Accepted in the beloved.

... to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved. Ephesians 1.6

This verse is one that i have to remind myself of often. It is comforting to know that my acceptance is not dependent on who i am or what i do, but simply on the work Christ accomplished by his death. Just to sit back and think about what God has done for me and give him thanks can really be overwhelming. He has blessed me so much and i often think of how undeserving i am and yet he still desires that i am a part of his plan. Does that not just blow your mind? It definitely does mine.

In class the other day, the speaker was talking about God being eternal and what that means. God did not have a beginning and God does not have an end. My simple mind cannot even begin to understand what that is really like. We have been looking at the book of Genesis and seeing in creation that God is not limited by light and dark as we are, he is not limited by space as we are, he is not limited to a body as we are, he is not limited to time as we are, and... i could go on and on. This morning we were looking at God's character and discussing what difference his character should have on our lives. How different i would be if i lived out all that God has said is true of me!!!

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlyplaces in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence,having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself, that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth—in Him. In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory. In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.

Ephesians 1.3-14

This fall we have started into a class called sounds & symbols. This is just another name for phonetics. Our teachers explained that we will be learning some sounds that are common in languages and the symbols that correspond with them. The official name of what we are learning is the International Phonetic Alphabet. It has been a lot of fun to learn new sounds and force my mouth to do things it is familiar or comfortable with. It is also a challenging class that reminds me often that many things do not come naturally to me but that God is able to use me in spite of my lack and that He can more than supply for any need.

And My God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus... He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it. (Philippians 4.19, 1 Thessalonians 5.24)

Sometimes i feel that God is teaching me the same lessons over and over. He probably is because i do not always practice those things that he has taught me. As humbling as that sometimes is, i love knowing that God is patient with me and he desires to make me more and more like his son. Even though i do not know what all will happen in my life here on earth, i know that one day i will be with God and will be like him. [Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. 1 John 3.2]

To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Him we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus. To this end I also labor, striving according to His working which works in me mightily.

Colossians 1.27-29