“But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so 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, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”

Paul wrote Ephesians to summarize the message of the Gospel for new believers, so they could know what expected from them.  It was a manual for instructing new believers in Asia Minor. 

The book contains six chapters. The first three tell us what we can expect from God.  The last three give instructions on Christian behavior.  In the first half of the book,  we read about what God has done for us.  He gives us, among other things,  blessings, hope, a new relationship with him, knowledge of Him, daily help, and contentment.

So what does it tell us we should do to receive His love?

Nothing. That’s it–nothing.  Just believe that God loves us.

In the second half of the book, there are commands about behavior. But these are for those who already know God’s love.  Our obedience does not cause Him to love us,  and our disobedience does not cause Him not to love us. If conditions are tied to love, then it is not free.  Love comes first, and compliance comes later.  

I have a long list of things I haven’t done right.  Our lives are full of missed opportunities, foolish mistakes, and downright disobedience to what I knew was right.  I cannot pretend to be a saint,  especially not before God, who knows me better than that.   We may think of our sins every time we think of God. But when God thinks of us, our sins are not His first concerns.  God’s love for us goes beyond our sins.  He looks through our sins and sees someone beautiful beneath them. His love for us draws that inner beauty out of us.  We may work all our lives to be better people, but God loves us as if we already were better people.  His love saves us and remakes us. .

God’s greatest desire is not that we be right but that we are His.  He continues to work on us until we become like Him. When that happens, we will not only be confident and happy; we will also be good as well.

Change comes by the power of His loving Spirit.   We can knock ourselves out, trying to be righteous, but only He can do it. 

“For by grace, are you saved through faith.” Grace is nothing but God’s love, freely given by His choice. Faith is simply believing that He loves us and loving Him in return.

St. Teresa was born in 1515 and died in 1585.  She entered a Carmelite monastery in 1539.  Shortly after she became a nun, she came down with an illness that kept her bedridden for three years.  During that time, she developed a deep love for private prayer.  However as often happens, she seemed to have lost her taste for prayer shortly after her recovery.  For years she lived the life of a “worldly” nun–attending to outer duties but separated from God in her own heart.  In 1555, she underwent what amounted to a second conversion.  She committed herself to a life of prayer and worship from that point forward. Her life was spent in writing and reforming the Carmelite order of nuns.

Teresa wrote a classic on the growth of the Christian soul,  her Interior Castles.   Her goal in writing was to encourage Christians to deeply commit themselves to build an internal relationship with Christ and experience Him through silent prayer and communion.  Although her books are often called mystical,  her actual writing is full of practical good sense and wry humor.  She was not a writer for monks and mystics, but for ordinary people who wanted to develop a deeper walk with God.  Her passion was to see people grow into union with Christ in their hearts,  experiencing Him internally and taking on His life in themselves.  

She is one of four women to be given the title of “Doctor of the Church.”  Here are some of her best-known quotes.  

“The closer one approaches to God, the simpler one becomes.”

“Reflect upon the providence and wisdom of God in all created things and praise Him in them all.”

9. “We need no wings to go in search of Him, but have only to look upon Him present within us.”

“Christ has no body now, but yours. No hands, no feet on earth, but yours. Yours are the eyes through which Christ looks compassion into the world. Yours are the feet with which Christ walks to do good. Yours are the hands with which Christ blesses the world.”

This includes some daily exercise or explanation of a spiritual discipline

Oh, the Deep, Deep Love of Jesus–Sovereign Grace

His Mercy is More–Matt Papa

Doxology/Come Thou Fount