For Reading and Meditation:      Ephesians 1:1-14What is it in the heart of most men and women that rejects the idea of God's free and generous offer of salvation? It is pride, the deadliest of all the deadly sins. Bernard Shaw, an example of a modern-day thinker, said: "Forgiveness is a beggar's refuge. We must pay our debts." But we cannot pay our debts. As our spiritual fathers saw so clearly, the only language we can use in the presence of a God who demands so much and whose demands we are unable to meet is: Just as I am without one plea But that Thy blood was shed for me, And that Thou bidd'st me come to Thee, O Lamb of God, I come, I come. In response to our coming, the free unmerited favor of God flows down to us, cancels our debt, imputes and imparts Christ's righteousness to us. How can Christ's righteousness be imputed and imparted to us? It's His righteousness, not ours. A simple illustration may help to illuminate this point. A dull little boy came home from school one day and said to his mother: "We've won a holiday." The truth was another boy had come top of the region in the examinations and the head teacher decided to give the whole school a holiday. Yet the dull little lad said: "We've won a holiday." Grace is like that. God permits the righteousness of Jesus to cover us and then, as we open ourselves to it - to enter us. He did it, but we benefit from it. Isn't grace really amazing?O Father, as I contemplate still further the "riches" of Your grace, once again I have to confess it's truly amazing. No wonder men and women use that term to describe Your grace. No other adjective will do! Amen.<div class="tl-lightgrey mt20 pt20 flexbox-row-wrap jc-around"><div><div class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold center-it">AdditionalVerses</div><ul style="margin-top:0px"><li>Philippians 4:1-19</li><li>1 Timothy 1:14</li><li>Titus 3:6</li></ul></div>

<div><div class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold center-it">Questions to Consider</div><ul style="margin-top:0px"><li>What has God promised?</li><li>What did Paul testify to Timothy?</li></ul></div></div>

Let a little light into your soul every day with this wonderful devotional from English pastor Selwyn Hughes.

Every Day Light with Selwyn Hughes

"In him we have  the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace " (v. 7)

For Reading and Meditation:      Jeremiah 31:1-12"How little real love there is for God," says theologian Arthur W. Pink. He suggests that this and the resulting low level of spirituality in today's Church are caused by our hearts being so little occupied with thoughts of the divine love. "The better we are acquainted with His love," he says, "- its character, its fullness, its blessedness - the more will our hearts be drawn out in love to Him." We focus now on the fact that God's love is eternal. God being eternal, it follows that His love also is eternal. This means that God loved us before earth and heaven were called into existence, that He has set His heart upon us from all eternity. This is the truth set forth in Ephesians 1:4-5 where we are told that we were chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world. What a tranquilizer this is for our hearts! If God's love for you had no beginning then it has no ending either. It is from "everlasting to everlasting." Another thing we need to know about the love of God is that it is a holy love. This means that His love is not regulated by whim, or caprice, or sentiment, but by principle. Just as His grace reigns not at the expense of righteousness but "through" it (Romans 5:21), so His love never conflicts with His holiness. This is why John says that God is light before he says God is love. And this is why, too, the Almighty never lets us get away with anything. He loves us too much for that. His love is pure, holy and unmixed with maudlin sentimentality. God will not wink at sin, not even in His own people.O Father, the more I learn about Your love the more my heart is set on fire. Increase my understanding, for I see that the more I comprehend how much I am loved the more secure I am in that love. Amen.<div class="tl-lightgrey mt20 pt20 flexbox-row-wrap jc-around"><div><div class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold center-it">AdditionalVerses</div><ul style="margin-top:0px"><li>Romans 8:18-39</li><li>1 Peter 1:17-21</li></ul></div>

<div><div class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold center-it">Questions to Consider</div><ul style="margin-top:0px"><li>What was Paul convinced of?</li><li>How does Peter portray the eternal perspective?</li></ul></div></div>

"I have loved you with an everlasting love " (v. 3)

