is found in these verses. The piling up of intense phrases indicates more than an “ordinary” future battle. Fire and brimstone is a rare phrase, reserved only for the greatest catastrophes (Genesis 19:24 when a similar phrase is used for the destruction of Sodom). This judgment would rival the magnitude of the judgment Sodom experienced. Then they shall know: This terrible battle will reveal God’s might to the entire world and His concern for His people. The NKJV Study Bible

Psalm 11:6

Upon the wicked He will rain coals;

Fire and brimstone and a burning wind

Shall be the portion of their cup.

Isaiah 66:16 

For by fire and by His sword

The  LORD will judge all flesh;

And the slain of the LORD shall be many.

Ezekiel 5:13 ‘Thus shall My anger be spent, and I will cause My fury to rest upon them, and I will be avenged; and they shall know that I, the LORD, have spoken it in My zeal, when I have spent My fury upon them.

I found this from David Brooks, “Most healing that I see is smaller and unobtrusive. It is seen in one person’s simple countenance, that individual’s way of paying attention to the world, marked by patience, peace, kindness, joy and love. It is seen in others as they do small things with great love. Serving dinner is a material act, but hospitality is a spiritual gift. It is seen too in those who are able to love the people who are hard to love—the criminals, the outcasts, the strangers.” (My Decade-Long Journey to Belief, NYT) excerpt from Sabbath Moments

Deuteronomy 29:1 God’s promises are always fulfilled!

The restoration of Israel is the fulfillment of God’s promises to Abraham in the Abrahamic Covenant  He made with him. The land promised to Abraham and his offspring is covered in the Palestine Covenant. The promised land resides in Palestine and God mandated this land of Israel to them.

Deuteronomy 29:1 These are the words of the covenant which the Lord commanded Moses to make with the children of Israel in the land of Moab, besides the covenant which He made with them in Horeb.

Deuteronomy 29:7 -13 And when you came to this place, Sihon king of Heshbon and Og king of Bashan came out against us to battle, and we conquered them. 8 We took their land and gave it as an inheritance to the Reubenites, to the Gadites, and to half the tribe of Manasseh. 9 Therefore keep the words of this covenant, and do them, that you may prosper in all that you do. 10 “All of you stand today before the Lord your God: your leaders and your tribes and your elders and your officers, all the men of Israel, 11 your little ones and your wives—also the stranger who is in your camp, from the one who cuts your wood to the one who draws your water—12 that you may enter into covenant with the Lord your God, and into His oath, which the Lord your God makes with you today, 13 that He may establish you today as a people for Himself, and that He may be God to you, just as He has spoken to you, and just as He has sworn to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

This is the second covenant  that God made concerning the land promised to Israel. These three tribes had stayed on the east side of the Jordan River. Jesus the Christ was a minister to these of the circumcision and the promises made by God to the descendants of Abraham.

Deuteronomy 30:1-6 “Now it shall come to pass, when all these things come upon you, the blessing and the curse which I have set before you, and you call them to mind among all the nations where the Lord your God drives you, 2 and you return to the Lord your God and obey His voice, according to all that I command you today, you and your children, with all your heart and with all your soul, 3 that the Lord your God will bring you back from captivity, and have compassion on you, and gather you again from all the nations where the Lord your God has scattered you. 4 If any of you are driven out to the farthest parts under heaven, from there the Lord your God will gather you, and from there He will bring you. 5 Then the Lord your God will bring you to the land which your fathers possessed, and you shall possess it. He will prosper you and multiply you more than your fathers. 

6 And the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants, to love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live. 7 “Also the Lord your God will put all these curses on your enemies and on those who hate you, who persecuted you. 8 And you will again obey the voice of the Lord and do all His commandments which I command you today. 9 The Lord your God will make you abound in all the work of your hand, in the fruit of your body, in the increase of your livestock, and in the produce of your land for good. For the Lord will again rejoice over you for good as He rejoiced over your fathers, 10 if you obey the voice of the Lord your God, to keep His commandments and His statutes which are written in this Book of the Law, and if you turn to the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.

When they returned from their final dispersion all of this will come to pass and be fulfilled in the return of Jesus. God divinely brought  them back to Israel and there they will be restored. In Jesus the Christ their King they will be fully redeemed.

