<html><head></head><body><div><div><div><div><br></div>Ephesians 2;1&amp;2<div><br></div><div><b>1. &nbsp;And you he made alive, when you were dead through the trespasses and sins&nbsp;</b></div><div><b>2. &nbsp;in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience.</b></div><div><b><br></b></div><div>We were the ‘walking dead’ before the Lord gave us real life,&nbsp;and&nbsp;made us to live in Christ.</div><div><br></div><div>‘Dead’ people are very active, they have an&nbsp;animating spirit, it is&nbsp;the spirit of the <i>“prince of the power of the air”. &nbsp;</i>It is the spirit of ‘selfishness’ and ‘rebellion’. &nbsp;We by nature are not neutral toward God. &nbsp;We are his enemy, obeying&nbsp;<span>the will of Satan.</span></div><div><span><br></span></div><div><span>This is the worthless&nbsp;spirit of death. &nbsp;It can never give life.</span></div><div><span><br></span></div><div><span>We whom God has breathed the breath of life into, have through his Word,&nbsp;been given the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of life.</span></div><div><span>We by his&nbsp;gifts of repentance and faith now seek to follow Christ. &nbsp;But, we can not follow Jesus without our cross, his&nbsp;cross. &nbsp;The old self must be daily, moment by moment, crucified and kept dead. &nbsp;This is why Believers wear crosses, so as to remind themselves of the spiritual warfare we are now in.</span></div><div><span><br></span></div><div><span><i>“And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.”</i></span></div><div><span>(Galatians 5;24)</span></div><div><span><br></span></div><div><span>Just as we had nothing to do with our physical conception and birth, (that was God’s doing alone through&nbsp;our parents.) n</span><span>either do we have any credit or claim of contributing to our spiritual birth into faith. &nbsp;That is all God’s doing through his Word and Spirit, working through His Body the Church.</span></div><div><span><br></span></div><div><span>What <i>“made us alive”, </i>keeps us alive.</span></div><div><span><br></span></div><div><span>Prayer: &nbsp;Merciful Father, we praise you for giving us life and for keeping us in that life, who is Jesus, our Savior and Lord. &nbsp;Grant us grace to daily crucify the old nature, the flesh with its passions and desires, and bless us now to live obedient only to your life giving will. &nbsp;In Jesus we pray, Amen.</span></div><div><span><br></span></div><div><span>Love,&nbsp;</span></div><div><span>Dad/Baba/Eric</span></div><div><span>Grandpa Pickle Pastor</span></div><div><span>“A chapter a day, every day, progressively, be transformed, ‘soak’ in the living Word. &nbsp;God’s Word is our habitation, and we are His.”</span></div><div><br><br><div><a></a><br></div></div></div></div></div></body></html>


Ephesians 2;1&2
1.  And you he made alive, when you were dead through the trespasses and sins 2.  in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience.
We were the ‘walking dead’ before the Lord gave us real life, and made us to live in Christ.
‘Dead’ people are very active, they have an animating spirit, it is the spirit of the “prince of the power of the air”.  It is the spirit of ‘selfishness’ and ‘rebellion’.  We by nature are not neutral toward God.  We are his enemy, obeying the will of Satan.
This is the worthless spirit of death.  It can never give life.
We whom God has breathed the breath of life into, have through his Word, been given the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of life.We by his gifts of repentance and faith now seek to follow Christ.  But, we can not follow Jesus without our cross, his cross.  The old self must be daily, moment by moment, crucified and kept dead.  This is why Believers wear crosses, so as to remind themselves of the spiritual warfare we are now in.
“And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.”(Galatians 5;24)
Just as we had nothing to do with our physical conception and birth, (that was God’s doing alone through our parents.) neither do we have any credit or claim of contributing to our spiritual birth into faith.  That is all God’s doing through his Word and Spirit, working through His Body the Church.
What “made us alive”, keeps us alive.
Prayer:  Merciful Father, we praise you for giving us life and for keeping us in that life, who is Jesus, our Savior and Lord.  Grant us grace to daily crucify the old nature, the flesh with its passions and desires, and bless us now to live obedient only to your life giving will.  In Jesus we pray, Amen.
Love, Dad/Baba/EricGrandpa Pickle Pastor“A chapter a day, every day, progressively, be transformed, ‘soak’ in the living Word.  God’s Word is our habitation, and we are His.”

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