For Reading and Meditation:      2 Timothy 1:1-18Several of the world's religions, when faced with the perplexing issue of Christ's return from the dead, explain it in terms of reincarnation. A proponent of one of the Eastern religions says: "Christ's resurrection was really a reincarnation - another soul in another body." I once heard a Christian minister declare that Paul's reference to Christ as the firstborn from among the dead (Colossians 1:18) was a clear allusion to reincarnation. There is no doubt that our Lord came from a virgin womb and a virgin tomb, but the body that emerged from the sepulchre was not fashioned in the tomb as it had been when He was an infant in Mary's womb. The body was the same one as before. Others try to explain Christ's resurrection as living on in the recollection of others. "To live in the minds and hearts of those we love," goes a well-known saying often heard at funerals, "is not to die." It has to be acknowledged that some live so vibrantly that it is hard to think of them as dead even after one has attended their funeral. But when we talk about Christ's resurrection, we are not saying He survives in our memories. Recollection is not resurrection. The body which died upon the cross and was laid in the cool tomb on the evening of the first Good Friday was miraculously infused with life once again early in the morning of the first Easter Day. It is as literal and as factual as that. This - nothing less and nothing else - is what we mean by the resurrection of our Lord from the dead.Father, I am so thankful that in bringing Your Son back to life You brought 'life and immortality to light' through the gospel. I know this to be true for in You there cannot be such a thing as death. Life is so sure - as sure as You are. Amen.<div class="tl-lightgrey mt20 pt20 flexbox-row-wrap jc-around"><div><div class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold center-it">AdditionalVerses</div><ul style="margin-top:0px"><li>Ephesians 1:1-20</li><li>Romans 4:25</li><li>1 Corinthians 15:3-5</li><li>1 Thessalonians 4:13-15</li></ul></div>

<div><div class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold center-it">Questions to Consider</div><ul style="margin-top:0px"><li>What did Paul say was of first importance?</li><li>What does this mean for those who have experienced resurrection life?</li></ul></div></div>

" ... our Savior, Christ Jesus ... has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light ..." (v. 10)

For Reading and Meditation:      Colossians 1:1-20Does salvation come up from mankind through striving, helped by the Divine, or does it come down to us from above, through the act of God and our receptivity of that act? Is it an attainment or an obtainment? The answers separate Christianity from all other religions. Non-Christian religions teach that salvation is the work of mankind; the Christian faith teaches that salvation is the gift of God - Christianity alone falls into the category of obtainment. Some people try to blunt the sharpness of the question "Does mankind strive to reach up to God or does God come down to redeem mankind through the incarnate Jesus?" by saying the answer is both. But by the very nature of things it cannot be both. The starting points are different. One begins with mankind; the other begins with God. Since the beginnings are different, the endings will be different. The whole of the New Testament revolves around the Person and work of Jesus. In some form or another He is on every page. A letter I received protested against a statement I made which went something like this: "There is only one Person around whom the universe can unite, and that Person is Jesus." "There have been good persons in history," said my correspondent, "why not unite around all of them rather than just one?" Because Christ is the meeting point of the human and the divine. No one else can hold that position. An Indian Hindu said recently: "There is no one else bidding for the heart of humanity except Jesus. There is no one else on the field." There isn't! O Father, we want to thank You that when we couldn't come to You, You came down the ladder to us through the Incarnation. We are eternally grateful. Amen.<div class="tl-lightgrey mt20 pt20 flexbox-row-wrap jc-around"><div><div class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold center-it">AdditionalVerses</div><ul style="margin-top:0px"><li>Ephesians 1:1-23</li><li>John 3:31</li><li>1 Corinthians 8:6</li></ul></div>

<div><div class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold center-it">Questions to Consider</div><ul style="margin-top:0px"><li>List some of the things that we have obtained in Christ.</li><li>What did John declare about Jesus?</li></ul></div></div>

"... he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead ..." (v. 18) 

