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

Read: Ephesians 2:1-10

“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” – Ephesians 2:10

During the pandemic, I got addicted to videos from the YouTube channel, “The Pointe Shop”. The owner, Josephine Lee, does pointe shoe fittings for ballet students and visits studios and ballet schools across the country. My favorite series of hers is one where she meets with professional ballerinas at ballet companies attached to these schools (such as Pacific Northwest Ballet) and asks them about how they alter their pointe shoes. The answers can be very brutal. Exacto knives, slamming them in doors, Jet glue, sewing with dental floss, and other things are involved. Each shoe is made on a specific form, and they don’t come made into left and right models. Dancers have to sew their own and break them in before classes or shows. These shoes cost upwards of $100 per pair, and some professionals can go through multiple pairs per show.

Unlike pointe shoe makers, we are not made on a specific form. We were created in Christ for good works, as the verse says at the top, and we were made for a specific purpose. God prepared us for this purpose, and each person’s purpose is unique to them. It may sometimes feel like Exacto knives are being taken to our souls, but God is making us into the people needed for where we are placed in this world. Knowing that I was created for the place I am sitting is something that gives me hope.

Sustain us during those times when we are being molded for our place in this world, Lord, and remind us that we are Your workmanship. Amen.
-Jen McCabe

Read: Ephesians 2:1-10

“You were dead through the trespasses and sins in which you once lived” – Ephesians 2:1

Strong language. Question: was I really that bad? Answer: Well, yes, I have been guilty of seriously separating myself from the truth of being God’s child. It took me the first 26 years of my life to get around to commitment. What can be done for me, for anyone who stands outside? Ephesians said my off-course soul was correctable with no strings attached.

“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God – not the result of works, so that no one may boast.” – Ephesians 2:8

So how do we follow that? What comes next with God?

“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.” – Ephesians 2:10

Lent is, among other things, good and freeing news. If there’s something to “give up” in Lent, it might simply be any trace of negativity. Remember: God wants this time with each of us.

Dear God, thank you for the grace, love, and gifts of life. Amen.
-Tom Worrell

Read: 1 Corinthians 1:18-25

“For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.” –1 Corinthians 1:25

One of my favorite authors, Fr. James Martin, S.J. of America Magazine, has quoted this many times in articles:

Good news! 1.) God is in control. 2.) You are not God.

It makes me laugh, but it also brings to mind the fact that I am not responsible for fixing every issue in the world today. I cannot make Israel stop committing genocide in Gaza, nor can I make Russia withdraw from Ukraine. I cannot make both parties behave and pass appropriate legislation in Congress. I cannot change people’s hearts and make them stop engaging in systems of oppression.

But God can.

The verse at the top of the page brings me hope because it reminds us that God is so much stronger and wiser than we are.

Help us to remember that you are in control, God, and fix these things that are impossible for us. Amen.
-Jen McCabe

Read: 1 Corinthians 1:18-25

“For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.” – 1 Corinthians 1:25

The imagined God of my childhood was strong and wise beyond comprehension. Learning the descriptors omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent helped place God in a far-off place removed from my everyday life. This God, somewhat like Santa Claus, knew when I was bad or good. So, mostly, I tried to be good.

Thankfully, I soon encountered believers in a personal God who loved me so much that God sent God’s Son to die for my sins.

“Foolishness” is a polite translation of the Greek word that Paul used in his letter to the church in Corinth. The translation of the Greek word “fool” to English is “moron.” God made what seems to many as a “moronic” choice to use the cross as a means of our salvation.

Not only did God eschew the rich and wise to carry God’s message but chose a poor Jewish peasant who ate with sinners and prostitutes, healed the sick and lame, and preached by the sea and on the mountain. Could anything be further from the established ways of the world where power and wealth guarantee success?

Like the church in Corinth, there is disunity in Christianity today. Christian Nationalism, differences over the “worth” of women, immigrants, the poor, and the homeless divide us. God calls us, through Jesus Christ, to focus on God’s wisdom and strength, not our own.

Dear God, help us to recognize our limitations and weaknesses and rely on You and Your wisdom, strength, and guidance. Amen.
-Cathey Frederick