Read Ephesians 2:1-10

As you read these verses, think back to the time in your life the Holy Spirit called you to repentance and rebirth as a son or daughter of God. This should be a very sweet memory for all of us.

After a powerful, beautiful explanation of what God has done for them as believers in chapter one, Paul switches gears in chapter two. In the first three verses, he lays out before them their previous condition. Reminding them they thought they were fully alive while they were actually dead, walking in the darkness of sin. The first time they read this I imagine they were a bit shocked with the brutal honesty. Then chapter 4; “But God”.

In the next seven verses Paul explains the richness of God’s grace. Paul boldly tells them that God’s grace has extracted them from the death of sin into true life, even eternal life. He drives home the truth by telling them their salvation was only possible through the free gift of grace from God. He emphasizes that salvation is not possible by the works of man, only by the grace of God. How humbling to realize there is nothing we can do, make, buy or sell that can bring about salvation. We are powerless and totally dependent upon God for our salvation.

How often do we stop to consider how dead we were before God’s grace changed our lives? Do we fully understand the great gift God has given us?

Today would be a good time to give it some thought.

(Wade Stoller, Westside Home Group)

Hello, our names are Dan and Pam Weinkauf. We’ve been covenant members of Riverside Church since 2011.

Let’s start today’s devotional by reading

Ephesians 1: 11-14

This passage is taken from a letter the apostle Paul wrote to the church in Ephesus, a city in Greece.

They were a young church living in a pagan culture. Not too different than the situation we find ourselves in, right?

This is basically a pep talk telling them (and us) that we were chosen for the praise of His glory. That when you heard the message of truth and believed, that He sealed us with the Holy Spirit who can guarantee us our salvation!

Take heart friends, when you think you’ve messed up or that you’re not worthy. Remember that God loves us and that we are complete in Him. We do not need to be accepted by any other person or means to be fulfilled!

Each week we’ve had a theme:

• Who God is and who we are.
• How God works through our brokenness.
• Who am I worshipping- God or myself?

This week we are starting into the book of Ephesians to see what makes us distinctively “His” people. It’s a beautiful 6 chapters explaining who we are as His children and what that looks like as we live daily.

Read Ephesians 1:1-10

• KNOW (what does the text say about God?)
• BE (What does the text say about us?)
• DO (what is the text calling me to do?)

Take time today to think through those questions from this passage.

As we anticipate being together for worship, spend some time preparing your heart to sit with your spiritual family.

Reflect back on the week’s devotions and bring before the Lord anything that you feel has usurped His rightful place in your heart.

Ask Him to speak as you are listening.

We read Isaiah 44:14-20 yesterday, but let’s read it again today to do some more reflecting.

One of the themes of this week has been “who or what do I worship?” And Isaiah 44 is a picture of the subtle sway of our idols. Read vs. 14-15: is there any practical thing in my life that is useful (like the wood from the trees in the passage), but it is a temptation to make it into an idol?

Read vs. 16-17. Is there anything or anyone that I turn to first when facing a crisis (save me! You are my god!), before coming to the Lord?

Read v. 18. Do I ever feel like your “eyes are plastered over” so I cannot see God working in your life?

v. 19 says “No one stops to think.” When am I most likely to be thoughtless, letting the urgent worries of life dictate my schedule rather than intentionally walking with God?

In the year 2022, it’s hard not to read the last line of v. 20 as referring to our phones and electronic devices. “Is not this thing in my right hand a lie?”

After reflecting on these questions, consider reading the passage again slowly. Ask the Lord to reveal where the subtle allure of idols might be tempting me.

Tools can become idols when they captivate our minds and hearts. Lord, protect your people from idolatry, and where we discover it and name it, in the name of Jesus Christ, give us the strength to repent and return to you, our Lord. Amen.

…the magicians said to Pharaoh, “This is the finger of God.” But Pharaoh’s heart was hard and he would not listen, just as the Lord had said. ~Exodus 8:19

The plagues continue, and God instructs Moses and Aaron to strike the dust of the ground with the staff, which produces swarming gnats all over the people and animals. When Pharaoh’s magicians are unable to duplicate this sign, they identify a power greater than theirs: “This is the finger of God.”

These are practitioners of the magical arts—surely the best in all of Egypt, but they are unable to conjure such power—that power, they suspect, is only available to God himself. These Magicians are certainly not followers of the Lord, but are attuned to the spiritual realm and have seen something…beyond.

But Pharaoh is not paying attention to the Lord. What he said back in Exodus 5:2 is as true as it was then: “I do not know the Lord and I will not let Israel go.” He does not know the Lord, so who is his lord?

Even if we don’t particularly identify with the magician or the Pharaoh, the reality is that we all give inappropriate allegiance to idols and authorities in our lives. Read Isaiah 44:14-20 slowly.

• Is the Spirit bringing a word or phrase to your attention?
• Do you identify with the temptation to justify idolatry? What will it look like to repent of such idolatry today?

The fish in the Nile died, and the river smelled so bad that the Egyptians could not drink its water… And all the Egyptians dug along the Nile to get drinking water, because they could not drink the water of the river. ~Exodus 7:21, 24

It is difficult (and undesirable) to imagine the sensory experience of the plague of blood, but it is clearly an escalation of the awful consequences of Pharaoh’s outright refusal to let Israel go into the wilderness to worship the Lord.

I imagine the predicament of an Egyptian citizen, not a follower of the Lord, but not rebellious like Pharaoh, having to scramble to find a way to access water for myself and my family. Digging along the Nile feels like a futile effort, but when we live to see such times, we have to do something!

Many years from now, the Lord will look upon Israel and see them living just like these Egyptians, and the prophet Jeremiah will proclaim his word: “My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water” (Jeremiah 2:13).

In both these scenarios, the only solution is a turning to the Lord. The average Egyptian may not know this, but the people of Israel ought to know better, and followers of Jesus should know even better. Jesus is the living water.

• Where are you scrambling to do everything on your own rather than receiving God’s gift of living water?

Pray for God to refresh you today.