Ephesians 1

Now on to Ephesians. Ephesians, at its core, is about being a part of the family of God. Here's chapter 1: http://www.esvbible.org/Ephesians+1/

Paul begins with his usual greeting introducing himself and encouraging his reader in the name of Jesus.

God has given us every blessing from Heaven through His Son, Jesus Christ. He decided before creation that one day, He would adopt us through the actions of Jesus. Jesus set us free from our sins. Because he revealed His plan through Jesus, we now have every wisdom and insight we need in this world. We already know the Good News of what Jesus did for us. In believing this news, God placed His seal, the Holy Spirit, over us as a promise that He would one day give us our inheritance in Him.

Paul says he knows of the faith in Jesus the Church of Ephesus has, and for that reason, he praises God for them and continually prays that the Spirit will guide them. When we see believers doing good work for the Lord, we should thank God for them because if they do what God has planned, then they are probably expanding the Kingdom of God. Paul prays that God gives them wisdom so that they can fully understand the awesome kingdom that God has given us to inherit or to begin to understand how unlimited His power is. He showed that power when He not only raised Christ from the dead but also placed Him in the highest position in Heaven. He is above any worldly leader. As a church, we are Christ's body.

Finally, I think for the first time since I initially fell behind in my studies, I have caught up to the equivalent of having one quiet time a day since I began. Now, I pray that I will stay on top of things.