Acceptance Versus Rejection

"...to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves." (Ephesians 1:6 in context)

Sometimes We Can be Rejected by Others But We Can Always  be Accepted in Christ 

God chooses to give (election) us salvation. This is not because we deserve it, but rather for His Glory. For most of us we know what it feels like when we are rejected--by a circle of  our peers, associates, classmates, a spouse, a family member. 

It is a terrible feeling. The experience of being rejected and all the rejections in our lives can take a toll. I believe it is at the root of psychological distress and mental illnesses of all kinds. But, our hope if placed in another human being can never bring us the peace and joy and contentment we so earnestly seek. These can only be found in The savior Christ.


Christ does not reject us because of our short coming or our sins. Christ does not ostracize us because we don't wear the right kind of clothes or drive the right kind of car nor does he choose us based on our success or failures. Christ chooses us for salvation purely out of love and purely by His Grace.


The only acceptance that matters is that which comes from God. But, here is the key, the entry way into the fullness of this continual acceptance is only found in Christ. So each person has a choice. To choose to receive it or to rejected. This promise of acceptance is only available to those who believe in, and trust in The Lord Jesus for their salvation.

God Chooses to Adopt Us

"He predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will—"(Ephesians 1:5)

Adoption

"the giving to any one the name and place and privileges of a son who is not a son by birth."


God has done something for us, that most of us don't appreciate: 

1. He has give us His Name: a name that is above every other name: Jesus Christ
2. He has given us a place: It is in the heavenly realm that we will rule and reign with Him
3. He has given us privileges:  We gain eternal life--this is something which we received without any effort on our part. This is our inheritance which we would not have been in a position to receive, if we were not his sons and daughters. we will receive rewards based on how we lived before Him...

Give Him Praise and Glory

God Held an Election and Voted for You, Not Once, But Twice!

"He predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will—"(Ephesians 1:5)


Imagine that! You didn't even have to run for this eternal office in God's Kingdom. You gain entry into the Kingdom of God, not by any campaign promises you made or any good works you did. In fact, God elected you, before you even took your first breath!

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world." (Ephesians 1:3-4)

God is Sovereign

God is free to do as He sees fit. To predestine one to a life with Him is an absolute FREE gift of His Grace. He gives us eternal life. It is all God's doing and has nothing to do with us.

Twice chosen

God also put us into Christ, so that our salvation is sure. What the Holy Spirit reveals to me is this: God knew us before we were born, He chose us to be a "Saved-One" back then. But, Christ had not completed His work--His death, resurrection and ascension--

Look at this verse: "In him (Jesus Christ) we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will." (Ephesians 1:11) We were ALSO chosen--in addition to the first choosing-- in Christ. Why?

Because we could never be pure enough, holy enough or worthy enough, apart from Jesus Christ.  that's precisely why God-- who is Holy--provided another way to surmount our sin problem so that we could gain entry into God's Kingdom.

And so God also puts us in Christ--When?

I believe that it is--at the point that we accept the work of the cross--and all that Christ is-- and we believe on Him for our salvation. At  that moment God puts us into Christ and gives us His Holy Spirit.


We now are not only  predestined to be a Saved-One, we are also a Christ-One, and one with Christ and worthy "to enter and participate in  the Kingdom of God.

So brothers and sisters, God cast two ballots for us--the first one is like a "primary election" (predestined for an office) This gives us the predisposition to receive God's Grace, and a second  ballot cast elects us to the "office for eternal Life with Him."

What do we have to do to take office? 

--at some point in our  lives-- must choose to receive God's gift of Grace and through it, choose to live their lives before the Lord, doing as he commands, often stumbling, often repenting of their sin and starting anew--and preserving until the end of our earthly lives.

Brothers and Sisters, discern what the Holy Spirit reveals to you. There is so much in this letter to the Ephesians and that once understood and appropriated,  can help us to live a Christian life that is far above average. so, live today with great joy, knowing that you are predestined for greatness

Predestined for Glory: God's Plan and Purpose for Salvation-Part 1

We are elected--"Predestined" (Epesians1:5)--by God to receive His salvation.
Believers were predestined to be saved, even before the foundations of this world were set. 


