The Mystery Of His Will

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, just as he chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before him in love. He destined us for adoption as his children through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace that he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and insight he has made known to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure that he set forth in Christ, as a plan for the fullness of time, to gather up all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.

Ephesians 1:1-10

How is your spiritual growth? No matter what you do, God has a place for you. That knowledge, that it is not up to you, but that it is up to God can be liberating. By God’s design, we are completely unique people. We are each Christ-redeemed and we can never be replaced or replicated.

Do you condemn yourself because you aren’t as spiritual as you think you ought to be? Do you see yourself as a second-rate disciple, lacking the gifts and graces possessed by fellow believers who seem to be models of prayer, witness, and service? We can rise above the mood of self-rejection and enjoy grateful self-acceptance when we put our lives into the nail-pierced hands of Jesus.

If the LORD accepted us, surely we can accept ourselves! That is the liberating truth.

Accepting Jesus’ free gift of salvation frees us to accept ourselves.

Our Daily Bread – June 9, 2008