Luke 1:5-23There was a wonderful preparation of the world for Christ before He came. There was a Jewish expectation of the Messiah. This hope had been diffused throughout the nations by the wide dispersion of the Jewish people, who carried their religion with them and had synagogues in every city, where also their holy books were read. It is wonderful to think what the world owes to the influence of the Jewish people. Amid the hills of Palestine were written a few little books or tracts whose teachings, like leaven, permeated the great nations of Asia and Europe in the time before Christ was born - and prepared the world to receive Him.Rome also had done much to prepare the world for Christianity. It had brought all lands under one government. It had built roads everywhere, which became highways for the messengers of Christ. The Greek language was spoken everywhere, thus giving a medium for the carrying of the gospel to all the nations. These and other conditions were favorable to the dissemination of Christianity. This preparation was not accidental, a mere coincidence of events. There is evidence that the preparation was divine. The hand of God was in it!"In the time of Herod king of Judea there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah; his wife Elizabeth was also a descendant of Aaron. Both of them were upright in the sight of God, observing all the Lord's commandments and regulations blamelessly." Luke 1:5-6We have a picture here, of the godly home - yet the times were not favorable to this. It is not hard to live a beautiful life amid kindly and favoring circumstances. If a child has a sweet home with only gentle influences about it - an atmosphere of love and prayer - it is not strange that the child's life grows up into beauty. On the other hand, if the home is cold and unkindly, without love and prayer and godliness, it seems to us almost a miracle if a child grows up in it loving God and with a true and beautiful character.The "time of Herod" were not times when it was easy to be godly. The times were ungodly and the prevailing spirit was unrighteous. The holy lives which we find here in this story - are like lamps shining in the darkness. Amid the almost universal corruption of the priesthood, and the hypocrisy of the Pharisees; this old priest and his wife lived in piety and godly simplicity. The lesson is, that we may be holy and may live saintly lives - though everyone around us is evil. We need not be like those among whom we live. No matter how corrupt the times, or how unholy the influences, we ought always to strive to be holy and pure.It is important to know the name and the character of the woman who helps to make the home. "Her name was Elisabeth." A great many Elisabeths will study this lesson. It is pleasant even by a name to be reminded continually of some other one who has lived a noble and beautiful life in the past. No thoughtful Mary can be altogether forgetful of the Marys of the New Testament, especially the Mary who was the mother of our Lord, "blessed among women," and the other Mary whom Jesus loved so tenderly, who sat at His feet as a learner and then anointed His feet with her ointment. There is ever an aroma of sacredness about this name.Just so, the Elisabeths may catch an inspiration from the Elisabeth of this story. We are not told much about her. We know, however, that she was a godly woman, one who walked in God's commandments in times when such godliness was rare.In these days, we are hearing a great deal about 'the new woman'. Some people think that woman heretofore has been living in a kind of darkness, not making much of herself, not realizing the possibilities of her life and her position. She has not understood herself and her power - and has been content to stay in obscurity - when she might have stood forth in splendor. Now, however, she has come to a time when she may make more of her life in many ways.No doubt some phases of the thought of 'the new woman' are excellent. The last quarter century has been a wonderful era in woman's history. In all ways, women have moved forward with tremendous strides. Our colleges have given women opportunities for acquiring an education they could not get before. In church life and work, women have advanced to marvelous power and usefulness. In associated work in benevolence, women have shown great energy and wisdom. All this is very beautiful.But 'the new woman' is not in all things so lovely as this. There are some things in her - of which the better women do not approve. She discards some of the most gentle refinements of the truest type of womanhood. "She tramples on the traditions of the mother who kissed her in the cradle and made a woman of her," says Mrs. Booth. "Such a woman could never be Christ like, because she is not tender enough. Her will is too strong to bow down to God." Let the new woman be as beautiful as she can make herself with the help of Christ - but let her be always a woman. A woman needs God to make her life in the way it should be, to give her the beauty and the glory which is her true heritage. A woman owes everything to Christ, who has redeemed her - and she needs Christ as her Teacher, her Master, her Friend, that she may reach the only worthy possibilities of womanhood.They were truly mated, this godly pair. "Both of them were upright in the sight of God, observing all the Lord's commandments and regulations blamelessly." It is a beautiful thing when both husband and wife are godly. Then they can bow together in prayer and together read God's Word, and together go to the church and sit together at the Lord's table. Too often only one of the wedded pair is a Christian. Sometimes it is the husband - and the wife does not enter into his Christian life. Far more often, however, it is the wife only that loves Christ, while her husband leaves her to walk alone in all her inner spiritual life. In either case, the marriage lacks one of its holiest and most sacred bonds. The union of wedded life may yield much joy and very sweet happiness, where the two enter together into the holy of holies of prayer. The union means far more when they are one in trusting God and in communing with Him in all the great concerns of life. When both are Christians and walk side by side in all obedience, service, and worship, praying together, heaven's sweetest blessing rests over the home!It is a beautiful thing, also, that we read of this godly old