A Position with Benefits

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ."
                        Ephesians 1:3


Long time no see.  That is what my grama used to say to people who had been gone for a long time.  This blog has been gone a long time.  No excuses, really.  Just a long, dry spiritual place.  Plenty of reasons for that, but none I can really say are valid.  Basically, a lack of fervency on my part.  I moved, He didn't.  Anyway, after much prayer for passion, I think I might be back on track.  Ever happen to you?  I suspect it might have. 

So much in the news lately.  This morning on the news I listened to them talk about all of the positions the President-elect is trying to fill for his administration.  A ton of them.  How ironic (not really) that those stories fit right in with what God had begun dealing with me about this next  post. I love how He does that!  I have been SLOWLY studying a book called "The With-ness of Our God" by Jan Loyd.  This was given to me many months ago by my dear friend, and I have picked it up and put it down many times.  I think I will keep it picked up for a while. In this chapter, she has been talking about the rest we have in Christ.  With all the turmoil in the news, and frankly in my personal life, I could use a little rest.  How about you?  Anyway, yesterday she took us to the first 3 chapters of Ephesians to do a study on the benefits we have in Christ.  Now don't get me wrong, I have understood many of the benefits I have through my relationship with Him.  The primary benefit for me has been peace, since that eluded me for so many years when I was doing life by myself. The exercise was to look through the first three chapters of Ephesians and mark all the references to benefits we have in Christ. 

So I did that.  I suggest you do it for yourself as well.  But I wanted to list them here for you so you could look at them first before you go back and read them in the Word.  Amazing what He has given us...free of charge.

In the first chapter of Ephesians, these benefits are listed:
  • v.3- every spiritual blessing
  • v.4- we are holy and blameless
  • v. 5- adopted as sons
  • v.6 - grace
  • v.11 - chosen
  • v. 13 - sealed with the Holy Spirit
  • v. 14 - guaranteed our inheritance
  • v. 17-a spirit of wisdom and revelation
  • v. 18- the eyes of our hearts are enlightened with hope
  • v. 19 - power thru Him
Okay gang.  That's just chapter one.  Really LOOK at that list.  Because I have a relationship with Him, I already have all those things.  Do I always feel like I do?  No.  But are they absolutely there?  Of course.

One thing I have learned over the course of time is that my feelings should never dictate my spiritual  condition.  Never.  I am quite the emotional person, and many times those emotions are headed in the wrong direction.  If I let those emotions take control of my spiritual health, I can be DOA pretty quick.  Here's what chapter 2 and 3 say about our benefits:

Chapter 2:
  • v.5 - alive in Christ
  • v. 7 - kindness through Christ
  • v. 13 - brought near thru Christ
  • v. 14 - He is our peace
  • v. 18- access to the Father
  • v. 19 - fellow citizens with God's people, and members of God's household
  • v. 22 - a dwelling for God's spirit
And Chapter 3:
  • v. 12 - we can approach God with freedom and confidence
  • v. 17- we are rooted and established in love
I have had quite a number of jobs in my life.  Sales clerk, accounting office worker, general office worker, inventory tracker, and teacher with a number of different jobs in that profession.  None of these positions ever gave me a list of benefits even remotely close to the ones He has listed for us here.  With these benefits, there is really not much more I need, is there? 

If we were called in by an employer and offered a list of amazing benefits, free of charge and we wouldn't even have to work for them, which of us would turn them down?  NO ONE!  And yet, we frequently lose sight of all the free benefits Christ gives us....no charge....no strings....no take backs.  Why?  Sometimes I think I prefer "wallowing" to basking in what He has already given me. 

So I'm going to make a list of the benefits offered me in this position in Him.  I'm going to look at them regularly, to remind myself they are already mine, given freely by the most generous "boss" ever.  And I'm going to work on remembering them, and taking Him up on them....the most amazing benefits package ever. 



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