Guaranteed

I want to start with a few thoughts on a passage in Ephesians that grabbed my attention yesterday morning:

‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭1:13‭-‬14‬ ‭- In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.

Ephesians chapter 1 is so rich with spiritual truths about the work Jesus Christ accomplished for us so that we only have to accept His free gift - a secure future in Heaven - by admitting our sins and failures, asking for forgiveness and believing that Jesus paid the penalty for those sins by dying on the cross and that He destroyed death by raising Himself from the dead and is alive in Heaven today - Savior, King, Lord, Friend.  

But the way we KNOW our spot in Heaven is reserved is that Jesus sent us a guarantee.  The Holy Spirit is inside of every true believer.  He is the voice inside our hearts that convicts us, motivates us and teaches us how to live in a way that is pleasing and honoring to the Lord. The Holy Spirit also intercedes for us with the Father when we are overwhelmed and don't know what to say.  

All of Ephesians Chapter 1 was read at our Breaking of Bread service (also called the Remembrance Meeting or Worship Meeting). The purpose of this meeting is to remember, contemplate, meditate on and celebrate Christ’s death and resurrection and to thank, praise and worship Him for loving us so much that He made the ultimate sacrifice for us - to save us from eternal death and punishment. There were many verses emphasized out of this passage yesterday morning but not verses 13 & 14. However, as soon as these verses were read, it’s as if Jesus spoke directly to my heart - “Here’s proof you will join me in Heaven one day. I gave you the Holy Spirit and He guarantees your reservation.”

I have had this promise on my mind since then. And this morning, 2 of the devotionals I read brought out this exact same thought! The Lord is so gracious and is such a loving Savior! I wasn’t doubting my salvation, but He loves me and it seems He wanted to make sure I feel it. His love is guaranteed!

And now, I want to share a few other things with you. Last week was our daughter’s Spring Break. She had been begging all week to go visit the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival. Last year she went with her friends at the tail end of April and the flowers were mostly wilted and spent. It was her first visit to the Tulip Festival and it was somewhat disappointing. Our daughter is such a flower lover! She has adored flowers from the time she could toddle over and smell them. She had a perpetually yellow nose when the flowers were in bloom from smelling every flower she could reach. She never really played with dolls - her favorite toys were plush flowers with bendy stems and smiling faces. She has a collection of “stuffed” flowers and at one point she had given them all names. She has a favorite one though and she carried that one with her everywhere she went when she was younger. She even took it with her to summer camp! So it’s no surprise she wanted to visit a field of flowers over her Spring Break.

We decided the best day to go would be Thursday, after she was mostly healed up from her oral surgery and after a few sunny and dry days so the fields wouldn’t be muddy. It was also supposed to be the best weather day of the week and, that day was also our 26th wedding anniversary 😊. It was beautiful and we got lots of great pictures! Our sweet daughter made sure we had beautiful anniversary pictures too.

Thursday morning I was reading my Bible before we left for the Tulip Festival and the first verse I read was Isaiah 40:8 - The grass withers, the flower fades, but the Word of our God will stand forever.

What a fitting verse to read that morning! It was something I kept thinking about throughout the day as we admired the beautiful fields of colorful tulips that would fade away in a matter of weeks.

Speaking of our anniversary, I have officially been married for half my life😁. We went to a nice dinner on Friday evening and then a walk on the beach down to the water where we watched a beautiful sunset and picked up a few shells. Another beautiful day and so many reminders of our amazing Creator!

And I hate to bust up the lovely pictures I just painted but there was a LOT of walking and other activity going on during the last 2 days last week and my husband and I were BOTH so tired by Saturday that we ended up taking a long nap together 🤣! I was so thankful to have a day to rest with no big plans before church on Sunday. I don’t like to start any day out fatigued but I especially don’t like being tired on Sunday mornings because when I’m fatigued, I yawn through the service which looks rude and like I'm bored.  

The reality of my situation is that everything special and fun takes energy - physical,  mental, emotional... even the positive experiences take a toll.  I have to plan for the fun but also for a period of rest afterward.   The amount of rest needed depends on how much energy was expended.  It's kind of a bummer that I can't jam-pack my days with activities when I have active teens and a husband who travels for a living.   But honestly,  when my schedule was that busy in my healthy youth,  I was sick more frequently,  had regular migraines and no time to truly enjoy the activities I loaded my schedule with.  I still feel that MS is a blessing that forces time for rest and a slower pace to enjoy living my life.

Another thing I want to mention briefly is that May 1 is the National Day of Prayer.  I want to call it to your attention early in case it isn't already on your radar.  Not only are the people around us in desperate need but our nation, states, counties, schools and local governments need LOTS of focused, intense prayer.   I have a prayer list alarmingly long just of friends and family members with serious concerns.  I urge you to pray continually for the needs of everyone around you - some of whom will likely never tell you what their needs are.  But on May 1, in addition to those prayers,  pray for our church leaders - pastors, elders and deacons; pray for our missionaries taking risks daily to bring the Gospel to people around the world; pray for our elected officials,  for our judges and for school boards across our country; and most of all, pray for a spiritual awakening and revival throughout our nation - and around the globe.

We have busy, complicated lives.   But don't let your daily life cut in to your prayer life or get in the way of your testimony.  We want everyone to have a reservation in Heaven- confirmed by the Holy Spirit within them, don't we?