What an exciting week as we celebrate Easter! It begins with Jesus riding on a donkey into Jerusalem and the spreading and waving of branches by the people. Palm Sunday! And ends with His resurrection back to life. On Easter Sunday! What a week!!

"Long ago, before He made the world, God chose us to be His very own, through what Christ would do for us; He decided then to make us holy in His Eyes, without a single fault--- we who stand before Him covered with His Love. His unchanging plan has always been to adopt us into Him own family by sending Jesus Christ to die for us. And He did this because He wanted to!"

~ Ephesians 1:3 - 5 LAB

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Bible Commentary on these verses:  "Paul (writer) said, 'God chose us,' to emphasize that salvation depends totally on God. We are not saved because we deserve it, but because God is gracious and freely gives it. We did not influence God's decision to save us; He did it according to His plan. Thus there is no way to take credit for our salvation, or to find room for pride. The mystery of salvation originated in the timeless mind of God long before we existed. It is hard to understand how God could accept us, but because of Christ we are holy and blameless in His eyes. God chose you and me, and when we belong to Him through Jesus Christ, He looks at us as if we have never sinned.

"God has adopted us as his own children. Through Jesus' sacrifice, he has brought us into his family and made us heirs along with Jesus. In Roman law, adopted children had the same rights and privileges as natural children. Paul uses this term to show how strong our relationship to God is."

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