On to Ephesians

I am so happy to have finished Jeremiah -- not that I just wanted to be done with it, but it is a marker for me to actually have stuck with the book all the way through, read it all, thought about parts of it over the course of a few months. My usual pattern is to stick with something for about 2 to 3 weeks, then it goes by the wayside. I am thanking God for helping me get all the way through Jeremiah, and taking it as evidence of the work of the Holy Spirit in me. It so often doesn't feel as if God is at work changing me, so I need to take any concrete success and give God the credit. Credit where credit is due.

We've had preaching on Ephesians at church lately, so I am going to take that book as my next step. I will go section by section, according to the NIV headings, rather than by chapters. They call the first section "Blessings in Christ", and it is verses 1-14.

The first thing I noticed was the extravagent language used for what God has done for us:
-blessed us with EVERY spiritual blessing in christ
-in accordance with the RICHES of God's grace that he LAVISHED on us
-which he has FREELY given us

And his purpose is also extravagent and expressed in superlatives:
-to bring ALL things in heaven and on earth together...
-he works out EVERYTHING in conformity with the purpose of his will

And it is all 'to the praise of his glory'. All thy works shall praise thy name in earth and sky and sea...

The sweeping comprehensiveness of God's purpose rather takes my breath away. But in the tumble of this huge wave of God's purpose for creation that is relentlessly moving toward its destination, we also see that he is aware of each individual person as part of the whole:

Eph 1:13 And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession—to the praise of his glory.

So, rather than just feeling like 'one of the crowd' and an inconsequential cog in the wheel, I know that I am a special individual who God purposefully chose to 'include in Christ'. I am marked with the Holy Spirit and, as I said above, I need to recognize that my three months of Bible study are an indication of that, and give thanks to God for it. I've proven over and over that I can't keep going on my own. Lord, help me to keep depending on your Spirit to guide me and engage me in your word.