Tag: sanctification

The Common Place and the Extraordinary in the Body of Christ

1 Corinthians 1:2
To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours:

When Paul addressed the Corinthians, he emphasized their sanctification through Jesus Christ. He confirmed that they would be among all the saints in heaven who had also called on the name of Our Lord as their Savior. He stressed that they would all be part of the Body of Christ.

By the grace of God, we are all called to be heirs to His kingdom. Our Heavenly Father’s hand never leaves us as He prepares us to be His saints. It is for His good pleasure and for His glory that He provides His Holy Spirit to prepare us to be His saints. But God also brings commonplace people and commonplace events into our lives to teach us, to encourage us and to confirm the plans that He has for us. He may at times use extraordinary people and extremely uncommon events when He needs to drive a message home.

Let us take careful consideration of the people that God places in our lives. Let us be aware of the challengers who are there to test us on an ongoing basis in order to stimulate our spiritual growth. Let us also be aware of the challenged who are there for us to encourage, build up and serve.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for Your perfect plan to have us join You in heaven for all eternity. We bless the name of Jesus for His shed blood that washes us clean and makes it possible for us to enter into Your presence. We pray, Lord, that You will release many teachers, encouragers and confirmers into our lives. We ask for ears to hear them and the wisdom to follow their counsel. We pray that we may also become teachers, encouragers and confirmers in the lives of others on their journeys to sainthood. We ask all these things in the name of Our Holy and Awesome Lord, Jesus Christ.

Jesus Won the Battle on the Cross

2 Corinthians 10:3
For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh.

To wage war against Satan relying on our on strength is pure folly. To fight against the strongholds of our flesh without Jesus Christ is also pure folly. Without Jesus Christ, we will lose each of these battles more times than not. Without Jesus Christ, the small battles that we may win will only be pyrrhic victories. The costly war will be lost.

Our only formula for victory over Satan and over the torments of our flesh is to cast all of our cares upon the Lord. Through Him we have victory in everything. The process of sanctification is giving up one’s own ability to compete and placing the battle entirely in the hands of Jesus Christ.

Ultimately, the battle is not against sin. Jesus won the battle against sin on the Cross. The battle is our struggle to let go of our natural lives in which have no power against the enemy and take on the spirit filled life of Christ which allows us to apply the supernatural power of Almighty God against Satan and his minions.

Let us give up all confidence that we have in our own abilities to take on Satan. Let us take all of our battles before the Lord. Let us cast all of our cares on Him. Let us claim the victory that He won for us on the Cross.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for the blood of Your Son that cleanses of our sins. We bless the name of Jesus who indwells us so that we may have the grace to turn away from our natural lives and turn toward our lives in Christ. We pray that when the enemy comes prowling with the intent to destroy us and those around us that we look confidently to our Savior King. We ask all these things in the name of Our Lord Mighty in Battle, Jesus Christ.

Freed From Sin

1 Corinthians 1:30
God has united you with Christ Jesus. For our benefit God made him to be wisdom itself. Christ made us right with God; he made us pure and holy, and he freed us from sin.

Without Jesus Christ in our lives, we are depraved and corrupt. With the regenerating grace of God through His Son, Jesus, we are benefactors of the redemptive process. We are freed from sin and made pure and holy in the eyes of Almighty God. Through this salvation process, we receive all the fullness of the treasures of heaven so that we are fit for the service to which we have been eternally called.

Are we willing for God to make holiness as real in us as it is in His Son, Jesus? The sanctification process begins at the instant that we humbly receive Jesus Christ as Our Redeemer. The sanctification process flourishes as we deny ourselves and rely entirely on Jesus to release His holiness in our lives. The sanctification process is a continuous journey until the day we stand before the Lord in the fullness of our completed holiness.

Sanctification is impossible in our flesh alone. It is only possible with the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit in full operation in our lives. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, we access all the perfection and holiness that is Jesus Christ. As long as we remain surrendered to Our Savior and seek the ongoing work of His Holy Spirit in our lives, we will live a life of holiness on this earth. It will not be uninterrupted holiness like we will experience in our glorified bodies, but it will be steady and it will be pleasing to the One who is calling us to our eternal place of glory.

