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Ephesians chapter 1

Introduction;

I am stepping out in faith, am going to write a series of devotions on the book of Ephesians. I hope you will follow along, as we go through this great book.



1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God

WHAT A CALLING


Why are we Christians at all?
Why are we in the place we are?
Why for example, am I in China?

We are Christians, because God has chosen and called us, he has called us to serve him and to be his children.

The reason is his will.

Paul was a Pharisee, he was an educated man, who didn't ever imagine, he would be a preacher of the gospel.

But he became an apostle, by the WILL OF GOD.

We are, what we are, because of the will of God.

Praise God that he has set you apart and placed you in a unique place.

To be called a child of God and called into his service, is the highest privilege in the world.

Let's never complain of who we are and where we are, because it is by the will of God.

Thanks

KK


1 To the saints who are in Ephesus, and are faithful in Christ Jesus

SET APART ONE

In the first devotion, we saw that we are, what we are, because of the will of God.

So, what are we:

We are saints, literally, set apart ones. God has set us apart for himself, he has personally chosen us. That is so amazing.

They are in Ephesus, of all the places to start a church, this must have been one of the most difficult, full of idol worship, black magic and the like, but in that place, God set apart some to be saints, as he does in every place.

Despite persecution, which you can read about in the book of Acts, this little group of saints are faithful, that is what we are called to do, wherever we are.. amen.

These believers are grounded in Christ Jesus, they are not faithful to a creed or a theory, they are faithful to a person, CHRIST JESUS.

Why can we be faithful to HIM? Because he is always faithful to us.

It is all about a relationship, a relationship based on HIM, although we are sometimes unfaithful, he never is.

Glory in the fact, that you are his set apart one and that you are and always will be:

HIS SET APART ONE

Thanks

God bless you

Acts 17:

"1 Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where was a synagogue of the Jews:
2 And Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them, and three sabbath days reasoned with them out of the scriptures,
3 Opening and alleging, that Christ must needs have suffered, and risen again from the dead; and that this Jesus, whom I preach unto you, is Christ.
4 And some of them believed, and consorted with Paul and Silas; and of the devout Greeks a great multitude, and of the chief women not a few.
5 But the Jews which believed not, moved with envy, took unto them certain lewd fellows of the baser sort, and gathered a company, and set all the city on an uproar, and assaulted the house of Jason, and sought to bring them out to the people.
6 And when they found them not, they drew Jason and certain brethren unto the rulers of the city, crying, These that have turned the world upside down are come hither also;
7 Whom Jason hath received: and these all do contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, one Jesus.
8 And they troubled the people and the rulers of the city, when they heard these things.
9 And when they had taken security of Jason, and of the other, they let them go.
10 And the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Berea: who coming thither went into the synagogue of the Jews.
11 These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.
12 Therefore many of them believed; also of honourable women which were Greeks, and of men, not a few.
13 But when the Jews of Thessalonica had knowledge that the word of God was preached of Paul at Berea, they came thither also, and stirred up the people.
14 And then immediately the brethren sent away Paul to go as it were to the sea: but Silas and Timotheus abode there still.
15 And they that conducted Paul brought him unto Athens: and receiving a commandment unto Silas and Timotheus for to come to him with all speed, they departed.
16 Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was stirred in him, when he saw the city wholly given to idolatry.
17 Therefore disputed he in the synagogue with the Jews, and with the devout persons, and in the market daily with them that met with him.
18 Then certain philosophers of the Epicureans, and of the Stoicks, encountered him. And some said, What will this babbler say? other some, He seemeth to be a setter forth of strange gods: because he preached unto them Jesus, and the resurrection.
19 And they took him, and brought him unto Areopagus, saying, May we know what this new doctrine, whereof thou speakest, is?
20 For thou bringest certain strange things to our ears: we would know therefore what these things mean.
21 (For all the Athenians and strangers which were there spent their time in nothing else, but either to tell, or to hear some new thing.)
22 Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars' hill, and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious.
23 For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you.
24 God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands;
25 Neither is worshipped with men's hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things;
26 And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation;
27 That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us:
28 For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.
29 Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's device.
30 And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:
31 Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.
32 And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked: and others said, We will hear thee again of this matter.
33 So Paul departed from among them.
34 Howbeit certain men clave unto him, and believed: among the which was Dionysius the Areopagite, and a woman named Damaris, and others with them."

