VII.
Let’s return to these words and pay attention where they speak to us and of us.

VIII.
Ephesians 1:1-14 (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition)

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God,

To the saints who are in Ephesus and are faithful in Christ Jesus:

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, just as he chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before him in love. He destined us for adoption as his children through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace that he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and insight he has made known to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure that he set forth in Christ, as a plan for the fullness of time, to gather up all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. In Christ we have also obtained an inheritance, having been destined according to the purpose of him who accomplishes all things according to his counsel and will, so that we, who were the first to set our hope on Christ, might live for the praise of his glory. In him you also, when you had heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and had believed in him, were marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit; this is the pledge of our inheritance toward redemption as God’s own people, to the praise of his glory.

IX.
Do you hear this inviting you to the grace and peace offered by God?

Do you sense that God “chose [you] in Christ”?

What does “marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit … the pledge of our inheritance toward redemption as God’s own people” tell you about your place in the Kingdom of God?

As you take in these words, do you find yourself encouraged to live into a Kingdom of hope and praise?

charles
{ubi caritas et amor, Deus ibi est}