"In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace." - Ephesians 1:7 (NKJV)When I asked Lydia to marry me, I was just 18 years old. I remember being in the jewelry store, looking at diamond rings, and I bought the best I could afford. It has continued to be precious to Lydia, because it was my best. If I had had more money, I would have boug...  Read More

Romans 12:1 - I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. The word “therefore” harkens back to what Paul has previously said in chapters 1-11. He has described what Jesus did on the Cross by paying for the sins of humanity. The first 3 chapters explain how lost every person is ...  Read More

"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." - Ephesians 1:11 (NKJV)The word "predestination" often confuses people, but it simply means "to see beforehand a boundary or horizon." Joel Gregory once stated: “When Paul wrote the letter to the Ephesians, he wrote it in Greek. He did not writ...  Read More

"For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast." - Ephesians 2:8-9 (NKJV)There was a little boy at Christmas time trying to figure out how he could get a little red wagon. His friends were writing letters to Santa Claus, so he thought, "I'll do something even better. I’m going to write a letter to Jesus."He...  Read More

"In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace." - Ephesians 1:7 (NKJV)I read about a prison surrounded by barbed wire. To make it look nicer, they planted pear trees along the fence. If you're driving by, the pear trees look pretty, and you might think the prison is a nice place. But if you go inside and look out, all you see is the bar...  Read More

"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." - Ephesians 1:3 (NKJV)A woman was teaching her child about money. Once he figured it out, the child asked her, "Mom, if you give me a hundred dollars, I'll be good." The mother replied, "Son, why can't you just be good for nothing... like your father?"This fu...  Read More

"To the praise of the glory of His grace by which He made us accepted in the beloved." - Ephesians 1:6 (NKJV)What's the ultimate result of God's eternal plan of salvation? It's simple: "to the praise of the glory of His grace." When we get to heaven, we're not going to be walking around talking about how good we were or how special we were. All the praise will go right up to God.There was a man na...  Read More

"Having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace by which He made us accepted in the beloved." - Ephesians 1:5-6 (NKJV)There are two great train tracks in Scripture that run parallel to one another. One is God's sovereignty, which simply means His purpose will never be thwarted by man. The oth...  Read More

"Having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will." - Ephesians 1:5 (NKJV)A few years ago in the NFL draft, Eli Manning was the quarterback the Chargers wanted. But Archie Manning, his father, made it clear publicly: "If you draft him, he's not going to come and play for you." It was pretty brazen, but he made it plain. "You may choos...  Read More

"Having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will." - Ephesians 1:5 (NKJV)All of us have experienced some form of rejection at one time or another. Perhaps you were the child who wasn't as athletic, and as the teams were being chosen, you watched one by one as each child was picked, until there were three to go, then two, and finally,...  Read More

"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." - Ephesians 1:4 (NKJV)Have you ever felt like an afterthought? Like you weren't part of the original plan? Nothing could be further from the truth when it comes to your relationship with God. Before Adam and Eve walked in the Garden of Eden, before the first star was hung i...  Read More

"He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?" - Romans 8:32 (NKJV)There was a man and wife who won an all-inclusive cruise, but they didn't realize it was all-inclusive. Being poor with little money, they stayed in their cabin eating cheese and crackers the entire trip. When crew members noticed they hadn't been to th...  Read More