ALIVE

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions.

Ephesians 2:4-5a

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

God is the great Provider of every good and perfect gift from above (James 1:17). The scriptures tell us as much and indeed, we need to see and acknowledge that everything we have was made possible by His charity to us. This principle needs to be applied at the most micro levels possible.

I say this because some people look to God to be the great Provider of big things for them, like a new job with higher pay, a new car to drive, or a house to own and live in. And while God may or may not meet these desires because it’s His will and plan for our life that counts, we have to be very careful to not miss all that God does for us every day.

For example, I you are reading this today, you awoke from sleep. Your heart is beating and your lungs are breathing. This gift of life is from God and every second that your heart pulses and lungs contract and expand is reason to be grateful for what God has granted.

Being alive is a good place to start when we see God as our great Provider and when we consider this, we need to remember that we don’t really deserve to still have life. We are all sinners who fall short of God’s glory (Romans 3:23) and as we saw in yesterday’s message, the walking dead due to our transgressions. This truth exists in the presence of a God who hates and despises sin, a God who could easily wipe us off the face of His creation in a second.

But He hasn’t done this. In fact, He so loved the world that He chose to make a way to save every person from perishing, sending His Son Jesus to die in our place, a perfect one time sacrifice to atone for the sin of all mankind (John 3:16). All one needs to do to be made alive, despite being once dead in sin, is believe in Jesus as Savior.

Friends, in Christ, we are no longer dead in iniquity but just as alive spiritually as we are physically. We are assured the gift of eternal life by a great Provider God who showed, and continues to show, His love and mercy to us in abundance.

Yes, we might have physical needs to bring before God, especially in these difficult economic times, but let’s not do so without first giving thanks to our Maker and Master for all He has already done and is doing for us, like making us alive in Jesus, now and forever.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to Gods4all@aol.com