Read: Hebrews 5:5-10

“Although he was a Son, he learned obedience through what he suffered; and being made perfect he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him…” – Hebrews 5:8-9

When I saw this verse, I thought of this section of St. Patrick’s Breastplate:

Christ with me,
Christ before me,
Christ behind me,
Christ in me,
Christ beneath me,
Christ above me,
Christ on my right,
Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down,
Christ when I sit down,
Christ when I arise,
Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me.

Christ suffered for all of us, and dying on the Cross means salvation. For me, that also means that Christ is with me in my day, and that gives me hope, especially when I am having a day where it seems like everything is going wrong.

Surround me, O God, and assure me of your presence. Amen.
-Jen McCabe

Read: Ephesians 2:1-10

“For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God— not because of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” – Ephesians 2:8-10

It is good to know that God has quickened me and that through his grace I am saved. We have all sinned, in some way, in the flesh. It is the way of the world that we live in.

I am very thankful that God has given me faith, through which I am saved, by his good work of grace.

Jesus Christ taught by example. He was always doing good works. Though it is not by doing these that we are saved, lest we boast. “For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life.”

Even in my most trying times, I remember this attitude and find comfort and hope in these words and many others in the Bible. “I yam what I yam.” In Popeye’s words. I need to live with that and make the most of it. And be happy.

Help us to live with who we are, ever drawing closer to you. Amen.
-Paul Lowe

Read: Ephesians 2:1-10

“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” – Ephesians 2:8-10

I haven’t always identified as “Christian,” but I sure as heck identify as a sinner saved by grace. My born-again mother instilled that belief in me, and it’s a virtue for which I give thanks rather than take credit.

Lord, hold me in the faith that salvation depends less on my worthiness than upon your grace. Amen.
-Michael Boss

Read: Ephesians 2:1-10

“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God…” – Ephesians 2:8

It’s funny how I never feel saved, and yet I simultaneously know that I am. My feelings come and go; they’re transient. The word of God lasts forever, however, and more especially the One who is the Word of God. My feelings come and go, and that’s OK. Feelings are real, but they don’t drive me. If they did, I’d often be dead in the water, or like a steam locomotive stuck on the tracks without steam. I had a friend explain to me one time that “faith is the locomotive, but feelings are the caboose. They’re all part of the train, but it’s the locomotive that provides the power, not the caboose.”

I have always found metaphors helpful in my faith journey. I get too confused when talking about theology or philosophy. I need concrete imagery. I realize that can sometimes cause problems. Every metaphor breaks down. It’s like thinking of God as Father; that’s great if one had a good father, as I did. But many don’t, and my Dad was far from perfect. But he did the best he could. God doesn’t try. God does. Pronouns don’t always work. I still use masculine pronouns, mostly out of habit, but strive to use feminine ones, too. The important thing for me is knowing that none of us gets God all that well (but “God gets us”). We do the best we can, and the lion’s share (another metaphor) of scripture reminds us that we’re all in God’s hands, anyway. That gives me hope to carry on in faith. It also helps when I get my caboose to church!

Dear God, help me to remember that my strength is not to be seen by my standing alone, but by standing in the middle of many, through whom I may better see my hope. Amen.
-Fr. Keith Axberg

Read: Ephesians 2:1-10

“…he loved us, even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with him, and made us sit with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God.” — Ephesians 2:4b-8

When I was a college student, I was sexually assaulted repeatedly by a person I trusted. Several years later, as I was once again peeling away the layers of that trauma, I kept getting this message from God that said He wanted me to be one of his disciples. NO! No, that can’t be God. I remember crying and crying and saying, “Lord I am not worthy, I am a horrible person, I have done awful things.” Almost everyone who has experienced abuse tends to blame themselves to some extent. I was no different. I felt like I wasn’t worthy because of what happened to me. It didn’t matter that I hated it. It didn’t matter that I had wanted to commit suicide, I was dirty.

I kept praying and crying and talking to God. I was driving down the freeway at the time. Suddenly, the radio came on. I have no idea how that happened because I was totally concentrating on my “conversation” with God. There was a pause and then I heard this song:

I listened, my tears started to dry, and I said, “Okay God, okay. I get it, I will try.”

I have no pain left over from that time. What I have is the GRACE God gave me with His message to me. It was transformative in my life.

Dear Lord Jesus, thank you for giving us your grace, your hope, your love. And with your help, we will attempt to be your hands and your feet and listen when you call. Amen.
-Sandy

Read: Ephesians 2:1-10

For study, I try and wrap my brain around scripture word for word, thought for thought by reading a variety of translations. From there, I love to dip my toe into a paraphrase which is more of a conversational, devotional reading. In this vein, I find this paraphrase from The Message of the very familiar Ephesians 2:1-10 to be hope-filled and refreshing. So I offer it for quiet, devotional reading. What do you notice? Where does the Spirit show you hope?

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 willed 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. Now God has us where he wants us, with all the time in this world and the next to shower grace and kindness upon us in Christ Jesus.
Saving is all his idea, and all his work.
All we do is trust him enough to let him do it.
It’s God’s gift from start to finish! We don’t play the major role. If we did, we’d probably go around bragging that we’d done the whole thing! No, we neither make nor save ourselves. God does both the making and saving. He creates each of us by Christ Jesus to join him in the work he does, the good work he has gotten ready for us to do, work we had better be doing.

Lord, thank you that “Instead… you embraced us” and it’s all you. Help me obediently join you in what you’re up to. Amen.
-Nicole Smith