Daily Dose of Hope

March 30, 2026

Scripture: Ephesians 2

Prayer: Lord, Let us start by thanking you for a new day. You are the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, the one who was, and is, and is to come. You are all powerful and all knowing. We give thanks for your love and wisdom. We give thanks for your presence. Help us, Lord, gather our scattered thoughts. Help us set aside distractions and listen to what you have for us today. In these next few moments of silence, hear our prayers...Jesus, we love you. In Your Name, Amen.

Welcome back to the Daily Dose of Hope, the devotional and podcast that complements the New Hope Church daily Bible reading plan. We are journeying through Paul's letters, reading them in chronological order. Just a reminder, there are thirteen letters and we are currently on our seventh!

Our reading for today is Ephesians 2. Central to our belief as Christians is that Jesus was not only resurrected but also exalted to a high place. In fact, he sits at the right hand of the Father right now. The amazing thing is that we as believers receive new life in Christ AND we also are exalted with him in the heavenly realms. Today's Scripture states that the purpose of this is that we can be shown the incomparable riches of his grace.

Think about that for a moment. The Message translation says it a different way: Once God has us where he wants us, he will have all the time in the world to "shower grace and kindness upon us." We get to know and experience Jesus' amazing love for us right now. We are exalted with him and he continues to shower us with grace and love. Wow.

But there is more. Our salvation is totally and completely based on faith and nothing else. We are saved by grace through faith in Jesus alone. There is nothing else needed to be saved. At the time Paul wrote this, there were plenty of people who said that circumcision and following the law were also necessary to be saved. Paul has made it clear that NOTHING else is needed-we are saved by the amazing grace of Jesus and all we have to do is have faith. God knows us well and he did this so that we couldn't brag about our salvation because it was totally his doing and not ours. Again, wow.

But there is still more. We are also God's handiwork. Other translations say "masterpiece." We are created by God to do good things that God designed us specifically to do. If you needed a Scripture to illustrate the phrase "God don't make no junk," this could be it. You are God's masterpiece. He lovingly designed you. You are not a random experiment. He had YOU in mind when he made you. Your gifts and talents were also not random but were given to you by God to do good things for his world. You are a masterpiece and you have a purpose. Let that sink in.

Blessings,

Pastor Vicki