Ephesians 2:1-10
"1 Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins. 2 You used to live in sin, . . . obeying the devil—the commander of the powers in the unseen world.[a] He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God. 3 All of us used to live that way, following the passionate desires and inclinations of our sinful nature. By our very nature we were subject to God’s anger, just like everyone else. . . 7 So God can point to us in all future ages as examples of the incredible wealth of his grace and kindness toward us, as shown in all he has done for us who are united with Christ Jesus.
8 God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. 9 Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. 10 For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago."
So, I'm sinful and tend to always want to follow my passionate desires and inclinations of my sin nature. Sometimes we see things that seem unfair or easy to slip into from our sin natures' perspective and it's hard to reconcile why we need not pursue that "low hanging fruit." For me the key is in vs. 10 we are God's MASTERPIECE. Not because we're perfect or even pretty, but because of our inate failure in all areas of our lives, are we masterfully painted into a work of art by God as we allow our Holy Artist to mold us and paint us into his work. His use of us makes us a masterpiece. So, in that tempting "low hanging fruit" moment, be reminded that God can't create a masterpiece if the paint tries to place itself on the master's canvas.
Lord, thank you for reminding me to patiently wait on you. Thank you for reminding me that a masterpiece am I as I allow you to work your creation in me and through me. Thank you for your peace upon me as I see others around me not wait on you for I know your masterpiece will be better than anything else created by human hands. Amen.
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Tasty post! It reminds me of 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 "And He said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong." I love that last part--nothing is more contrary to the world's thinking than being strong in weakness! Recently, when the perfectionist part of my personality has tried to pull me into a ditch, God brought these verses to mind. It enabled me to be content with where I was at and rejoice because my imperfections actually showcase God's glory!
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