How are we citizens of Heaven? I’d like to start in the book of John for a quick minute. John’s gospel is one of the easiest to read for new believers or people who are willing to respond to God because it gets to the point of salvation without needing to go in too much depth. John 20:31 explains the purpose of why the it was written “to believe that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God, and that believing you will have life in his name,” how does this connect with Ephesians? The faith we’ve been given by God is only to how much we respond to, in order to receive greater faith and revelation from God we have to be willing to respond. Why is that some people have a better understanding of The Word than others?

It’s because they have responded to the light that The Holy Spirit has given them. Eph.1:6-9, we are King’s kids so we have been given access to the Kingdom. It’s only because of His grace that we’ve been given this wonderful gift. In 1:4-5 we were chosen before time began to be in His Kingdom. His sacrifice on the cross made it possible that way we will have life eternal through Him. V.5 is special to me, being adopted is viewed as a joke in the worlds eyes nowadays, here I see at a deep love for someone, when you’re adopted it’s that person saying I loved this child so much I don’t care what he/she looks like or where they come from, there’s no greater love than someone who chooses you in spite of everything; if you love them nothing else should matter. God adopting us is just undeniably humbling and the most wonderful thing ever, to think I’ve been adopted into a family that I don’t share blood with, but it doesn’t divide us it only makes a greater appreciation for what God does for all of His kids. Every spiritual blessing is assured to each believer in the church in Jesus Christ, they flow from God’s Grace, wisdom, and eternal purpose. In light of us being in this ‘ginormous’ family, we all have a roll to partake in. One body, eyes can’t be independent from the body and expect to see anything because they don’t have a mind to comprehend what they’re seeing, and you can make all the other body part comparisons, but you get the point.

Everything working together for glory of God. At one point in time, whether it be young or old we’re without Christ, and without God we cannot be a part of His promises. For me I didn’t understand the mean behind it all until He put the thought in my head, “what does all of this mean,” and after a long, long time I finally understood the reason why His sacrifice was necessary, the further you are from God the less you understand. You don’t have the most appreciation for something unless you understand it, if His death wasn’t so important then why did he have to die right? 2:1-5, our natural state of mind (without Christ) is sinful. Without the remission of sin, we would still be in such a state where our lives would be an endless search for meaning and fulfillment. There’s an empty void that everyone tries to fill but, in the end, is there anything other than being in the presence of the Lord? No. there’s no real peace outside of God because He is Peace, we can chalk up all the world has to offer but what does it all matter after it all bursts away like a bubble (vanity). No hobby or materialistic thing can replace Jesus! Making your treasure down here is what that looks like, it all falls away. I look at all I’ve been given or the ability to get whatever, Lord willing, how rich I really am because of what He’s done for me. I see what kids in countries all around the world have nothing, & be the happiest people in existence because of Christ, versus someone who has everything they’ll ever need and be miserable. I’ve had a taste of both sides in my life and at the end of the day, what more could I ask for if I have Jesus. He is my greatest possession because He gives me freedom. What is freedom? Being free from sin.

Grace. Grace is the gift from God, we must not portray grace as God’s part and faith is our part, all of salvation is a gift from God. By the grace of God, I am what I am, I am where I am, I am who/where I am because of God. The changes in my life are because of God so I can be prepared for the kingdom. The Grace that saves us also changes us. You can’t receive the grace of God if you haven’t been changed by it, but an important thing to remember is that changes don’t all come at once, some of them take more time than others. The mark of a child of God is that by the grace of God he is what he is. By the grace of God, we remain what we are, not changing with the seasons, consistent in who we are in Christ. 3:16-17 you can title the riches of Grace, unmerited favor, part of that is that He enables or physical bodies to serve Him, Paul prayed for inner power, which is a result of God dwelling in the hearts of the believers. We should be asking to be strengthened, rooted, and filled via the Father, Son & Holy Spirit.

Now I want to touch on another point, revelation from God/being led by the Spirit. We are to live for Christ, and in doing so we need to be willing to be led in the direction He takes us in. We may not know how we’re supposed to do something or know where to go, but if we have faith, we will be led down the path we’re destined for. The Father loves His children, so He won’t leave us to figure everything out (we would absolutely fail). The mind needs strength that only He can give us but in order for that to happen we need to be asking for a clean and sober mind. When you have the Word shared between your mind and your heart, you will have a greater understanding of the Word. The more read, the more The Holy Spirit reveals to us, 3:4. We won’t have a perfect understanding of everything that God has shown throughout the Bible, psalm 139:6 tells us that, but that shouldn’t stop us from wanting a better understanding of God, you really think He’s going to say no? He gave us The Spirit in order to have comfort in knowing what He does for us even if we don’t understand it in the moment. John 10:27-29, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: and I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.” This teaches that true believers continue to hear the Lord’s voice and follow Him, meaning they continue in the faith and in good works. God doesn’t call the enabled, He enables the called. You looked at the people He’s chosen and wonder how they heck did they get picked to be a minister of His Word? God doesn’t choose the flashiest people because they’ll make it all about themselves. The reason He doesn’t is, the one’s that are chosen, can relate to people far better than some star can, the world thinks that just because you don’t do what they think is right that you are just a nut. When in reality why do it their way, I’d rather stand with someone who has perfect judgment of my actions, than some ‘Joe-shmoe’ that thinks they have it all down. When our dads tell us something to do or not to do something, it’s because they have enough experience to have better judgement on the matter. With Age comes wisdom, so shouldn’t that also make us crave the infinite wisdom that God has. I look at people like my dad, pastor Bil, Ted, etc. & think wow they know so much about the Bible, that’s because they know what it is to wait and hear what God has for them. Being born again is one thing, but taking it to the next level is another. We are citizens of Heaven because of the Grace that has been bestowed upon us, and that by faith in Jesus Christ we are saved. In 1John, it’ll progressively tell us “we know” and that we have been sealed by God never to be plucked out of his hands.   Josiah Lagnese