Ephesians 1:1-8 Chapter 1 1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus through the will of God, to the saints that are at Ephesus, and the faithful in Christ Jesus: 2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 3 Blessed `be' the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly `places' in Christ: 4 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blemish before him in love: 5 having foreordained us unto adoption as sons through Jesus Christ unto himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, 6 to the praise of the glory of his grace, which he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved: 7 in whom we have our redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, 8 which he made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence,

Jesus willingly left behind His divinity and for our sake took on the limitations of human form. Second Corinthians 8:9 tells us that He became poor in order that we might have the riches of grace. As a result, we are ...

Chosen. God made us part of His plan from the beginning (Eph. 1:5). He chose us to belong to Him even though we did not deserve it.

Redeemed. Jesus paid the price to redeem us from sin so that we might no longer be held in its bondage. The price of our redemption was His precious blood, shed on the cross ( 1 Peter 1:18-19 18 knowing that ye were redeemed, not with corruptible things, with silver or gold, from your vain manner of life handed down from your fathers; 19 but with precious blood, as of a lamb without spot, `even the blood' of Christ: ).

Justified. We are all guilty of disobedience against God. However, when we place trust in Jesus as our personal Savior, God declares that we are justified, and He treats us as not guilty (Rom. 3:23-24).

Reconciled. Because of our sin, we were at odds with God. Through Christ, we have been brought back into a right relationship with Him ( 2 Corinthians 5:18 18 But all things are of God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and gave unto us the ministry of reconciliation; ).

Forgiven. God has already forgiven all our past, present, and future sins; it’s a “done deal.” Ongoing confession and repentance keep us in intimate communion with Him ( 1 John 1:7 7 but if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanseth us from all sin. ; 1 John 1: 9 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. ).

Freed from condemnation. The Law was given for us to understand God’s standards, our inability to keep them, and our need of a Savior. Jesus fulfilled the law, and His finished work counts on our behalf. We are, then, free to pursue holiness without fear of punishment when we fail (Rom. 8:1-4).

True riches are spiritual in nature, and grace has made us wealthy people. Let us never forget these remarkable reasons to be thankful.

