Many years ago, I wrote something like this for a young lady who suffered from low self confidence and emotional abuse. I lost the copy I made for myself over the years so this is a new letter, a new direction but I hope that it will bless many.
(Scripture is from the New Living Translation – Ephesians 1:3-14, 3:14-19)
The Promise: Ephesians 1:3-14
“All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ.” Dear ones, I have blessed each of you with gifts far greater than man can imagine. For my gifts are heavenly, not of worldly things that decay and rust. Do you fear these gifts? Do you doubt them? Do not, for my Love is far greater than any love the world can offer. And by these gifts, we are united, we are joined together in a desire of Love, pure love, unconditional love that the world can not separate or destroy.
“Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes.” I know you are not perfect, I know that you are subject to many snares of the world, but from the first light of Creation, I have loved you. In my eyes you are made holy, in my spirit you are blameless and pure, because of his Love. Do not fear my wrath, dear one, for it is with Love I discipline you, not anger. It is with Love I hold you close and dry your tears when things go badly for you. And when you are alone and afraid, I am close. I am closer than you can imagine, I am within your very trouble.
God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This was what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure.” I made you mine, I decided at the very beginning that we are to be together. We are family and family never forsakes each other. With great joy, I adopted you as mine. With a pleasure that can not be measured, I desired you. This was what I wanted to do, from the very beginning of time itself! We are together, we are one! I am the one who created the world, do you think I would let anything I created separate us? Have no fear of that! What I joined together can not be pulled apart. That is the power of my joy that we are family, you and I, we are one!
“So we praise God for the glorious Grace he has poured out on us who belong to his Son.” Yes it is grace, glorious grace, that I have given. I have poured out like sweet wine, filling your marriage cup, I have poured blessings like holy oil anointing you as a blessing, making you sacred to me. I have poured out my Spirit that you might be full of peace and promise. I have poured out living water, that you might be made clean as new fallen snow. I have poured out the Communion Cup that Forgiveness and Mercy are forever, only Love can live within where I have poured out blessings.
He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins. You were once slaves to your emotions, doubts and fear. You were once in bondage to the desires of sin. But I have set you free! I have given you new life! I, and only I, have paid the price, I am the one who gives you new hope, and new life! Come to me, welcome me into your heart, dear one. See what my love can do for you. No price was to great for me to purchase your freedom from sin, fear and doubt. Come accept my blessings, my Love. For my kindness is ever-enduring, everlasting, without end!
“He has showered his kindness on us, along with all wisdom and understanding.” Like a gentle rain, I have showered kindness upon you, so that you, like the lilies of the field, may blossom in majesty. But I also showered you with a new Wisdom, My wisdom, such as I showered Solomon. I gave you understanding that even the prophets of old did not have. You only have to accept it, receive it in the fullness I intend for you. That you place in your heart the purity of Love I offer, the grace in abundance that only my love is capable of offering. As a rainbow bends invisible light into many colors, my love shows the splendor of wisdom and understanding that was invisible to the seers of old. You, my child, can grasp what was inconceivable to the wisest of them. This is my gift to you.
God has now revealed to us his mysterious plan regarding Christ, a plan to fulfill his own good pleasure.” Through Jesus I revealed my goal, the desire to find your heart, your desire, and make it mine. And I did it because I find great joy in having your love, as much as I love you. Do not be in despair, I have not forsaken you, or ever forgotten you. It was always my plan to include you, to accept you and to love you. Through Jesus I have proven my love for you, my great pleasure in your life, a life that we shall enjoy together.
“And this was the plan; At the right time he would bring everything together under the authority of Christ – everything in heaven and on earth.” Yes! It is the right time! Everything is set in motion. All my desires are fulfilled through the Love I gave under my Son Jesus. Under him, I gave all authority of Heaven and of earth. No longer are the ways of the world to direct your life, but the ways of Heaven shall guide you. That is the plan! You, I, Jesus. Heaven and earth as one Kingdom, one another as lovers, you and I.
Furthermore, because we are united with Christ, we received an inheritance from God, for he chose us in advance, and he makes everything work out according to his plan.” Yes! It is still the plan, that everything is according to my will, that we are united, that you have an inheritance that was not yours before. It was and always will be the plan. You, dear one, have the honor of being an heir of Salvation. You are no longer left alone, outside, rejected. You were never rejected but it was at the right time, this time that you are to be included in the inheritance, so that you may be made glad, made whole, made perfected in grace. I chose you, I wanted you to be included and set apart to show the wondrous love I have for you. No longer on the outside looking in, but in the company of angels, co-heirs with Jesus, adopted by grace.
