Daily Reading for Personal Growth, 40 Days with God

⁴ But ·God’s mercy is great [^LGod is rich in mercy], and he loved us very much. ⁵ Though we were spiritually dead because of ·the things we did against God [our transgressions], he ·gave us new life [brought us to life] with Christ. You have been saved by God’s grace. ⁶ And he raised us up with Christ and gave us a seat with him in the ·heavens [heavenly places/realms]. He did this for those in Christ Jesus ⁷ so that ·for all future time [^Lin the ages to come] he could show the ·very great [exceeding; overwhelming] riches of his grace by being kind to us in Christ Jesus. ⁸ ·I mean that [or For; Because] you have been saved by grace through ·believing [faith]. You did not save yourselves; it was a gift from God. ⁹ It was not the result of ·your own efforts [works], so ·you cannot [no one can] ·brag about it [boast]. ¹⁰ ·God has made us what we are [^LFor we are his handiwork/workmanship/work of art]. In Christ Jesus, God ·made [created] us to do good works, which God planned in advance for us to live our lives doing.