Everyone wants assurances these days. God’s simple word should be sufficient for us, but in His graciousness He makes His promises even more certain by giving us His own guarantees. In Ephesians 1:13 the Lord guarantees His promises for us to have eternal life with His seal. The sealing that Paul references in Ephesians 1:13 refers to an official mark of identification that is placed on a letter, contract or other important document. That seal thereby identified that document as being from the person who the seal belonged. As one means of guaranteeing His promises to those who have received Jesus Christ, God has sealed them I Him with the Holy Spirit of promise. Every believer is given the Holy Spirit at the moment they trust in Christ. Incredibly, as a result, the body of every true follower of Christ, is actually “a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in Him” according to 1 Corinthians 6:19. When a person becomes a follower of Christ, the Holy Spirit takes up residence in their life. The Spirit is there to empower to believer, and equip them for ministry. The seal of God’s Spirit in the believer signifies and demonstrates 4 important … READ MORE

The Ephesians 5:18 command to “be filled with the Spirit” concludes with the Statement in Verse 21 to submit to one another” Paul then goes on to describe what that looks like to husbands, wives, children, parents, employees, and bosses. True filling of the Spirit leads to a humility as you interact with people you come into contact with. I would note, that this humility is manifested regardless of their relationship with Christ or treatment of us. The Spirit gives us the desire to seek the welfare of others before our own and to be mutually submissive. This attitude gives us the liberty to serve others out of our Love for God and them. Being filled with the Holy Spirit then gives us purpose and perspective in a sin cursed world, and enables us to get beyond the hurts of this world, and focus on what is more important.… READ MORE

As we live “filled with the Spirit” we will manifest that inwardly with a song in our heart. We will manifest that upwardly, in worship to God with an attitude of gratitude (Ephesians 5:20)! There are tree levels of thankfulness that will be present in our lives, One is to be thankful when we are blessed. When things are going well or God grants an especially welcome benefit, we are happy and grateful, and let Him and others aware of our manifested blessings. Second we will be thankful for the hope of blessing and victory yet to come. Thanking God before a blessing is more difficult than thanking Him afterward, and requires more faith and spiritual maturity. And third is thanking God in the midst of the battle, even when it looks like we are falling or being overwhelmed. Joni Eareckson Tada, observed, “Giving thanks is not a matter of feeling thankful, it is a matter of obedience.” Because we are in Christ, the good things and the bad things all have a part in God’s conforming us into the image of His Son (Romans 8:28-29). Don’t wait for thanksgiving to be thankful for all that is going on in … READ MORE