Scripture:
Ephesians 1 v 12-13: "That we shoiuld 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."
Ephesians 4 v 30: "And grieve not the Holy Spirit of
God, whereby you are sealed unto the day of redemption."
Its a blessing to know that our Father has thought of
every tiny thing to ensure our salvation is accomplished to the fullest
measure. After we believed we were sealed.
I have looked at the word 'seal' from different angles.
When a proposal is sealed, it means that legally it cannot be altered without
the consent of both parties. Our Father will not change a thing after buying us
back with the Blood of His Son.
We can change, backslide, fall into error, return to sin
but it is one-sided and not subject to God's agreement. He has a Covenant - an
unbreakable promise - to bring the prodigal child back to His welcoming arms
again. We may break the seal but He will not give us up without a fight.
The other meaning of 'seal' is like being sealed in a
container or an envelope. Your spirit is sealed into Jesus Himself. He is the
Rock in which we are concealed. Before the enemy can tangle with us he must
first defeat the Rock. Unless we step out from that shelter without permission,
he will give up on us because he knows the power of Jesus better than we do.
Staying sealed in Covenant or Rock is where we work out
the kinks in our soul and flesh in safety. It is in the shadow of the Almighty
that we grow spiritually and overcome the negatives we accrued while we were
sinners.
We need to belong to Jesus and be at home in His body by
having fellowship with other Christians, reading the Bible daily and obeying
what it says, and having meaningful times of prayer with your Father in
Heaven.
Matthew 6 v 24: "No man can serve two masters: for
either he will hate the one, and love the other: or else he will hold to the
one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and Mammon."
These are the words of Jesus Christ and very important in
regards to your seal. Before we were saved we were the servants of sin and
Satan, knowingly or unknowingly. We followed the ways of the world, which is
Mammon. Once we are forgiven and born again we must renew our minds according
to God's will for us.
We need to flush all our worldliness or Mammon out of our
lives forever and deny our flesh its greeds and lusts. Its not always easy to
achieve as the problems stick like superglue and our mind has ready-made
excuses and arguments to "keep things real"!
If we ignore our fleshly habits the Lord will bring
pressure to bear on these areas at first in gentleness but later with more
insistence. The warnings on the cigarette packets will start to become a reality.
The morning cough will really bother the smoker.
We need to realise that when Adam fell, everything fell!
Some plants, animals, reptiles, insects became toxic to man! Very toxic and
extremely deadly. The harmony of Eden - the replica of Heaven - is free of all
evil - but is guarded by holy angels with flaming swords to prevent
contamination.
Adam and Eve and all their descendants were subject to
disease, death and demons out in the world.
Everyone was tainted except Jesus. Through His sacrifice
"Eden" was opened to those who separate themselves from the world to
live as they were created to live in holy submission to Father God. These are
the ones whose seals are intact and by faith and love are pleasing to Him.
The enemy makes Mammon very attractive and exciting to
keep people distracted from the true Heavenly life. People think its boring or
uninteresting to follow Jesus and a serious block to things that are
"fun".
Oscar Pistorius had loads of reckless fun in his life:
filled with Mammon and a bit of Jesus thrown in occasionally, until the price
of it had to be paid on Valentine's Day 2013. Cradling his dead girlfriend in
his arms desperately crying out to Jesus to let her live, promising they would
serve Him for the rest of their lives if she survived, came just a little too
late for Reeva and for him.
I am not his judge, for only God and Oscar know what
really happened that night, and the court is busy with this case now. The whole
world is watching this case live on TV and making their own opinions. But if
Oscar had been sincere in his commitment to Jesus back then, none of this would
have happened.
This is an extreme, but topical, example of breaking your
seal with God and stepping outside His protection. So learn from it and check
yourself thoroughly to be free of Mammon and its evil consequences. Jesus loves
you and wants you to be safe at all times.
You would not let your small child run across a busy road
alone. Jesus feels the same way about you. He wants you out of danger and
hidden in the Rock, sealed and secure forever.
Prayer: Heavenly Father thank You for being so protective
over us that even the Holy Spirit has sealed us into Your Covenant with
Mankind. Teach us to walk in obedience so the seal is never broken. If we have
strayed into danger please bring us back to the Rock. In Jesus' name.
Amen.