Where is Your Safe Place in a World Falling Apart?

 

In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth,

the gospel of your salvation – having also believed,

you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise.

- Ephesians 1:13

When the Thief Comes to Steal

In his book The Holy Spirit, Billy Graham tells the story of an English missionary who died in India during the early 1900’s.  Immediately his former neighbors broke into his home and pillaged it, stealing the man’s possessions.  The English Consul was notified, and the official went to the missionary’s home.

Since there was no knock on the door, the official simply pasted a piece of paper across it and affixed the seal of England on it.  No one dared to break the seal, because at that time, that seal represented the world’s most powerful nation.  The power of England stood behind a piece of paper on the door.

In the same way, when we are saved, the Holy Spirit takes up official residence within us – effectively “sealing” us for Himself by His power and authority.

The Greek word for “seal” means “to confirm” or “to impress,” and it is used three times in the New Testament in connection with believers.  This sealing represents two important concepts:  security and ownership.

An Irrevocable Decree

Sealing in the sense of security is illustrated in the sealing of Daniel in the lion’s den (Daniel 6:17), and in the irrevocable seal of the king in spoken of in Esther 3:12 and 8:8. The Greek word is used in Matthew 27:65-66 to describe the Roman seal on Jesus’ tomb and is the same word used in other New Testament scriptures to speak of the seal of the Holy Spirit.  It meant that whatever was under that seal was not to be opened except by order of the king.

Signed, Sealed, Delivered 

This seal also signifies ownership.  In Jeremiah 32:10 we read that the prophet bought a piece of property, paid for it in front of witnesses, and sealed the purchase in accordance with the law and custom, making him the legal owner.

History tells us ancient Ephesus was a port city, carrying on an extensive trade in lumber.  A merchant looking for lumber would walk through the timber, select what he wanted, and stamp it with his own signet, or sign of ownership.  When he was ready for the lumber, he would send an agent with the signet to locate all the timber carrying his seal.  His agent would then claim and take all the lumber with the master’s mark on it back to the man who bought it.

In the East, a seal on a document was more important than the signature.  The signet used to imprint a seal usually sat in a ring and was inscribed with words or symbols. It often reflected an office of importance.  It was commonly pressed into clay, because of its resulting permanence, although wax was used, too.  Wax was not as desirable because it was prone to melt in the hot sun.  Clay hardened over time, so that the clay itself would actually have to break in order to break the seal.

We are the clay.  God is the master, and Jesus has bought us.

The imprint of God has been impressed into our hearts, sealing us by the authority of the Lord on High.  We are now His, under His protection.  The power of all heaven stands behind His mark.  He is sealed in us.  He can’t leave without breaking the clay and His promise to never leave or forsake us.  He is with us every step of the way as we walk through this world.

With this understanding, we can better appreciate the words of the Apostle Paul:

For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

- Romans 8:38-39

Not forsaken. Never alone. Under His guard.

Living as we are in a world falling apart moment by moment, God's power and love are the vault guarding us. In Him, and in Him alone, we can live in peace, secure in the safest place on Earth.

Do not fear, Beloved.

Your Redemption Is Coming

 

And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up and lift up your heads, for your redemption draws near.       - Luke 21:28 Jubilee Bible

Why do you look for the living among the dead? -Luke 24:5 NASB

Cars lie mangled in the middle of the highway. Red and blue lights pulse against the wet asphalt as an ambulance slowly backs up to the carnage. A woman stands weeping next to a solemn officer. Traffic crawls past the wreck in funeral procession as a policeman impatiently motions for the line to move on. His eyes plead, “Please, don’t make it a spectacle.”

But we can’t help it. We have to look.

Inexplicably, we’re drawn to the life-and-death struggles. I don’t know if it’s curiosity or fear that feeds the need for people to watch disasters unfold. The appetite for the macabre may just be a reflection of the world in which we live, a culture that spends millions of dollars to be entertained by the most perverse images Hollywood can conjure up. Death compels us to look. In the process, we lose the respect for life that once helped preserve society.

This world is trapped in a race to perdition.

Every act of rebellion feeds the engine. Every time humanity spits in the face of God, we lunge closer to the edge of the abyss. We argue on social media about what is happening and why. We watch with fascination and a sick stomach as this planet plunges toward a fearsome end. We pass by each injustice in procession, eyes glued to the gore as we shake our heads in disgust and worry about our future.

Sometimes we wonder, "Where Is God?"

One thing's for sure: We won't find Him by wandering through the tombs.

Why do you look for the living among the dead?

