This is my life work: helping people understand and respond to this Message. It came as a sheer gift to me, a real surprise, God handling all the details. When it came to presenting the Message to people who had no background in God’s way, I was the least qualified of any of the available Christians. God saw to it that I was equipped, but you can be sure that it had nothing to do with my natural abilities. And so here I am, preaching and writing about things that are way over my head, the inexhaustible riches and generosity of Christ. My task is to bring out in the open and make plain what God, who created all this in the first place, has been doing in secret and behind the scenes all along. Through followers of Jesus like yourselves gathered in churches, this extraordinary plan of God is becoming known and talked about even among the angels!

All this is proceeding along lines planned all along by God and then executed in Christ Jesus. When we trust in him, we’re free to say whatever needs to be said, bold to go wherever we need to go. So don’t let my present trouble on your behalf get you down. Be proud!           Ephesians 3: 7-13 

Father God, please use these words to speak to us and teach us from Your Word.  Lead us in Your way, through Jesus Christ, our Lord.  Amen

I chose to use the Message version of this Scripture because it takes a fairly complicated sounding passage and put it into terms I can totally understand.  There are so many pieces of this passage that I would love to dig into that I find myself struggling to even begin…not to mention the fact that it’s all so impacting that I could go on and on!  So, here are some of my favorite pieces:

• “It came as a sheer gift to me, a real surprise, God handling all the details…I was the least qualified of any of the available Christians.”  Paul’s humility speaks so clearly here.  He acknowledges that there are Christians who are more qualified than him to take the gospel to the people.  Instead of boasting that God handpicked him because he had some special gift-set, he attributes the gifts he does have to God.

• “All this is proceeding along lines planned all along by God and then executed in Christ Jesus.”    I love love love to soak in the knowledge that God not only has a plan but that He will see it through!  Even though we may stray off His path and make mistakes as Christians, His plan will still come to fruition.  What a blessing to know that none of us can throw God off His game and alter eternity!

• And finally, “…we’re free to say whatever needs to be said, bold to go wherever we need to go.”  People may look at us strangely when we talk about God to them, but He’s got that covered – He has freed us in Christ to talk Him up!  The second part of that sentence reminds me how a friend always closes his emails:  “Be bold.”  I need that reminder that we’re free to be bold for God!

Well, there are my faves from this Scripture.  What about you?  Please share what in these verses speak to you!  I would love to read what you have to say!  I will close with this challenge - Be Bold!

Jennifer