It wasn't so long ago that you were mired in that old stagnant life of sin. You let the world, which doesn't know the first thing about living, tell you how to live. You filled your lungs with polluted unbelief, and then exhaled disobedience. We all did it, all of us doing what we felt like doing, when we felt like doing it, all of us in the same boat. It's a wonder God didn't lose his temper and do away with the whole lot of us. Instead, immense in mercy and with an incredible love, he embraced us. He took our sin-dead lives and made us alive in Christ. He did all this on his own, with no help from us! Then he picked us up and set us down in highest heaven in company with Jesus, our Messiah.
I love the message version of Ephesians 2:1-6, but the NIV says it even more plainly when it states, "We were dead in our transgressions and sins... but because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ!
Right now Derek and I are walking a road with several people enslaved to the bondage of addictions. We are heartbroken for them and the pain they cause themselves and their loved ones. We know we are no better and no different than they are. We too were dead in our sins, but by God's love and grace we find ourselves now alive with Christ! Alive. Living. Free. In His love. That's what we want for these people. Please pray the Lord will open their eyes to Christ and the life He alone offers them! And pray for us to have His patience, wisdom,and grace. Thank you!
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