GraceAndPeace | Kristi's Morning Devotional

This morning, I sit here in my chair, blanket across my lap, holding a warm cup of coffee to my chest. Breathing deeply, inhaling with peace of the moment and allowing the Holy Spirit to wrap my soul with peace.

I can’t imagine my life without these moments each morning. These moments where the Father quiets my heart, peace floods my thoughts, and my soul is at rest. These God-filled moments are the best part of my day. They are my strength, my wisdom, my empowerment to follow my Good Shepherd and to trust in Him.

They are also the moments when I pray for you. So many of you I have never met but God knows you come to receive from His Word and that’s the reason I lift you and the needs of your heart to Him.

“May you have loving-favor and peace from God our Father and from our Lord Jesus Christ.³Let us honor and thank the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. He has already given us a taste of what heaven is like. ⁴Even before the world was made, God chose us for Himself because of His love. He planned that we should be holy and without blame as He sees us. ⁵God already planned to have us as His own children. This was done by Jesus Christ. In His plan God wanted this done.

⁶We thank God for His loving-favor to us. He gave this loving-favor to us through His much-loved Son. ⁷Because of the blood of Christ, we are bought and made free from the punishment of sin. And because of His blood, our sins are forgiven. His loving-favor to us is so rich. ⁸He was so willing to give all of this to us. He did this with wisdom and understanding. ⁹God told us the secret of what He wanted to do. It is this: In loving thought He planned long ago to send Christ into the world. ¹⁰The plan was for Christ to gather us all together at the right time. If we are in heaven or still on earth, He will bring us together and will be head over all.

¹¹We were already chosen to be God’s own children by Christ. This was done just like the plan He had. ¹²We who were the first to put our trust in Christ should thank Him for His greatness. ¹³The truth is the Good News. When you heard the truth, you put your trust in Christ. Then God marked you by giving you His Holy Spirit as a promise. ¹⁴The Holy Spirit was given to us as a promise that we will receive everything God has for us. God’s Spirit will be with us until God finishes His work of making us complete. God does this to show His shining-greatness.” Ephesians 1:2-14 NLV

These are the words of the Apostle Paul to the believers in Ephesus. This is his letter of encouragement, his prayer of blessing. It’s also my prayer for you today.

I pray that you are filled with grace and peace and stay focused on the fact that God chose you before the beginning of the world to be His child.

Amen!

Because I believe that all scripture is given by God and is profitable to our instruction I couldn’t close the teaching in the book of Ephesians without Paul’s final words to them.

“Pray that I will be given the message to speak and that I may fearlessly explain the mystery about the good news. ²⁰I was sent to do this work, and this is the reason I am in jail. So pray that I will be brave and will speak as I should.

^21-22 I want you to know how I am getting along and what I am doing. This is why I am sending Tychicus to you. He is a dear friend, as well as a faithful servant of the Lord. He will tell you how I am doing, and he will cheer you up.

²³I pray that God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ will give peace, love, and faith to every follower!” Ephesians 6:19-23 CEV

Paul had been to Ephesus several times. He became their teacher and their friend. He had eaten in their homes, he knew their children’s names and their family businesses. He had seen them grow in Christ.

Now he could no longer travel and be with them in person. I’m sure he missed them and wanted to communicate that he was still committed to them and praying for them. His final visit with them was filled with tears.

“You know everything I did during the time I was with you when I first came to Asia. ¹⁹Some of the Jews plotted against me and caused me a lot of sorrow and trouble. But I served the Lord and was humble. ²⁰When I preached in public or taught in your homes, I didn’t hold back from telling anything that would help you. ²¹I told Jews and Gentiles to turn to God and have faith in our Lord Jesus…³⁶After Paul had finished speaking, he knelt down with all of them and prayed. ³⁷Everyone cried and hugged and kissed him. ³⁸They were especially sad because Paul had told them, “You will never see me again.” Then they went with him to the ship.” Acts 20:18-38 CEV

Paul was, and is, also encouraging believers to follow the Lord. A man who had been beaten on several occasions, shipwrecked, thrown into prison and now was in house arrest in Rome never wanted the Christians to be without hope.

His final words in this book bear repeating.

“²³I pray that God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ will give peace, love, and faith to every follower!” Ephesians 6:23 CEV

Peace, love and faith to every follower – may we know the truth of those words in our lives today.

Tag: GraceAndPeace

Blessed With Peace

A Final Note