“And you hath he quickened (made alive) who were dead in trespasses and sins;

Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience.

Among whom also we all had our conversation (conduct) in times past in the lusts of the flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and we were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.”  Ephesians 2:1-3

We’ll be getting back to that passage, but I wanted us to go over a few a time, I know we are all wired differently but for me it makes it easier to understand.

It’s like reading one scripture and cross referencing and really studying it out as opposed to reading and entire chapter at a time. either way is great, our relationships with God are induvial and we all learn in different ways.

But for me I can spend three hours cross referencing and gleaning one scripture and discover something new every single time and feel alive and refreshed.

But if I just sit down and read an entire random chapter, for sake of reading my Bible, I often find when I am finished, I have to ask myself what I had just read, just doesn’t sink in and the thirty minutes spent have exhausted me.

That’s important to know when studying the word. Just go with it as you feel in your heart, if you feel that excitement that you just have to know more, keep going but if you read a verse and you feel good right there, leave it right there.

When the Bible tells us that the Word of God is easy to be intreated, it means that it should be simple, pleasant, and good food for your soul.

We should never feel like we have to force that, it’s not meant to be. Trust God, he will lead you.

In this passage he is explaining that God has revived our spiritually dead souls to make alive in him. Even though we were spiritually dead when we were in trespasses, which is times of not even realizing that we were being disrespectful to things of God and also in outright sin, things we knew to be wrong.

Enlightening us to the knowledge that in these past times we were behaving exactly as the world, society, and all those constant voices that their best convince us that something is right when we know deep down inside it is wrong.

Those voices are at the urging of the devil, as he is the price of the power of the air, referred to in this verse and it clearly points out that is that same spirit that is working in our society in those who hate Christ.

We were all in the world, in the flesh, in the desires and deceived rationale of our own thinking and that is just our nature by birth.

We only understand what is means to truly be alive when we accept Christ and become alive in him.

We can be eighty years old and be spiritually “dead as a doornail” accept Christ and become alive and new as a newborn baby.

This is the reason we were give scripture that assures us that there is no condemnation when we are in Christ.

It is our sword to fight the enemy as he tries to fill our minds with doubt, regret, and all the negative emotion that God does not want us to be slave too.

And the more you seek God in prayer, just talking to him and have your personal relationship with him, the more you will find his presence with you.

Ephesians 2:4-9: “But God who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,

Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ; (by grace ye are saved)

And hath raised us up together and made us sit together in heavenly places with Jesus Christ.  

For by grace are ye saved through faith; and not of yourselves: it is the gift of God. 

Not of works, lest any man should boast.”

Beautiful.

Again, we are reassured that God does intentionally care for us and loves us so much that even when we were still in our fleshy, human nature his love and mercy comes to us and literally resurrects our souls as he resurrected Christ.

He brings us into the joy and presence of those spiritual places that are accessed only through the blood of the risen Lamb.

It is completely grace, simply there for the asking, through faith, which is simply believing that his word is true.

We ask and it is given and not required to do certain works or given a set quota of tasks that must be performed before we are given salvation.

We are equal, it is freely given so that no one can be prideful in their own works or use that to try to make another feel inferior.

We are not granted access to heaven through works on earth, we are granted access by our acceptance of Christ.

We are rewarded in heaven for things done on earth but that is for another post 😊It has absolutely nothing to do with salvation and God’s goodness towards us.

God loves us simply because he loves us, we do not have to work for it.

We just have to accept it.

Thinking of those that we love in our lives, we don’t require then to do certain things to attain that love and we love them in everything, if they’re grumpy, happy, sick, well, whatever the case. We do whatever we can to help them when they need us not desiring anything in return.

God has a love so much greater than that toward us, it is a love that humans do not even have the mental capacity to comprehend because it is so great,

So don’t ever doubt his love for you, just rest and rejoice in that great love, it is always there for you.

Love & Peace, Thanks for reading! NBJ 2024/ Rev. N Brown Johnson