Sanctification

So, we have talked about regeneration and justification, which leaves us with sanctification.  This one really amazes me simply because it is not a one time gift like the others.  Sanctification is truly the gift that keeps giving.

By definition, sanctification is: to make holy; set apart as sacred; consecrate; purify; free from sin; render legitimate or binding.  When believe in Christ we being the journey of sanctification, or the process by which God makes us holy and sets us apart as his own.

At the moment we repent and believe in Christ the Holy Spirit takes up residence in our heart.  His job is to work out our sanctification and keep us on track with the Lord.  I don’t fully agree with the Jiminey Cricket analogy, but can see a bit of truth to it.  The Holy Spirit can in fact be our conscious, but if we limit him to that we are missing out on so much.

Max Lucado wrote an amazing book entitled “Just Like Jesus.”  The focus of the book was how God loves us just the way we are, yet he refuses to leave us that way.  He wants us to be just like Jesus.  Lucado reflects on the life of Christ and how He is an example of how we are to live as Christians and follow our Heavenly Father.  He describes how the Holy Spirit works in us to change us, making us more and more like Christ every day.

When we look at the life of Christ as our example and the Holy Sprit as our agent of sanctification, or, if you rather, our guide, we have the perfect team to teach us how to live our lives holy and pleasing to God.

Sanctification is the work of the Holy Spirit bringing about a change in our entire nature.  Remember we have were born in a world of sin, given a nature of sin through Adam.  At salvation we were forgiven our sins, but our flesh still battles that sin nature.  The Holy Spirit is there to guide us, give us wisdom and wise council as we war against our flesh.  With every victory and defeat we learn valuable lessons on becoming the people God wants us to be.

 We are promised in Philippians 1:6 that “He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus”. God has started a great work in each of us at the moment of salvation.  The Holy Spirit guides us to continue that good work in us, changing us and making us into the men and women God has called us to be.  He will not stop until Christ returns.  That is encouraging to me.  There have been many times that I would have given up on myself, but God loves me, God loves us, so much that he refuses to give up on us.  He will continue the process of sanctification in us until we go home or Christ returns.  Either way, the Holy Spirit won’t stop until the work is done.

Psalm 3

            I will never fully understand why I get so surprised when the Lord answers my prayers.  Not sure if my surprise comes out of disbelief that he cares enough to answer me, or disbelief that I was able to come up with a question worthy of answering.  I pray that one day I will not be quite so surprised when He answers, but will soak in what He reveals to me and enjoy the moment. 

            This morning my journal entry was written as a result of my surprise at His loving response to a struggling heart.  Though I hate to admit it, I am a woman filled with insecurities.  Like most other women I know, I try to deny those insecurities and hopefully hide them so deep that no one around me sees them.  I am beginning to realize two things.  1) I do not hide them as well as I would like, and 2) I am tired of trying to hide them. I want to learn to live a life that reflects the strength and dignity that I have been given in Christ.  So, that was the beginning of my prayer.  I stopped and read Psalm 3.  After reading it one time through, I went back to take it verse by verse and pray through it.  As I read verse 3, I began to cry.  There it was! The words I so desperately needed to hear! “But you, O LORD, are a shield about me, my glory, and the lifter of my head”. 

            Immediately God planted a vision in my mind.  I could see a broken hearted little girl with tears streaming down her cheeks.  Her father kneels before her, gently places his hand under her chin and lifts her head up, just enough to be able to look into her eyes.   He smiles at her, his heart aching for her to know how much she is loved, how beautiful she is.  His deepest desire is for her to be able to see herself the way he does. 

            Could it really be that simple?  Our Heavenly Father kneeling before us, gently lifting our heads so we can see deep into His eyes?  Eyes that reveal a heart full of love and compassion for His children.  Eyes that plead with us to stop being so critical and take a moment to see ourselves the way He does.  Yes, I believe it really is this simple, yet in our flesh we tend to complicate such a simple and passionate love.

            Like many of you, I can quote scripture that tells us exactly how much we are loved and what the Lord has in store for us.  I believe these passages wholeheartedly, yet have such a hard time accepting them.  I want to, but I feel so unworthy, which leaves me vulnerable and allows my insecurity to creep in and put a brick wall between myself and the love that I so desperately need.  Of course, this leads to anger, which leads to other insecurities… and the cycle begins. UGH!

