Good Morning, You are cordially invited to join me for a daily scripture break. Ephesians 1:13-14: "And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in Him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of His glory.” What does it mean to seal something?  The Cambridge dictionary defines " seal" as “to make an agreement more certain or to approve it formally.”  In today’s passage we learned “when we believed (the gospel of our salvation)” then we were marked in Him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit.  If we glance back at our definition - being marked in Him with a seal made this interaction even “more certain”. Some of you may recall I posted a list of scriptures containing the phrase “In Him”, “In Christ”, "In Whom” etc.  We all learn differently so whatever works for your learning process please take some time to study what the Bible says and how to apply these scriptures (containing the phrase "In Him", "In Christ", "In Whom".) Today's passage goes on to say “when we believed then we were marked with a seal -the promised Holy Spirit.”  The passage continues, "guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of His glory.” Stop a moment and read it again - "guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of His glory.” This passage is filled with some extraordinary promises. 1. We (members of the Body of Christ) were included "in Christ" when we heard the gospel of salvation and believed. Those promises throughout the New Testament (ie “In Christ, “In Him”, and “In Whom” are rich spiritual treasures for each member of the Body of Christ to examine and dutifully study). 2. At Baptism, we received the indwelling of the Holy Spirit - we were sealed with the Holy Spirit. In Acts 2:38 - "Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” 3. The Holy Spirit "guarantees our inheritance” - nothing can remove us from God’s possession. As the Apostle Paul explicitly stated in Romans 8:38-39: "For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” 4. Praise the Lord! We are sealed with a mark by the Holy Spirit and nothing can steal that from us. As Christians, we sometimes get bogged down in the cares of life (one of the tactics of the devil we discussed last week). This passage is something we need to keep before our eyes. If you do, your enemies look quite a bit smaller and insignificant.  Our attention should turn towards the Body of Christ. We are sealed with a mark now let’s go accomplish our holy calling.  Begin with Ephesians 6:18,  it says,  "And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people." Let’s continue to examine some of the foundational scriptures describing being sealed by the Holy Spirit.  Please carefully review these guiding principles for the children of God have received such a magnificent gift - the Holy Spirit in order to pursue a life of holiness until the day of redemption. 1. Ephesians 4:30 - "And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.” (Reference Ephesians 4:25-32) Please take a moment and read the reference. This passage encourages the believer with proper standards of conduct and dissuades evil behavior. 2. Romans 8:15-17 - "The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “ Abba, Father.” The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in His sufferings in order that we may also share in His glory.” The world often accuses God (religion) of enslaving the "masses". And this passage debunks that accusation. Instead of a life of slavery the Spirit brings us to sonship through adoption into the Kingdom of God. We explored the topic of biblical slavery in a post a few months ago - it was illuminating. Please pause and observe once again, God knows us and our weaknesses. It is “The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.”  This drives the devil to exasperation. God is so good to us He ensures we are secured from the devil and he cannot steal us from God’s hands. We are "adopted heirs and co-heirs with Christ.”  That is just an incredible proclamation; co-heirs with Christ. If we as Christians don’t spend time reading and meditating these promises we will walk around the earth, weak and confused. Just as aside, I periodically will hear someone say, “we are all God’s children.”  That’s false.  All humans are God’s creation but only those who have been adopted into sonship as the “Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.” That will offend some but that’s what the scripture says. 3. John 14:16-17 - "And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept Him, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him. But you know Him, for He lives with you and will be in you.” Jesus makes a curious statement here. He said, “…The world cannot accept Him (the Holy Spirit), because it neither sees Him nor know Him…” What does that mean “the world cannot accept Him…”? There are those in this world who plot to control the world and its inhabitants but they do not understand. Psalm 24:1 says, "The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it.”  The non-believers don’t acknowledge or obey the Creator of the universe.  So they cannot “accept the Spirit of truth”.  The world can’t see Him physically or spiritually (because they are spiritually dead).  And as always, the Lord instructs us on what we must know to operate in the Kingdom of God: "But you know Him, for He lives with you and will be in you.”  What an incredible gift - the gift of Himself! 4. Titus 3:3-7 - “At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another.  But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of His mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit,  whom He poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior,  so that, having been justified by His grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.” We have become heirs having the hope of eternal life through Jesus by the Holy Spirit “sealing us for the day of redemption." 5. Romans 8:9- "You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ.” These are spiritual truths, true treasure greater than gold or silver. I don’t believe the Holy Spirit could make it any plainer - “if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ.”  I hope the message is clear to everyone - humans either belong to Christ or by default the devil.  