Let us strive to be holy as Our Savior is holy. Let us learn to rely entirely on the indwelling Holy Spirit as we battle our tormenting flesh and the attacks of the enemy. Let us show the world around us our freedom from sin that they may be drawn to Our Redeemer.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for taking us from the corruption of our old man into a condition of holiness in our new man in Christ. We worship You and bless Your name from the fount of holiness that Our Savior has created within us. We pray that we will receive the grace that we need to remain steadfast on our journey of sanctification. We seek to have our journey become a living testimony to those who you have placed in our lives. We pray for the wisdom and the courage to share our sanctification story with the flock that you have given us. We ask all these things in the name of the Holy One of God, Jesus Christ.

Pleasing to the Sight of Our Savior

Hebrews 13:20-21
Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.

Upon receiving Jesus Christ as Our Savior, the Holy Spirit begins to show us what sanctification means. The job of the Holy Spirit is to show us what is pleasing in the sight of Our Savior. As a result of this process, everything that we do that is displeasing to the Lord also comes to light. Thus begins the struggle of the old man versus the new man.

Jesus became man so that He could die for our sins. When He comes to dwell within us, there is no room for the sins of the old man. We must allow our old selves to die as we assume our new life in Christ. The two cannot abide together. To try and hold on to our old lives once Jesus has arrived is to enter into a struggle that is filled with endless pain. The new life of joy is found only in the death of our old lives.

As we work toward a life that is well pleasing in the sight of Jesus, we must recognize that the work of grace is necessary. Without the good work of grace, we are not capable of overcoming the nature of the old man within us. But be certain, the work of grace is not the work of man. It is the work of God alone. It is an internal work done in the heart of men by Him. It is a gradual and progressive work. It will not be perfected until we stand before Him. But indeed, when we stand before Him all the displeasing things in us will be gone forever and all the pleasing things in His sight will shine brightly for all eternity.

Let us begin each day by asking the Lord for fresh grace. Let us ask the Lord to equip us with everything good that we may do His will for our lives. Let us seek the Holy Spirit to guide us and direct us on our paths of sanctification. Let us rejoice in knowing that the victory is ours through Jesus Christ.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for giving us Your Holy Word that defines the things that please you. We praise You for revealing to us all the things in our lives that displease you. We bless the name of Jesus for giving us victory over the sins that try to defeat us. We pray, Lord, that the Holy Spirit will strengthen us in our struggles to overcome the torments of our flesh and the attacks of the enemy. May the Holy Spirit enlighten us in the areas that the world tries to redefine as acceptable when You have already defined it as sin. May all that we do be acceptable in Your eyes. May it all be for Your glory. We ask all these things in the name of the Captain of Our Salvation, Jesus Christ.

The Beatitudes Are Not God’s “To Do” List

Matthew 5:3
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

The teachings of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount have become known as The Beatitudes. To many, The Beatitudes offer rewards that do not appear reachable because they require behavior that seems out of touch with what the world has to offer. The promises of the Beatitudes become much clearer and more attainable when we realize that The Beatitudes are not meant to be a “To Do” list of required behaviors. They are intended to point out the need for our relationship with Jesus Christ and how that relationship will impact our lives. It becomes even easier to understand The Beatitudes when we recognize that the first four Beatitudes specifically address our relationship with Jesus.

  • “Blessed are the poor in spirit” speaks to how far we fall short of the glory of God without His Son’s redemption.
  • “Blessed are those that mourn” speaks to our need to express our sorrow for our sinful ways.
  • “Blessed are the meek” speaks to our need to humble ourselves before Our Savior and accept the salvation that He offers us.
  • “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness” speaks to our need to become new men and women in Christ.

The remainder of the Beatitudes address how our lives will change when we accept Our Savior. With Christ indwelling in us, we are able to be merciful, be pure of heart and be peacemakers. As a result, we will receive the rewards of this earth as promised by Jesus, but we will also be persecuted for our righteousness in Christ. When all these things have happened to us and for us, we can rejoice and be glad for our reward will be great in the kingdom of God.

Let us humble ourselves before the throne of Almighty God as we express our hunger for an intimate relationship with His Son. Let us surrender to the sanctification process that our indwelling Redeemer brings into our lives. Let us rejoice in our changed and blessed lives in Christ.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for revealing to us our great need for Your Son in our lives. We exalt the name of Jesus for it is through Him that we are given the kingdom of heaven. We pray, Lord, for the humility to recognize our filthy and condemned nature without the saving grace of the Cross. We ask that Your Holy Spirit will come along side of us and help us so that we will allow the power of the presence of Your Son in our lives to change how we serve You. We pray that we receive the fullness of the blessings that are promised in the Beatitudes. We ask all these things in the name of Our Rewarder, Jesus Christ.

