Ephesians 2:1-10
1You were dead through the trespasses and sins 2in which you once lived, following the course of this world, following the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work among those who are disobedient. 3All of us once lived among them in the passions of our flesh, following the desires of flesh and senses, and we were by nature children of wrath, like everyone else. 4But God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us 5even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7so that in the ages to come he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God— 9not the result of works, so that no one may boast. 10For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life.
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Reading this passage I can’t help but think that Paul must have known me personally. In my junior and senior years of high school and subsequent years of college, even I could sense periods of deep anger within myself. Was any of this connected to sin? I have no doubt it was.
Fortunately for me my wife Mary came along and we married in the Lutheran church she was raised in. At the completion of military service we returned to Minnesota and began attending the church we were married in. Another of God’s many blessings to me.
I am exceedingly grateful for the Lutheran Pastors and certainly to Pastors Nelson and Orner who have guided me in the pasture where the Good Shepherd could find me.
Each year I grow in appreciation for the prayer and introspection which is Lent. It focuses me on truth; that compels me to be honest. I still allow myself to become anguished and angry.
Jesus has blessed me with the words of Ephesians 2: 10. “For we are what He has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life.”
With God’s help my understanding of this verse in Ephesians as a blessing, helps me grow in faith and to prepare myself to receive and rejoice in the Miracle Blessing that is Christ’s Resurrection.
Thanks be to God and to the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
I have always heard that God judges the heart.
This Lenten Season I pray,
Prayer: Lord, find ways to open my heart to hear and understand Your Word. And that I may then share His love with others more effectively. Amen.
—Charlie Manley