Ephesians 2:4-10

  ⁴But God--so rich is He in His mercy! Because of and in order to satisfy the great and wonderful and intense love with which He loved us,

    ⁵Even when we were dead (slain) by [our own] shortcomings and trespasses, He made us alive together in fellowship and in union with Christ; [He gave us the very life of Christ Himself, the same new life with which He quickened Him, for] it is by grace (His favor and mercy which you did not deserve) that you are saved (^[a]delivered from judgment and made partakers of Christ's salvation).

    ⁶And He raised us up together with Him and made us sit down together [giving us ^[b]joint seating with Him] in the heavenly sphere [by virtue of our being] in Christ Jesus (the Messiah, the Anointed One).

    ⁷He did this that He might clearly demonstrate through the ages to come the immeasurable (limitless, surpassing) riches of His free grace (His unmerited favor) in [His] kindness and goodness of heart toward us in Christ Jesus.

    ⁸For it is by free grace (God's unmerited favor) that you are saved (^[c]delivered from judgment and made partakers of Christ's salvation) through [your] faith. And this [salvation] is not of yourselves [of your own doing, it came not through your own striving], but it is the gift of God;

    ⁹Not because of works [not the fulfillment of the Law's demands], lest any man should boast. [It is not the result of what anyone can possibly do, so no one can pride himself in it or take glory to himself.]

    ¹⁰For we are God's [own] handiwork (His workmanship), ^[d]recreated in Christ Jesus, [born anew] that we may do those good works which God predestined (planned beforehand) for us [taking paths which He prepared ahead of time], that we should walk in them [living the good life which He prearranged and made ready for us to live].

Again, I love this passage in the Amplified.  If you can, print this passage out and highlight every mention of God's love, mercy, kindness, grace, favor, and goodness.

It is His intense love for us that motivated Him to give His life for us. It is His intense love for us that motivates his desire for fellowship and union with us. It is His intense love for us that offers us salvation. It is His intense love for us that motivated Him to prearrange "the good life" for us.

That is beyond good news to this little, curly-headed workaholic. Let me tell you a little about me. I come from a long blood line of "what will people think?" philosophy. I have spent way too many years trying to keep all the rules...not just God's rules, but people's rules, and people's interpretation of God's rules. So many rules.

How many times I have kept the rules and completely missed the heart of God. How about you?

If you haven't heard my heart by now, please hear it today. God wants you! He loves you intensely. He isn't interested in what you think you can do or how well you think you can keep all the rules. He wants to be in fellowship with you.

Without being in relationship with Jesus, how on earth can we even begin to do the things we've been talking about the last several days. How can we:

• follow Him?


• be changed by Him?


• deny ourselves?


• do His will?


• remain in Him?

We can't! We can either spend our whole lives trying to hang decorations on the Christmas tree, so we look good on the outside OR we can truly join with Jesus, have a relationship with Him, abide in Him and enjoy the life He planned for us - bear the fruit that He will produce in us.

If you haven't ever had that kind of relationship with Jesus, it can start today. I beg you to begin!

I'm praying for you today. I'd love to hear from you if Jesus wins your heart today.  You can comment here or e-mail me at angela@thosewithyoung.com.