            As I learn to trust and accept more, and embrace this love, my prayer is that I will pick up some passengers along the way!  I know from simple and heart felt conversations that I am not the only one in this place.  Nor am I the only one tired of being in this place!  It is time for a change, and the only one I know that can cause real, lasting change is my Heavenly Father. With that in mind, I leave you with Paul’s prayer to the church in Ephesus:

“For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.” Ephesians 3:14-19.   

This, my dear friends, is my prayer for me and you.

Justification

Still reflecting on the beauty of Spring and the gift of regeneration, I am drawn to the beautiful gift of justification given through salvation.  The gift of justification further displays the love the Father has for his children.

I have often heard the analogy of our entrance into heaven given in terms of a court trial.  God sits in the position as Judge while Christ and Satan present their arguments as to why we should and should not be allowed into heaven.  Satan brings up every sin in our lives, those others are aware of as well as the ones we thought we had hidden so very well from everyone.  We stand before our Judge drowning in shame and guilt at every word Satan speaks.  Then, it is Christ’s turn to tell the Father why we deserve to go to heaven.  Knowing full well there is nothing good inside our hearts, we hold our breath waiting to hear what Christ is about to tell the  Judge.  For those who believe, Christ will tell the Judge that even though every word Satan said about us is true, those sins cannot be held against us because we have been washed in the blood of Christ.  We are forgiven every sin because we believe in the death, burial and resurrection of Christ.  

Justification is the act of God pardoning the sins of all who believe in Christ.  He accounts for those believers as His own.  He accepts and treats them as righteous in the eye of the law, as though we have conformed to all of the strict demands the law requires of us.  Knowing full well in our flesh we are not able to fulfill the law, God looks on us through Christ and declares that we have satisfied the law, not that he has set aside the law and allowed us to cheat our way in to heaven.  Because of our belief in Christ, God looks on us as though we have lived obediently to the law. 

Okay, that is pretty heavy stuff.  Let’s break it down so I can understand it a little better.  When we repent of our sins and believe in Christ, we are justified.  That simply means that Christ has proven that we are right with God.  When we are justified, we get all the benefits of one that would have lived a perfect life, fulfilling every law given by God.  We know that this is completely impossible in our flesh.  Without the sacrifice of Christ and the justification that comes as a gift of that sacrifice, we will never be good enough to enter heaven.

Justification is yet another gift of love given to us from the Father.  It brings us back to the sacrifice that was made for us.  It brings us back to the reality that we have to face, the ugliness of our sin and the separation it causes.  Yet that ugliness is made beautiful in the sacrifice of Christ and the fulfillment of the justification in the life of every believer.  I stand before you now, humbled by the love of my Heavenly Father, grateful for the sacrifice that was given, and excited to rejoice with you in the justification that has been made for each of us.

Justification

Still reflecting on the beauty of Spring and the gift of regeneration, I am drawn to the beautiful gift of justification given through salvation.  The gift of justification further displays the love the Father has for his children.

I have often heard the analogy of our entrance into heaven given in terms of a court trial.  God sits in the position as Judge while Christ and Satan present their arguments as to why we should and should not be allowed into heaven.  Satan brings up every sin in our lives, those others are aware of as well as the ones we thought we had hidden so very well from everyone.  We stand before our Judge drowning in shame and guilt at every word Satan speaks.  Then, it is Christ’s turn to tell the Father why we deserve to go to heaven.  Knowing full well there is nothing good inside our hearts, we hold our breath waiting to hear what Christ is about to tell the  Judge.  For those who believe, Christ will tell the Judge that even though every word Satan said about us is true, those sins cannot be held against us because we have been washed in the blood of Christ.  We are forgiven every sin because we believe in the death, burial and resurrection of Christ.  

Justification is the act of God pardoning the sins of all who believe in Christ.  He accounts for those believers as His own.  He accepts and treats them as righteous in the eye of the law, as though we have conformed to all of the strict demands the law requires of us.  Knowing full well in our flesh we are not able to fulfill the law, God looks on us through Christ and declares that we have satisfied the law, not that he has set aside the law and allowed us to cheat our way in to heaven.  Because of our belief in Christ, God looks on us as though we have lived obediently to the law. 