Luke 11:21-22 NLT
For when a strong man is fully armed and guards his palace, his possessions are safe— until someone even stronger attacks and overpowers him, strips him of his weapons, and carries off his belongings.

Good morning and praise God. I hope you are having a good day.

I thank God for you who keeps following my devotions. That gives me the heart to keep typing and sharing what God has put in my heart. Be blessed.

At one point of my childhood I had been captured by some strong powers that carried away my peace and mental soundness. We were not so persistent in church going but hymns have always flowed daily from my mother's unwritten hymnbook of singing. I still wonder how she remembers all these lyrics but she has a history of having been once a baptist.

I lived under extreme panic and fear. Strange things moved in the dusk on dark village life then. The moon would only make the nightmares more real rather than bring light. This was worsened by stories of ogres and witches that were said to operate in darkness. My primary school teacher would always ask us about where we went to church every Monday. His name was Mr. Gathu from Gatwe Kogi. What was more common were Catholic mass that we attended as primary school children.

I had always had this heart of God's word. I would not want to see a Bible paper swiped like a normal paper or burned. I would pick them and put them aside. Then came Lord's Prayer which I began reading before sleeping and this is how the nightmares were slowly subdued. This is how I learned to pray. I learned that there was a person who was might and able to fight this strong evil cloud that had been pushing me to sleepless and panick filled nights.

I give you this snippet of my life to remind you of one that you need in your life. It is not all battles that you can win as long as the strong man is still in your presence. I talk to you about Jesus Christ. It is not a story of fables or trial and error. You may have already know that you're followed by powers that wishes you bad in life , powers that waste the time God has given you in this world. We all need Jesus Christ to save us from this strong man. We cannot save ourselves but He is able.

The book of Romans teaches us much about salvation but more importantly reminds us how our actions and efforts to please God are futile when we don't have the Son of God as our LORD and Savior. He loves you first so there's nothing else you can do to make Him love you more or less. All you can do is to allow Him shower you with His protection, His guidance, learning form His Word and walking with God.

Take a moment and call to Jesus Christ today. Invite Him to fight your battles but of more importance make Him your friend. He alone has life you've always desired.

Father, I have seen your salvation from the strong man who binds you children. Release your power LORD upon the life of this person reading this devotion. Break all the chains and shackles in their life and set them free. Let them receive your victory and glorify your holy name. In Jesus name, Amen.

Shalom. Shalom.

Dear Friend

I am going to be concentrating full time on writing devotions for my website, see it below.

So therefore I wont be posting individual devotions on social media pages, but links to my website, so you can view the pages and posts for yourselves

Here is the Link

https://totallylovedbygod67.cw.center/

Please view the categories, share and make a comment

I will be sending a weekly link with sermons and so if you wish to receive that , please email me at 

keitherichobkirk@hotmail.com


thanks

Keith

LOSING WEIGHT

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.” —Hebrews 12:1

Feeling distant from God is not a unique experience. At some point in their lives, all believers—including the heroes of the faith in the Bible—experience it. Jesus Himself cried, “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?” (Matthew 27:46 NLT).

In this week’s devotions, we’re going to look at ways to close the distance between us and God. We’re going to start by looking at the personal baggage that keeps us from reaching our God-given potential and experiencing the kind of relationship with God that He desires.

When we’re running the race of life, we need to travel light. Sometimes we tend to drag along a lot of excess weight. The author of Hebrews wrote, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us” (Hebrews 12:1 NLT).

Sin is sin, and it will always trip us up and cause us to fall. But there might also be other weights in our lives—weights that aren’t necessarily sins, but nevertheless trouble us, slow us down, and impede our spiritual progress. These weights might include such things as certain habits, misplaced priorities, or seemingly harmless distractions. Often, they weigh us down without us realizing it.