Bible in One Year: Isaiah 31-35 Chapter 31 1 Woe to them that go down to Egypt for help, and rely on horses, and trust in chariots because they are many, and in horsemen because they are very strong, but they look not unto the Holy One of Israel, neither seek Jehovah! 2 Yet he also is wise, and will bring evil, and will not call back his words, but will arise against the house of the evil-doers, and against the help of them that work iniquity. 3 Now the Egyptians are men, and not God; and their horses flesh, and not spirit: and when Jehovah shall stretch out his hand, both he that helpeth shall stumble, and he that is helped shall fall, and they all shall be consumed together. 4 For thus saith Jehovah unto me, As the lion and the young lion growling over his prey, if a multitude of shepherds be called forth against him, will not be dismayed at their voice, nor abase himself for the noise of them: so will Jehovah of hosts come down to fight upon mount Zion, and upon the hill thereof. 5 As birds hovering, so will Jehovah of hosts protect Jerusalem; he will protect and deliver `it', he will pass over and preserve `it'. 6 Turn ye unto him from whom ye have deeply revolted, O children of Israel. 7 For in that day they shall cast away every man his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, which your own hands have made unto you for a sin. 8 And the Assyrian shall fall by the sword, not of man; and the sword, not of men, shall devour him; and he shall flee from the sword, and his young men shall become subject to taskwork. 9 And his rock shall pass away by reason of terror, and his princes shall be dismayed at the ensign, saith Jehovah, whose fire is in Zion, and his furnace in Jerusalem. Chapter 32 1 Behold, a king shall reign in righteousness, and princes shall rule in justice. 2 And a man shall be as a hiding-place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest, as streams of water in a dry place, as the shade of a great rock in a weary land. 3 And the eyes of them that see shall not be dim, and the ears of them that hear shall hearken. 4 And the heart of the rash shall understand knowledge, and the tongue of the stammerers shall be ready to speak plainly. 5 The fool shall be no more called noble, nor the churl said to be bountiful. 6 For the fool will speak folly, and his heart will work iniquity, to practise profaneness, and to utter error against Jehovah, to make empty the soul of the hungry, and to cause the drink of the thirsty to fail. 7 And the instruments of the churl are evil: he deviseth wicked devices to destroy the meek with lying words, even when the needy speaketh right. 8 But the noble deviseth noble things; and in noble things shall he continue. 9 Rise up, ye women that are at ease, `and' hear my voice; ye careless daughters, give ear unto my speech. 10 For days beyond a year shall ye be troubled, ye careless women; for the vintage shall fail, the ingathering shall not come. 11 Tremble, ye women that are at ease; be troubled, ye careless ones; strip you, and make you bare, and gird `sackcloth' upon your loins. 12 They shall smite upon the breasts for the pleasant fields, for the fruitful vine. 13 Upon the land of my people shall come up thorns and briers; yea, upon all the houses of joy in the joyous city. 14 For the palace shall be forsaken; the populous city shall be deserted; the hill and the watch-tower shall be for dens for ever, a joy of wild asses, a pasture of flocks; 15 until the Spirit be poured upon us from on high, and the wilderness become a fruitful field, and the fruitful field be esteemed as a forest. 16 Then justice shall dwell in the wilderness; and righteousness shall abide in the fruitful field. 17 And the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness, quietness and confidence for ever. 18 And my people shall abide in a peaceable habitation, and in safe dwellings, and in quiet resting-places. 19 But it shall hail in the downfall of the forest; and the city shall be utterly laid low. 20 Blessed are yet that sow beside all waters, that send forth the feet of the ox and the ass. Chapter 33 1 Woe to thee that destroyest, and thou wast not destroyed; and dealest treacherously, and they dealt not treacherously with thee! When thou hast ceased to destroy, thou shalt be destroyed; and when thou hast made an end of dealing treacherously, they shall deal treacherously with thee. 2 O Jehovah, be gracious unto us; we have waited for thee: be thou our arm every morning, our salvation also in the time of trouble. 3 At the noise of the tumult the peoples are fled; at the lifting up of thyself the nations are scattered. 4 And your spoil shall be gathered as the caterpillar gathereth: as locusts leap shall men leap upon it. 5 Jehovah is exalted; for he dwelleth on high: he hath filled Zion with justice and righteousness. 6 And there shall be stability in thy times, abundance of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge: the fear of Jehovah is thy treasure. 7 Behold, their valiant ones cry without; the ambassadors of peace weep bitterly. 8 The highways lie waste, the wayfaring man ceaseth: `the enemy' hath broken the covenant, he hath despised the cities, he regardeth not man. 9 The land mourneth and languisheth; Lebanon is confounded and withereth away; Sharon is like a desert; and Bashan and Carmel shake off `their leaves'. 10 Now will I arise, saith Jehovah; now will I lift up myself; now will I be exalted. 11 Ye shall conceive chaff, ye shall bring forth stubble: your breath is a fire that shall devour you. 12 And the peoples shall be as the burnings of lime, as thorns cut down, that are burned in the fire. 13 Hear, ye that are far off, what I have done; and, ye that are near, acknowledge my might. 