Let us read Ephesians 2:8, “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God” This verse shows us something about God’s perfect love. Ephesians is a letter from Paul that contains a lot of spiritual truth. In chapter 1 we read of the blessings that we receive through the redemption God has given us. God so loved us that He gave His only begotten son for us so that we shouldn’t perish. In John 17:23 we read that God loves us as He loved Jesus. What great love the Father has for each one of us! God has done everything for us on the foundation that He loves us. If we look back we can see how everything in our lives God has done everything out of love! Praise God!
Peter was a very strong, confident man. He had self confidence that he would never deny the Lord. In Luke 22 we read how Peter denied the Lord 3 times. Peter followed the Lord closely, but in the times of a trial, he denied the Lord. Afterwards, he went and wept bitterly. He realized that he had done something very grave. In verse 32 we read, how Jesus had prayed for Peter that his faith may not fail. Look at the love of Jesus. Through your difficult times, remember that Jesus is praying for you. If you turn to the throne of grace in times of need, God will give you grace. Jesus also prayed for Peter that after the trials, he would be able to strengthen his brothers. Peter could strengthen his brothers because he knew what it felt to be at ground zero and then to come back after accepting God’s forgiveness and love. Each one of us has this responsibility to strengthen our brothers.
In John 1:12 we read, “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name”. Having the privilege to be a child of God is a gift! But one who thinks he is rich and self-confident cannot receive a gift. Only one who is poor in spirit and realizes the value of the gift, can have the humility to accept a gift. The Bible is full of promises for us. But in order to accept those promises, we need to be humble and reach out and accept it from the Lord. In John 15 we read how Jesus is the vine and we are the branches. We see a humble dependence here how the branch receives all nourishment from the vine by being attached to the vine. We need to depend on Jesus for our daily Spiritual nourishment. In the same chapter we read how every branch that doesn’t bear fruit will be cut off and one that bears fruit will be pruned so that it should bear more fruit. We can bear that fruit only if we abide in Jesus. Let us strive to have that strong attachment to Jesus. In Philippians 3 we read how we should never put any confidence in the flesh and be truly circumcised – circumcision of the heart.
We need to be grounded in God’s love and grow in faith everyday. In Ephesians 2 we read that we have been saved by grace. According to the riches of God’s grace we have been forgiven. In Romans 6 we read that sin shall not have dominion over us because of grace. We should not keep sinning thinking that grace will be available later. May God’s love and grace keep us from sin. And so with confidence we can go to the throne of grace so that we can get mercy and find help in time of need. In Luke 2 we read that God’s grace was continually in Jesus’ life. And so He could have victory over all sins. In 2 Corinthians 12:9 we read, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Let us cling onto this promise.
In Ephesians 2:8 we read that we have been saved through faith. We have been saved from the wrath of God because of faith. Even when we were enemies, God loved us and we have been saved by Jesus’ life. In Romans 13:11 we read, “Do this, knowing the time, that it is already the hour for you to awaken from sleep; for now salvation is nearer to us than when we believed.” Let us get rid of every state of sleeping and laziness and be alert for salvation is very near. May God bless us all.
