“Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus:
Grace be to you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.”

I don’t plan to post all the verses as I ramble through the book of Ephesians but we’ll see how it goes.

Paul begins this book as he does his other writings, by declaring who he is and to whom he serves. As I look at Paul’s example I am admonished in my spirit that as I begin each day, I must remind myself that I am a servant of the most High and Holy God. As I walk through the day, I am a living testimony of His grace in my life. If we, if I would remember this one thing each and every morning how different would our days be. Too often I wake up and immediately being thinking about what my day at work will be like. How much more of a servant would I be if I woke up each morning acknowledging who I am and who I serve? How would this change my day? How would this change how I am as a husband and as a father?

Paul goes on and declares that he is an apostle by the will of God. This is important phrase in that Paul was chosen by God, not by man to do what he was called to do. This relates to each of us in that as Christians, we are called by God to His service. To often we as Christians find ourselves doing good things because we are called by man to do them but then fail to set those things up and measure them against God’s will and direction for our lives. Good things may not always be the right things to do. As a husband and a father of young children, I need to be careful that the work of the “ministry” does not overtake my work as a husband and father. Too often I have seen fathers of young family become so involved in “ministry” that they have failed to ministry first to their family. Subsequently, on the surface their “ministry” appears to blossom but their family suffers.

The first verse in this book ends with Paul telling us that he is not just writing to a select few but to all that are faithful in Christ Jesus. I trust that as I dig deeper into this book, God will use His inspired words through Paul’s writings to bring more and more nourishment to my soul.

Have you ever stopped to think that real Peace cannot be gained without the Grace of God? The other day in a discipleship class that my oldest son and I attend was discussing peace and the difference between the world’s peace and God’s peace ( the undeserved love and favor of God). The world uses the term peace so often such as “world peace”, “peace in the middle east”, “peace of mind”, etc. but the world cannot know real peace apart from the Grace of God. Paul was telling the Ephesians that he loves them and that he desires for them (and the faithful in Christ Jesus) to have the Grace of God in their lives to have His Peace.

What a great desire for us as fathers to have, to desire that our wives and children would grab hold of God’s Grace that even in the mist of trial and troubles, we my rest in the wonderful Peace that only He can give.