The Sealing of the Believer by the Holy Spirit!

19 Aug 2024 Leave a comment

by randyobrien50 in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Ephesians 1:13b.       in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,

Oh Monday, we’re so glad to see you! You’re like a refreshing breath of air! (smile) You challenge us like no other, to get back into the chaotic world, after a couple days of rest and continue the never-ending fight against the enemy who desperately desires to steal us away from Jesus! But please let him know that that’s an impossible feat, for once we become born again children of God, His Holy Spirit comes to live within us and secures us with an impregnable seal, one that can never be broken. 

Yes friends, the seal of the Holy Spirit is the identification mark that the born-again believer is truly God’s own and is kept forever by the power of God. And this scripture on the redemption by Christ from Ephesians tells us about it. God, ‘Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself: That in the dispensation of the fullness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him: 

In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will: That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ. In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, Which is the earnest (down payment) of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.’ (Eph. 1:12-14) 

And what does all of that mean eh? Basically, that God, in His own time, according to His own desire, will put everything both in heaven and on earth, under ONE rule, ONE Head, that’s Jesus Christ. So, as the scholars tell us: ‘In the near future, when the time is ripe, God will put His good purpose into effect and carry it out. And His “good pleasure” or intention is the restoration of original universal unity, when all things are brought back into harmony with Himself and under the headship of Christ.’ 

And the Lord got the ball rolling with Jesus coming to earth to give us a better understanding of what was to come. The Jewish Christians were the first to believe in Christ and were given the seal of the Holy Spirit, then, when we Gentiles believed, we were also sealed by the Holy Spirit as a down payment of our inheritance, or the Lord’s promise of salvation. As one commentary says: ‘We just discovered the foundational purpose of the Holy Spirit. He is the seal of our salvation, and He is the down payment of our inheritance.’  

Or, as the scholars further clarify: ‘The Holy Spirit is here called the “earnest of our inheritance.” The word ‘earnest’ means ‘down payment’; as such the gift of the Spirit is viewed as an installment or as part of our salvation. God therefore assures the Christian that the realization of the rest of his salvation is forthcoming. How long is the believer assured of his salvation? Until the redemption of the purchased possession, or “until God glorifies and perfects the believer (the purchased possession) whom He has bought by Christ’s blood.” 

Yes my people, that seal of the Holy Spirit represents the surety that we belong to God, regardless of what we think, or feel or whatever lies the enemy might throw at us! And I like how this commentary answers the question it poses: ‘How does the Holy Spirit seal believers? The Spirit Is Our Seal. By being present in the Spirit, God not only claims us for Himself, He also gives us claim on Him. The Spirit certifies His promise, His pledge to us. Indeed, the Spirit is God’s keeping of His promise.’ 

We can’t ask for more than that my fellow believers, since we know that our ever-faithful God keeps all of His promises. And the Holy Spirit is the workhorse of our Triune God. He does all the work that’s needed now, after Jesus came and did His thing. The Holy Spirit is our Comforter, our Guide, our Reminder, our Conscience, our Helpmeet, while working in the hearts of unbelievers to convict and convince them of their sin and of their need for Jesus. 

Remember how Jesus characterized the Holy Spirit. ‘If ye LOVE me, keep my commandments. And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter (Helper), that he may abide with you for ever; Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him: for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. I will not leave you comfortless (as orphans): I will come to you.’ (John 14:15-18) And Jesus kept that promise by coming to believers through the Holy Spirit, which began indwelling believers on the day of Pentecost after Jesus’ ascension. 

So, the Lord’s plan is motion, He’s done all He can. We know all about it, we have all the promises, the only thing left is for us to accept God’s gift of salvation, by accepting His Son Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour, so that when the final bells toll, we won’t be eternally separated from God, because that is the worst thing that can ever happen to a human soul. Now, let’s go to God in prayer, through our Monday Morning Battle Hymn, seeking help to keep us on the straight and narrow path of life. 

Altogether: ‘Our Father, who art in heaven, we, Your humble servants, praise Your Holy Name and thank You this Monday morning for life and strong faith in Christ, despite the mass confusion in our world. Heavenly Father, You are the ONLY ONE with the power to solve our many problems. Yes, we have all sinned and seriously disobeyed Your Word, but You are a merciful, forgiving and gracious God, who has faithfully promised to hear and answer our prayers when we humble ourselves, pray, and sincerely seek Your face. 

So, we come to You now, with sincere repentance in our hearts, pleading for wise guidance and direction to alleviate our problems. Oh Father, please ease the pain of the many suffering from negative situations, show them Your awesome grace and mercy. And faithfully keep Your promise to prosper us if we turn from our evil ways. Show this evil world that You are indeed Jehovah Rapha; the God who heals! We pray this in the holy and blessed name of Your Son, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! Amen! And again, we say: Amen!’ 

And if we’re wise, and truly desire divine aid, then we’d better start by changing our evil ways! Much LOVE!

…come the fullness of time…being on the outside…looking in…won’t be pleasant…

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Today’s Scrip-Bit 27 February 2021 Romans 8:31.

