September 1

Today, I prayed for you, those who read my blog and my post. You are my family and we will reign together in the coming kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus. I was spurred to pray for you by Paul’s prayer for the Ephesians. I prayed that God would give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him. We can read the scriptures and come to it as a child and understand, but because it is living, I asked for another layer of its depths to be revealed. The meaning won’t change, but be expanded. The more that God reveals Himself, the bigger He becomes. I think our minds are so veiled, we don’t realize His magnitude. He chooses to show us a little of Himself at a time, so we're not overcome by fear. I have a friend who is paralyzed by the fear of God and she weeps all the time. Her family thinks she’s insane, but I think she’s been given a gift. One day they will realize why she’s weeping, because we will all be crying with her when we are compared to the majesty of our Holy Father. Until that day, keep moving towards the glory that awaits us when all of Heaven is made known.

For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, Ephesians 1:15-18

August 31

I love to order things for delivery to my house. Even though I know that these packages are coming, and I know what’s in them, there is something exciting about having it brought to my door. Before it is delivered, I go online, carefully choose the perfect item that suits my need. I consider the cost, the size, then content, and the length of time it will be before it’s sent out. Once I’ve chosen the item, I then pay for it. That item is then set apart, and then goes into the process of being packaged, stamped, sealed, and set out to wait for a carrier to pick it up. Once it is picked up, it takes a little ride on a truck and then, possibly put on an airplane, then on another truck, until it reaches my door. This is the same process it takes for us to be united with the Father! Here is Ephesians 1:10-14 simplified. You can be guaranteed that our Heavenly Father is waiting in excitement for us to be delivered to His door.

Ephesians 1:10 Delivered and opened

Ephesians 1:11 Carefully chosen and order placed

Ephesians 1:12 Waiting on the delivery

Ephesians 1:13 Paid for, set aside, and sealed

Ephesians 1:14 Sent out for delivery

Ephesians 1:10 as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.

Eph 1:11  In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will,

Eph 1:12  so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory.

Eph 1:13  In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit,

Eph 1:14  who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.

August 30

There are many secrets hidden in everyday life. Each morning I give you stories of my life and those around me, things that seemingly have very little significance yet tell of the presence of God in all we do. Years ago, I heard Jesus tell me to follow His footsteps. So I began studying the gospel of John. Jesus always gave lessons using the things around Him, to help train and teach His disciples. It helped them remember the lessons and also showed how He is woven into everything. He began bringing to light the parables in what I was doing. The first one I remember the Holy Spirit pointing out was when I was pulling weeds. Weeds can signify sin, sinful people, or the enemy. Pulling weeds from the garden, makes your garden more beautiful. If you are growing vegetables and weeds come up with the new plants, you leave them in place, because if you pull them you may uproot your vegetables. We will always have to deal with the enemy, and sinful people because God is not ready to uproot us yet. He will separate us later. This is how the Word of God comes to life for me. In Ephesians 1, it talks about how wisdom and insight are made known to us by the mystery of his will. He has revealed the mystery! We know the secret because He has told us! It’s salvation through Jesus. The big secret is out, but pay attention to the valuable lessons that are available in everyday life, and for goodness sake, read your Bible!                               

making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ Ephesians 1:9

August 29

Anytime I can get a day at the beach, I’m in, even if it was to paint the interior of our little place. I had gotten a wild hair a few years ago to paint a couple of walls red, and I have loved it, but it was time to bring back a neutral palette, something more peaceful. I had a lot of color going on everywhere, so I removed all the decor that added to the chaos, and cleared out the clutter. It’s amazing how that can change the entire place. The beach was the same way. We’ve been experiencing westerly winds and it’s been pushing the red tide away from the shore, so the water is clear again, and the dead things are getting carried offshore. These are two examples of what it’s like to have grace poured out and lavished upon us. It feels good to have the clutter of sin purged, and to become your original self, back to the bare bones of who you are supposed to be. Don’t hang on to your past, Jesus has cleansed you of all of it! He wasn’t tortured, beaten, and hung on a cross so you could continue in your misery. He overcame it when He rose from the dead, and so should you.

In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight Ephesians 1:7-8

August 28

Are we in the last of the last days? Whether we are or not, our own life may be in its last days, hours, minutes, or even seconds. Are you worthy to enter the kingdom of Heaven? I was at dinner with a friend who told a story of a woman whose husband had died. The woman was asked if he was saved, and she couldn’t answer the question, because she didn’t know. Sometime before the funeral she had a dream, she saw him lying on the operating table where the doctors were trying to revive him. Over his body was seething demons who were waiting, and as he took his last breath, they tore his body from limb to limb. She was then able to say that he didn’t make it into heaven. Even though it was a dream, how would you like it if, upon your death, your family saw you dragged away by evil beings? What a horrible image! We have a just God, and if you don’t live your life to perfection, you will end up separated from Him. It is impossible to live a perfect life, but with Jesus, it is possible. He perfects us by cleansing us with His blood, and hides us within Himself, so that only His perfection is seen, and not our sin. Have you accepted His free gift of eternal life? If you're still on the fence, ask Him to show you who He is. He will.

In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, Ephesians 1:7

August 27

I’ve mentioned many times that I love gardening. Because our yard is tree covered, I have planted many varieties of bromeliads. I choose them by the color of their foliage and shape, being that’s what I see most of the time. I can’t explain the joy I feel when they bloom for the first time, it’s like receiving a gift! I get the same feeling when I’ve been diligent in following the path that the Lord has set before me, and I see Him pour out His love upon me. This is what I mean: I got the impression that the enemy wanted to toy with me, God has given me the ability to know when they are near, they are not as sly as they think they are and are quite noisy. So I began to pray every war prayer that I could think of, I prayed Psalms 91, which is my “go to” in times of battle. I prayed out loud so the enemy could hear me, I wanted them to tremble. I reminded the Lord of the promises He made me in that Psalm. And just like planting those bromeliads, my prayers bloomed, and I was given a beautiful gift of a busy, but peaceful day. I made it a point to thank Him and praise Him for protecting me. Remember that Jesus is the ruling authority over everything, and because of Him the darkness runs and hides!

far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, Ephesians 1:21-22

August 26

A friend posted a video of a young girl who had been in the foster care system for quite some time. Her foster parents love her and her siblings. As her birthday rolled around news came that they had been approved to adopt them, and they presented her a gift with a plaque telling her she was being adopted. She carefully opened the box, and when she read the plaque she burst into tears. Her joy was so overwhelming that she couldn’t control it. Here’s the good news for us today; we have been chosen to be adopted by the Most High God into the Kingdom of Heaven. We no longer have to be shuffled from place to place wondering where we will be sleeping in the evening. Our home and our lives have changed and we are now cared for by our loving Father as princes and princesses of the kingdom. Before the beginning of the world He knew who would love Him, and snatched us from the fire, giving us all the rights and privileges of sons and daughters. Our joy should be as overwhelming as it was for this child. Every now and then we need a reminder of who we are. We are sons and daughters of the King!

even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. Ephesians 1:4-6