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God Chose You {No Matter What Monday}

September 18, 2017 by Marissa Leave a Comment

I stood in the grass behind Root Elementary School, waiting for my inevitable embarrassment. Two of my classmates stood facing the rest of us, wielding as much power as a 4^th grader could hope for. It was time to choose teams for kickball in P.E.

I stink at kickball. Always have, always will. No one has ever been excited about the prospect of having me on any sports team.

Maybe you’ve felt the sting of rejection, too. It’s not just a 4^th grade phenomenon. As a 40-year-old, I still feel left out, less than, and unwanted sometimes.

But Ephesians 1 gives us good news. Remember those spiritual blessings we talked about last week? Paul gives us more details as we keep reading:

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, that we should be holy and blameless before him. (Ephesians 1:3-4)

God chose you.

God chose you in Christ—His choosing is based on what Christ has done, not what you have done. He chose you in Christ and for Christ, to be one of those whom the Father has given the Son (John 10:29).

God chose you before the foundation of the world—before you ever had a chance to show Him what a great pick you’d be. Deuteronomy 7:6-8 tells us that God chose a people to be His treasured possession, not because they were great in number, but just because of His love and faithfulness.

God chose you to be holy and blameless before Him, because He has exchanged Christ’s perfect record for your sin. We can have confidence before God because He chose to pull us out of our sin and reconcile us to Himself (Colossians 1:22-23).

No matter what you face this week, God chose you because of His love.

Every Spiritual Blessing {No Matter What Monday}

September 11, 2017 by Marissa Leave a Comment

I’ve watched more news and Weather Channel footage in the past couple of weeks than I’ve seen in months. The devastation brought by Harvey and now by Irma is heartbreaking, shocking, and overwhelming. As I sit in my intact home in Arkansas, which will never see a hurricane, as I shop in grocery stores with fully-stocked shelves and pump gas from stations with higher prices but no long lines . . . I’m reminded of how blessed I am.

And yet, catastrophes such as hurricanes remind us that our material blessings—which are all gifts from God—can be taken from us. If the worst happened and disaster struck, would I still consider myself #blessed?

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

My greatest blessings on are not on this earth. Yes, I love and cherish many of the gifts God has given me here—my family and friends, my home, my life. I grieve with those who suffer the loss of these precious gifts, and my purpose in sharing this verse isn’t to minimize or dismiss their pain.

But when we suffer loss or fear potential loss, Ephesians 1:3 reminds us that we have been blessed with something even greater than earthly blessings—we have been given every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.

These spiritual blessings are freely given, fully paid for, and forever secure.

They are freely given by God’s grace—since we didn’t earn them, our failures don’t cause us to lose them (Ephesians 2:8-9).

They have been fully paid for by Christ’s sacrifice (Romans 5:6-8, 8:1; 1 Peter 2:24).

They are forever secure, kept for us in heaven, where nothing can destroy them (Matthew 6:20, 1 Peter 1:4).

For the next few weeks, we are going to explore the spiritual blessings God gives us in Christ. I can’t wait to dig into Ephesians 1 with you and be encouraged by the blessings of God’s glorious grace.

No matter what you face this week, God has blessed you in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.

Past, Present, and Future Faithfulness {No Matter What Monday}

September 4, 2017 by Marissa Leave a Comment

Fifteen times in the past six years, a machine has taken photos of my insides, and a radiologist has scoured the images for evidence of cancer recurrence. Scan Days cause me to swing on a pendulum between complete confidence that everything will be fine and dreadful certainty that nothing will be fine.

One tactic I use during those stressful weeks is to remind myself that, no matter how worked up I get each time, all my other scans have been clear. Remembering past experiences brings some peace when I face uncertainty, but it’s a shaky, tentative peace. Statistically speaking, the years of good results makes future good results more likely. But there is no guarantee.

When contemplating past medical success doesn’t quiet my soul, I’m thankful there’s something better.

“But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” (Lamentations 3:21-23)

Calling to mind the Lord’s faithfulness and steadfast love brings hope and peace to my anxious soul. Remembering His past faithfulness to His people in general and in my life specifically gives me confidence as I face uncertainty and doubts. Because God never changes, His past faithfulness absolutely guarantees His present and future faithfulness to us.

I don’t know if everything will be fine. But I do know the Lord will be faithful.

Because He was faithful yesterday, I can confidently depend on Him to be faithful today and expect Him to be faithful tomorrow.

No matter what we face this week, we can remember God’s past faithfulness, depend on His present faithfulness, and expect His future faithfulness.

(This week’s devotional is a flashback adapted from a post which first appeared here on May 30, 2016.)

Wait Patiently – The Lord is Faithful {No Matter What Monday}

August 28, 2017 by Marissa Leave a Comment

Last year, I let my kids stay up to watch the ball drop on New Year’s Eve. They were bursting with anticipation and constantly kept an eye on the clock as they waited for the big moment to arrive. We turned on the tv just in time to watch the sparkling ball descend and usher in the start of 2017. Then my kids turned to me with disappointed faces and whined, “Was that it?! That was the big ball??” I don’t know what they were waiting for, but the reality didn’t live up to the expectation.

Maybe you can relate. Maybe you waited for something you thought would be wonderful, and it turned out to be mediocre. Maybe you’re still waiting, and you wonder if your waiting will be worth it.

We’ve been talking about God’s faithfulness for the past few weeks. We’ve seen that God keeps His promises. We’ve learned that we can hold on to our hope and entrust our souls to our faithful Creator. Today we ask the question, “If we are convinced of God’s faithfulness, how should we respond?”

We find a clue in Romans 8:25:

“But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.”

Are you still hoping for what you don’t yet see? Wait for it with patience.

We wait patiently with confidence because we know our hope will not put us to shame (Romans 5:5).

We wait patiently with peace because God knows what we need (Philippians 4:19).

We wait patiently with expectation because there will be a glorious end to our waiting (1 Peter 5:10).

We won’t get to the end of our wait and find disappointment. We won’t frown and ask, “Is that it?!” When we see the Father’s glory and His faithfulness to His children, we’ll find it was worth every second of our faith-filled wait.

No matter what you face this week, wait patiently because the Lord is faithful.

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