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Ephesians 2:8-9 NLT
God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.
Thank goodness for that! There is nothing I can do to win the favour of God. I can’t do a dance or sing a song or give a gift to win His love. The fact is He has loved me since before I even WAS me!
Here’s what Peterson says in The Message, a paraphrase of verses 7-10:
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.
How can I add to that? It is a blessed and comforting thing to know that God has me safely in hand and that He knew me before I came to be, and that He has a plan for me. My potter, shaping me, the clay, into a vessel to perform a function—to carry His light!
Amen, Lord Jesus! Shape me and mold me and make me what you want me to be. May my clay be malleable in your strong and loving hands. Caress me sweet Lord, but also prod me when I need to move!
NEW
10/30/07
God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.
Thank goodness for that! There is nothing I can do to win the favour of God. I can’t do a dance or sing a song or give a gift to win His love. The fact is He has loved me since before I even WAS me!
Here’s what Peterson says in The Message, a paraphrase of verses 7-10:
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.
How can I add to that? It is a blessed and comforting thing to know that God has me safely in hand and that He knew me before I came to be, and that He has a plan for me. My potter, shaping me, the clay, into a vessel to perform a function—to carry His light!
Amen, Lord Jesus! Shape me and mold me and make me what you want me to be. May my clay be malleable in your strong and loving hands. Caress me sweet Lord, but also prod me when I need to move!
NEW
10/30/07