14 The sinners in Zion are afraid; trembling hath seized the godless ones: Who among us can dwell with the devouring fire? who among us can dwell with everlasting burnings? 15 He that walketh righteously, and speaketh uprightly; he that despiseth the gain of oppressions, that shaketh his hands from taking a bribe, that stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood, and shutteth his eyes from looking upon evil: 16 He shall dwell on high; his place of defence shall be the munitions of rocks; his bread shall be given `him'; his waters shall be sure. 17 Thine eyes shall see the king in his beauty: they shall behold a land that reacheth afar. 18 Thy heart shall muse on the terror: Where is he that counted, where is he that weighed `the tribute'? where is he that counted the towers? 19 Thou shalt not see the fierce people, a people of a deep speech that thou canst not comprehend, of a strange tongue that thou canst not understand. 20 Look upon Zion, the city of our solemnities: thine eyes shall see Jerusalem a quiet habitation, a tent that shall not be removed, the stakes whereof shall never be plucked up, neither shall any of the cords thereof be broken. 21 But there Jehovah will be with us in majesty, a place of broad rivers and streams, wherein shall go no galley with oars, neither shall gallant ship pass thereby. 22 For Jehovah is our judge, Jehovah is our lawgiver, Jehovah is our king; he will save us. 23 Thy tacklings are loosed; they could not strengthen the foot of their mast, they could not spread the sail: then was the prey of a great spoil divided; the lame took the prey. 24 And the inhabitant shall not say, I am sick: the people that dwell therein shall be forgiven their iniquity. Chapter 34 1 Come near, ye nations, to hear; and hearken, ye peoples: let the earth hear, and the fulness thereof; the world, and all things that come forth from it. 2 For Jehovah hath indignation against all the nations, and wrath against all their host: he hath utterly destroyed them, he hath delivered them to the slaughter. 3 Their slain also shall be cast out, and the stench of their dead bodies shall come up; and the mountains shall be melted with their blood. 4 And all the host of heaven shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll; and all their host shall fade away, as the leaf fadeth from off the vine, and as a fading `leaf' from the fig-tree. 5 For my sword hath drunk its fill in heaven: behold, it shall come down upon Edom, and upon the people of my curse, to judgment. 6 The sword of Jehovah is filled with blood, it is made fat with fatness, with the blood of lambs and goats, with the fat of the kidneys of rams; for Jehovah hath a sacrifice in Bozrah, and a great slaughter in the land of Edom. 7 And the wild-oxen shall come down with them, and the bullocks with the bulls: and their land shall be drunken with blood, and their dust made fat with fatness. 8 For Jehovah hath a day of vengeance, a year of recompense for the cause of Zion. 9 And the streams of `Edom' shall be turned into pitch, and the dust thereof into brimstone, and the land thereof shall become burning pitch. 10 It shall not be quenched night nor day; the smoke thereof shall go up for ever; from generation to generation it shall lie waste; none shall pass through it for ever and ever. 11 But the pelican and the porcupine shall possess it; and the owl and the raven shall dwell therein: and he will stretch over it the line of confusion, and the plummet of emptiness. 12 They shall call the nobles thereof to the kingdom, but none shall be there; and all its princes shall be nothing. 13 And thorns shall come up in its palaces, nettles and thistles in the fortresses thereof; and it shall be a habitation of jackals, a court for ostriches. 14 And the wild beasts of the desert shall meet with the wolves, and the wild goat shall cry to his fellow; yea, the night-monster shall settle there, and shall find her a place of rest. 15 There shall the dart-snake make her nest, and lay, and hatch, and gather under her shade; yea, there shall the kites be gathered, every one with her mate. 16 Seek ye out of the book of Jehovah, and read: no one of these shall be missing, none shall want her mate; for my mouth, it hath commanded, and his Spirit, it hath gathered them. 17 And he hath cast the lot for them, and his hand hath divided it unto them by line: they shall possess it for ever; from generation to generation shall they dwell therein. Chapter 35 1 The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose. 2 It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing; the glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it, the excellency of Carmel and Sharon: they shall see the glory of Jehovah, the excellency of our God. 3 Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees. 4 Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come `with' vengeance, `with' the recompense of God; he will come and save you. 5 Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. 6 Then shall the lame man leap as a hart, and the tongue of the dumb shall sing; for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert. 7 And the glowing sand shall become a pool, and the thirsty ground springs of water: in the habitation of jackals, where they lay, shall be grass with reeds and rushes. 8 And a highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called The way of holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it; but is shall be for `the redeemed': the wayfaring men, yea fools, shall not err `therein'. 9 No lion shall be there, nor shall any ravenous beast go up thereon; they shall not be found there; but the redeemed shall walk `there': 10 and the ransomed of Jehovah shall return, and come with singing unto Zion; and everlasting joy shall be upon their heads: they shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.