Daily Devotional

It is amazing to think of how much God has blessed us as His children.  The Scriptures tell us that He has blessed “us with every spiritual blessing.”  We have not been given some blessings, but “every” spiritual blessing it is possible to give.  None of us have been left out!  We have all been blessed equally because of Christ’s work of redemption and because we are in Him. As a result every blessing the Father has given His Son is ours also.  God the Father’s ultimate goal is that we should be “to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One He loves.” (Ephesians 1:6 NIV) Our lives have been designed by God to bring Him glory.  We are the recipients of His grace.  We are not deserving of the favor, but through the Father’s eternal plan, He has blessed us spiritually beyond anything we can imagine or think.

“God for the glorious grace has poured out on us” His blessing in our lives.  The phrase actually means to be highly favored.  It is a word that derives from the word “grace.”  This verb form is used only one other time in the New Testament and that was when the angel came to Mary to announce that she would give birth to the Messiah.  (Luke 1:28)  Mary was chosen out of all the women of Israel for this privilege.  It was the highest honor that could be given to any woman in Israel.  In the same way, we as the sons and daughters of God are “highly favored” by the Father.  We are given spiritual blessings that have been given to no other group of believers in all history.  What Christ has provided for us is superior to what the Old Testament believers ever spiritually possessed or experienced.  We have the very life of God living in us and we will some day rule and reign with the Lord.  We have been chosen in Christ and adopted into God’s family.  We are truly a very special people to God and have rights and privileges that are unparalleled in God’s redemptive plan.

We are heirs and possessors of all of this because we are “in His Son.”  The term “…His dear Son” literally means the One He loves.  It stresses the manifestation of God’s love to His Son.  Since we are in His Son, the Father has the same love for us.  All of this is possible because Jesus Christ is the Redeemer who paid the ransom for our transgressions and sin.  Through placing our faith in Christ as our Savior, we receive every spiritual blessing.

What does this mean to us today?

• Our value and worth comes as a result of who we are in Christ. Let us see ourselves as God sees us.  If we are not seeing ourselves as “highly favored” by God, it is time for us to change the way we think.  We need to allow these truths from God’s Word to change our very lives.

• Our life is to be lived in hope, recognizing there is coming a day when we will be taken into the presence of the Lord as an heir of all that God possesses. Let us live as an heir today, as one who is truly free from the bondage of sin.  Our focus needs to be on our future in the presence of the Lord.  There we will experience forever the fullest extent of God’s blessings.

• Our life should be lived as an expression back to God of our praise and worship of Him for all that He has done for us. Let us live our lives as an expression of our love and worship to our Lord and Savior.  God’s provision for us is beyond anything we can imagine or think.  Truly, He is worthy of all our praise!

Prayer:  "Father, our hearts cannot express fully the deep gratitude we have for all that You have given us through our salvation in Christ.  Help us to live each day as an expression of our thanks, love, and worshp of You.  May others see in our lives the reality of the salvation You have given us.  Thank you Lord that You have given us every spiritual blessing and that we have such a great future with You."  Amen

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.