Okay, that is pretty heavy stuff.  Let’s break it down so I can understand it a little better.  When we repent of our sins and believe in Christ, we are justified.  That simply means that Christ has proven that we are right with God.  When we are justified, we get all the benefits of one that would have lived a perfect life, fulfilling every law given by God.  We know that this is completely impossible in our flesh.  Without the sacrifice of Christ and the justification that comes as a gift of that sacrifice, we will never be good enough to enter heaven.

Justification is yet another gift of love given to us from the Father.  It brings us back to the sacrifice that was made for us.  It brings us back to the reality that we have to face, the ugliness of our sin and the separation it causes.  Yet that ugliness is made beautiful in the sacrifice of Christ and the fulfillment of the justification in the life of every believer.  I stand before you now, humbled by the love of my Heavenly Father, grateful for the sacrifice that was given, and excited to rejoice with you in the justification that has been made for each of us.

Regeneration

There have been a few things heavy on my heart for some time now, things I feel a burden to share with you.  I meant to post these before Easter, but I am a slacker and did not get them finished or posted.  So sorry about that.

When I think about salvation, for some reason my mind goes to Spring.  I am convinced there are two reasons for this.  First, we celebrate Easter in Spring.  Salvation would not exist if it were not for the sacrifice of Christ on the cross and His glorious resurrection.  I have a hard time soaking this in every year.  I will never understand why there could not be a different way for us to experience Salvation.  But I will always be grateful that my Heavenly Father was willing to sacrifice His only Son for me, and that Jesus was willing to endure such pain and suffering for my soul.  Such a humbling thought.

Second, Spring brings about regeneration and new life in all creation.  I love to wake up and listen to the birds sing, to walk outside and see flowers bloom, and to see new life.  It is as if all creation is springing to life, singing praise to God for giving them new life.  Spring is quickly defeating Fall as my favorite season of the year.

Salvation brings with it the gifts of regeneration, justification and sanctification.  It all begins with regeneration.  The dictionary provides many definitions for regeneration, all of which are intriguing to me.  Regeneration is defined as: the act of regenerating; restoration; new growth by an organism that has been lost, removed or injured; rebirth; renewal.

When God created the world it was perfect and man walked in harmony and open communication and peace with God.  His intent was to walk intimately with us, free from sin and it’s consequences.  All of earth was created to flow in a sense of unity, providing for and taking care of each other.  The balance of nature was perfect and at peace.  Then, though the disobedience of Adam and Eve, sin entered the world and the delicate balance that once existed was shattered.  Adam and Eve were banned from God’s presence because of their sin, and every generation since has paid the same price.  We are not able to walk intimately with God the way He intended because of sin. 

Because of God’s great love for us, for His creation, He decided to do something radical to bring us back to Him.  Through the sacrifice of Jesus, His one and only son, God made a way to bring about regeneration in all those who believe in Christ.  When we believe in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ, we are given the gift of regeneration.  We are restored to the relationship God had intended to have with us from the beginning.  What was lost, removed and injured because of sin has been given new growth, renewal and rebirth.  What a glorious gift!

This, my friend is why I think of Spring when I think of my salvation.  God loves us so much that He was not satisfied living a life separated from us.  He loves us so much that He gave His only Son as a living sacrifice for our lives, so that we can walk in perfect unity and harmony with Him yet again.  So the next time you hear a bird or see a new flower, take a moment to reflect on the love the Father has bestowed on you, that you were given new life and are His child. 

Pressed But Not Crushed

Early this morning my oldest daughter came to our bedroom wanting to climb in our bed.  Since my husband does not sleep well when the girls are in bed with us, and had to get up for work today, I told her she needed to get back in her bed.  She came back a while later asking again.  I told her that once daddy got up for work that she could get in bed with me.  She went and laid on the couch, waiting patiently.  I had this tug on my heart to go curl up on the couch with her.  I waited, thinking it would go away, but it just got stronger.  So, we curled up on the couch and she went back to sleep.  As we laid there I was reminded of how comforting it was as a child for me to curl up with mom or dad, especially when I was tired or having a rough day.  Still today, 35 years later, I cherish the hugs I get from my parents.  I pray that as my girls grow they will always run to me for hugs and comfort, at least physical comfort.

