Evangelical Lutheran Diocese of North America

Friday after the Festival of the Ascension of our Lord

Posted on May 27, 2022 by Pastor Dulas under Devotions
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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
 
St. Paul tells us that we have been “blessed with every spiritual blessing.” In fact, Paul seems to go out of his way to impress upon us just how blessed we are! We are God’s own prized possessions, and He lavishes His blessings upon us. The gist of it is this: God is great, He greatly loves us, and He greatly blesses us.
 
First, God is a great and wonderful God. He is not just a little god, with only a little bit of power and love; but He is a great and mighty God with an immense amount of power and love. Second, God greatly loves us as a treasured possession. He could just give us a tiny bit of the love He actually has. But He doesn’t do that. Instead, He gives us the vast supply of His love. He treats us as His prized possession, a treasure to His heart that He greatly loves. Third, God greatly blesses us. Because He is a great God and He greatly loves us as His treasured possession, He also greatly blesses us with His blessings. He could just throw us one or two blessings, like dogs under the table. But God doesn’t treat us that way. Instead, He lavishes His blessings upon us—He pours them out in superabundant fashion.
 
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.

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