Jesus told us plainly that when certain signs begin to come to pass upon the earth, it's time to look up. Unlike us, He's not mesmerized by the horror surrounding us. He's actively engaged in our welfare and extending deliverance to all who ask. We're commanded to follow in His footsteps, to reach beyond our own suffering to serve others. Our world is filled with hurting people. We are all broken on some level, and we will continue to suffer as we journey alongside those intent on destroying themselves and others. 

All humanity may be trapped on the same planet, but we have different destinations. Believers must be aware and informed in order to be active members of society. Aside from that, we can't fixate on the gruesome and vulgar spectacles assaulting our senses. Our Captain plainly directed us to keep our eyes off the storms and lift our faces to heaven. In a moment, any moment of any day, He could return for us.

 One day, He will. Are you prepared to see His beautiful face?

The House Grace Built

In one day, our lives can change forever.

Nineteen years ago this month, our son Kevin broke his neck in a fall and sustained a devastating spinal cord injury. It’s one of those bittersweet anniversaries. So much is so good in our lives. And yet, the loss is there every day.

I nearly forgot the day this year – a testament, I guess, to the fact that we’ve moved on in many ways. Kevin is still mostly disabled, and yet he still continues to make new gains when we least expect it. We’re still mostly caregivers. And yet, I love and appreciate life more than ever.

It’s strange and wonderful how we need both darkness and light to grow.

The end of last year began a new season for us as a family. A series of events have unfolded in a phenomenon that has, in rapid succession, answered several of my most desperate and long-standing prayers for my children and grandchildren. You know, those “the stone will have to roll away from the tomb” prayers, breathed so often I feared that I might irritate God with their frequency. They were the prayers carried in the night with a heavy heart and many tears before heaven. The ones that spring automatically to mind. You know.

Those prayers.

I prayed them for years without answers. 

Without warning, a door opened, followed by more.

In August of last year, our youngest daughter Grace began a new job. Prayer answered.

In November of last year, we received the news that our son Erik and daughter-in-law Rachel were expecting for the first time after being told that would probably never happen. We welcomed our first grandson into the world in May of this year. Prayer answered.

In the same month, our youngest son Daniel announced his engagement to a wonderful woman named Jenna. Prayer answered.

In June, our eldest granddaughter Rebekah graduated from homeschool and was immediately accepted into the university of her choice. Her parents, our eldest daughter Jennifer and husband Scott, sacrificed for many years and throughout many trials to educate their daughters. Rebekah is the second-generation to graduate from homeschool in our family. Prayer answered.

Their youngest daughter, Vanessa, will begin her first year of college level work as she finishes her last years in homeschool. Prayer answered.

This August, our son-in-law finally begins to see his long-standing dream of teaching become a reality. Prayer answered.

This summer, Kevin has been able, for the first time, to sit unassisted for nearly an hour at the side of his bed. This, from a man who was never supposed to move again. Ever. This, from a man who was thought – by some in the medical profession – to be better off dead. This, after nearly two decades of disability. Prayer answered.

Aaron and I continue to have the health we need to be caregivers and walk Kevin’s journey with him. Nineteen years ago, we were told it would be impossible for us to care for him at home. We live the impossible every day with him.

Prayer answered.

Living in Graceland.

A friend once told me that her daughter, who liked to visit Grace, called our place "Graceland." We chucked at the ironic designation. It seems fitting, though, because we are the house grace built. This anniversary of Kevin's accident is our reminder God is always at work. Prayer is crucial, and He is never irritated when we bring our heartaches and hopes to Him.

If you’re facing impossible odds today, if darkness is all around you, lift up your head. God still answers prayer. He loves you, and He is at work in your life.

You are the house grace built.

Never Give Up

I awakened this morning to snow…again. This is one of the longest winters I can remember, and as I face the prospect of another gray day, spring seems to be a distant hope.

The morning drudgery is brightened by a steaming cup of coffee and my quiet time. I’m reading about Joseph in Egypt. As a youth, Joseph was sold into slavery by his brothers and unjustly accused of a crime against his master. It appeared that he would be in prison indefinitely, the dreams of his youth dead.

But in a day, his life reversed as God put into motion the events that would free him and bring him into the place for which God had prepared him. Those years in prison taught him humility and the grace of his Lord. Without the gray days, he would have never been ready for the job God had for him.

As I sit by my computer this morning, two dozen robins have flown in from their winter retreat to set up housekeeping. They hop along the ground like popcorn, seemingly oblivious to the cold. It doesn’t look like spring yet, but they know better. It is coming. It’s the great law of nature: Spring always comes.

Recently, the local paper did an article on Song in the Night and the story of our family. When the reporter asked our quadriplegic son Kevin if he wanted to tell something to the readers, he told her, “Never give up.” We can’t give up, because God can reverse any situation whenever He chooses. We never know how close we are to deliverance and victory. Winter never lasts forever.

Spring comes, and with it, new hope.