couple, that they were "righteous before God ." Some people appear to men to be righteous, who before God have no such record. Our real character is what our hearts are. So we ought not to be satisfied with doing well the things that men can see us do; we ought to work and live ever for God's eye. Sometimes we say it does not matter how we do certain things, because no one will see them; but God will see them, and we should never do careless, faulty work - for His eye.The word "commandments" suggests that the holiness of these people, was of a very practical kind. Some people's religion is chiefly notional or emotional or sentimental. They talk about loving God - but they pay little heed to His commandments. They may worship together in formal ways - but they are not careful to do the things that are right, that please God. There are too many whose religion is of this kind - all devout feelings - only the observance of forms of worship - but little practical Christian living. They go from fervent worship services - to practice selfishness, greed, dishonesties, and inhumanities. God is pleased with ardent devotion - but he wants us to prove our religion by obedience, by doing the things He gives us to do, by fidelity in all Christian duty .<div class="center-it mtb10">Another beautiful word in the description of these good people is the word "blamelessly." Of course, this does not mean sinless, absolutely faultless - but only that their lives were so beautiful, so sincere, and faithful - that there was nothing in them to blame or rebuke. It is in this way that God wants all His children to live. He wants them to be unrebukable. "That we should be holy and without blame before Him in love." (Ephesians 1:4). "That you may be blameless in the day of our Lord" (1 Corinthians 1:8). "That you may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke" (Philippians 2:15). "I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Thessalonians 5:23). These are a few of the words of Holy Scripture, which indicate the kind of life we are expected as Christians to live in this world.</div>There was one thing lacking in this godly home. "But they had no children, because Elizabeth was barren; and they were both well along in years." They were not young. They had been married many years - but no child had come to gladden them. Children are a great blessing in a family. They give much joy to their parents. They brighten the home into which they come. They cost much care and toil; but no true parent ever counts such cost - for love rejoices in making sacrifices. The hearts of parents are made glad by the presence of a little child in their home.The old priest was in his place in the temple that day, and his particular duty was to burn incense on the golden altar. Incense was a symbol of prayer. While the priest was offering it on the altar the people were standing outside, engaged in prayer. The prayers arose to God purified and sweetened by the holy offering. It is a beautiful thought that prayers rise up to God - as perfume ; that true prayer is fragrant in heaven. This symbol of incense teaches the acceptableness of prayer as it goes up to God.There is another thing that we should remember, however, in this connection. The burnt offering was offered at the same time that the incense was burning, and the incense itself was kindled by fire brought from the altar of burnt offering. Prayer needs the efficacy of Christ's atonement to make it acceptable. We can pray only in Christ's name and in dependence on His sacrifice.The vision of the angel that Zacharias saw awed him. "When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear." We do not know in what form the angel appeared. He was a messenger from God, however, and had come to announce to the priest that he was to have the high honor of being the father of the forerunner of the Messiah.Sometimes God seems to wait a long time before He gives us what we ask for. One reason is to teach us faith and patience. Another reason is because He has a time for giving us blessing. John could not be born until the date fixed in God's plan, for he was to be forerunner of the Messiah. We always see in the end, that God's time for blessing us - is the right time. We may be sure that when God puts it into our heart to pray for something - He means to give us that thing in due time.The angel told Zacharias that now a son was about to born to him, and he would have joy and gladness. It makes great joy in any true home, when a child is born. In this case the joy was unusual, since the birth of John was the token of the speedy coming of the long-promised Messiah. It was like the rising of the morning star, which heralds the approach of the day. Not only would the parents rejoice - but many would mingle in the rejoicing.Every child should seek to be a joy to parents, not only in its infancy - but always. Children hold in their hands, the happiness of their parents. It is in their power, too, to give them great grief and sorrow. Many children do indeed break the hearts of their parents. Many do it by their bad conduct, their wrong actions. Then there are many children who make great joy for their parents. They do it by their gratitude and love, and by lives that are full of beauty and honor, of which their parents cannot be anything but thankful. All children should seek to live in this way. Then it should be the aim, too - to live so that others shall have occasion to rejoice over their birth, because they are blessing in the world.The angel said further, that John should be great in the sight of the Lord. There are people who are great in their own eyes or in the eyes of their friends - who in God's sight are very small. It is well to have people's approval of us and our work - but it is incalculably better to have God's approval. We should strive always to be and to do - what Christ would have us to be and to do. It is well to ask ourselves quiet often - what God thinks of us. We like to please men; let us seek to please God.Zacharias asked for a sign to prove to him that this astonishing thing should be fulfilled. His request was granted, and the sign given to him was that he should be speechless until the child was born. God wants us to believe His promises without a shadow of doubt, no matter how extraordinary they may be. We should trust God implicitly. Unquestioning faith is not presumptuous; it honors God and brings fullest blessing.

