Are you sealed?

There is so much craziness that is going on around us today.  We definitely see the signs of the times. This should be a time in our life we should be asking ourselves one question.  Are we really sealed within the Lord?  You have probably seen, at different times, where I have written about where our relationship is at in the Lord.  The reason for it is there is a time when we’re going to have to trust in him more than ever.  I know I probably share this scripture a lot, but it’s one of my all time favorites. Hebrews 4:16 “Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.” This is the very place we need to be to get that stronger relationship with him.  This is also the place where we can be sealed within him.  What is one of the ways we can tell if we’re in a well established relationship within him? Let’s take a look at 1 John 2:6 “He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.” Now that’s a clear picture of having a strong relationship with him. The point I am trying to make here is this paints a picture of being sealed within him. What other way could we see a parallel to this situation? How about a closed door and that no man can open to harm you.
 
I began to think about how Noah had to build the ark and prepare for the flood.  So, I went back to study on that topic. I found some very interesting things in this study, let alone what the Holy Spirit revealed to me.  Let’s take a look at Genesis 6:8-9 “8) But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD. 9) These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God.” Now the Lord told me to look up the name of Noah. Noah means rest.  Wow!  This should tell us when we walk and take time out and be with him that we should be in a resting place or a place of peace.  We can see that Noah had a relationship with God from verse 9 “Noah walked with God”.  This relationship established grace which is a wonderful place to be in the eyes of the Lord which can be seen from verse 8.  This passage tells us how well Noah walked with the Lord “Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations” which tells us he abided with the Lord.  Our Christian walk should be all about abiding with the Lord on a daily basis as well. Now, I want to take it a step further and this is about the door on the ark.
 
What is so important about this door?  First, the door is open so you can enter in. Secondly, when the ark was built and God told Noah to enter into the ark, he closed the door behind him.  We see this when you get to Genesis 7:16 “And they that went in, went in male and female of all flesh, as God had commanded him: and the LORD shut him in.” This action parallels with Revelations 3:8 “I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name.” This tells us that God will always have a way for us to access his promises and nobody can shut that door as long as we get     ourselves sealed within the Lord.  Now, what about the door being shut?  We can find a similar scripture from Isaiah 22:22 “And the key of the house of David will I lay upon his shoulder; so he shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open.”  Wow again. We must understand some times God has to shut that door to seal us.  Why would he want to shut that door?  The Lord wants to protect us from awful things that are around us even now, but also the things that are coming soon. Stop and think about this for a moment.  God shut the door of the ark.  What was God protecting him from?  God was protecting him from the flood which would have sunk the ark if Noah had decided to open it.  Uh Oh!  Does this sound very familiar?  How many times has the Lord tried to close a door or a situation in our lives, then we get so far and reopen that door when we shouldn’t have.  Do you remember what Isaiah 54:17 tells us “No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness is of me, saith the LORD.”  The Lord closed that door for a reason.  The biggest thing is that the Lord wanted to protect us from anything that could jeopardize our blessings or promises he has in store for us so that nothing could harm us. This scripture is telling us when we are sealed we can be at rest because the Lord has us in full protection from the onset of the enemy. Do you remember why Noah was on the boat? The Lord was removing every corrupted thing out of the way and keeping Noah and his family protected at all time. This was also to seal Noah’s faith in the Lord.  What does Hebrews 11:1 say “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” The point I am trying to make is that Noah didn’t see any land for a long time; it went well beyond the forty days and nights of the rain alone. Genesis 7:24 “And the waters prevailed upon the earth an hundred and fifty days.” Even for sometime after those hundred fifty days as the scripture tells us, the water remained on the earth.  How did Noah know when it was okay and the flooding was receding back to let the land appear? When Noah opened the window to let a dove out, it kept coming back, until one day it came back with an olive leaf in its beak; until one day it didn’t return. Genesis 8:11-12 “11) And the dove came in to him in the evening; and, lo, in her mouth was an olive leaf pluckt (plucked) off: so Noah knew that the waters were abated from off the earth. 12) And he stayed yet other seven days; and sent forth the dove; which returned not again unto him any more.” We need to remember that the dove here is symbolic to the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit is always going before us so that we can be guided into the right direction. This type of leading will help us to understand when to open or close a door and keep in that position until we’re told otherwise. What needs to be seen is how the evidence might not look good at first but when we’re sealed in the Lord’s protection; he’ll let us know when it’s okay to reopen that door again, because that’s when he’s ready to open it for us.
 
What the Lord showed me next was very interesting. When Noah was put in the ark it was a good while to keep Noah from any corruption that could overtake him. We sometimes can’t even last a week or two let alone for several months.  Most of us will give up when years go by until the Lord gets a hold of us again or most importantly when we decide to start seeking him out again to find out where we went wrong at. There are some other illustrations of this type of protection, but the Lord told me to look at when Moses lead the people out of Egypt to take them to the promise Land.  This took them forty years to get out of the wilderness. Why did this happen?  They weren’t sealed well enough in the Lord and kept looking back; telling themselves at least we had all these things and didn’t have to worry about what we’re facing now on top of it. Were they sealed in the Lord? No, they just kept looking back which caused them to complain on a regular basis, which means you either lost faith or have outright given up on the Lord.  This means that the seal has been broken during our time of grumbling and complaining and as long as we kept on looking back to the former things.  This is a lack of faith in the Lord. The thing I found very interesting was that when Moses was on the mount getting the Ten Commandments, not only did the children of God think something happened to Moses, but they decided to turn to something else which was another God. How do we know? They made a molten calf.  What just took place at this very moment? They broke their seal with the Lord by building that molten calf, or in other words they opened a door that should not have been opened.  This was costly to many. The difference here was that man was given a choice to either follow or not to follow.  What is your choice going to be?
 
We need to always remember the Lord has our best interest at heart. Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.” This scripture might not just come right out and say it will open and close a door for you or even when they need to be doing the opposite of what really needs to be done. The truth is when we get before the Lord to begin establishing a relationship and work on walking in his ways we will know when that door is open or closed. What we need to do is never take a look at a closed door to mean the enemy is trying to stop us from our blessing or protection because that isn’t always the truth.  Remember what John 10:10 says “The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” This is saying I have open and shut some doors to give you peace. Don’t open that door unless I say, because the enemy wants access in and can take you out of that place of peace. Please take the timeout and check yourself to see just how well you are sealed in the Lord.
 

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