Uplifted by Grace Through Faith

Reverend Leo H. McCrary II

You deserve better than feeling half full or half empty on the inside. With God, your cup will run over!

Today’s devotional reading: Ephesians 2:1-9

There is confusion over what it means to be blessed, but you, as a child of God, ought not be confused. Those of the world believe that their possessions define how blessed they are by God. To be clear, when Satan tempted Christ, he offered the kingdoms of the world as a blessing. Christ, on the other hand, promised salvation (deliverance) from the world and its riches.

In His sermon on the mount, when Christ preached of those who will be blessed, the blessing He spoke of was a spiritual blessing. The reward that Christ spoke of was a spirit that no longer mourns, but is comforted. The reward that Christ spoke of was a spirit being filled, a spirit obtaining mercy, and one inheriting the kingdom of heaven.

To the Ephesians, Paul stated that one is made alive, in their spirit, through Christ. “Made alive” in the soul because sinful living shatters and destroys the spirit and soul of the sinner. In the shattered and destroyed soul, there is no hope and joy, and where there is no hope and joy, there is no love, nor any good fruit to bear.

Worldly blessings can only enrich the flesh, and that which is thought to be joy only lasts for a moment before something happens in this world to take it away. Why should you desire for something that is guaranteed not to last? The gift that can lift your soul today, tomorrow, and forevermore is that of the Lord. As is always the case, you must determine today whether or not you will lean on the Lord to bring eternal joy to your soul, or will you continue to depend on the world to give and take away.