A unique type of devotional from the writings of James Russell Miller, published between 1908 and 1913.

Devotional Hours Within the Bible

Luke 1:5-23

The Birth of John the Baptist Foretold

I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing 
Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. (Philippians 3:8 NIV)

The saving of men from sin,
death, and hell, and getting them to heaven, was as nothing
compared with what Paul saw as to the significance of a believer
now. All that which he has seen concerning Christ in His eternal
purpose – eternal, universal, vast, infinite – now relates to
believers: "Even as He chose us in Him before the foundation
of the world, that we should be... unto the praise of His glory... 
in the ages to come" (Eph. 1:4,12,21). Believers also are lifted
out of time, and are given a significance altogether beyond
anything here....
 
 What a Christ! 

It is Christ Who will lift us 
out, Christ Who will set us free; but let me say this, that it will not be by 
His coming and putting His hands under us and lifting us out, but by being 
revealed in our hearts. How did Paul come out of his narrow Jewish conceptions 
about the Messiah? Simply by the revelation of Christ in him, and as that 
revelation grew his liberation increased. There were some things which he did 
not shake off for a long time. He clung to Jerusalem almost to the last. He 
still had a longing for his brethren after the flesh, and made further attempts 
for their deliverance on national grounds. But at last he saw the meaning of the 
heavenly Christ in such a way as to make it possible for him to write the letter 
to the Ephesians, and the letter to the Colossians, and then Judaism as such, 
Israel after the flesh, ceased to weigh with him. It was the revelation of 
Christ which was emancipating him, leading him out, freeing him all the time. In 
that way Christ is our Deliverer and Emancipator. It is just the Lord Jesus that 
we need to know. Everything small will go as we see Him. Everything of earth and 
time will go as we see Him, and in the background of our lives there will be 
something adequate to keep us through difficult and hard times. We shall see the 
greatness of Christ and the corresponding greatness of our salvation 
"...according to His eternal purpose."