Learning From the Errors of Our Ways

James 1:4
And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

We have all, whether a parent or not, probably had the opportunity to instruct young children. We likely recognized the need to stay right near them as they learned the new teaching. It was also likely that we had to encourage them and console them each time they fell short of completely grasping the instruction. We may have needed to bring to their attention the errors of their ways and remind them of the proper process. We persevered with them time and again, rejoicing in each moment of progress, until they had mastered the new instruction. The process required our patience and the patience of the child. We never considered ultimate failure. We always had faith that in the end the numerous trials would be worth the effort.

Thank the Lord for His salvation promise to complete every good work that He starts in us. He will let nothing in our lives escape His attention. He will steadfastly stand by us even as we stumble over and over. He will pick us up as many times as we fall, even though He knows that we will never get it completely right on this earth. He will continue to show us the error in our ways and point out the path that He has set aside for us. He will continue to pick us up until that glorious day when we stand before Him in the image of His Son and He welcomes us into heaven as good and faithful servants.

Let us learn to be patient with the process of sanctification. Let us find joy in the constant grace that Our Father extends to us during each of our trials. Let us prepare ourselves for the perfection in glory that is coming.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, blessed be the name of Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Savior. Thank You for His steadfast work in our lives. We pray that we will be quick to see the error in our ways and be even quicker to respond to Your correction. May we completely surrender our lives to the perfect ways of Your Son. As we rise and fall in our frailty, may we rejoice in knowing that Your presence is always with us and You will not leave us before Your perfecting work is done. We ask all these things in the name of our Sure Foundation, Jesus Christ.

The Work of Becoming Holy

Philippians 2:12-13
Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

When Paul wrote to the Philippians, he knew that they were struggling with sin in their lives just as we all are. He knew that they found it easier “to behave” when they were in his presence, just as we are more on guard in the presence of others. He exhorted them to be constant in their battle against sin whether He was there or not.

He was not telling them that they were working to earn their salvation. He was telling them how to overcome the ongoing attacks of the flesh which would try to lead them back to the sin that had been washed away forever by their Savior. He was reminding them that their victory had already been set aside by the One who had died for their sins and dwells within them. He was emphasizing that they must live in reverent awe of their Savior and not be lead by the whims of their flesh.

So it is with us. We do not work to earn our salvation. If we have received Jesus as Our Savior, we have been redeemed and washed clean of all of our sin. The work of salvation that Paul speaks of is really the work of sanctification. It is the process that we go through as we learn to lean on Jesus and not our own strength to overcome the work of the enemy in our lives.

Let us ask the Holy Spirit to inspect us and to reveal to us the sin that we are holding on to. Let us surrender to the purifying work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Let us rejoice in pleasing the Lord as He strengthens us to walk the path of sanctification.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we proclaim our sin before You and ask for Your forgiveness. We thank You that this issue has been settled on our behalf for all eternity. We pray that we may be continually washed by the blood of Your Son and strengthened daily by His presence in our lives. We ask to live in reverent awe of who You are so that we will come under the purifying conviction of the Holy Spirit. We ask all these things in the name of the Tower of Salvation, Jesus Christ.

The Commandment We Cannot Keep Without Christ

Matthew 22:37
And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.

To love God with all of our heart, soul and mind requires that all of our physical strength and all of our intellect and understanding be fully engaged in turning all of our affections toward our heavenly Father. May we always be mindful that God provided His Son to die for our sins because we can not measure up to this command from Almighty God. We simply do not have the capacity, except through Christ in us, to love God to the extent that our love consumes our whole heart, soul and mind.

We should also be mindful that God is completely aware of our weakness. He provides His Holy Spirit to dwell within us to guide us along our path of sanctification. The Holy Spirit will not rest when we depart from making God the love above all loves in our lives. The Holy Spirit will not accept us living with one foot in God’s kingdom and one foot in the world. It is all or nothing with the Holy Spirit. The good news is that the Holy Spirit’s job is to follow through on God’s promise to perfect His strength in our weakness.