Ezekiel 34:11- 16  ‘For thus says the Lord God: “Indeed I Myself will search for My sheep and seek them out. 12 As a shepherd seeks out his flock on the day he is among his scattered sheep, so will I seek out My sheep and deliver them from all the places where they were scattered on a cloudy and dark day. 13 And I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries, and will bring them to their own land; I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, in the valleys and in all the inhabited places of the country. 14 I will feed them in good pasture, and their fold shall be on the high mountains of Israel. There they shall lie down in a good fold and feed in rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. 15 I will feed My flock, and I will make them lie down,” says the Lord God. 16 “I will seek what was lost and bring back what was driven away, bind up the broken and strengthen what was sick; but I will destroy the fat and the strong, and feed them in judgment.”

The Jews are the sheep of Israel the chosen people of God they are a holy nation by His divine intervention.

Deuteronomy 34:17-20 17 ‘And as for you, O My flock, thus says the Lord God: “Behold, I shall judge between sheep and sheep, between rams and goats. 18 Is it too little for you to have eaten up the good pasture, that you must tread down with your feet the residue of your pasture—and to have drunk of the clear waters, that you must foul the residue with your feet? 19 And as for My flock, they eat what you have trampled with your feet, and they drink what you have fouled with your feet.” 20 ‘Therefore thus says the Lord God to them: “Behold, I Myself will judge between the fat and the lean sheep.

All the nations that came against Israel will be judged. Jesus will rule in His righteousness and in peace. Carla

The wording here treats the covenant represented by Deuteronomy as somewhat distinct from the covenant Yahweh made with Israel at Horeb (Sinai; Exodus 20–24). However, the distinction is primarily the audience of each covenant. Deuteronomy articulates Yahweh’s laws to the second generation—the children of those who had stood at Sinai (Horeb), whereas former laws, as represented by Exodus and Numbers, were addressed to the former generation. All the laws Yahweh gave through Moses are the terms of the covenant, so the covenants are essentially identical. Faithlife Study Bible 

The Hebrew phrase translated as these are the words of the covenant can be interpreted as a conclusion to the previous chapters or as an introduction to chapters 29–32. In the land of Moab is a reference to the beginning of Deuteronomy (1:1–5). Once again, in chapters 2-8 Moses reviewed the history of God’s merciful acts to the people of Israel. NKJ Study Bible

Deuteronomy 5:2–3 The LORD our God made a covenant with us in Horeb. The LORD did not make this covenant with our fathers, but with us, those who are here today, all of us who are alive.

Deuteronomy 4:26–32 I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that you will soon utterly perish from the land which you cross over the Jordan to possess; you will not prolong your days in it, but will be utterly destroyed. And the LORD will scatter you among the peoples, and you will be left few in number among the nations where the LORD will drive you…

Deuteronomy 6:5–6 You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.“And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. 

Deuteronomy 11:26–28 “Behold, I set before you today a blessing and a curse: the blessing, if you obey the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you today…

Jeremiah 29:14 I will be found by you, says the LORD, and I will bring you back from your captivity; I will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you, says the LORD, and I will bring you to the place from which I cause you to be carried away captive.

One day, talking with a friend in the grocery store, we shook our heads about our world’s fragile nature, as if to say, “Where do we find sanity and sanctuary? And where do find hope?”

“It helps when I distinguish between big world and small world,” he said to me.

With that, a light bulb came on. You see, with big world, news is in your face and stoked with annoyance. And often, anger. No wonder we feel as if our control is demoted. And we ask, how can I ever make a difference in a broken world?

Well, that’s just it, we make a difference in the small world. The small world is the place where we stand. Today. Where we care and give a damn. And hug and give, and try and love, and fall down and get up, and repent and cry, and embrace and challenge, and reconcile and heal.

As our New Year begins, I hope for you moments of reflection. Moments to acknowledge and give thanks. And the permission to be gentle with yourself.

On a podcast yesterday, my friend Charlie Hedges asked if I had any New Year resolutions. And I said, I want to honor the “small world” places where living with a soft heart matters. To honor, means literally “to make space”. Yes. I want to make space, for places of sanctuary, empathy, inclusion, compassion and kindness. Sabbath Moments

Entering the New Year

God of all time,

help us enter the New Year quietly,

thoughtful of who we are to ourselves and to others,

mindful that our steps make an impact

and our words carry power.

May we walk gently.

May we speak only after we have listened well.

Creator of all life,

help us enter the New Year reverently,

aware that you have endowed

every creature and plant, every person and habitat

with beauty and purpose.

May we regard the world with tenderness.

May we honor rather than destroy.

Lover of all souls,

help us enter the New Year joyfully,

willing to laugh and dance and dream,

remembering our many gifts with thanks

and looking forward to blessings yet to come.

May we welcome your lavish love.

May we cast off the small, vindictive god our fears have made.

May the grace and peace of Christ bless us now and in the days ahead.

Vinita Hampton Wright