That’s why I periodically take stock of my life as a Christian and look at the things I’m doing with my time. I ask myself questions such as, “Is it a wing or a weight? Is it speeding me on my way spiritually, or is it slowing me down? Is it increasing my spiritual appetite, or is it dulling it?”

Often, we allow ourselves to become busy doing a lot of things that aren’t really all that important. They just seem important at the time. We must ask ourselves if we need to do those things. Are they slowing us down? Are they keeping us from running the race God has given us?

Lay aside the weight and the sin that hinder your progress, and see how the Christian life changes for you.

God bless you!

Acts 20:21 I have declared to both Jews and Greeks that they must turn to God in repentance and have faith in our Lord Jesus. 

We begin a new month of devotions focusing on repentance. But before we can dig into the goodness of this verse, let’s first define what repentance is for the believer. In the Bible, repentance refers to the absolute, whole change of mind and heart that turns a person from sin and toward God. Think of it as a complete U-turn or about-face. It is a total change that encompasses more than just regret or feeling sorry. It results in the transformation of your life through obedience to God’s will. 

In today’s verse, the Greek word for repentance is metanoia. This is literally translated as a change of mind. In this verse, it describes the fundamental turning around, the reorienting of one’s mind and heart towards the will of God and His plan for our lives.

We are beginning this month’s look at repentance with the core message of salvation because we need to be sure that we have the correct heart posture before going into further study each day. It is more than just a change of heart that we are looking at here. We are also looking at faith because if we do not know Who we are turning to, there can’t be true repentance. There can only be conviction.

The truth of the matter is this - Jesus died for our sins, in our place, to give us eternal life. He bore our punishment for us, becoming the sacrifice needed to fulfill the requirement for remediation. Without Him, we would be hopelessly lost, floundering about in our attempts to make things right. But because He stepped in and bore our punishment for us, we are now free. We are made new, washed clean in the blood He shed, and are adopted into the family of God.

Our response to this is faith. We believe in our hearts that He died for our sins and rose again, defeating death, and we ask Him to be Lord of our lives. But faith is not the only thing that we need in our lives. We need to turn away from our sin, to stop living the life that was leading us to destruction prior. We need to start living a life that demonstrates our faith in Him and aligns with His purpose and His will for us. 

We must make a complete turn around, ceasing the things that were destructive and sinful and begin to live a life of faith, seeking and fulfilling His purpose for our lives. Our life is no longer governed by rebellion and self-seeking behavior. Instead, it becomes a life that focuses on others, loving and serving them as we share God’s grace with others. Our lives of change become our testimonies. We are able to help others turn from sin and develop faith in Jesus as we tell them about the changes in our own lives. 

Before we study any further this month let’s take some time in prayer. Examine your heart. Ask God to show you what in your life needs to change and then turn from it. Confess it to God, ask for forgiveness, and turn away. Turn to Him. And then trust and believe that you are forgiven. His grace is free to all who seek it. All we have to do is repent and turn to Him. 

#TEENS4JESUS #devotion #dailydevotional #christianteens #DailyBibleVerse

Jonathan Goforth’s Seven Rules for Daily Living:

1. Seek to give much-expect nothing.
2. Put the very best construction on the actions of others.
3. Never let a day pass without at least a quarter of an hour spent in the study of the Bible.
4. Never omit daily morning and evening private prayer and devotions.
5. In all things seek to know God’s will, and when known obey at any cost.
6. Seek to cultivate a quiet, prayerful spirit.
7. Seek each day to do or say something to further Christianity.

(Jonathan Goforth was a Canadian Presbyterian missionary to China with the Canadian Presbyterian Mission, with his wife, Rosalind Goforth. Jonathan Goforth became the foremost missionary revivalist in early 20th-century China and helped to establish revivalism as a major element in Protestant China missions.)

Finally this book is published. Devotions and artwork by a wonderful friend of mine who passed away from breast cancer a decade ago.