Post by Deleted on Nov 18, 2021 16:10:23 GMT -5
God Heals Our Brokenness By: Anne Cetas
Click here for the Audio Message
By grace you have been saved, through faith.
Ephesians 2:8
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Ephesians 2:1–10
Collin and his wife, Jordan, wandered through the craft store, looking for a picture to hang in their home. Collin thought he’d found just the right piece and called Jordan over to see it. On the right side of the ceramic artwork was the word grace. But the left side held two long cracks. “Well, it’s broken!” Jordan said as she started looking for an unbroken one on the shelf. But then Collin said, “No. That’s the point. We’re broken and then grace comes in—period.” They decided to purchase the one with the cracks. When they got to the checkout, the clerk exclaimed, “Oh, no, it’s broken!” “Yes, so are we,” Jordan whispered.
What does it mean to be a “broken” person? Someone defined it this way: A growing awareness that no matter how hard we try, our ability to make life work gets worse instead of better. It’s a recognition of our need for God and His intervention in our lives.
The apostle Paul talked about our brokenness in terms of being “dead in [our] transgressions and sins” (Ephesians 2:1). The answer to our need to be forgiven and changed comes in verses 4 and 5: “Because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive . . . . [It] is by grace [we] have been saved.”
God is willing to heal our brokenness with His grace when we admit, “I’m broken.”
Reflect & Pray
What brought you to your need to ask God to heal your brokenness? How do you need Him today?
God, thank You for being rich in mercy toward me! May I boast in You and Your gift of salvation through grace by faith.
SCRIPTURE INSIGHT
Paul’s letter to the Ephesians offers an inexpressibly wonderful end-time vision that’s easy to miss, even though he repeatedly mentions it. While emphasizing the good things God has already done (2:1–6), he alludes to a far greater expression of grace that’s to be revealed “in the coming ages” (v. 7). This all-encompassing goal of history is “to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ” (1:10; see 20–22). It’s a reassuring and wonderful hope that Paul also refers to in other letters (Philippians 2:10–11; Colossians 1:20) and that the apostle John foresees in his revelation (Revelation 5:13–14).
Mart DeHaan
Ephesians 2:1-10
King James Version
2 And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;
2 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:
3 Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.
4 But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,
5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)
6 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:
7 That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.
8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.
10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
Click here for the Audio Message
By grace you have been saved, through faith.
Ephesians 2:8
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Ephesians 2:1–10
Collin and his wife, Jordan, wandered through the craft store, looking for a picture to hang in their home. Collin thought he’d found just the right piece and called Jordan over to see it. On the right side of the ceramic artwork was the word grace. But the left side held two long cracks. “Well, it’s broken!” Jordan said as she started looking for an unbroken one on the shelf. But then Collin said, “No. That’s the point. We’re broken and then grace comes in—period.” They decided to purchase the one with the cracks. When they got to the checkout, the clerk exclaimed, “Oh, no, it’s broken!” “Yes, so are we,” Jordan whispered.
What does it mean to be a “broken” person? Someone defined it this way: A growing awareness that no matter how hard we try, our ability to make life work gets worse instead of better. It’s a recognition of our need for God and His intervention in our lives.
The apostle Paul talked about our brokenness in terms of being “dead in [our] transgressions and sins” (Ephesians 2:1). The answer to our need to be forgiven and changed comes in verses 4 and 5: “Because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive . . . . [It] is by grace [we] have been saved.”
God is willing to heal our brokenness with His grace when we admit, “I’m broken.”
Reflect & Pray
What brought you to your need to ask God to heal your brokenness? How do you need Him today?
God, thank You for being rich in mercy toward me! May I boast in You and Your gift of salvation through grace by faith.
SCRIPTURE INSIGHT
Paul’s letter to the Ephesians offers an inexpressibly wonderful end-time vision that’s easy to miss, even though he repeatedly mentions it. While emphasizing the good things God has already done (2:1–6), he alludes to a far greater expression of grace that’s to be revealed “in the coming ages” (v. 7). This all-encompassing goal of history is “to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ” (1:10; see 20–22). It’s a reassuring and wonderful hope that Paul also refers to in other letters (Philippians 2:10–11; Colossians 1:20) and that the apostle John foresees in his revelation (Revelation 5:13–14).
Mart DeHaan
Ephesians 2:1-10
King James Version
2 And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;
2 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:
3 Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.
4 But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,
5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)
6 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:
7 That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.
8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.
10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.