Ephesians 1:3
Blessed be The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.
Blessed be The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.
Blessing God is our primary focus as Christians, as God's people. We bless Him best when we give Jesus our hearts to live in.
We bless God with our hands in worship and in work.
We bless God with our lips and our tongues when we give Him praise, sincere praise that comes from a grateful heart.
We bless God with our feet when we go where he wants us to go. And we go with a joyful heart knowing that our God has already provided not only a way to get there, but a way to be more fruitful in His kingdom.
We bless God with our arms when we carry loads to the altar (figuratively) and then lay them down there for God to meet the needs thereof.
We bless God in our daily lives, throughout our life, that God gets the glory and not we ourselves.
We praise Him and glorify His Name, for He is GOD and He is The Father of our LORD and Savior JESUS CHRIST. Had He done nothing more for us, that would be enough to honor Him with our lives.
But God has prepared spiritual blessings for us, blessings only available IN CHRIST. If we are not in Christ, then every spiritual blessing which God has prepared for the resurrected soul is not available to us.
Being IN CHRIST requires us to ask CHRIST to be in us. We believe by faith that JESUS CHRIST IS LORD and we give Him access to our hearts willingly and joyfully, thankful that we answered the call to salvation, to deliverance, to an abundant Life in Christ.
Salvation through Jesus Christ saves us from eternal damnation and gives us eternal life IN CHRIST. An eternal, abundant, overflowing, without end LIFE EVERLASTING IN CHRIST.
Deliverance from the bonds and chains of sin comes from a close personal working relationship IN CHRIST. Him working in us through the power of His Holy Spirit, changing our hearts and transforming us from the inside out. First the heart and the mind gets changed, then the outward things that people see changes. But the inward change must happen first. IN CHRIST we are born-again; we are born ANEW.
In life, in the womb and from birth, we are given by God some knowledge -- awareness of faces, voices, wetness, hunger, comfort. As we grow in life, we acquire a variety of knowledge, not all of it good or wise. So, too, must the one who lives IN CHRIST and has CHRIST living in him or her, acquire knowledge and wisdom. It is a process, an ever changing pattern of growth visible to not only ourselves, but to those who are watching us grow. Even failure is part of growing IN CHRIST, for then God prunes us and we change again into someone who is able to be more fruitful.
These are but three spiritual blessings we have received from The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! Imagine what is in store in the mansions which Christ is preparing for us!