This isn’t the prevailing belief in our world. There is no third choice.  Do not be deceived. Unequivocally this passage clearly states “...if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ.”  Now, pause for a moment and look at our culture; all of the distractions, chaos, turmoil, wars and earthquakes, deadly weather, immoral decay, etc.  The condition of our world is purposefully sustained by evil forces to draw you away from Jesus.  We are spiritual beings created in the likeness and image of God. We are marked by the Holy Spirit and this guarantees our spiritual condition until the day of redemption;this should occupy our attention, our focus. You will begin to view your brothers and sisters in Christ differently - truly part of something much greater than yourself, members of the Body of Christ. 6. II Timothy 2:19 - "Nevertheless, God’s solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription: “The Lord knows those who are His,” and, “Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness.” The Kingdom of God knows who are His because we are sealed. 7. I Corinthians 3:16-17 - "Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person; for God’s temple is sacred, and you together are that temple.” We don’t worship our bodies but we should care for them as they should be maintained as an appropriate dwelling place for the Holy Spirit. Our physical bodies are not our own. 8. Hebrews 6:4-6 - “It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age and who have fallen away, to be brought back to repentance. To their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace.” Please read this passage and listen for the Holy Spirit’s interpretation. It is deadly to reject the Lord and the Holy Spirit especially having gained acceptance into the Kingdom of God and then subsequently walking away from it.   In my Bible research, there is another line of thought that explores how angels respond to the mark of the Holy Spirit on the child of God. I will post part II of this study today. Please take a moment and pray II Chronicles 7:14 on behalf of our nation.  If possible, would you please offer this prayer in the morning and evening. Thank you. Many blessings to you. Peace and be prepared.

Part II. From a slightly tangential perspective, let's investigate the importance of the seal of the Holy Spirit in the operations and priorities of the Kingdom of God. Sometimes we forget the Kingdom of God comprises a hierarchy of beings.  The Kingdom of God has rules and laws that facilitate order. Too often we Christians lapse into old habits.  We gain knowledge, wisdom, and understanding of our Lord and the Body of Christ and foolishly began to consider ourselves more important than we ought.  Of course, God loves us and I’m not disputing that point. But the following verses illustrate the importance of setting priorities in the Kingdom of God.  God’s strategic vision of His Creation underpins the commandments and directives we find in the scriptures. 1. II Corinthians 1:21-22 - "Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put His Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.” Just as God loved us before we loved Him (Ephesians 2:4-8); "we are able to stand firm in Christ" only with His help.  Even when we desire to follow Him, love Him, trust Him we are still so weak in our own strength. That’s why God anchors everything in the Kingdom through Jesus. (Colossians 1:16, John 1:3, I Corinthians 8:6, and Romans 11:36). God sealed us with His Spirit as a guarantee of His promises to come. God’s guarantee, who can defeat that?! 2. II Corinthians 5:5 - “Now the one who has fashioned us for this very purpose is God, who has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.” God created us and knows us better than we know ourselves.  God sealed us with Himself, the Holy Spirit. The angelic beings both good and bad also recognize the meaning of the mark. We belong to God. The devil knows he is a defeated foe.  He can see the mark on us; he knows his destiny and he knows ours. 3. Revelation 7:2-4 - “Then I saw another angel coming up from the east, having the seal of the living God. He called out in a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm the land and the sea: “Do not harm the land or the sea or the trees until we put a seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God.” Then I heard the number of those who were sealed: 144,000 from all the tribes of Israel.” This passage struck me in a peculiar way. Please read the passage again.  The angel from the east, having the seal of the living God understood that all that is of the Kingdom of God must be sealed.  While the four angels were tasked to bring judgment to the land and the sea; these angelic beings understood what took precedence at that moment was sealing God’s children. Why? This decision to "seal the servants of our God" suppressed any judgment being directed at God's children directly or indirectly - imagine that. 4. Acts 2:39 - "The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.” This is an extremely important concept we must comprehend. God is a generational God.  Humans view history through past and current events but God views history through interactions with generations of humanity. When the Holy Spirit leads me to a passage like this, I slow down from all of the responsibilities I have and prioritize “the message”. Step back for a moment and consider some of the recent posts and ask is there a thread, a connection the Holy Spirit is revealing.  I believe there is a connection. We studied our enemy - the devil for three days, we explored the importance of our holy calling for a few days, and now we are studying the seal of the Holy Spirit guaranteeing our inheritance until our redemption arrives.  I am on this journey with you, learning things I didn't anticipate or didn't have an inkling about. Christians must learn to view themselves as God intended with understanding and wisdom. Please keep these scriptures before your eyes and follow the guidance the Holy Spirit gives you in your prayer time.  Praise the Lord. Please take a moment if you have not already and pray II Chronicles 7:14 on behalf of our nation.  If possible, would you please offer this prayer in the morning and evening. Thank you. Many blessings to you. Peace and be prepared.