Not a thing you can do.

[FONT=&quot] Powerful passage in Ephesians 2 says it all. [/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]Quick Hit!![/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—[/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]This totally flies in the face of religion. There is nothing you and I can do to become a Christian. It is totally by grace. Meaning we get what we don’t deserve. And it isn’t even that we have faith. God is faithful, we just believe. Then God’s grace and faithfulness makes this radical change in us, and our world is never the same. Since we had no part in our salvation – we just accepted the gift – that should cause us to be thankful. And that thankfulness should cause us to want to fulfill God’s plan for our lives as stated in verse 10.[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]Want to dive deeper? Read on. [/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]Meaning – [/FONT][FONT=&quot]We are saved by God’s grace. In fact, verse 8 is clear that we have no part in our salvation. It is all by grace. In fact the faith we exercise to come to Christ is a gift. We can’t work towards salvation, we can’t clean up our lives and then come to Christ. Nope, God does not save us because we have turned over a new leaf and are seeking Him. In fact it is totally the other way around. He seeks us and we start wanting to know more about this God who is chasing us. [/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]Verse 10 gives us the purpose for our life here on earth after conversion. God wants us to live for Him. If there were not an expectation for the Believer to serve Christ after salvation, then we would be taken to Heaven right after our conversion. But God has left us here and He has things all setup for us to do for Him and for His Kingdom while here on earth. So, you get to choose. Do you want to fulfill what God has for you, or do you want to choose your own way? Even after salvation we still have choices to make. [/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]Application – [/FONT][FONT=&quot]So, we are saved by grace. It is God’s gift and we have no part in it. We should be thankful for what God has done for us. This thankfulness should cause us to want to serve Him. God should be more important to us than the other allurements we follow. God should be more important to us than football. God should be more important to us than that TV show. God should be more important to us than politics. It isn’t like God found some jewels when He saved you and me. We were undeserving, and it should cause us to be thankful and our thankfulness should cause us to act. Verse 10 is clear. God has laid out a plan for us. The choice is yours. Do you want to work God’s plan or do you want to follow your own lusts and desires. You get to choose. Your choice has eternal consequences. Not with regard to your salvation, but perhaps the salvation of others and rewards for you in Heaven. Choose to fulfill God’s will for your life. [/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]Please share this devotional so your friends can be challenged as well. [/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]Hope you have a great day. [/FONT]