An Expectant Father

Ephesians 1:3-6

Vs.3 “…who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ…” This is past tense. He has already put forth the order to bless us with every spiritual blessing available in Christ Jesus. Christ said I must leave to prepare a place for you in heaven. The room is ready, the blessings are wrapped, gifts and talents are waiting. Are you ready to receive them? Are you looking? What have you found? Praise Him, thank Him. Are you living a like one who is blessed?

Vs.4 “…for the Father has chosen us before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight…” When God chose to create the world, He knew we would fail Him, hurt Him, and disobey Him. He looked into the future and saw you, saw me and said,
“I want that precious one. I don’t want to miss out on the chance of having this one as My own. This one is too important to Me. I will create the world and send My only Son to die for the sins of this dear one, so that she/he can be holy and blameless and be a part of my kingdom.”

Jesus said,
“This precious child is worth all the pain and suffering I will endure.”
Do you know the Father’s love? Have you received the gift of salvation from the penalty of sin that Christ died to give you? *

Vs.5 “In love, the Father, determined that He wanted to adopt you and me through Jesus Christ, in accordance with His pleasure and will…” Adopting us brings Him pleasure and is in accordance with His will. Each of us is important enough to bring Him pleasure and be in His will. Each of us is a part of God’s plan! We are accepted, loved and pleasing to the King, the Lord Jesus Christ. He wants you to be a part of His will.

Vs.6 “…to the praise of His glorious grace, which He freely gives us in the One he loves.” Our part in His will (as if being in His will wasn’t enough) brings Him praise- just being and choosing Him, brings Him praise. Not what we do, what we have to offer, just choosing Him and being in His will. That is amazing! Think on this for a moment….when was the last time someone appreciated you choosing him or her? When was the last time you were valued for just being and not doing?

God knew before He created the world, which ones would choose Him and follow Him. He has been waiting, like an expectant Father, for the one who would say, “Yes”. He knew your name, who you would be and what you would look like. He waited thousands of years to die for you and than waited almost 2,000 more years to have you in His family. He did this knowing how many times you would fall short. He loved each of you enough to wait anyway and loves you despite your shortcomings. Wow!

He loves you more than you will ever know.


* Romans 10:9 “That if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”

Noble in Character

Acts 17:10-15
I love the example of the Bereans! Can you imagine having Jesus describe you as “more noble in character?” The Bereans received the message with eagerness and then examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.

These are dedicated and responsible people. Before they cast judgment on Paul/Silas, they listened with eagerness and not jealousy/judgment and then they went to the scriptures to verify their words before they responded.

When presented with a message from the Bible, we must listen with eagerness, ready to receive something new from the Bible. We listen with open and discerning hearts as the message is presented. But this eagerness is not without wisdom. These Bereans didn’t just take Paul at his word. They listened with eagerness and then examined the Scriptures every day (in most towns Paul spoke daily). They tested Paul’s gospel message against the Old Testament and verified that he was speaking truth. Then they decided to believe his message, receive Christ’s gift of salvation and start another church. They took their faith and new belief one step further by protecting Paul and helping him to escape the mob from Thessalonica by escorting him to Athens.

So in review, the Bereans listened to the message with eagerness, tested the message against the scripture, believed in Paul’s gospel message and then in faith stepped out to help Paul in a dangerous situation.
• Listen
• Discern
• Test against Scripture
• Believe
• Move forward in faith

Another take away from this passage is the reminder that people who teach or speak about the Word are not perfect people and they in and of themselves are not to be followed. We prayerfully check scripture and verify that what this person speaks is truth. Then we follow Christ and His Word spoken through a man/woman.