With Me In The Winepress – Ephesians 1:13-14
We hope you enjoy this week’s excerpt on Ephesians 1:13-14.
Ephesians 1:13-14 (ESV)
13 In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit,
14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.
John 14:18 (ESV)
18 “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.
Regarding David, when you see someone from a foreign nation attach themselves to Israel during the time of David, it was because of David specifically. They transferred their entire future to one person, a giant killer, a warrior, a worshipper, a Prophet, and a King. They did so because of David, and David did so all because of God.
The shepherd boy from Bethlehem would be a type and shadow of The Child born in Bethlehem. As believers, we can very much identify with those who followed David from a strange land left everything behind. They had a right to be in the new land solely because of their relationship with David.
We have the opportunity to experience Ephesians 1:13-14 solely because of our relationship with The Son Of David. Their seal was David had invited them to be a part of his kingdom. Our seal is when Christ’s Spirit invited us to be a part of His kingdom. His fleshly sacrifice redeemed us, His Spirit seals us to live a new life and look to an eternal future.
The Word explains that The Promised “Holy Spirit, Who is the guarantee of our inheritance”… God gave Himself as the Pledge that we would be with Him one day when everything is complete. Until then He gave us His Spirit, He gave us Himself in the form of His Spirit to empower us to live victorious lives.
We never have to worry about living this life alone. It’s why Jesus said in John 14 that He would not leave us as orphans, He would come to us. Everything about being a Christian, the entire aspects of The Kingdom of God, and a walk with Jesus is about Him being with us, and each of us being with Jesus.
He gave His life so we could be with Him, and that we could be with Jesus. His concern isn’t where we came from, or what condition we were in. His focus is who we are in Him, where we are, and where we’re going with Him. It’s when we lose sight of that relationship when we open ourselves up to danger.
This is dangerous beyond the fear of backsliding or growing cold on God. There is discouragement opportunities in the distance that we can allow between us and Him. The more distance between us, the more we can notice the waves. The more distant His voice, the louder our fears.
It not only affects us negatively, it hurts Him. It’s tempting for us to tell ourselves, The Lord understands, and He does. Yet understanding doesn’t mean it isn’t painful to Him when we neglect Him.
When we allow distance in a relationship, even unintentionally or with what appear to be justifiable excuses, we bring pain to The Master. When we’re too busy to spend time with a loved one, it hurts. I admit that I have failed Him so many times, but I’m striving to do better at this, to get rid of anything that distances me from Him.
Being close to Jesus doesn’t mean we always know the answer either. The more in tune we are with Him, the easier it is to be okay with where He is leading us. We may not always understand it, but the closer to Jesus, the more okay we are with questions.
Distance isn’t about answers, it’s about awareness. The less aware of His Presence we are, the more likely we can be to miss the next step we’re supposed to take. Missing His voice through distance, besides being hurtful to Him and to us, it can also cause us to miss the needs of someone else.
When more in tune with Jesus, we’re more in tune with the needs of others. The danger of distance affects not only our relationship with Christ, but our ability to minister to others. Whatever limits our connection with Him limits us, and limits our effectiveness with others.
First and foremost I don’t want to hurt Him through allowing distance. Second I don’t want to hurt others by being out of tune. Finally I don’t want to live a life where I’m farther from Him than I have to be.
