Ephesians Chapter 1
Showing all 23 verses for Ephesians Chapter 1.
The People's Bible is written by people, for the people. Each verse below shows:
"Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus: "
"This letter comes from Paul, someone sent out as Jesus Christ's official representative, not by his own choosing but because that's what God wanted for him. He's writing to the people in Ephesus who have devoted their lives to God and who trust in Jesus Christ."
I chose Paul for this work not because he had impressive credentials, but because he was willing. The same is true for you: your worth isn't measured by your résumé or your past, but by whether you're willing to be part of something greater than yourself.
"Grace be to you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ. "
"May you receive God's undeserved kindness and inner peace, coming from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ."
Peace isn't something you have to hunt down or manufacture through control. I offer it freely, the way you'd hand someone a gift, not a reward they had to win. Stop striving for a moment and receive it.
"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: "
"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has given us every spiritual blessing there is, in the heavenly realm, because we belong to Christ."
I want you to notice what's already yours before you go looking for what you lack. Gratitude for what has already been given is the starting point for a free life - not gritted-teeth striving for more.
"According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: "
"God chose us to belong to him even before the world existed, so that we could be holy and without fault in his eyes, living in love."
You were wanted before you'd done a single thing to deserve or earn it. That's not a licence to be careless with your life - it's the foundation that lets you stop performing for approval and start living from love instead of anxiety.
"Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, "
"He decided in advance to bring us into his own family as his children, through Jesus Christ, simply because that's what he wanted to do."
I don't relate to you as a distant employer checking your output. I relate to you as family - by choice, with full rights and full welcome. Let that change how you approach every difficult day: you're not on probation.
"To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. "
"All this so that people would praise him for his glorious kindness, which he generously gave us through the one he loves."
Notice how differently you feel when you receive a genuine gift compared to a payment you've earned. I want you to know: this is a gift. Let it produce gratitude and wonder in you, not a sense of debt to repay.
"In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace; "
"Because of Jesus and what he did, we are set free and our wrongs are forgiven - all thanks to how enormously generous God's kindness is."
Whatever debt you're carrying - guilt, shame, mistakes you can't undo - I paid it, not because you groveled for it, but because that's the kind of love I have. You are free to walk forward instead of dragging that weight.
"Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence; "
"He poured this kindness out on us generously, along with all the wisdom and understanding we need."
I don't just forgive you and leave you directionless. I give you the clarity to actually live well afterwards. Ask for wisdom, not just relief - both are on offer.
"Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself: "
"He let us in on the secret of his plan, the one he had already decided on and set in motion himself."
I'm not interested in keeping you in the dark or making you jump through hoops to access truth. What was once hidden, I hand over freely. Curiosity is rewarded here, not punished.
"That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him: "
"His plan, when the time is finally right, is to bring absolutely everything together and unite it under Christ - everything in heaven and everything on earth."
I care about the whole picture, not just fixing your one problem in isolation. My aim is to mend what's broken everywhere - relationships, communities, even creation itself - and I invite you into that bigger repair work.
"In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will: "
"Through Christ we were also given an inheritance, marked out in advance according to the plan of the one who carries out everything exactly as he intends."
You don't have to control every outcome yourself to have a secure future. Trust doesn't mean passivity - it means resting in the fact that things are held by someone reliable, even when your own grip feels shaky.
"That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ. "
"All this so that we - the ones who put our trust in Christ first - would live in a way that brings praise to his glory."
What you do with what you've been given matters. Let your life point beyond itself - to the source of the good things in it - rather than becoming just another trophy for your own résumé.
"In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, "
"And you too were included, once you heard the true message - the good news that you could be saved - and once you believed it, you were marked as God's own by being given the Holy Spirit he had promised."
Belonging isn't reserved for people who tick the right ethnic or cultural boxes. Trust is the only entry requirement I ask for, and once given, it's sealed - permanent, not provisional.
"Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory. "
"That Spirit is like a deposit guaranteeing the rest of what's coming to us, until we fully receive what's been bought for us - and again, all this so that God gets the praise."
Don't mistake the down payment for the full picture - what you've tasted of goodness and peace already is real, but there's more coming than you can currently imagine. Hold on with patience; the guarantee is solid.
"Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints, "
"Because of this, ever since I heard about your trust in the Lord Jesus and your love for all of God's people..."
I don't just want your private belief in me - I want to see it overflow into how you treat other people. Faith that never shows up as love for others is only half the picture.
"Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers; "
"I haven't stopped thanking God for you, and I keep mentioning you whenever I pray."
You don't need grand gestures to show someone you care. Consistent, quiet attention - remembering people, holding them in your thoughts - is itself a powerful form of love, even when you can't do anything else for them.
"That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him: "
"I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, would give you a spirit of wisdom and insight so you can truly know him."
I'd rather give you clear eyes than easy circumstances. Ask me for understanding before you ask me to change your situation - often it's your perspective, not your circumstances, that most needs to shift.
"The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, "
"I pray your inner understanding would be flooded with light, so you can know what hope he's called you to, and how rich and glorious the inheritance is that he shares with his people."
Hope loses its power when it stays abstract. I want it to become vivid and real to you - not just something you nod along to, but something that genuinely changes how you feel about tomorrow.
"And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, "
"And I pray you'd grasp just how immense his power is towards those of us who believe - the same mighty strength that's actively at work."
You're not left to face life's hardest moments purely on your own willpower. There's strength available to you beyond your own resources - draw on it rather than exhausting yourself trying to manage everything alone.
"Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, "
"This is the same power God used when he raised Christ from death and seated him at his own right hand, in the position of highest honour."
The power that reverses death itself is the same power available to you in your ordinary struggles. If it could overturn the worst outcome imaginable, don't assume your situation is beyond its reach.
"Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come: "
"Christ is now positioned above every ruler, authority, power, and title that exists - not just in this world, but in whatever is still to come."
Whatever feels like it has power over your life - fear, circumstance, other people's opinions, systems that feel bigger than you - none of it has the final word. Let that shrink your anxiety down to size.
"And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, "
"God has placed everything under Christ's authority, and made him head over everything, for the sake of the church."
The greatest power in existence isn't aloof from you - it's committed to you, personally connected to the community you belong to, working for your good, not just displaying itself from a distance.
"Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all. "
"The church is his body - the full expression of the one who fills everything, everywhere, completely."
You're not meant to live this out alone, disconnected from others. Whatever you're becoming, it's meant to happen in genuine connection with other people, functioning together like parts of one living thing.