I desire to do Your will, O my God; Your law is within my heart. Teach me to do Your will, for You are my God; may Your good Spirit lead me on level ground.

   Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who has bestowed on us in Christ every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms.

   In Christ, He chose us before the world was made. In His love He chose us to be His holy people - people without blame before Him. And before the world was made, God decided to make us His own children through Jesus Christ. That was what He wanted and what pleased Him. This brings praise to God because of His wonderful grace. God gave that grace to us freely, in Christ, the One He loves. For in Christ our release is secured and our sins are forgiven through the shedding of His blood. Therein lies the richness of God's free grace lavished upon us, imparting full wisdom and insight.

   And He made known to us the mystery of His will according to His good pleasure, which He purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment - to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ.

   In Him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of Him Who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of His will, in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of His glory.

   And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in Him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, Who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession - to the praise of His glory.

   For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know Him better.

Taken from Psa. 40, 143, Eph. 1, The New English Bible, The Everyday Bible
and The New International Version. For free Lifescope book, write to Box 1575,
Carlsbad, NM 88221. Please send $1.00 for postage and handling.