DAY 2
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Ephesians 1:2
As a college student at the University of Memphis, I was required to attend a business communications course. It was a class that you hated as a nineteen year old, but later wished you had taken more seriously. We did simple things like learn the proper form for writing a professional letter that would actually communicate your purpose clearly and present the proper impression of you as a writer.
The first principle you learn is to start your letter with a clear statement of your purpose. If you fail to communicate your purpose in the first sentence or two, then you simply have not clarified yourself and you will lose or confuse your audience.
Paul understood this fundamental principle. His purpose as an apostle was to point people to Jesus. His purpose was to share the gospel with unbelievers so they would understand that their only answer to life’s questions and search for peace was God’s grace. He communicated to believers the peace that comes only through making Jesus Christ the Lord of your life.
Yesterday you were reminded you are a saint – “set apart” for a purpose. As a saint with a God-designed purpose, do you have the same clarity? Does your life point people to the grace and peace found only in Jesus?
All we do should be nothing more than a context for our purpose. We should pursue this purpose with the same clarity as Paul. It is foremost and clear from our lives in every way. As we progress through this chapter, we will learn who we are in Christ. But God remakes us to be like Jesus for a singular purpose - to live out and communicate grace and peace through Jesus to those around us.
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Thank you for doing this blog! Just thinking about it.. Paul endured some trials and struggles too and had a serious turning point in his life before he began to live out that purpose. Someone reminded me recently after losing their newborn baby - we have to choose to believe one of two things: Is God who He really says He is? Or not everything He says He is? I choose to believe He's everything He says He is! That sure does make that purpose prominent!
ReplyDeletegood morning brother Greg.. I'm always excited to "look into the book". I hope you'll slow this down to a crawl as Ephesians has been called "the Switzerland of the New Testament." Grace and peace to you as well. What is grace? This is perhaps a foreign word to those who "stumble" across this blog or to those who are afflicted with "churchianity"- hearing these words bantied about with no clue as to the origin or meaning. Yeshua did say in John 10.10.. the words I speak unto you- they are spirit and they are life! As time permits I hope to return here as often as I can, because He has promised.. "my word will not return empty!". "Grace and peace" to you today.
ReplyDeleteWe are going to try and go in a slow and deliberate fashion. The Bible was made to soak in and not speed through. One month to cover the chapter, which has only 23 verses by the way. Thanks for the comments as we go through his journey together.
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