Heavenly Father, I praise You for bringing people into my life who have mentored me, shown or taught me wisdom, or simply believed in me enough to be my friend. I praise You for the fact that we are not alone and that You seek unity within the community. I praise You for that deep desire to learn, to understand, and to discover who You are and why I must remember to abide in You as You abide in me.
Holy Spirit You inspired to be written for us to learn: And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. Therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole
building, being joined together, grows into the holy temple in the Lord. [Ephesians 4:11-13; Ephesians 2:19-21] This wisdom reveals that the old and new Testaments are joined by Christ, and all of it is for our edification and knowledge to know God, understand his wisdom, and to become his living temple to be a shining star to the dark world around us. Christ’s salvation is the foundation of building on the principles and promises of what we call the Old Testament, while learning to live as the first church did in the New Testament. This way I can learn the knowledge of truth so that this truth will set me free of this world and the sin that corrupts all.
Praise be to You, God, and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed me in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. You chose me before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in Your sight. In love, You predestined me to be adopted as Your son through Jesus, in accordance with His pleasure and will—to the praise of His glorious grace, which he has freely given me in the One He loves. In You, I have
redemption through the blood of Christ, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of Your grace that You lavished on me with all wisdom and understanding. And You are making known to me the mystery of Your will according to Your good pleasure, which You 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 You I was also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of God who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of His will, so that I, who has the first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of His glory. And I also was included in Christ when I heard the word of truth, the gospel of my salvation. Having believed, I am marked in Him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing my inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory. Amen. Ephesians 1:3-14