Daily Manna (Coffee with Jesus)

Ephesians 3, The Message

14-19 My response is to get down on my knees before the Father, this magnificent Father who parcels out all heaven and earth. I ask him to strengthen you by his Spirit—not a brute strength but a glorious inner strength—that Christ will live in you as you open the door and invite him in. And I ask him that with both feet planted firmly on love, you’ll be able to take in with all followers of Jesus the extravagant dimensions of Christ’s love. Reach out and experience the breadth! Test its length! Plumb the depths! Rise to the heights! Live full lives, full in the fullness of God.

20-21 God can do anything, you know—far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, his Spirit deeply and gently within us.

Glory to God in the church!
Glory to God in the Messiah, in Jesus!
Glory down all the generations!
Glory through all millennia! Oh, yes!

In Jesus Name, Amen. I believe.

God’s words through Paul to the church are so encouraging this morning. Read slowly, carefully and be blessed.

Galatians 3, The Message – “This is my life’s work.”

7-8 This is my life work: helping people understand and respond to this Message. It came as a sheer gift to me, a real surprise, God handling all the details. When it came to presenting the Message to people who had no background in God’s way, I was the least qualified of any of the available Christians. God saw to it that I was equipped, but you can be sure that it had nothing to do with my natural abilities.

8-10 And so here I am, preaching and writing about things that are way over my head, the inexhaustible riches and generosity of Christ. My task is to bring out in the open and make plain what God, who created all this in the first place, has been doing in secret and behind the scenes all along. Through followers of Jesus like yourselves gathered in churches, this extraordinary plan of God is becoming known and talked about even among the angels!

11-13 All this is proceeding along lines planned all along by God and then executed in Christ Jesus. When we trust in him, we’re free to say whatever needs to be said, bold to go wherever we need to go. So don’t let my present trouble on your behalf get you down. Be proud!

What do we learn?
–God consistently calls the least qualified to fulfill His work.
–God ALWAYS equips those who accept the call and trust fully in Him for the details. Our job is to just say yes.
–God gives us mentoring people, time to learn, experiences to grow and mature, and the Holy Spirit to comfort, encourage, make course corrections, tells us what to say when and where, and when to be silent and when to just listen.
–God remind us daily to Whom we belong.
–Don’t give up. “Trust and Obey, for there’s no other way…”

Dear Heavenly Father,
At just the right time, Your Word brings encouragement. My spirit was down and You lifted me up once more. My heart was crushed and You soothed my wound so that it beats for You with confidence once more. Yes, Lord. I will do as You say with you taking care of all the rest. Thank you, Lord. Help us listen to you and be strengthened by you all day long.
In Jesus Name, Amen

Read and be encouraged. Read and be grateful. Read and be more accepting of overs in the family God has chosen for His own.

Ephesians 2, The Message
14-15 The Messiah has made things up between us so that we’re now together on this, both non-Jewish outsiders and Jewish insiders. He tore down the wall we used to keep each other at a distance. He repealed the law code that had become so clogged with fine print and footnotes that it hindered more than it helped. Then he started over. Instead of continuing with two groups of people separated by centuries of animosity and suspicion, he created a new kind of human being, a fresh start for everybody.

16-18 Christ brought us together through his death on the cross. The Cross got us to embrace, and that was the end of the hostility. Christ came and preached peace to you outsiders and peace to us insiders. He treated us as equals, and so made us equals. Through him we both share the same Spirit and have equal access to the Father.

19-22 That’s plain enough, isn’t it? You’re no longer wandering exiles. This kingdom of faith is now your home country. You’re no longer strangers or outsiders. You belong here, with as much right to the name Christian as anyone. God is building a home. He’s using us all—irrespective of how we got here—in what he is building. He used the apostles and prophets for the foundation. Now he’s using you, fitting you in brick by brick, stone by stone, with Christ Jesus as the cornerstone that holds all the parts together. We see it taking shape day after day—a holy temple built by God, all of us built into it, a temple in which God is quite at home.

What do we learn?
–WE ALL BELONG to Christ who set us free to come to God, believe on His Name and become part of His family!
–We are all equal. We all have a deep need to belong. Belong to Christ!
–We all get a fresh start because of Jesus’ work on the Cross.

Think about this all day long and be blessed…I belong to Christ!

Dear Heavenly Father, No matter who we are, or what we have done, if we believe, we belong. We are Your created. We belong when we follow the Way, believe the Truth and live Life abundantly with You in us. Thank you for meeting our deepest human need…to belong. Continue to teach us, Lord. Thank you for encouraging us along the way.
In Jesus Name, Amen