Yesterday Our Daily Bread Eph 1

Ephesians 1: 1 - 23
1 This letter is from Paul, chosen by God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus. It is written to God's holy people in Ephesus, who are faithful followers of Christ Jesus. 2 May grace and peace be yours, sent to you from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord.
3 How we praise God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we belong to Christ. 4 Long ago, even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. 5 His unchanging plan has always been to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. And this gave him great pleasure. 6 So we praise God for the wonderful kindness he has poured out on us because we belong to his dearly loved Son. 7 He is so rich in kindness that he purchased our freedom through the blood of his Son, and our sins are forgiven. 8 He has showered his kindness on us, along with all wisdom and understanding. 9 God's secret plan has now been revealed to us; it is a plan centered on Christ, designed long ago according to his good pleasure. 10 And this is his plan: At the right time he will bring everything together under the authority of Christ – everything in heaven and on earth. 11 Furthermore, because of Christ, we have received an inheritance from God, for he chose us from the beginning, and all things happen just as he decided long ago. 12 God's purpose was that we who were the first to trust in Christ should praise our glorious God. 13 And now you also have 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. 14 The Spirit is God's guarantee that he will give us everything he promised and that he has purchased us to be his own people. This is just one more reason for us to praise our glorious God..
15 Ever since I first heard of your strong faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for Christians everywhere, 16 I have never stopped thanking God for you. I pray for you constantly, 17 asking God, the glorious Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, to give you spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you might grow in your knowledge of God. 18 I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the wonderful future he has promised to those he called. I want you to realize what a rich and glorious inheritance he has given to his people. F3 19 I pray that you will begin to understand the incredible greatness of his power for us who believe him. This is the same mighty power 20 that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God's right hand in the heavenly realms. 21 Now he is far above any ruler or authority or power or leader or anything else in this world or in the world to come. 22 And God has put all things under the authority of Christ, and he gave him this authority for the benefit of the church. 23 And the church is his body; it is filled by Christ, who fills everything everywhere with his presence.
~Lena’s Journalin’~
If the Holy Spirit is the guarantee of the promises of God fulfilled, then if we refuse to believe He is, we must also refuse to believe in God’s promises. We’ve got to realize that the Holy Spirit is God and that this is the person of God that we have been given by Christ Jesus and the Father, if we refuse Him, we refuse God! Do you realize what refusing God does to the earth? Read Romans 1, why does th earth groan and travail? We, God’s own people do not acknowledge Him, the part of Him that was left to us in the earth to accomplish God'’ will. Do we really think we can accomplish God'’ will on our own, with no empowerment by God’s own Spirit? "Good luck trying!" This is what a lot of Christianity has been, a work of flesh, a trial and err walk. God wants His power for us to be witnesses of His promises unleashed in the earth where we live, not in heaven later on, The power of God is immeasurable in the heavenlies, but in the earth it has barely been seen. Jesus had the spirit of God without measure, why do we pick and choose the part of God we desire or not? He chose us! Think about that one, How I was, who I was, He chose me, and I turn around and refuse Him? I was speaking to our son a day or two ago, about atmospheres in different parts of the US. Some cities or vicinities seem to have a strong religious cape over them, others have darkness looming over and others are somehow void of any life of God. I told Him that I believe it has to do with the churches in those areas and how they have refused or obeyed God’s spirit. When the Spirit of God knocks on a church’s door and asks for change, and asks to come in and occupy more space than what was previously allowed; or asks a group of people to see more than they did, or go this direction, and they refuse Him, there is actually a curse unlocked over that area, especially if He has been refused over and over again. God’s Spirit is a gentlemanly spirit, He will not always strive w/ man (can you find that scripture?)He will not force us to obey Him, and if we refuse Him, He just leaves, the light goes away (Rev 3), and when a place is void of God, it is dark, gloomy and on its own. The only way to freedom from a self- inflicted curse, is to repent. Repentance is turning in another direction, apologizing for not having a loving response to God. It is really hard for that to happen, when a whole group of people have come into agreement against God, it sets that group up for desensitivity and hard-heartedness. I said it was hard, but not impossible. God can break down any wall, it begins with willing hearts that agree in prayer. I’ve seen areas of the country that were once dark, lighting up with a few obedient sons and daughters who have been willing to pray and pierce through the darkness. Man, there is nothing like when God’s Spirit is unleashed in a place that was dark and cold to Him before! The prayer exemplified in Vs 15-20 is that type of prayer that will unleash freedom and the Spirit of God to take place and displace other forces. Who are we? Forces to be reckoned with? Yes, in Christ and Christ in us- we are. Do we know who we are? Do we realize who lives in us? Do we see Him as He is in us? Whew! We’ve got to have our eyes opened so we can see, get a glimpse He’s AWESOME- in me