{"id":4761,"date":"2020-05-15T19:23:09","date_gmt":"2020-05-15T19:23:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wpmu.azurewebsites.net\/nlt\/?p=4761"},"modified":"2021-12-08T09:20:09","modified_gmt":"2021-12-08T09:20:09","slug":"god-loves-you-reading-plan-day-7","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wpmu3.northcentralus.cloudapp.azure.com\/nlt\/2020\/05\/15\/god-loves-you-reading-plan-day-7\/","title":{"rendered":"God Loves You Reading Plan Day 7"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignleft size-large is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/wpmu3.northcentralus.cloudapp.azure.com\/nlt\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/05\/Untitled-design-46-1024x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-4762\" width=\"246\" height=\"246\" srcset=\"https:\/\/wpmu3.northcentralus.cloudapp.azure.com\/nlt\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2020\/05\/Untitled-design-46-1024x1024.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/wpmu3.northcentralus.cloudapp.azure.com\/nlt\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2020\/05\/Untitled-design-46-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/wpmu3.northcentralus.cloudapp.azure.com\/nlt\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2020\/05\/Untitled-design-46-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/wpmu3.northcentralus.cloudapp.azure.com\/nlt\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2020\/05\/Untitled-design-46-768x768.jpg 768w, https:\/\/wpmu3.northcentralus.cloudapp.azure.com\/nlt\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2020\/05\/Untitled-design-46.jpg 1080w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 246px) 100vw, 246px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;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.\u00a0Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes.\u00a0God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure.\u00a0So we praise God for the glorious grace he has poured out on us who belong to his dear Son. He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins.\u00a0He has showered his kindness on us, along with all wisdom and understanding.&#8221; Ephesians 3:3-8, NLT<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tyndale.com\/p\/nlt-life-application-study-bible-third-edition\/9781496433824\">Notes from the <em>Life Application Study Bible, Third Edition<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignright size-large is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/wpmu3.northcentralus.cloudapp.azure.com\/nlt\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/05\/Untitled-design-29-1-1024x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-4766\" width=\"232\" height=\"232\" srcset=\"https:\/\/wpmu3.northcentralus.cloudapp.azure.com\/nlt\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2020\/05\/Untitled-design-29-1-1024x1024.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/wpmu3.northcentralus.cloudapp.azure.com\/nlt\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2020\/05\/Untitled-design-29-1-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/wpmu3.northcentralus.cloudapp.azure.com\/nlt\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2020\/05\/Untitled-design-29-1-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/wpmu3.northcentralus.cloudapp.azure.com\/nlt\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2020\/05\/Untitled-design-29-1-768x768.jpg 768w, https:\/\/wpmu3.northcentralus.cloudapp.azure.com\/nlt\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2020\/05\/Untitled-design-29-1.jpg 1080w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 232px) 100vw, 232px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Paul emphasizes that God chose us to make the point that salvation depends totally on God. We are saved not because we deserve it but because God graciously and freely gives us salvation. Our wisdom or good behavior does not influence God\u2019s decision to save us; in his mercy, he has saved us according to his plan. Thus, we cannot take credit for our salvation or take pride in making the right decision. The mystery of salvation originated in the timeless mind of God long before we existed. It baffles us why God would accept us. But Christ, by his sacrifice, makes us holy and blameless in his sight. If we are in Christ, God looks at us as if we have never sinned. All we can do is express our thanks for his wonderful love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That God \u201cdecided in advance to adopt us\u201d is another way of saying that salvation is God\u2019s work and not our own doing. In his infinite love, God has adopted us as his own children. Through Jesus\u2019 sacrifice, he has brought us into his family and made us heirs along with Jesus (Romans 8:17). He did this on purpose for his own pleasure (Luke 12:32). <\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignleft size-large is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/wpmu3.northcentralus.cloudapp.azure.com\/nlt\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/05\/Untitled-design-48-1024x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-4764\" width=\"331\" height=\"331\" srcset=\"https:\/\/wpmu3.northcentralus.cloudapp.azure.com\/nlt\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2020\/05\/Untitled-design-48-1024x1024.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/wpmu3.northcentralus.cloudapp.azure.com\/nlt\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2020\/05\/Untitled-design-48-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/wpmu3.northcentralus.cloudapp.azure.com\/nlt\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2020\/05\/Untitled-design-48-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/wpmu3.northcentralus.cloudapp.azure.com\/nlt\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2020\/05\/Untitled-design-48-768x768.jpg 768w, https:\/\/wpmu3.northcentralus.cloudapp.azure.com\/nlt\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2020\/05\/Untitled-design-48.jpg 1080w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 331px) 100vw, 331px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>In Roman law, adopted children had the same rights and privileges as biological children, even if they had been slaves. (For more on the meaning of adoption, see Galatians 4:5-7.) Paul uses this language to show how strongly we are related to God through Christ and how strongly God desires a relationship with us. Have you entered into this loving bond with him<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>God has showered his kindness\u2014his grace\u2014on us. This is his voluntary and loving favor given to those he saves. We can\u2019t earn salvation, nor do we deserve it. No religious, intellectual, or moral effort can gain it, because it comes only from God\u2019s mercy and love. Without God\u2019s grace, no person can be saved. To receive God\u2019s salvation, we must acknowledge that we cannot save ourselves; only God can save us. We can receive this loving favor by believing in and uniting with Christ. Imagine that you are trying to go on an ocean voyage but have no passport, money, or credit cards\u2014and then Jesus comes along to pay your way so you can travel in first class. This is a small illustration of how lavishly and freely he gives his grace to each of us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.paperturn-view.com\/us\/tyndale-bibles\/life-application-study-bible-3rd-edition-nlt?pid=NTI52992&amp;v=1.23\">Look inside the <em>Life Application Study Bible, Third Edition<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;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.\u00a0Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes.\u00a0God decided in advance to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[14,39,45,51,52],"tags":[102,103],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpmu3.northcentralus.cloudapp.azure.com\/nlt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4761"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpmu3.northcentralus.cloudapp.azure.com\/nlt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpmu3.northcentralus.cloudapp.azure.com\/nlt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpmu3.northcentralus.cloudapp.azure.com\/nlt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpmu3.northcentralus.cloudapp.azure.com\/nlt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4761"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wpmu3.northcentralus.cloudapp.azure.com\/nlt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4761\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5653,"href":"https:\/\/wpmu3.northcentralus.cloudapp.azure.com\/nlt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4761\/revisions\/5653"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpmu3.northcentralus.cloudapp.azure.com\/nlt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4761"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpmu3.northcentralus.cloudapp.azure.com\/nlt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4761"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpmu3.northcentralus.cloudapp.azure.com\/nlt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4761"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<!-- LIVE: wpmu3.northcentralus.cloudapp.azure.com/nlt//wp-json/wp/v2/posts/4761 -->