Every Spiritual Blessing

As I’ve read over and over the first part of the Apostle Paul’s letter to the church in the Roman city and region of Ephesus, my heart and spirit have been filled with awe and wonder. Paul identifies, in vivid color, God’s rich blessing upon followers of Jesus. God “has blessed us with every spiritual blessing,” and He “decided in advance to adopt us into his own family,” because “this is what he wanted to do,” and “it gave Him great pleasure.” (Ephesians 1:3-5 NLT) As the parent of adopted children (they are adults now) I understand what Paul wrote. When parents who have adopted a child meet other adoptive parents, there is a sense of camaraderie. A common response is “I have an adopted child too!” If you have adopted children, you know what I’m talking about. Think about it! God decided to adopt YOU into HIS own family, because it is what HE WANTED TO DO! And it gave him not just pleasure, but GREAT PLEASURE! And He has blessed you, his adopted child, with every spiritual blessing! Paul continues, God has poured out on his adopted children his “glorious grace!” Grace is the idea of undeserved help. God pours out his “glorious” help, even though we’ve done nothing to deserve it. Not only have we done nothing to deserve it, we’ve done plenty to motivate God to withhold His help from us - but he doesn’t! And there is more! Paul tells us that God is “so rich in His kindness and grace.” He has “showered His kindness on us, along with all wisdom and understanding.” If you are following Jesus, Paul’s words are a description of what God has done for you, and to you. He’s done all these things because “this is what he wanted to do!” He wanted to! He wanted to, for you! Doing all these glorious things “gave Him great pleasure.” How can you not want to love, praise, and serve Him? After all, He’s blessed you with every spiritual blessing! I encourage you to open your Bible to the letter from Paul to the Ephesians and read it over and over. Your spirit will be eventually overflowing with thanksgiving and joy.