And Peter answered them. Repent (change your
views and purpose to accept the will of God in
your inner selves instead of rejecting it) and be
baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus
Christ for the forgiveness of and release from
your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the
Holy Spirit.
(Acts 2.38).
HALLELUJAH! THANK YOU LORD JESUS FOREVERMORE!
As for you, you were dead in your
transgressions and sins, in which
you used to live when you followed
the ways of this world and of the ruler
of the kingdom of the air, the spirit
who is at work in those who are
disobedient.
All of us also lived among them at
one time, gratifying the cravings
of our sinful nature and following
its desires and thoughts.
Like the rest, we were by nature
objects of wrath.
But because of His great love for us,
God, Who is rich in mercy, made us
alive with Christ even when we were
dead in transgressions- it is by grace
you have been saved.
And God raised us up with Christ and
seated us up with Him in the heavenly
realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in
the coming ages He might show the
incomparable riches of His grace, expressed
in His kindness to us in Christ Jesus.
For it is by grace you have been saved,
through faith- and this is not from
yourselves, it is the gift of God- not by
works, so that no one can boast.
For we are God’s workmanship,
created in Christ Jesus to do good
works, which God prepared in advance
for us to do.
(Ephesians 2.1-10).
HALLELUJAH! THANK YOU LORD JESUS FOREVERMORE!
Now when a man works, his wages are not
credited to him as a gift, but as an obligation.
However, to the man who does not work but
trusts God Who justifies the wicked, his faith
is credited as righteousness.
(Romans 4.4 & 5).
HALLELUJAH! THANK YOU LORD JESUS FOREVERMORE!
Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. Each one should use
whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering
God’s grace in its various forms.
If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God.
If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that
in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory
and the power for ever and ever. Amen!
The end of all things is near.
Therefore be clear minded and self- controlled so
that you can pray.
Above all, love each other deeply, because love
covers over a multitude of sins.
Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling.
Each one should use whatever gift he has
received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s
grace in its various forms.
If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the
very words of God.
If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides,
so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ.
To Him be glory and power forever and ever. Amen.
(I.Peter 4.7-11).
HALLELUJAH! THANK YOU LORD JESUS FOREVER!
Of this Gospel (Best News Ever) I was made a minister
according to the gift of God’s free grace (undeserved favor)
which was bestowed on me by the effective working of His
power.
(Ephesians 3.7).
HALLELUJAH! THANK YOU LORD JESUS FOREVERMORE!
There is one body and one Spirit- just as there is also one hope
that belongs to the calling you received-
There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism,
One God and Father of us all, Who is above all (Sovereign over all),
pervading all and living in us all.
Yet grace was given to each of us individually in proportion to the
measures of Christ’s rich and bounteous gift.
(Ephesians 4.4-7).
HALLELUJAH! THANK YOU LORD JESUS FOREVERMORE!
Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above;
it comes down from the Father of all light, in Whom
there can be no variation or shadow cast by His turning.
And it was of His own free will that He gave us birth by
His Word of Truth, so that we should be a kind of
firstfruits of His creatures.
(James 1.17 & 18)
HALLELUJAH! THANK YOU LORD JESUS FOREVER!
True Liberty
The meaning of being reborn of the Spirit and made alive in Christ Jesus unto good works
which He has prepared for us implies a new man. Under grace and not under the Law, as
Abraham, justified not by the keeping of the Law, but by the grace of God, through faith.
This is purely God’s miracle, a divine effect. This is brought about by God, Who wants all
to come to Him, to know Him and love Him, to worship Him in Spirit and in truth.
This is far beyond all human expectation, enthusiasm and enterprise.
Grace is the impossible made possible by God. Grace is the miracle by which you
are given the gift beyond all gifts and unexpected favor above all favors.
Its effect is expressed in Romans 6.23:
“The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
PRAISE THE NAME OF JESUS FOREVERMORE!
RICH GIFT
There is one body and one Spirit, just as there is also
one hope that belongs to the calling you received.
There is one Lord, one faith one baptism, One God
the Father of us all, Who is above all, Sovereign over
all, pervading all and living in us all.
Yet grace (God’s unmerited favor) was given to each
of us individually (not indiscriminately, but in different
ways) in proportion to the measure of Christ’s rich and
bounteous gift. Therefore it is said, When He ascended on
high, He led captivity captive (He led a train of vanquished
foes) and he bestowed gifts on men.(Ephesians 4.4-8).
POINTS FOR PRAISE AND MEDITATION
1) There is one Lord, one Spirit, one body, one faith, one
baptism, one God and Father of us all who is above all,
pervading all and living in us all. HALLELUJAH!
2) Each believer has specifically been blessed with grace,
which is God’s unmerited favor according to the measure
of Christ’s rich gift. The measure is unlimited as we saw in
Ephesians 1.19.
3) The rich gift of Christ is described and predicted by the psalmist
who alludes to God’s Kingdom rule in prophetic and spiritual
ways which cover the past, present and future. This has to do
with each individual Christian and the Church, because this is
the holy place where the Lord dwells.
Here is Psalm 68.13-20):
“Though you (the slackers) may lie among the sheepfolds (in slothful ease,
yet for Israel) the wings of a dove are covered with silver, its pinions
excessively green with gold (trophies recovered from the enemy).
When the Almighty scattered kings in the land, it was as when it snows
on Zalmon (a wooded hill near Shechem).
Is Mount Bashan the high mountain of summits, Mount Bashan the
mount of God? Why do you look with grudging and with envy, you
many-peaked mountains, at the mountain which God has desired for
His dwelling place? Yes, the Lord will dwell in it forever.
The chariots of God are twenty thousand, even thousands upon
thousands. The Lord is among them as He was in Sinai, in the
Holy Place.
YOU HAVE ASCENDED ON HIGH. YOU HAVE LED AWAY CAPTIVE
A TRAIN OF VANQUISHED FOES. YOU HAVE RECEIVED GIFTS OF
MEN, YES of the rebellious also, that the Lord God might dwell there
with them.
Blessed be the Lord, who bears our burdens and carries us day by day,
the God Who is our salvation! Selah (pause and calmly think of that)!
God is to us a God of deliverances and salvation and to God the Lord
belongs escape from death (setting us free).
4) Here in this psalm the Lord Who bears our burdens, whose
burden is easy and burden is light Jesus the Christ is the One
Who delivers and sets us free from sin and death, our God Who is
our salvation. The very name Jesus literally means (God Who IS
Salvation).
5) St. Paul in a turn of the phrase states that Jesus Christ led
captivity captive and bestowed gifts to humanity. This is different from
the context of the psalm where a train of captives were being led and the
Lord received gifts of men.
When the Lord led captivity captive He destroyed the power the
devil which kept mankind captive to the fear of death. This is
explained here by the author of Hebrews:
” Since, therefore His children share in flesh and blood, He himself
in asimilar manner partook of the same nature, that by going through
death He might bring to nought and make of no effect him who had the
power of death, that is the devil-
And also that He might deliver and completely set free all those who
through the haunting fear of death were held in bondage throughout
the course of their lives. “(Hebrews 2. 14& 15).
In the psalm He receives gifts. In Ephesians St. Paul is saying that
the Lord gives each believer individual spiritual gifts.
HALLELUJAH! THANK YOU LORD JESUS FOREVERMORE!