November 18, 2025

GOD’S WORD FOR TODAY:

“For He chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight. In love He predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with His pleasure and will….”

(Ephesians 1.4-5)

TODAY’S REFLECTION ON GOD’S WORD:

Have we truly stopped and meditated on what God has intended for us before we were even born? To stop, read and reread just Ephesians 1.4-5 should be enough to humble us and cause us to pursue God. So many people pursue worth and affirmation in terms of the world. We are all guilty of it at some point in time to a greater and lesser degree. I am not trying to be accusatory because I include myself in that description as all. That is why I love verses such as the one above to remind me who I am and am meant to be in the sight and presence of God. God’s desire and pursuit is that we be His forever, holy and blameless in His sight. He knew full well that giving humanity the choice on how to live their lives between the world of man and the Kingdom of God was not going to be easy. It isn’t easy but necessary to go through that decision-making process and experience the consequences of our choices. God knew it wasn’t going to be easy. God also knew that it was not impossible. In fact, that is the underpinning of that verse of scripture so many quote, “What is impossible with a person is not impossible for God.” (Luke 18.27) We can add to that another verse we are familiar with “God works all things together for good.” (Romans 8.28) What is the commonality of those two verses? It is not about worldly success but spiritual fulfillment. They are both talking about the path of salvation and overcoming the desires and passions of the world so that we find ourselves exactly where God wants us to be. Yes, I know, there have been many other interpretations and adaptations offered for the presentation of these verses to the world. But these are kingdom verses! They are not self-improvement adages and encouragements for the attaining of a place in this world nor the grasping of its temporary and finite resources and recognition.

As we read these two verses, and the whole passage in Ephesians 1, we are told specifically of God’s purest intent and desire for humanity. God has predetermined that each and every person has been designed to be a son, and daughter, of God. Not only is each person desired by God to be a part of the family but a part of the eternal and heavenly family. That is the only place where we as human beings will be “holy and blameless.” Still, God is not ignorant. God knows the heartbreaks of freedom of choice and the liberty to pursue the fulfillment of that choice by whatever means possible. That means, some choices and intents on the part of humanity will not align with the course that leads to eternal life. The greatest failure on the part of humanity is not choosing to live without God or as if there is no God. For me, the greatest failure is to attempt to live on earth as if one can live a double life with one foot in the Kingdom of God in the midst of us and the other in the world that is around us. I see it even in the evangelistic efforts of the Church, especially in the contemporary non-denominational venues rising in popularity today. Their attempts to blend the world as it is with the gospel as it will always be do more to validate the world and to compromise the gospel. It is not always so, but we see it in the venues of worship especially and in small groups where a business model of serving is held onto more than the biblical model proposed by Jesus Christ Himself. Are we so afraid of being who we are intended to be in the eyes of God from before our conception that the world’s opinion and our desire to “win” the world in its context takes the lead? Seriously, that is not the kingdom model of life which Jesus walked and talked during His ministry on earth. Regardless of Paul’s “To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law. To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some.  I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.” (1 Corinthians 9.21-23), the kingdom model of ministry as Jesus laid out to the disciples was being all things that God was so that the people could see it. It wasn’t about outward appearance and worldly gyrations. It was all about “spirit and truth.”

Mighty ones of God, we have been fully equipped since the beginning of time with the natural resources to accomplish the “good” God has purposed in us, through us and for us. It is that purpose which we must pursue with our lives for the hope of others to see “the way, the truth and the life” which leads only to God in His Kingdom as the family of God alongside Christ His Son who is our Savior.

TODAY’S PRAYER IN RESPONSE TO GOD’S WORD:

Father, in these days we are finding the need to believe even more than ever before. We all have known trouble, some in greater ways than others, but You are offering us the assurance that we will not be consumed by it forever. Regardless of the “time” we are in and the “time” we have been given, we ask for Your Holy Spirit which Jesus asked You to share with us, to lead and guide and direct us in the paths we should go. Teach us what we still need to learn. Empower us to put that learning into action. Bless our actions not as a works righteousness but as righteous works of faith, hope and love in Jesus’ name. AMEN.