Welcome to the PoG Blog!

“This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it”  (Psalm 118:24)  Whether you are just starting your day or are taking a quick break from the day’s activities or are about to call it a day – this day is a gift from God!  Take a minute to quiet yourself, tune everything else out and think about the God who created you and loves you.  Pray that God will keep you from being distracted and that He will speak to you as you read His word and meditate on its meaning for your life.  May God bless your richly in these next few minutes of intentional connection with Him!

Ephesians 3:1 – 6

¹For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles—

² Surely you have heard about the administration of God’s grace that was given to me for you, ³ that is, the mystery made known to me by revelation, as I have already written briefly. ⁴ In reading this, then, you will be able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, ⁵ which was not made known to people in other generations as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to God’s holy apostles and prophets. ⁶ This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus.

A mystery is “something that is difficult or impossible to understand or explain”.  Some synonyms for mystery are: “puzzle, enigma, conundrum, riddle, secret, problem”.  There are so many mysteries about God:  How can such a righteous and holy God continue to love such lowly and sinful people?  How can God have no beginning and no end?  How can God create something out of nothing?”

In the reading for today, St. Paul is unpacking yet another mystery about God.  In Sunday’s message, pastor spoke of how the world Paul lived in was defined in terms of Jews and Gentiles.  If you were a Jew you were a descendant of Abraham, a part of God’s holy nation of Israel.  If you were Greek or Roman or Egyptian or anything other than a Jew, you were a Gentile.  Many of the Jews of that time believed Gentiles were outside of the grace of God; that the God who created the heavens and the earth was reserved strictly for the Jews.  What Paul is preaching in Ephesians 3 was rocking their world!

Delton was insisting on Sunday that there is NO ONE for whom the Gospel does not apply.  That there is NO ONE for whom Christ did not die on the cross.  As he spoke I started thinking of the people in my life who I am tempted to look at as Gentiles – people for whom the Gospel does not apply.  I thank God that the Gospel applies to EVERY ONE because that includes me!  And I pray that, by the power of the Holy Spirit, whenever I lock eyes on another human being I will always think “This is one for whom Christ died!”.

What a mystery!

Mark