Living in the Spirit
July 8, 2021
Scripture Reading: Ephesians 1:3-14
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, just as he chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before him in love. He destined us for adoption as his children through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace that he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and insight he has made known to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure that he set forth in Christ, as a plan for the fullness of time, to gather up all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. In Christ we have also obtained an inheritance, having been destined according to the purpose of him who accomplishes all things according to his counsel and will, so that we, who were the first to set our hope on Christ, might live for the praise of his glory. In him you also, when you had heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and had believed in him, were marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit; this is the pledge of our inheritance towards redemption as God’s own people, to the praise of his glory.
I write about free will a lot because It is fundamental to understanding our relationship with God. The gift of free will often gets us into trouble when we do not make good choices, but it also establishes God’s will in our relationship with the Lord, the best way out of trouble. God wants us to choose to love God. Thus, the Lord also wants us to choose to love one another. Think about it do we really love anything we are required to love? For self-preservation, protection, or to please the world, we might go through the motions of doing the things humans attribute to love, but selfishness is not a component of love. Now might be a good time to read 1 Corinthians 13. Here is the part that describes love in verses 4-7, Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
The most significant expression of our love of God is how well we love one another. Unfortunately, while we claim to love God, our love of others seems sorely missing in our world today. The time is now for us to change that and live God’s love with God’s help.
Prayer: Lord, make us aware of the many ways we can love one another in everything we do. Amen. All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved