“This letter is from Paul, chosen by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus. I am writing to God’s holy people in Ephesus, who are faithful followers of Christ Jesus. May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace. All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ. Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes.
God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure. So we praise God for the glorious grace he has poured out on us who belong to his dear Son. He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins. He has showered his kindness on us, along with all wisdom and understanding. God has now revealed to us his mysterious will regarding Christ—which is to fulfill his own good plan. And this is the plan: At the right time he will bring everything together under the authority of Christ—everything in heaven and on earth. Furthermore, because we are united with Christ, we have received an inheritance from God, for he chose us in advance, and he makes everything work out according to his plan. God’s purpose was that we Jews who were the first to trust in Christ would bring praise and glory to God. And now you Gentiles have also heard the truth, the Good News that God saves you. And when you believed in Christ, he identified you as his own by giving you the Holy Spirit, whom he promised long ago. The Spirit is God’s guarantee that he will give us the inheritance he promised and that he has purchased us to be his own people. He did this so we would praise and glorify him. Ever since I first heard of your strong faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for God’s people everywhere, I have not stopped thanking God for you. I pray for you constantly, asking God, the glorious Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, to give you spiritual wisdom and insight so that you might grow in your knowledge of God. I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the confident hope he has given to those he called—his holy people who are his rich and glorious inheritance. I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God’s power for us who believe him. This is the same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms. Now he is far above any ruler or authority or power or leader or anything else—not only in this world but also in the world to come. God has put all things under the authority of Christ and has made him head over all things for the benefit of the church. And the church is his body; it is made full and complete by Christ, who fills all things everywhere with himself.”
Ephesians 1:1-23 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/eph.1.1-23.NLT
As we celebrate the Birth of Christ Jesus do we know Him as the One that daily walks with us and we walk with Him? Are we walking with Him in the “unforced rhythms of Grace. “
May you find peace, love and joy as you celebrate Christmas. Merry Christmas! Jesus loves you! He is a gift to you. You are in the letter written by Paul above.
Jesus is given to you as a gift from God. John 3:16, says, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only son….Jesus!
thedailylily.com 
What a meaningful portion of scripture you shared Sara. It really tells the Christmas story!
And the photo of the universe gives us a visual to see the solar systems unforced rhythms of grace as the planets and galaxies flow together according to God’s plan. And the universe also seems to show us the expansiveness of this verses you shared, and their, “Now he is far above any ruler or authority or power or leader or anything else—not only in this world but also in the world to come”…and, “Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes.”
To think on this Gift, this Baby whose birth we are celebrating was God, come to earth with the one mission to die for us sinners, so we could live eternally with Him…just as you wrote, “Jesus is given to you as a gift from God. John 3:16, says, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only son….Jesus!”
Thank you for these rich words to think on and walk with.
Debi, yearly many of us celebrate our husband’s Birthday. We most often accept him at the age he is atthe moment rightly so. Yet, we reminisce about the day we met him maybe age 40 and now he’s 60. Then his Mom steps in and and gives us a glimpse of when he was an infant and we think oh how precious. Yes, sweet he was and is but we know the man he is.
If we think about Jesus and his story and lineage of his mother, Mary and father, Joseph it’s precious. Where he was born? Why he was born of a virgin? So much to learn about him and walk in his space to appreciate the One he is! Paul does a wonderful service for mankind by writing a history and future of our bridegroom. Just imagine Jesus is the bridegroom of the church.
We have so much to share about the lover of our soul. Jesus born in a manager as a baby. The manager to the cross! The cross to the grave. The grave to the world. The world to the right hand of the Father. And, our soon coming groom as King of Kings! So much more as we continue to grow and walk with him,
I thank the Lord, Sara, for your gift of words, stories and examples and for shedding more light on the scriptures above.
They cover such a spectrum that I could only think of how they help to reveal understanding of this scripture:
“And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.” Ephesians 3:18-19 NLT
Beautiful prayer The Apostle Paul prayed for all. As we join in with him and many others for one another the great happens. God’s people begin to see and understand just how wonderful it is to see and experience the love of God in unity.
I often think about how I delight when my little earth family is united and share life’s journey with one another. I need deep breaths to soak in how much more Our Heavenly Father delights when he sees our growth and maturity as we share with one another.
This blog brought to mind a recent message from my church, on December 15, 2024. Our preacher used the John 3:16 verse shared here, in his message. One of the notes I took said, “God chose us before the world”. I believe the message from last Sunday at my church, seems to go right along with this blog, and it is a message worth reading, studying, sharing, and meditating on. Thank you Heavenly Father for sending Your Son 🙏🙏🙏
Thanks Tammy for sharing Rev Davenport’s messages’ that so inspires us to run and check him out to see what more he will tell us about the one called Jesus.
Debi and I spoke about Daniel Davenport this past Sunday as we do various times in sharing his stories.
if anyone would like to hear about Jesus or study along with Rev Davenport @Edenton, NC.
http://countrysidecc100.com
Yes, please visit the above website to hear his sermons. Also, as a reminder that we will resume our study of God’s Word this coming Sunday, December 29, 2024, and our book we are reading “The Story.” We should read chapter 11, by Sunday and then listen to his message. 🙏
Thanks for sharing your connection verse, Tammy, from the December 15 sermon.
As I listened, Pastor Davenport sure let us know how significant the word ‘chosen’ is… it really tied into the love that God has for us that Sara wrote about, “We have so much to share about the lover of our soul.”
Pastor Davenport also quoted the same verse as Sara wrote in the blog, “Jesus is given to you as a gift from God. John 3:16, says, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only son… Jesus!”. He emphasized the word Son and went on to remind us that the Christmas story didn’t begin in Bethlehem with Jesus as a baby in the manger; but that it began in eternity past with Jesus, God’s son in Heaven with God.
Thanks for sharing Debi, and great summary!