God is Sovereign
God has absolute sovereignty.  He is free to do as He sees fit. To predestined one to a life with Him is an absolute FREE gift of his Grace--even though we don't deserve it--He gives us the gift of salvation. It is all God's doing and has nothing to do with us.

In him (Jesus Christ) we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will,


The elect--at some point in their lives choose to receive this gift of Grace and through it, choose to live their lives before the Lord, doing as he commands, often stumbling, often repenting of their sin and starting anew.


A Mystery Accepted By Faith

This is a concept is hard to fathom without spiritual eyes and ears and is even harder to explain. I don't pretend to be able to adequately give this word the justice it deserves. It is a mystery that I accept, by Faith. God predestines those to be saved from their sin in a mysterious kind of way. I don't know why some are predestined and some are not. But, it is clear there is a choosing process which God undertook. 

Free Will to Choose

But, mankind has a free will and we can see that, even though we are so predestined for heaven, it doesn't mean that all will receive the same rewards.

Some way, somehow, we gain entry into the kingdom of God. I for one, do not believe that this is something that is reversible. God has made up His mind about us.

Those so predestined by this grace can-- their own choosing-- abuse this gift of grace and sin willfully.  I also believe that one who is so chosen has it in his or her heart, to turn from their sin and turn back to God. Only God knows His chosen ones. It's not for us to judge. I do believe it is possible to  discern true followers of Christ from nominal Christians.


Sin is a word we don't hear very often these days. It is out of fashion. However, I know from my own life, sin is real. 


Are you a predestined one? 
Do you try to do your best to follow Christ, obey his commands? Do you acknowledge your sin? do you Confess it ( either to an accountability partner or Directly to God) admitting out loud you sins? Do you receive the cleansing of you sin, by the power of the shed blood of Jesus? Do you forgive yourself? Do you forgive others, readily?


We all sin. Jesus said: "there is no one perfect, no not one." Because you think you are predestined and that you can live like Hell on monday is dangerous to your eternal health.Because we think we are a part of the elect, doesn't mean we are without sin.


"If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us. (1John 1:10)


This is why it is necessary to start each day with a clean slate. 


1 John 1: 9 says: "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness."


When we do so, we lift the burden of guilt and condemnation for our minds. We are forgiven and we begin anew with joy and a new resolve.


"In the case of the believer who has the witness in himself, this doctrine (predestination) at once deepens his humility and elevates his confidence to the full assurance of hope" ( Charles Hodge, Theologian)


Somehow, God will work all things together for the good of those who love Him--and he knew all of this before the foundation of the world.

Who am I and Why and I here?

Champions, I hope this refreshes you today and that the Holy Spirit does fresh things in YOUR life today:


[This letter to this particular church was written from a prison cell by the apostle Paul. Some believe that it was intended, not just for this church, but for all the churches in Asia minor.]


If I had to choose just ONE portion of scripture I could have out of all the 66 books of the Bible, Paul's letter to the Ephesian Church would be the one I'd chose.


Why? Well, how many of us have asked: "who am I and why and I here?" I know I have. Especially in my late 30's. Paul's letter gave me the answer:


In 1983, I became a Christian saved by the Grace of God by putting my faith and trust in Christ as my Savior and Lord. This was a time of great trial for me and my family. Jesus Christ made all the difference in my life. He kept me strong and sane through one of the biggest flops in my life.  Paul's letter gave me a new outlook and in the process I got a new me--in Christ. 


If you are a Christian, you have all that you'll ever need: In Christ--whether you are a whopping success or a total failure--it doesn't matter to Jesus. He doesn't look at us and evaluate us based on our performance. We are not our success or failures. We are His. We are accepted in the beloved (Ephesians 1:6)


I John 3:1,"See how great a love the Father has bestowed upon us that we should be called children of God; and such we are. For this reason the world does not know us, because it did no know Him." 


When we chose Christ, we chose to exchange our old life for His new life; our old ways of thinking and acting for His Ways. The Slate is wiped clean and we have a new start--living life, not on our own strength but through His. In Christ, we are a new creation, the old has gone and the new is come (2Corinthinans 5:17)


In Christ I am:


Blessed (1:3)
Chosen (1:4)
Predestined (1:5)
Adopted (1:5)
Accepted (1:6)
Redeemed (1:7)
Forgiven (1:7)
Enlightened  (1:8,9)
Given and Inheritance ( (1:11)
Sealed (1:13)
Assured (1:14)


Now, this is really exciting and good news--all I need to do is believe and appropriate what Christ has already done for me...Praise God.

