THE VERSE
Remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world.~Ephesians 2:12
THE THOUGHT
For some, the memory of life before becoming a Christian is vivid and for some, it is a great testimony of how God delivered them from the depths of sin and depravity. For many others though, who grew up in a Christian home, there is very little sense of what exactly they were rescued from and the difference that being in Christ makes. But for them, too, before they came to a real faith in Jesus (whether this was when they were very young or older), they were also separated from Christ, excluded from the true family of God, and they were without hope and without God.This understanding of the difference that faith makes is crucial to a proper appreciation of the Gospel. Before the Holy Spirit transformed your heart, you were dead in your sins and an object of God's just and righteous wrath. But now you have been given a hope and a future. You have been raised with Christ and lavished with blessing and salvation. You have been rescued from death and have been shown the 'incomparable riches of His grace'. You have been saved to glorify God and do the good works that He has prepared for us. This is a complete turnaround, a raising-from-the-dead that should make us fall to our knees and thank God for all that He has done for us.
THE PRAYER
Lord, Help me to see all that You have rescued me from, and all of the blessings that Your salvation has brought me. Give me a greater appreciation of Your cross and all You had to do, taking my place by living and dying for me.EXTENDED READING
Ephesians 2:1-22THE QUOTE
"The reason that Christians don't get persecuted in America today is that we look too much like the rest of the world for anyone to think anything different about us." ~James Bibza
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