Sister Pauline Kelly

God's grace is so wonderful. Not only does he remove our sins from the past but he takes us to live with him now, the present with his life and power. This power will transform us . We should never be held back, because of our sinfulness and inadaqusie to come to our Heavenly Father. Our prayers should be more humble, more fielial and more bold asking God to bless us and all those whom we love.

The word that describe God's motivation and character in Eph. 1:4-5 are 1. His great love for us 2. He is rich in mercy. 3. He has made us alive with Christ 4. It is by grace that we have been saved. Mercy and grace are the verbs that describe what has happened to us in Christ.

Yes, there are few people who would knowingly follow Satan, but they are there...don't foul yourself. Satan is much more intellegent than you or I and He know how to allour us away from God. We are responsible for our actions yes, but God truly loves us and has such mercy and love for us that when we truly turn to him with our whole heart he shows his attributes of Mercy and Great Love.

I think that our non-believing friends, neighbors, and relatives are dead , spiritually dead is that they are harden by the temptations of Satan in this world. They do not know anything else, but are craving for good. The temptations are so forceful that they are unable to overcome them by themselves. I hope that we understand that we are just like them but we understand that God loves us and has saved us. All we have to do is trust in his love for us. We must pray for them and show good example (in this way we preach loud and clear).

When we neglect to be an active part of the local congregation, we miss out on all graces that God has in store for us for all eternity. Our example that we show filters down to our families, children, co-workers all we come in contact with, they see and know just what we are. They see us and know that we are supposed to be. God wants to show us that He loves us and sent his beloved son.

We often take a "pass" when it comes to spiritual warfare is that sometimes we are lazy, don't feel like making the effort that it takes to stand up to all things! Paul mentions that it is the power of the Father at work in Jesus that will also work in us to complete the victory if we will only let him have his way. I think I feel powerless is because I can't see God at work in me, but if only I would only open the eyes of my soul to God my powerlessness would go away. Our victory is in Christ Jesus, he has won all things for us.

The reason we are powerless sometimes is because we are not in tune with our source we lack faith to see the goodness of God all about us. We need to pray for this enlightenment, the Holy Spirit to come to us and strengthen us with his power that we may have the faith to see His hand in all things. The reason why some produce disciples with miracle-believing faith is that these people are in tune with the Holy Spirit...these people pray! While others with wimpy faith are like those Jesus told us about who build their house on sand. When the winds come and the storms hit the house it collapses because they have done nothing to increase their faith. They have not fallen in Love with the Lord. This can change only when we are committed to spending some time each day in prayer with the Lord begging for His Holy Spirit.

Yes, if I knew that in a few years I would inherit $10 million, it would affect my life...it would give me exuberant hope that something wonderful was going to happen to me. The expectations of an inheritance in God's presence should help me to live with great hope for what is to come, but being human I can't see this all the time and sometimes I fall short. I'm very happy to share with all the saints, this sharing should make me aware of how much God loves all peoples.

What do we Christians have to look forward to?...Oh my, Heaven, the forgiveness of our sins...happiness forever with God. This hope should be a major motivation in our present day lives in that we have the confidence that God is true to his word and that what he says will come true. In our present-day lives this hope helps us to do the right thing at the proper time. Not to just let things go by and think there is no consequence for our actions, but help me to know and believe more and more that God loves me! The non-believer doesn't have this hope in God's words and therefore doesn't have the peace and joy that comes to us through the Holy Spirit.

I think that every thing said here must be taken personally, for me. Lord increese my Faith, Love and Hope in you. "The end of the term" occurs when we die. God has put his seal on us...the Holy Spirit which I have received in Baptism. I am marked with this seal as a means of identification, I belong to God. The downpayment is a guarantee, a pledge that he will do this for me.

God's purpose for our lives is that we might be the "praise of his glory" for all eternity. God loves me and has saved me from many things. I can truly say this. There is a purpose for my life...I don't see it now but I know it on faith. To fulfill this purpose I must live as a child of God, do all because I love him and believe even in the most difficult circumstances of my life that He Loves Me. Matt. 5:13-16 tells me that "I am the salt of the earth." I must live according to Gods plan. Don't loose this love for God. The world today wants to pull me away from this in every way but I must keep my eyes fixed on Christ and follow him. "I am the light of the world", I must let my light shine out, not by preaching, but by the way I act, by what I do everything must reflect that I belong to God not to the world and the devil.

The significance is truly encouraging! God, our creator loves us so much that he has done everything for us and the most important thing, the death of Jesus on the Cross, to bring us back to him and to redeem us from our sins that we will live forever with God in heaven. This unity will be that we will all be united in Heaven under Christ our head. Relating this to 1 Corinthians 15:24-28 I would like to say: In the end...death, eternity,...all things will be subjected to him. He will turn all things over to his Father and all of us will live forever with him. How, when, where this will be I do not know, but I do know that this will happen because he loves me and has given himself up for me.

I have been "redeemed" from slavery in the sense that Jesus Christ died on the Cross for me and took away my sins. This gives me such confidence in God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. If I had not been redeemed I would hate to think about it ... I would be fill with discouragement and dispare that my thoughts would be on "What is to happen to me when I die? Where will I find myself in eternity? But how great is the Love of God for me that I am so grateful for his redeeming grace.

When Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden they lost their relationship with God. It was only through the death on the Cross of Jesus Christ and by his blood that we were brought back to God, we became his adopted child. The concept of adoption is encouraging because it tells me over and over that God loves me. That he forgives my sins through Jesus' redemptive act and I am very encouraged by this.

The meaning of to be "holy" as used here is that we are set apart for God. Holy as he is holy. We can stand blameless before God because of Jesus Christ dying on the Cross for us. It was through his death offered up to the Father for the sins of the world that I am blameless and holy in God's sight.

Predestination...God has ordained all that will happen. What is scary about that...is that we are scary about the unknown. God knows but I don't. What is comforting about this is that there is already a plan set out for me and that if I follow this plan set out for me I will be taken care of. Paul brings up predestination to comfort us with the assurance that God chose us in him before the world began. (I am chosen by God how comforting!) He wants us to be holy and blameless in his sight...to be full of love. His is praising God for it in the hearing of the Ephesians so that we ourselves will be full of love, full of praise for all the wonders of God.

To be"in Christ" means to me to have the same mind as Christ, His thoughts, his sentiments, His way of acting...being incorporated into Christ! The implications of this for my life is that before I act, or make a decision I must stop and think to myself "How would Christ act in this circumstance?" Then make my decisions ... To be certain this does not work all the time. Most of the time I am in such a hurry to get done all that is facing me during the day that I don't know how to slow down and ask myself this question..."How would Christ act in this circumstance?" spk