Before we were baptized into Jesus Christ (see Rm 6:3), we "were strangers to the covenant and its promise" (Eph 2:12). We "were without hope and without God in the world" (Eph 2:12). We were far from God (Eph 2:13, 17). Without Christ, a barrier stood between ourselves and God (see Mt 27:51) and between Gentiles and Jews (Eph 2:14).
Jesus changed all this through His cross (Eph 2:16). "This means that you are strangers and aliens no longer. No, you are fellow citizens of the saints and members of the household of God. You form a building which rises on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus Himself as the Capstone" (Eph 2:19-20). "Once you were no people, but now you are God's people; once there was no mercy for you, but now you have found mercy" (1 Pt 2:10).
Before we lived in and for Christ, we were dead (Eph 2:1). After becoming new creations in Christ, we began to live. Therefore, we:
We are in A.D., not B.C. Praise; witness; rejoice!
| PRAYER: | Father, may my every breath be a "thank-you" to You. |
| PROMISE: | "It will go well with those servants whom the Master finds wide-awake on His return." –Lk 12:37 |
| PRAISE: | St. John was governor of his city. He was captured and imprisoned during a battle. While in prison, he gave his life to Jesus, and when released, he went into the seminary and eventually became a priest. |
Reprinted with permission from Presentation Ministries, a lay association of the Catholic Church that focuses on evangelization and discipleship through Bible teaching, daily Mass, the charisms of the Holy Spirit, and Small Christian Community. Their ministries include:
· One Bread, One Body
· Daily Bread Radio Program
· Annual Bible Institute
· Discipleship Retreats
· Guadalupe Bible College