27 Feb 2021 Leave a comment

by randyobrien50 in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Romans 8:31.     ​If God be for us, who can be against us?

And thankfully it’s a wet, rainy morning and not a white, snowy one! (smile) Yeh friends, the precipitation out there is unfrozen water, not the cold, flaky stuff, which makes this Saturday morning an even better time and place to enjoy our lazy fantasies. Yes, we all have those fantasies of being able to lie around and do absolutely nothing all day, or do the things that are nearest and dearest to our hearts. And for some of us, Saturday is the only day we can make some of those fantasies come true. 

However, because of the pandemic and the lockdown, some of us are actually having too much lazy time, being able to indulge our lazy fantasies too much, and too much of anything is no good. So if you’re one of those in the latter category, please find stuff to keep you at least reasonably busy, because the pandemic will end someday, and then what? You will be so immersed in your laziness that you won’t be able to easily get back in the swing of things. And that’s my word of wisdom for today! (smile) 

Now let’s see what interesting quotes our friend Anselm sent us this past week. And the first one boldly states: ‘Believe in yourself. You are braver than you think, more talented than you know, and capable of more than you imagine.’ And is that ever the God awesome truth! But only if you are a born-again child of God! Yes my people, when you are a child of God, nothing is impossible to you, for nothing is impossible to our heavenly Father. Glory be! And as the Good Book so rightly says: ‘I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me!’ (Phil. 4:13) 

Wow! So as a true believer in Christ, we don’t have to be afraid of anything in this world, or think that we lack courage and talent, because it’s absolutely not true, since our powerful and ever-generous God has given us the wherewithal to do whatever He desires of us. And furthermore, as the scripture says: ‘If God be for us, who can be against us?’ (Rom. 8:31) Nobody! Not a single dead or living soul! Then we have this other beautiful and encouraging scripture; the memorable words of Bruh Paul to Timothy. ‘For God hath not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, and of LOVE, and of a sound (disciplined) mind.’ (2 Tim. 1:7) 

Oh my fellow believers, with all those good, God-given, encouraging and faithful words in our tote bag of life, how can we ever doubt ourselves or our omnipotent God eh? Our problem is that we don’t fully believe, our faith isn’t mature enough, and thus we continue to let the unfortunate circumstances of the world scare us. But there is only one way to gain mature faith friends, and that’s by going through adversity, for it’s when the fires and storms of life come against us that we truly grow in faith and emotional strength. 

So if you’re going through any adversity now, don’t let it bother you, yes, it is difficult, but you can still find peace in those rough situations by doing the best you can, then putting the rest in God’s hands. Hn, Hn! I’m chuckling here because I never expected that to go on for so long. Couldn’t think of anything to say in the beginning, but look at how much I’ve said in the end. (smile) 

And the next quote says: ‘Pursue what catches your heart, not what catches your eyes.’ Now, on the Christian side, that’s a somewhat troubling quote. Why? Because we tend to think that our eyes are what really catches the things of the world and lead us astray. But the truth is, that’s also possible with our hearts. It’s oh so easy for our hearts to be captured and captivated by the sinful, lustful, glamorous and heady lures of the world. And believe me, it’s worse when those things capture our hearts than just our eyes. 

For as Jesus puts it. ‘Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man…Do not ye yet understand, that whatsoever entereth in at the mouth goeth into the belly and is cast out (eliminated) into the draught. But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart, and they defile the man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies. These are the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man.’ (Matt. 15:11; 17-20) 

So you see my brethren, it’s our hearts and our minds that we must ever be very protective of, for it’s what comes out of them that causes us innumerable problems. And generally speaking, we can see all sorts of different things, but what our hearts and minds concentrate on most, is what we eventually do and become. 

And to the last quote: ‘The past is a place of reference, not a place of residence; the past is a place of learning, not a place of living.’ Indeed it is all those things. As the Rasta bredrin that taught me History in High School was wont to say as he scratched his scraggly beard with his feet on the desk: ‘History is a record of the past. And why do we learn History? So we can understand the present.’ 

And that’s exactly how it ought to be. But unfortunately too many of us in these modern times choose to keep living in the past and thus keep making the same mistakes over and over. We can’t progress if we don’t learn the lessons of the past. That’s what it’s there for, to teach us about the present and help us make good decisions for the future. And if we don’t let go of the past, we end up carrying it around as back breaking and life stifling baggage that doesn’t allow us to do anything new, or move forward in more productive and progressive ways. 

Yes, bad and unfortunate things have happened to all of us in the past, but that’s no reason to keep dragging them along with us and let them cause us to fear the future. Oh friends, it’s time for us to let go of the past, of where we’ve come from, and concentrate on where we’re going. And the best way to do that is to surrender our lives to Jesus. Let Him be our guide and pilot of our ship, and He will take us safely through the many storms that we encounter in this earthly life. 

Please remember His awesome words of indisputable truth: ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.’ (John 14:6) And please remember too, that the truth will set you free; the truth of Jesus that is! Much LOVE!

…until you make Jesus the pilot of your soul…you’ll keep drifting aimlessly on the sea of life… and eventually wash up lifeless…on some rocky shore…