Ephesians 1:3,4 – Conversations with God

3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. 4 For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight.

Father, indeed I bless You with Paul, I give You honor and praise for being the God and Father of our Lord, Jesus Christ, and for giving us such amazing blessings (gifts, benefits) in heaven’s realms in Christ. You have given us every spiritual blessing, such is the largesse of Your generosity.  You have held back nothing that we need.  How could I ever be grateful enough for all You’ve done?  Perhaps I can bless others the way You have blessed me.

This first blessing is startling!  You chose me to be in Christ, to be so connected to Him that His life becomes my life.  His death to sin was my death to sin.  His rising to life was my new life begun.  His ascending to heaven is now the standing I have with You, Father.  I am as close to You as He is.  I am as certain of Your love as He is.  I am as safe in Your purposes as He is.

And You made this choice of me before the world was made.  You saw what my need was going to be before I even existed and wanted to love me in this way before I was born.  So You selected me for this blessing.  It is hard not to ask why, but You give no explanation but that You loved me.

Your goal for me was to be holy and blameless before You.   I think of my desire for my children to be paragons of virtue.  I long for them to be good men and women who raise good children and who make a difference for You in the world.  I do not yet feel I have measured up to that before You. I certainly don’t feel blameless.  I know that You are still working on me.  And I mostly appreciate that.  At times I feel my heart rebelling against Your promptings.  But usually I want to be more pleasing to You, and it is because I know that Your every wish is for my benefit, my blessing.

Thank You!