This devotional contains short daily portions from a selection of Mr. Austin-Sparks' messages. In his own words, “Perhaps this is just like a window opened into heaven. If you get the right window you can see quite a lot. You can see great things and you can see far things. But the best that I can hope is that this has just opened a window, and that as you look through it you are seeing one thing - how superior is Jesus Christ to all else, and how superior is the dispensation into which we have come, and how superior are all the resources at our disposal to all that ever was before!” Open Windows messages have been selected and compiled by Austin-Sparks.Net from the works of T. Austin-Sparks. In some cases they appear in abridged form. The introductory verse and its associated Bible version have been selected by the editor and did not always appear within the original message.

Open Windows

All Things in Christ - Chapter 1

 All Things in Christ 

All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ. Even before He made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in His eyes. (Ephesians 1:3,4 NLT)
That which has been chosen before the foundation of the world and which has 
been foreordained unto adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, has been blessed 
with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies. That is the fullness of God’s 
thought for His own, as a full, comprehensive, utter thought. We have not yet 
come into all those blessings, not because God has not given them, but because 
we have not grown up into them. We have not grown up into Him in all things. 
That is the point of our word, the urge to come to God’s thought, the measure of 
Christ.
What is God’s thought? The full measure of Christ, the fullness of the stature 
of Christ. That is God’s thought for us. Let us lay hold of God’s thoughts; let 
us by faith appropriate those thoughts, let us believe in God’s thoughts, let us 
seek to get into line with those thoughts, and take the Holy Spirit and His 
energies to form us, and constitute us, that God’s thoughts may become living 
expressions in us. That is His purpose: to bring us to the full measure of 
Christ. All that we need to do is to state that as a definite fact, but, mark 
you, it represents a tremendous responsibility. We cannot talk, and hear about 
things like that without coming under tremendous responsibility. If this is the 
revelation of God from heaven in Christ through His Word and to our hearts by 
the Holy Spirit, then it involves us in very great responsibility. Is it 
necessary to speak about responsibility? Ought not God’s thought for us really 
draw out our hearts in unspeakable gratitude and worship? Ought we not to 
recognize these other words here associated with the calling: “according to 
the good pleasure of His will,” the Lord’s delight? You remember what Joshua 
and Caleb said when they reported on the land: “If the Lord delight in us He 
will bring us in.” That is only what we have here. Christ is the Land of God’s 
fullness, and it is according to the good pleasure of His will that we should 
come into that fullness.

The Church of the Firstborn - Chapter 4

 The Full Measure of Christ 

Unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. § There shall by no means enter it anything that defiles. § There is no spot in you. You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy. § As obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.” And if you call on the Father, who without partiality judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in fear. §  Put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and … put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness. § He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love.

Daily Light on the Daily Path or Daily Light is a Christian daily devotional scripture reading published by Bagster & Sons about 1875. It has been reprinted continually since then. It consists of brief groupings of scripture passages which speak to prominent Biblical themes—two themes (morning and evening) for each day of the year. It appends no commentary, but simply allows scripture to speak for itself.

Morning Daily Light

 Holiness, without which no one will see the Lord. 

If you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise. Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! § Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ. § [God] predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will. Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me. He who overcomes, and keeps My works until the end, to him I will give power over the nations. § To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.

 If children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ. 

He is the head of the body, the church. § Head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all. § We are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones. A body You have prepared for Me. § Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, the days fashioned for me, when as yet there were none of them. They were Yours, You gave them to Me. § He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world. § Whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son. Grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ—from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies … causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.

 As the body is one and has many members . . . so also is Christ. 

Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who trusts in Him! § How great is Your goodness, which You have laid up for those who fear You. This people I have formed for Myself; they shall declare My praise. § Having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He has made us accepted in the Beloved … That we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory. How great is its goodness and how great its beauty! § The Lord is good to all, and His tender mercies are over all His works. All Your works shall praise You, O Lord, and Your saints shall bless You. They shall speak of the glory of Your kingdom, and talk of Your power, to make known to the sons of men His mighty acts, and the glorious majesty of His kingdom.

 Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men! 

That we should be holy and without blame before Him in love. God from the beginning chose you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth, to which He called you … for the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. § Whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified. § Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. § God did not call us to uncleanness, but in holiness.

 He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world … 

I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day. 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, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will. We know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. For whom He fore- knew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son … Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.

Evening Daily Light

 He has made with me an everlastingcovenant, ordered in all things and secure. 

<blockquote>
He (the Father) hath chosen us in Him (the Son) before the foundation of the world" (<a id="verse_1632878130612512" href="https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/Ephesians/1/4">Eph. 1:4</a>).
</blockquote>By His grace and mercy, our will becomes the Father's will when we choose the Saviour. May it ever continue!"As the master musician knows exactly how the symphonic rendition will sound before its notes vibrate upon the air, anticipating with accuracy every tone, cadence, and change of tempo, so God knows precisely what will occur and keeps it under control, though enacted by independent moral agencies. It is because God knows what the reactions of such free agencies' will be under any given set of circumstances, that He encompasses the inner circle of freedom' with His outer circle of sovereignty." -K.G."The will of man is guided by what he knows and what he desires. The divine method of reaching the will is by graciously increasing man's knowledge and by stimulating his desires, while on the divine side of this method there remains not the shadow of possible failure. The end is as certain as any eternal reality in God. On the human side, man is conscious of doing only what he actually does: he chooses as an act of his own volition to receive the grace God offers in Christ Jesus. By persuasion and enlightenment God realizes His purpose to the point of infinite completeness; yet no human will has ever been coerced, nor will one ever be." -L.S.C."God's elective purposes are carried out in such an incomprehensible way through the internal and external influences of infinite love and wisdom that man is at no time conscious of any external compulsion, but only of choices and decisions in the exercise of his own free will. Knowledge of what God has accomplished by His own free will comes later by the channel of the Word." -K.G."Being predestined according to the purpose of Him who worketh all things after the counsel of His own will " (<a id="verse_1632878130678243" href="https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/Ephesians/1/11">Eph. 1:11</a>).

A 365 day devotional that will help you in your Christian growth and walk with the Lord Jesus Christ.  This devotional is a collection of quotes from some of the best authors in the realm of Christian growth that has been organized by Miles J Stanford.  This devotional study is divided into 12 sections each containing 31 daily portions.

None but the Hungry Heart

 Blessed Sovereignty 

4 For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love 5 he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will—

For he chose us<cr>1</cr> in him before the creation of the world<cr>2</cr> to be holy and blameless<cr>3</cr> in his sight. In love<cr>4</cr>

Ephesians 1:4

he<ft>1</ft> predestined<cr>1</cr> us for adoption to sonship<ft>2</ft><cr>2</cr> through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure<cr>3</cr> and will—

Ephesians 1:5

 4 For he chose us   in him before the creation of the world   to be holy and blameless   in his sight. In love   5 he  predestined   us for adoption to sonship    through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure   and will—

From Wikipedia: 

The New International Version (NIV) is an English translation of the Bible first published in 1978 by Biblica (formerly the International Bible Society). The NIV was published to meet the need for a modern translation done by Bible scholars using the earliest, highest quality manuscripts available. Of equal importance was that the Bible be expressed in broadly understood modern English.

The NIV is published by Zondervan in the United States and Hodder & Stoughton in the UK. The NIV was updated in 1984 and 2011 and has become one of the most popular and best-selling modern translations.

OT: Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia; additional sources;
NT: UBS Greek New Testament; Novum Testamentum Graece; additional sources;

New International Version

 For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will—

Ephesians 1:4-5

For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will—

 For he chose us   in him before the creation of the world   to be holy and blameless   in his sight. In love   he  predestined   us for adoption to sonship    through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure   and will—

Bible Verse of the Day

December 16, 1888

Ephesians 1:4-5 NIV

Verse by Verse Bible Study

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