PRAYER
I pray that God will make your purpose clear. May you see the Holy Spirit's overflowing hope that will lead you to His calling. Stay alert! Pray continuously! Keep Watch! God has something wonderful in store for His most valuable creation. And, I pray that He lavish on you a wonderful way of living in 2022.
SCRIPTURE REFLECTION
I see a two-fold process at work in Ephesians 1:18: Our salvation in Christ authorized a direct transfer of assets (us) to God. We are God's inheritance on account of Christ. God became rich when we entered into His kingdom-building family. The second aspect, just as great as the first, is that we have access to God. We can know Him personally. So, if you want to discern what God is calling you to do, you should ask.
Ephesians 2:18-19 reminds us that we have this right because we are family. "Now all of us, whether Jews or Gentiles, may come to God the Father with the Holy Spirit's help because of what Christ has done for us. Now you are no longer strangers to God and foreigners to heaven, but you are members of God's very own family, citizens of God's country, and you belong in God's household with every other Christian."
I often jokingly tell my husband, "What's mine is mine; and what's yours is mine." Both parts of the phrase end with the word "mine." It indicates a selfish concern for the individual. Looking at this from God's perspective, scripture tells His children a different story. Nothing belongs to us. We recognize this because the gifts we receive from God in life are short lived. They can never be taken with us when we die. He blesses us to enrich others for the benefit of a healthy church.
We are made rich by God because we are His; and God is made rich by us. It's a double blessing. It's part of the God-calling-package we received when we trusted Jesus as our Savior. It was accomplished when Jesus died on the cross for our sins, broke the curse of sin's grip over our lives, and created a superior way for us to live.
This year, let's start with implementing at least one consistent way to grow more in love with God. Let's learn how to pray at all times and spend quality time with Him. We need to learn how to listen to Him. Identify harmful things to cease. And, let's not forget to seek help from Him to increase our spiritual perception, wisdom, and to understand who Christ is and all that he has done for us.
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Brenette Wilder of Lee's Summit, Mo., (formerly of Altheimer, Ark.), is president of Kansas City Teen Summit, blogger at (wordstoinspire105953116.wordpress.com), and author of Netted Together (nettedtogether.org.)
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Editor's note: Pastors, ministers or other writers interested in writing for this section may submit articles for consideration to shope@pbcommercial.com. Please include your phone number and the name and location of your church or ministry. Writers should have a connection to Southeast Arkansas.