and evening and morning were the first day

This morning, my fiance and I studied this passage, found in Ephesians 1:1-14.

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God,

To the saints who are in Ephesus, and are faithful in Christ Jesus: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might
be to the praise of his glory. In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.

It was wonderful. We had breakfast, prayed together, and then studied God's Word. How long has it been since the center of our relationship was the Word and prayer! I've prayed and hungered for this idea for so long, only to not realize how to grasp it. I thank God for the accountability in the Word Krissi is providing. My prayers:

• That this would be a thing of unrelenting importance for both of us, uninterrupted by homework or sleep.
• That we would make prayer even more of a priority, so mcuh so that our time becomes one of intercession for our friends, marriage, and the lost.
• That we would grow closer to Christ and each other through a committment to the Word of God.

As far as the passage, here were our conversations and questions:

1. Grace and peace is central to all of Paul's greetings. It seems that an acceptance of the mercy and gift of God in Jesus, and the obedience to the Holy Spirit guiding our lives, is Paul's wish for all, and that in those interactions, peace would result.
2. What are the spiritual blessings we have been blessed with through Christ? Heaven? The Holy Spirit? A relationship with God and others?
3. Ah, predestination. Who knows? The passage does seem to push, however, God's will and purpose for His glory. Grace also serves as the means to accomplish this. We talked about John Piper's "best case scenerio" idea, whereby God's actualized will is the reality that will gain Him the most glory and therefore us the most happiness.
4. The big question we had was the speakers of the passage. Paul wrote it to the Ephesians, but he often uses 'we' in the above passage, and then at the end says 'you also'. Does this mean that the former ideas do not apply to the Ephesians? Did God only predestine the apostles and Paul?

Ideas for pondering...