This week I've gotten a bit more into Who Do You Think You Are by Mark Driscoll. We're currently watching the sermon series in my small group and I decided to read the book to dive a little deeper. It's a study on Ephesians and talks about true identity in Christ. In the introduction he says,
"Ephesians is only 2,400 words, but those words from a life-changing, identity-transforming, eternity-altering punch because that are the very words of God. I encourage you to read it over and over as you do this study. Pray before you read asking the same Holy Spirit who inspired Ephesians to help you understand it. Read carefully, stopping to highlight words, phrases, and concepts that capture your attention.
Tonight's study talked about We Are Blessed Ephesians 1.3-14
Here are a few points and what I got from the message as he talked about each point.
The blessing of holiness-we are holy & blameless before Him.
The blessing of predestination-He chose us in love
The blessing of adoption-you have a father named God
The blessing of redemption-we can walk with Him away from our sins
The blessing of forgiveness- Father forgive them for they know now what they do
The blessing of being sealed-we are guaranteed eternal riches in heaven.
During the sermon I was reminded of something that I've been thinking about the past week. I'm afraid that when my commitment with Mercy Ships is over I will walk away and have taken everything for granted. And when Pastor Mark got to the final point I realized why God had brought that to my attention. Here's what he stated.
The Christian Life
It's not the life you live for God.
It's the life of God lived through you.
Ephesians 1.6, 1.12, and 1.14 all talk about Praising God's Glory, blessing the God who blesses us.
To the praise of HIS glory!
To live to praise His GLORY!!!!
All theology is cat theology or dog theology. Let's say two pets have an amazing, kind, generous owner. The cat thinks: "I must be an amazing and valuable cat." The dog thinks: "I have an amazing and valuable master."
Do you see the difference? One theology revolves around the being, the other revolves around the master.
I've been challenged to do more than just to see what God has done for me. The next step is to bless God because of those blessings. When there is joy and laughter flowing out of me because the wonderful things that He is doing to see that and praise Him for who He is rather than what He is doing. I pray that when I step away from this ship, whenever that day comes, that I can look back and see how amazing God is rather than see how much he has done for me.
