DEVOTION - Day 8

Ephesians 1:1-2 (New International Version)

1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To God’s holy people in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus: 2 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.


Rather than focus on a verse today, I wanted to focus on a person. Actually, I want to place the spotlight on the behaviors of that person. The Apostle Paul, who wrote a lot of the New Testament, is a Spiritual giant (the description I’ve given him). There is so much wisdom that came from this one man who was obviously an anointed man of God. So, let’s take a look at the first chapter in Paul’s letter to the Church in Ephesus.

There are three behaviors that stand out to me that I think would really benefit us all if we tried to model our own actions after them. The first is encouragement. Paul’s writing here is oozing with encouragement for the people to whom he is writing. He lifts them up, compliments them, and just speaks in a general uplifting tone. In fact, it encouraged me just by simply reading the words. Who in your life do you need to encourage TODAY? Is there someone that you don’t necessarily call a friend or even an acquaintance that you could encourage over the next week?

The next behavior that I see here is one of prayer. Paul says multiple times throughout his letters how he has been praying for the specific church that he is writing to. Doesn’t it feel good to know that someone else is praying for you? For some reason we put an emphasis on knowing that someone in church leadership is praying for us, don’t we? Imagine having Paul tell you that he’s been praying for YOU. What would that feel like?

I would imagine that someone in your life looks up to you in much the same way that we look up to the Spiritual leaders in our own lives. Who do you need to pray for right now? I mean stop reading the blog for a minute and really petition God on their behalf? And then, tell them that you’ve been praying for them. It makes a difference…

The final behavior that I see in Paul here is that of sharing the good news of Jesus Christ. He reminds them of the peace and grace that comes from God and the salvation we get from calling Jesus our Lord and Savior. Can’t we all do this just a little more in our lives? I know I can… There are 2 things I can see as an application for us here.

The first is to remind ourselves and others what it means that Jesus loves us so much that He died for US. And the second is to share our faith with those who need to hear it. So, who are those people in your realm of influence? A fellow student? A co-worker? A family member? Whoever it is, they need to hear it and YOU are just the person to share it with them.

So, today, pray that God will give you a heart like Paul’s that will empower us to encourage one another and be a positive, uplifting influence to those we come in contact with. Ask Him to anoint your prayer life so that it is a daily focus and so that when you tell someone that you’ll pray for them, that you actually will. Finally, pray for boldness to share the Gospel with those around you.