Sunday Night, May 8

We covered verse 3 of Ephesians 1:3-14.
...looking for any strong statements, here...

v.3 "...blessed us in the heavenly realms...


"...with every spiritual blessing..."


"... in Christ..."


v.4
"...loved us..."


"...chose us..."

"...to be holy in His sight..."

"...before the creation of the world..."



So, we discussed these points piece by piece. And the following notes are some of the things that got on the board from our discussion...

"...every..."
1 Cor. 2:9
Isaiah 64:4
...these two scriptures state that "No eye has seen, nor ear heard, what things God has prepared for those who love Him..."
this "every" of our spiritual blessedness is a mystery to us now. We can't fully understand or experience this, yet. But we keep pressing into it! keep discovering it!

"Heavenly Realms"
A few words about Satan:
Jn. 12 he has been driven out...
Jn. 14:30 he came for Jesus but had no hold on him...
Jn. 16:11 he now stands condemned...
Lk 10:20 we have authority in Christ to walk over his work, but our joy is in our salvation!

The heavenly realm conversation in the group was good. So often we live with our minds on the earthly/seen realm, neglecting the development of a full participation in our Christian identity... Col. 3:1-3 tells us to focus our hearts and minds on the heavenlies!

The fact that we don't fully understand the heavenly realm idea doesn't mean that there's not a lot to learn, and a lot to participate in. Through walking in the Spirit (Romans 8), we can really see it happen...

"Loved Us"
"Chose Us"
"Before Creation"
These are mysteries that we all need to swim in!
And He chose us to be holy!

Holy: Set apart to God, consecrated for a specific divine purpose

And to be blameless!!!
...without accusation of blame! In Revelation 12, Satan is identified by his many names and is cast out of the heavenly court, where he used to accuse us to God's face, all the time... Now there is an advocate for the world, Jesus Christ, there... We are without blame before God, our sin atoned for... Let's walk boldly in Him!!!

Romans 8:31-33 lays this out and asks, "if God is for us, who can be against us... who will bring a charge against [us]?"

Lift up your eyes this week! Throw off all hindrance and the sin that tangles you up (Heb. 12) and Run! Serve one another in love! (galatians 5:13) and keep to it!

Make sure to always forgive one another, whatever the grievance you might have! (Colossians 4)

Study these scriptures to make sure they're true! Don't be duped by fine arguments and what appears to be wisdom. Look it up for yourself!