Let us, who have no virtue or value without the work of salvation in our lives, allow ourselves to be overtaken by the overwhelming love of Christ in our lives. Let us become vessels of His perfect love and forgiveness.

Let us, who fall far short of loving Our Lord with all of our hearts, all of our souls and all of our minds, surrender to the urgings of the Holy Spirit. Let us be consumed by His pentecostal fire.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for the mercy and the endless grace that You provide to each of us. We bless the name of Jesus who allows us to fulfill the law that we cannot fulfill on our own. Help us, Lord, to be keenly aware of the urgings of the Holy Spirit. Help us to humbly accept the corrections that the Holy Spirit is asking us to make in our lives. We pray, Father, that Your Holy Spirit will take us to the high places that can only be reached when our hearts are fully consumed by Your love. We ask all these things in the name of the Exalted One, Jesus Christ.

The Work of the Holy Spirit

John 14:26
But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.

Why would we miss the opportunity to seek the power and presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives? He has been sent to us by the Father in the name of His Son, Jesus. There is no consultant on earth with those credentials. Why would we seek others or rely on our own thinking when such a resource has been given to us?

No matter how intelligent we might be, the teachings of the Bible will remain a mystery to us without the influence of the Holy Spirit to aid us. Our understanding is no better than the early listeners to Jesus’ parables who “did not have ears to hear”. We cannot be disciples of Jesus Christ without the gift of the Holy Spirit.

It is the work and business of the Holy Spirit, to teach, interpret, and explain all things to us which Christ had taught to His disciples. It is the work of the Holy Spirit to make the Bible plain and easy to for us to understand. It is the work of the Holy Spirit to draw us to and instruct us in all things necessary for salvation. It is the work of the Holy Spirit to prepare us to teach what we have learned to others.

Let us seek the fullness of the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Let us ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to us the meaning of the Holy Scriptures and how we should apply them to our lives. Let us prepare ourselves to share what we have been taught with others.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for sending the Holy Spirit to be Our Helper, Our Comforter and Our Guide on our journey of sanctification. We pray that the Holy Spirit will instruct us in all things necessary for our salvation. We ask, Lord, for the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives help us to interpret Your Holy Word. May Your teachings become easy for us to understand and apply to our lives. May the Holy Spirit show us how to share this precious gift with others. We ask all these things in the name of the power of God in our lives, Jesus Christ.

Release of Unfathomed Treasures

John 14:26
But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.

Jesus taught His disciples that they would receive far greater powers after He left them. He promised that He would send the Holy Spirit to remind them of His teachings and to release in them the power that He promised to them.

When we receive Jesus Christ as Our Savior, we are indwelled by His Holy Spirit. As the Holy Spirit fulfills His calling to glorify Jesus, He declares the things that are to come into our lives through our relationship with Jesus. Just like the apostles did, we enter into a new phase of our lives. We move from whatever natural level of piety, prayer and devotion that we might have had in the past into a new supernatural level of devotion in our daily lives. We are then directed by the Holy Spirit into a personal, passionate relationship with Jesus.

Simultaneously, the Holy Spirit begins to lead us through the sanctification process. From that first moment of accepting Jesus and until our death, the Holy Spirit is shaping us into the person that God created us to be. As we go through the sanctification process, we go through a supernatural transformation. As we respond to the urgings of the Holy Spirit, our spiritual faculty is quickened so that we may understand and respond to unfathomed treasures that are in Jesus Christ.

Ultimately, as the Holy Spirit reveals the fullness of Jesus Christ to us, our manifest destiny that Jesus has prepared for us is also revealed. As we mature in Christ, we start walking in the life that God had planned for us from the beginning.

Let us invite the Holy Spirit to reveal our callings to us. Let us solicit the Holy Spirit to release the supernatural power that Jesus promised to His disciples of all times and seasons. Let us begin to walk the pathways of our manifest destinies in Christ.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for the Holy Spirit who reveals to us the treasures that are ours through Your Son, Jesus. We rejoice as the Holy Spirit leads us to Jesus to lean on Him for every good thing through time and for all eternity. We pray, Lord, that we may join the Holy Spirit as He glorifies the name of Our Savior. May our work be derived from our devotion to Your Son. May those around us know us by our calling and may they be called in the same manner. We ask all these things in the name of Our Lord and Our Sanctifier, Jesus Christ.