Are You Sealed?

Writer's block is always frustrating for me. The past week or so, I'd been praying about what to write on next, and I'd asked for prayers several times. I usually like to keep up with the weekly routine of posts, but for awhile I've been slacking just because I felt that I didn't want to write about myself.  I felt I needed to spend some time glorifying God. I couldn't come up with any topics.  "Molly's Zone" wouldn't have even been part of my path if it wasn't for His  continuous mercy and intervention on my life, after all. I don't deserve any praise; the Lord deserves every bit of glory. For I am just a sinner saved by grace. The way He answered my prayers and the prayers of those who prayed for me just wows me. A topic I never would have considered, but I thank the Lord for putting it on my mother's heart and I thank Him for having her share it with me.  

Saturday night, my mom gave my office a fresh paint job. I love it! My walls are now "Edgecomb Grey"- a light, grey color that gives my office sophistication with a touch of coziness. The accents of red that I have in my furniture in this room just come to life. New life brought to a room brings fresh inspiration.  I love you Mom! Thank you so much! I still love it as I'm sitting here typing away and I smell the lemon cookie tart melting in my tart warmer. Blessed! Blessed! Blessed!  

The topic came Sunday morning while I was getting ready for church. My mom all of a sudden came in to where I was and said "You've been looking for something to write about."  I said "Yeah." She proceeds to tell me about this stain on the ceiling she saw as she was painting the night before, telling me that the stain had been painted over, but it had not  been sealed because the stain was still very much visible; she said for stains to totally go away, you have to first use a special sealer before you can paint over it; she gave me the idea of using that principle to write about in terms of applying the same thought to people. What a great idea! Thank you Lord! 

Are you sealed? The most special and final sealer is the blood of Jesus Christ. Going to church won't save you. Being a good person won't save you. Religion won't save you. You will look and feel great for awhile, but your "stains" will show again and again until you trust in Him for salvation. Salvation by grace through faith is the ONLY way to Heaven. The moment you trust in Him, ALL your sins will be forever GONE. Past, present, and future. What a great God! However....this thought brings me to the second point of this post.  

Life as a born again believer does not mean that we will live the rest of our days completely sinless. My friend, that's impossible. We are still human. Once you are saved and "sealed" you become a new creature. Your life is not your own. You are a child of the King. Salvation is not a license to live in sin; it is NOT a license to live as you want to live. We are to live for Him, because He died for us, bought us with His blood, and there are people in this world who still need saved. Friends are great, and I'm blessed with some of the best and I cherish you all. As a Christian, you MUST NOT compromise. Stand your ground; it is far better to stand with Christ, and have a few great friends, than to stand with the world and have a multitude of them.  Romans 6: 1-2  KJV says: "What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? Romans 1:6 KJV goes on to say this: Knowing this that our old man is crucified with him that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. "  He forbids us as Christians to live in sin

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The last point I want to make today is also that Jesus did not save you so that you could live with a judgmental, unforgiving, holier than thou attitude. As much as we are all tempted to do so, none of us have the right to say who's born again and who's not; that is between God and that person. We are so quick to throw stones at others, but we don't want to look at our own sins. Remember what Christ brought you from? We ALL sin and come short of the glory of God. Think of it this way if your faucet needed replaced, and you had to buy a new one...you wouldn't forget what the other one looked like or where it leaked from would you? Same idea applies here. You don't forget. The fact that you're sealed, doesn't mean you won't get a "stain" somewhere else along the way or that the faucet you just bought won't "leak", but Jesus freely offers us forgiveness every day as evidenced by 1 John 1:9 KJV: "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."  You "patch up" the areas that need mending by repenting and turning from that sin, you learn from the experience and you go on with life. I want to end this by saying if you don't know Jesus, and you've been trying and trying to paint over something and you're trying to convince yourself you'll be okay in the end, maybe you just need sealed. There is hope in the ultimate sealer. Jesus is where I find my hope. Jesus is the most loyal friend I have. He's granted me mercy time and time again when I don't even deserve it. Fellow saved Christian, I'm sure He's helped you too. He's seen you through your good times, bad times, and ugliest of times; perhaps you just need an attitude change; maybe you just need to be reminded of what He's done for you.

"Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers. And grieve not the Holy Spirit, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamor, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you". (Ephesians 2:29-32 KJV) God bless you all. Jesus loves you.