Jacobs Thoughts and Doings

And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.

Ephesians 1:13, 14

This is me!  And you.  Not of the tribe of Judah, assuming we are Gentiles!  We had no right to even imagine that we could be included in those who were saved, loved, nurtured and blessed by Christ Jesus, by our loving Lord.  As I read this I am aware that the people Paul is mentioning are Greeks!  They heard the message of truth, the gospel of their salvation, and they believed- without any reference at all to Jewish heritage. This heralds a new day in heaven and on earth.  Now, because of the redemption that Jesus earned by his life, death and resurrection, any human being can be saved and live a holy life, not matter what tribe, language or culture or nationality.

Included in their salvation is the promise of their inheritance – redemption, making them God’s children – without regard to being Jew, Greek, or anything else, for that matter.

So, what is our response?  A heart-felt praise, to the praise of his glory, nothing less.

I need to be reminded of this every day.  It matters not who we were, it matters eternally who we have become in Christ Jesus, our blessed Lord and Savior.  This binds us with all believers, now and forever!  Heaven is for all of us.

In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding, he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under one head, even Christ.

Ephesians 1:7 – 10

Can it be? Paul reminds us of who we are as Jesus changes us, and what difference that makes.  It is only possible by the work of the Spirit of the Lord in us.  Let’s look again, to see what is for us.

Redemption through his blood.  This means that we are redeemed, called out!

Forgiveness of sins.  As we are completely dependent on the blood of Jesus, and all that there is in that, we know that our sins are forgiven.  Is there a greater word of good news to us humans?  Sins forgiven!  Yes, because of God’s grace, not our own goodness, we are lavished by that grace!

He made known to us the mystery of his will.   The mystery is that God has done everything necessary to bring human beings into fellowship with himself.   He did this, not because we begged Him to do so but because of the love of Jesus who made it all possible.  It was accomplished because of God’s wisdom and understanding.  We had absolutely nothing to do with that.

Now, for the huge overarching blessing, to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under one head, even Christ.  That is it!  Is there greater good news for me this morning?  Praise God!

For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves.  

Ephesians 1:4 – 10

I must keep in mind that Paul is writing this to all the believers in Ephesus, Jews and Greeks alike.  This must have been challenging news to the Jews who considered themselves spiritually superior to the Gentiles.  The Gentiles, on the other hand, were not drawn to associate with the Jews who lived among them in this great Greek city.  The walls came crashing down when Jesus saved both Jews and Greek and when the Holy Spirit welded them into a new humanity, followers of Jesus Christ.  This is the setting for this marvelous letter – to the Ephesians.

I find it almost impossible to believe that even before one star appeared in skies God chose both Jews and Greeks, and all mankind, for that matter to be in him, living holy and blameless in his sight.   This was the work of His amazing love.  I stand in awe.  The object of his love is to create a new family on the earth, sons and daughters through Jesus Christ.  That is US! 

As I was the son of the love that my father and mother had for one another, so I am in the family of Jesus because of his love!  It is, to my amazement, all love!  It is one-way love.  He loved us!  That is the bed rock of our faith.  He desired and did it!

I am always surprised to see a rose, or any flower, in a new light.  Here is our yellow rose this morning in a nice rain.  I am so pleased with the beauty all around our dear place, roses being one of my favorites.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.  Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.  

I Corinthians 13:4 – 7

I grew up with these words, especially from my mother.  I know that she struggled with some relationships so her repeating these words had special meaning to her and, even now, speaks to me about relationships.  She spoke hardly ever about the faults of others.  I am sure she knew all about their faults, but she did not pass on those feelings to us.

Now that I am grown I realize that she was not blind to the imperfections in others, in fact she knew them quite well.  But she chose not to share her feelings with us children.  She was super wise in doing that.  She was not blind to them but she no doubt passed the feelings through God’s filter and found them to be hurtful and not helpful and so refused to nurse those feelings.

I believe Paul dealt with the faults in others in the same way, because he certainly wrote about how to deal with them, by washing away the negative feelings with the strong, powerful positives that are ours through the Holy Spirit.  He then loved with God’s love.

Raymond had a local craftsman build a hetch for Anna Lois on their 40th  Wedding Anniversary.  We are sorry to see it go = we had it here for several years, giving dignity to our dining room!  That era is over.   This is the bottom section. being loaded by three of the sons of the people who are getting it in northern Pa.