And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others. But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. – Ephesians 2:1-10 NKJ

Warrior;

What a great piece of scripture. This is something we should meditate on. Put it in our mouth, in our nose, in our thoughts. Swirl it around, THINK ON IT, THINK ABOUT IT, read it over and over and over and over. We are called to MEDITATE ON THE WORD. This is a good place to STOP, SEE, SMELL, TASTE and CONSIDER- HIS WORD, HIS LOVE, HIS WORK, HIS GRACE, HIS MERCY. Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is One. And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These words I am commanding you today are to be upon your hearts. And you shall teach them diligently to your children and speak of them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 8Tie them as reminders on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 9Write them on the doorposts of your houses and on your gates. (Deuteronomy 6:4-9) This is called the SHEMA, an important part of the Jewish faith. Psalm 1 also has the imploration to MEDITATE ON HIS WORD! “Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, or set foot on the path of sinners, or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the Law of the LORD, and on His law he meditates day and night”. (Psalm 1:1-2) Are you eating scripture, or are you just CHECKING THE BOX, to say, “I read my Bible today”. The Bible is meant to be eaten, digested, rolled around in, meditated on!

Leader, For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12) The miracle of turning water into wine, found in John 2:1-11, is the first recorded miracle of Jesus’ public ministry. It occurred while Jesus and his disciples were attending the wedding in Cana on the third day of the celebration. A sommelier is a wine expert. If you have ever seen a Sommelier taste wine, it is a bit much- it is an entire process, an experience that most do not understand. It is an example of how we should MEDITATE on HIS WORD. Hold the wine glass by the stem and swirl the glass rapidly. Swirling the wine moves more of the wine’s surface along the side of the glass, which aerates the wine and helps to release the aromatic chemicals of the wine into the air. Then, stop swirling, insert your nose into the glass and inhale by taking a quick, full sniff. You will learn more about the wine from smelling it than you will from tasting it. Your mouth can detect four tastes – sweet, sour, bitter and salty – but your nose can detect thousands of scents! Then take a second sniff and analyze the aroma further. Can you identify any scents of fruit or flowers? Do you detect any presence of spice, such as pepper, cinnamon or vanilla? Many wines also contain other aromas, such as oak, moist earth, chocolate, tobacco, toast, smoke, mushrooms, or grass. Now, it’s time to taste the wine. Take a small sip and move it around your entire mouth with vigor, like mouthwash. This gets the wine into all areas of your mouth- now swallow it. Take your 2nd sip and move it across your mouth and over your tongue so that all your taste buds come in contact with it. Keep the wine in your mouth for 3-5 seconds before swallowing it. This allows the wine to warm up slightly, which releases more aromas. All that for a glass of wine! How much more should we MEDITATE ON THE WORD?

Conduit, since this chapter begins with a CONJUNCTION, “AND”; we need to know what it is connected to. And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all. He does IT ALL! Then we see the other conjunction; BUT. ‘But’ negates everything before it, in our unconscious mind. BUT GOD…because of HIS GREAT LOVE. We were sinners, dead in our trespasses, at war with GOD, fulfilling the desires of our flesh, we once conducted ourselves like this…BUT GOD! Romans 5:8 gives us the same BIG BUT! “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us”. God raised us-made us alive in Christ, made us sit together, showing us exceeding riches of HIS GRACE, HIS KINDNESS. Do you see it yet? It is ALL CHRIST! Even the GOOD WORKS we do, that He has prepared in advance for us, that we should WALK IN THEM. Some people steal God’s money, and He allows it. BUT, we must stop stealing GOD’s GLORY! NO SHARED GLORY! It is GOD who is doing it all! This is why we are to forgive others, this is why we are to show mercy and grace, this is why we are to turn the other cheek and KEEP NO RECORD OF WRONG! “For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.” (Matthew 7:2-5) Today MEDITATE on HIS WORD. Realize it is only through GRACE alone, through FAITH alone, in CHRIST alone, to the GLORY OF GOD alone, with the BIBLE alone- that any of us can be called SONS\DAUGHTERS of GOD! Mercy, Grace and Understanding– you GOT SOME, now GIVE SOME!