July 17 - God's Workmanship

Overview of: Ephesians

Today's Reading:
Eph. 1:15 – 2:13
"Power, Life, and Salvation"

Focus Verses: Eph. 2:8-10
8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Insight:
By his grace, God is saving all of us who are being made alive in Christ. His great power (the same great power he demonstrated in raising Jesus from the dead) is at work in our lives. Our lives are a demonstration of God's grace and power as he creates, shapes and forms us in Christ to do the good things he has in mind for us to do.

Response and Action:
I want my life to be transformed by God's grace. I want to know and experience the power and truth of Christ more each day. I want to do the good things God has planned for me, and is preparing me to do. I will study and meditate up on the Scriptures. I will pray and yield my heart and will to God. I will give thought and care to my choices, actions, and attitudes. I will in all things seek to follow Christ, honor God, and walk in truth.

O God, the God of my Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, grant me the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that I may know you better. Open the eyes of my heart and enlighten me in order that I may know the hope to which you have called me. Show me the riches of your glorious inheritance for all the saints, and transform me by your incomparably great power for all who believe. Make my life a demonstration of your power and workmanship. Help me to do the good things you would have me do. Through Christ, Amen.

Old Testament for Today: Psalm 104:30-33
30 When you send your Spirit, they are created, and you renew the face of the earth. 31 May the glory of the LORD endure forever; may the LORD rejoice in his works- 32 he who looks at the earth, and it trembles, who touches the mountains, and they smoke. 33 I will sing to the LORD all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.
In Context: Psalm 104

Proverb for Today: Prov. 17:3
"The crucible for silver and the furnace for gold, but the LORD tests the heart."

Recommended Reading:
God at Work: Your Christian Vocation in All of Life
by Gene Edward, Jr. Veith