Ephesians 2:1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. 4But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
This is the gospel. Recently my small group and I have been studying Ephesians & these 10 verses I’ve come back to several times this week. Without Christ:
I am someone following Satan
Following anything that seems good to me
Dead in my sin and trespasses
BUT IN CHRIST
I am saved, raised, and seated with Christ Jesus
I am His workmanship
I am loved + forgiven
This is not my own doing. It is a gift of God.
I’ve was asking God to be direct about future plans. Having two good, God- glorifying options can make it difficult to “decide” on which one is best. But God in His faithfulness has been clear on where He wants me next year. If God continues to will it I’ll be moving back to Lancaster and starting Nursing school in the fall. What? Crazy? I know!
Recently I’ve been reading Elisabeth Elliott’s book “A Chance to Die” and one of the paragraphs encouraged + stuck out to me so much. “Her home letters are not triumphant accounts of people turning to God from idols, but little stories of the one or two children in a village who were willing to learn one Scripture verse, sing one little gospel song; the bored Brahman women who were diverted for a few moments by photographs Amy showed them; an occasional dialogue with an educated Hindu; a schoolboy who seemed interested in the Bible.”
Each week my ministry group and I teach English using Bible stories in a town called Las Angeles. Sometimes it can be discouraging... do they get the gospel? is what we’re doing making any difference at all? But I was reminded... we’re planting seeds, building relationships, and praying that God can open hearts and minds to His glorious truth.
February was a month full of encouragement. Here are a few highlights. The guys made all the girls dinner on Valentine’s Day. We were able to go to the beach on Monday. I was able to go to a part of Costa Rica called Frailes and see where some of our students go every weekend and be with a sweet missionary family for the day. Parents were able to come and visit for a week. Biblical finance, Philippians, Biblical marriage, 1 & 2 Timothy, and James have been what the students are covering in Bible class. It’s always a nice when I can sit in on a few. En Cristo, Kale.
