Friday in Ascensiontide
Posted on May 19, 2023 by under
Scripture: Ephesians 1:3-14 (NKJV)
1:3 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.
7 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.
Devotion
The Lord God has chosen us before the foundation of the world to be His people. He had known our salvation even before He created us. He had determined to send to us His Only-begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, to fulfill the requirements of the Law which we are unable to do on account of our manifold transgressions. He even determined to offer up His beloved Son as a ransom for the sins of the whole world. He paid the penalty of our sins for us. This was the plan from before the foundation of the world.
Those who have trusted in Him after hearing the Word of truth, the Gospel of our salvation, are sealed with the Holy Ghost of promise. He guarantees our salvation by continuing to preach into our ears the salvation purposed from before the foundation of the world and found in the Only-begotten Son of the heavenly Father, our Lord Jesus, the Christ.
When our sins burden us and weigh us down with doubts and despair, the Holy Ghost is there with the promise that we have been chosen by the Lord God for salvation since before the world began. He planned to save you even before you were born. Take comfort in that promise, for His salvation is for you who have heard the Word of truth and have been sealed with the Holy Ghost of promise.
Prayer: Grant, we beseech Thee, Almighty God, that like as we do believe Thine Only-begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, to have ascended into the heavens; so may we also in heart and mind thither ascend, and with Him continually dwell, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