“God’s purpose was that we Jews who were the first to trust in Christ would bring praise and glory to God. And now you Gentiles have also heard the truth, the Good News that God saves you.” Once the Jews were my only people, excluding all others because they were blind to truth. But, dear one, that is no longer the case. You have heard the Good News, the News of Salvation, the inclusion made possible by the Cross of Jesus, and no longer are you excluded, you are included, and set high by the Good News. My love was so that you would be able to accept me, to know the Truth of Grace, and be welcomed as equals in Christ Jesus. Do not think you are set apart from others any more for you are included in Grace and trust in the Living Christ. You are set apart only to bring others to Me, just as Peter and Paul and the others of my chosen were set apart to bring you to the knowledge of my Salvation. So great is my love that I sent others to seek you out, to bring you to me so that you may be included with them as mine.
“AND WHEN YOU BELIEVED IN CHRIST, HE IDENTIFIED YOU AS HIS OWN by giving you the HOLY SPIRIT, whom he promised long ago.” Dear one, you are mine, you are chosen to be blessed and I have given you the Holy Spirit, my Spirit. I breathed new life into your soul, eternal life. Just as I breathed life into the form of man at the time of creation, I create in you new life, eternal life by the breath of the Holy Spirit. I have called you and identified you as my Child, my beloved child. As I promised the prophets and the Jews, you are made mine. It has been fulfilled what was told of old. And by my Holy Spirit, it is made true and forever. I have put my mark, the mark of the Cross upon you soul. This mark can not be removed by anyone, for it is the Mark of Your Salvation, you inclusion into the Family of God.
The Spirit is God’s guarantee that he will give us the inheritance he promised and that he purchased us to be his own people. He did this so we would praise and glorify him.” The Holy Spirit is my guarantee that it is made so. My word fulfilled, my Son as the purchase price, the Spirit as the witness that it has been done. I kept my word, my promise to you, that the day has come that you are no longer slaves to the world but free to be my love. So, dear one, praise me, offer me glory in thanksgiving. But more importantly, love me! Love me as I love you, with your whole heart, your complete mind and in all of your spirit. But never forget that I love you, I have always loved you and now that you believe, return love for love. It has been made true, it has been fulfilled, it has been guaranteed and it has been sealed for all eternity. We are one! You are loved, you have been restored as was my plan from before time itself.
The Response of the Disciple; Eph. 3:14-19
“When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the creator of everything in heaven and on earth. I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit.”
This is the call of Paul not only to the Gentile Christians of Ephesus, but to all Christians today. And in like manner, I get on my knees and pray for you that you might have strength, encouragement and grace beyond your understanding. I pray that God give you his unlimited resources, his empowerment to do mighty works in his name. There is no limit to his Grace, no restrictions to his gifts. Be bold to use them, to glorify God, to edify his mercy.
Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong.”
This is the desire of my soul, that you take root in God’s love, his perfect love. And that you place complete trust, faith and Hope in Christ Jesus. You have been given the promise, it was sealed by the Holy Spirit, so take control of fear, doubt and misgivings and rely solely on God. Let Christ Jesus make his home in your heart, casting out all others.
“And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is.”
It seems to be an impossible task to grasp the might of God’s Love, But even with our limitations, we can see beyond the ways and limitations of the world and see wonders beyond our dreams. We can see miracles, we can see healing, restoration, reconciliations, grace abundantly. There is no limit to God, we can know that even if we can not fully understand it. And lastly,
“May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with the fullness of life and power that comes from God.”
Yes a fullness that only comes from God. Impossible to know God’s grace in its completeness, yet even as we grow in Christ, we see more and more. We never stop growing in Love, Mercy, Compassion, healing of our own spirits as we pray for others. May we all be made complete, may we always grow in grace. May you, dear ones, see exactly how important you are to God. And may we all go to our knees in thanksgiving and Praise to God for what he has done, to include us, as unworthy as we are, and to lift us up as his own children, sealed, marked and guaranteed his wondrous Grace and Salvation.
In the Name of the Most High God, Blessing to you who read this.