I already written about being chosen and being blessed--in future posts we'll explore the rest of these.

BeBlessed

God Chose Us But

^"For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love" (Ephesians 1:4) 


God has seen fit to chose us before the world was even formed. To those who don't believe, this seems to be a ridiculous statement. Who can explain it? We didn't have anything to do with the choosing. So how does this happen? It is God's grace. That's the best explanation I can give. We have nothing to do with the initial choosing.


God does the choosing  BUT--we are still responsible for believing in Jesus as Lord and Savior. We are still responsible for chosing to live in the light of His truth. We are still responsible for choosing to follow Christ, moment by moment--a choosing of "Life"--instead of "death"--^"For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 6:23) 


Keep yourself clean today, and bring glory, honor and praise to The Father who chose you to be one of His own.

You can have all that you need, today.

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ." (Ephesians 1:3)


"Blessed us"...God Blesses (commends to the believer) in heavenly places (God's complete heavenly realm from which all blessings flow.)


What are these blessings? These only belong to believers who put their faith in Christ. They are superabundant. What God has is ours--these blessings are called spiritual but they are not limited to the supernatural. God provides to the believer all that he or she will ever need. Too often, we try to get our needs met outside of Christ. We can be the kind of believer  that knows Christ but live our life instead of His life. When we live the self-life instead of His life we shut off these blessings.

Is there a better way to start your day

"Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ." (Eph.1:2)


Paul sends God's grace and peace to this church in Ephesus.  God offers us His grace and peace each and every moment of our lives and for eternity. It is our choice to receive it, to partake of it and to return it to all those we encounter.
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Important Words
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Grace: favor, kindness, friendship
Peace:  Meditate on these two scripture verses today.
"Submit to God and be at peace with him; in this way prosperity will come to you. Job 22:2

 "I will lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone, O LORD,
       make me dwell in safety. Psalm 4:8

Champions are faithful in Christ, Jesus

"...the faithful in Christ, Jesus."  In his letter to the church at Ephesus, the apostle Paul addresses it yo the faithful in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 1:1) He wasn't addressing it to people outside of Christ. Champions are "in Christ." They abide in Him and He abides in us. It is our choice.


What does the word faithful mean?


According to the dictionary it means: unswerving adherence to a person or thing or to the oath or promise by which a tie was contracted and it implies a firm resistance to any temptation to desert or betray (Merriam-Webster Dictionary)


Our abiding in Him --an act of our faithfulness--is a moment by moment decision. When we choose to sin, Christ is offended by our lack of faithfulness. We grieve His Holy Spirit. Confession of our sin and repenting of it is necessary so that Christ can forgive us and get us a new start. Once again, He is willing to abide in us.

Champions have a good reason to jump out of bed

"Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God"(Ephesians 1 Verse 1)
St. Paul had a purpose.  And, God has a purpose for your life too. When you know your purpose, you'll never have a problem getting out of bed. If you don't know what it is, ask Him.

When you get dressed today, put on new clothes

Let Jesus Christ fix your mental wardrobe. 

Ephesians 4:20-24

Let The Greatest Motivational Speaker in the world start Up your mind

If you listen to some of the very good motivational speakers, you will note that so many of their ideas about living a successful life come straight from he Bible.

Champions start their mind up everyday with choice words from the greatest motivational speaker in the world-- God. You can find these words in the Bible and they will speak to your heart

BeBlessed

How God Sees Champions

St. Paul wrote his letter to the Church folks in  Ephesus and he addressed them as "saints." What is a saint? Well, it's not what you're thinking. A saint is defined as  "most holy"--set apart from sin to God. When a person is In Christ, he or she is a saint--most holy. God calls us "to be holy" as He is holy. Impossible you say?

Christians  are not perfect. If you know some, you know that's the truth. But in God's eyes, we are saints--most holy--we have the potential. In Christ,  we are justified and have eternal life. By the power of his Holy Spirit we become sanctified . And by His grace, we can grow in holiness, and into the people He wants us to be.

We have a lot to live up to. It takes a lifetime.