July 22nd

Sanctification.

“This is the will of God, even your sanctification.” 1 Thess. 4:3

The Death Side.
In sanctification God has to deal with us on the death side as well as on the life side.
Many of us spend so much time in the place of death that we get sepulchral.( I had no idea what sepulchral meant I had to look it up. It basically means: sorrowful, gloomy, sad and mournful.)

There is always a battle royal before sanctification, always something that tugs with resentment against the demands of Jesus Christ. Immediately the Spirit of God begins to show us what sanctification means, the struggle begins.
“If any man comes to me and hate not… his own life, he cannot be my disciple.”

The Spirit of God in the process of sanctification means will strip me until I am nothing but “myself” that is the place of death. Am I willing to be “myself,” and nothing more–no friends, no father, no brother, no self-interest– simply ready for death?

That is the condition of sanctification. No wonder Jesus said: “I came not to send peace, but a sword.”

This is where the battle comes, and where so many of us faint.
We refuse to be identified with the death of Jesus on this point. “But it is so stern,” we say; “He cannot wish me to do that.” Our Lord is stern; and He does wish us to do that.

Am I willing to reduce myself simply to “me,” determinedly to strip myself of all my friends think of me, of all I think of myself, and to hand that simple naked self over to God?

Immediately I am, He will sanctify me wholly, and my life will be free from earnestness in connection with everything but God.

When I pray –“Lord, show me what sanctification means for me,”He will show me. It means being made one with Jesus.

Sanctification is not something Jesus Christ puts into me: it is Himself in Me.
(1 Cor 1:30)

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Thoughts:

The realness that we must have with our Father is where our intimacy comes out from.

No time spent with Him is a waste.
Things are shifting even if we do not see it.

Even if it is sitting down not saying a word, but just listening to worship or even silence and we are speaking by our actions this:
“In and amongst the chaos of my life, I will be still and know, I will just be in your presence with no other desire then siting here.”

In those moments our cup will be filled to overflow.

In those minutes, seconds, hours, we will grow closest to His heart.

In the stillness even when there is a storm and chaos that we may not understand, stilling our self and slowing everything down is when we can finally grab hold of peace. (Prince of Peace.)

We do not always need to be shouting but if you have to do it. We don’t always have to be quiet if you have to do it. What ever is the realness of your heart DO IT.
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Am I willing to be Me, in front of God? That question rocked me. Because it wasn’t the aspect of right now for me that ran through my mind.

It was the moment I would be standing before Him. Am I going to be saying all the works I did and titles He had given me? Or am I just going to be His Son in that moment sharing what He did through me?

Sanctification, am I willing to watch things as some people say “be taken away” that I may be able to be made more like Jesus?

He prunes, uproots, and refines us of anything that is not of the image of His Son.

Though those things can be painful at times, it’s not of the fact of wanting to cause pain in our life’s but some things have become so rooted in us that it actually hurts when trying to deal with it being removed.

“Myself” we cannot be frightened of being. That fear of: “the Lord will not accept me if I share that with Him. ” is poison to our relationship.

Beloved, He already knows it and still loves you just the same. But if you don’t open up you two will never be able to work on removing the hurt.

It’s a two way street.
You giving, Him receiving,
Him Giving, You receiving.
One without the other is impossible to do either.

This next thought changed my way of thinking—
If the Father knows what I am going to do tomorrow and yet still chooses to love me TODAY what kind of love is that?

I am probably going to screw something up tomorrow. I’m probably going to fall short. Yet, God chooses today to bless me and speak to me and use me STILL knowing of tomorrow’s mistakes, yet seeing His son in front of me and refracting my sins under His Glory.

It is in today’s movements toward His heart that is more important then the thoughts and prayers to do so tomorrow.

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Lord remove all things that hinder you from getting to our hearts. Remove our walls of pride and the spirit of fear that clings to our souls.
Lord your Love is real, and you long to make a home in our hearts. So Father, clear the debris of all the things we picked up on this journey of life that was not from you. Make the foundation strong, that I may be rooted and established in you.
Lord I seek your voice to correct and move me as you please. Help me be myself, the person you formed naked, I pray that I may be stripped from all the thoughts for me from friends or myself. Strip all the noises and words that I have placed above your voice in my life.

Joseph III