The longer we laid there, the more I was reminded of how our Heavenly Father longs to give us the comfort our souls desperately need.  When we are worn down because life has thrown us a few too many curve balls, or drug us through the mud until we feel we are permanently stained, God stands with arms wide open, waiting for us to run to Him.  He knows everything we have gone through and has walked with us every step of the way.  The fact that we are so worn down may be because we have not acknowledged His presence through the journey.  I know this has been my experience more often in life than I wish to admit.  I am learning, but as I told you, I am a slow learner.

What is even better… He knows what is around the corner!  He knows what our next step will be and where it will lead.  He knows if it will provide a moment of peace, or if it will be the one last struggle that we feel will finally break us in two.  In either situation, HE IS THERE!  So many times in scripture we are promised that He will never leave nor forsake us.  He is with us every step of the way.  Again, though, we have to chose to acknowledge his presence, or try to go it on our own.  Trial and error.  I have to say the more erroneous choices I have made in my life are making me look more quickly to my Father. 

So, when life is rough, when you are down and out, when you feel as though you cannot take another step, take that step!  Don’t give in!  Remember, we are pressed but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, yet not abandoned; struck down but never destroyed. 

Be still and know...

“Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”  Psalm 46:10

This verse is very familiar to most everyone.  Even those who are not Christian are familiar with the first part of this verse.  For most, this verse brings comfort and a reminder of the necessity to sit still, for at least a moment, and reflect on who God really is.  I have clung to this verse during the past few weeks, trying to focus more on who God is than what is going on in my life.  This has caused me to really study this verse in an attempt to do what it says, be still and know.  I was challenged and comforted by what I learned, so much so that I wanted to share it with you.  Before we can take a good look at verse 10, it is important to have a solid background of the first nine verses.  This lays the foundation of the meaning behind verse 10, and gives us great insight to the heart of David. 

David begins by reminding the people that God is their refuge and strength, their ever- present help in time of trouble (v.1). When life happens and we begin to worry and fret over what may happen, we must remember that God is there.  We tend to get so caught up in flesh details and our demands for answers that we forget to just step back and trust in Him. 

In verses 2-3, David refers to natural disasters that may occur in life, and reminds the people not to fear.  Though we may not be facing a natural disaster, each of us has our own personal “disasters” in life, our own difficulties that we must face, endure and eventually overcome.  When we are standing face to face with those “disasters”, we must remember not to fear, for fear is not of the Lord.  We are to stand in the Lord’s strength, not our own.

In verses 4-6, David speaks of Jerusalem, the holy city.  She is a sacred place, chosen of the Lord.  Therefore, God dwells in the heart of that city.  He is the river that flows through the city, giving it life.  Regardless of what happens to the city, He is in the heart of the city and He will not fall, He will be her help.  When wars are waged against her, when famine strikes, when surprise attacks hit the walls, God is there.  He is strong. He will not fall.  He is there to strengthen the city and give it victory.   It is so important to remember that as Christians, we have the Holy Spirit living in us.  He takes up residence in our hearts.  We have streams of living water inside us.  God is not going to leave or forsake us in times of trouble.  This is when He wants us to depend on Him more than ever before.  Life will not be easy, but we have God who will not allow us to face life on our own.

In verses 8-9, David reminds the people of the works of God’s mighty hands.  He has given them victory over their enemies, caused wars to cease, and has proven His strength to Jerusalem and other nations.  He is a mighty God, worthy of praise.  David wanted to remind the people to always be mindful of what God had accomplished for and through them in the past, and have confidence that God is able to even more in the days to come.  Often times when we are in difficult situations it is hard to see past our pain and questions.  However, it is so powerful to look back on what the Lord has done in the past, renew our faith in Him and trust Him as we take each step forward in our trials. 

Now, here we are…verse 10.  Be still and know…  This is such a loaded verse, especially in life of the 9 we just discussed.  Let’s take it piece by piece.

First, “be still”.  The Hebrew for “still” is raphah.  In this verse it is translated as “be still”.   However, this is only scratching the surface of what this word really means.   The definition of raphah includes: cease, fail, faint, feeble, forsake, idle, leave, let alone, stay, be still, weak, sink, relax, abate, abandon, refrain, and relax.  Quite a powerful word!  When David told the people to “be still”, he was telling them more than just to be quiet with your head bowed and sit still.  He was telling them to let go of everything that has distracted them from knowing who God really is.  Today we all live very busy lives.  We have to make the decision to still our hearts and our minds, to stop striving in life, to relax in His presence and refrain from allowing our minds to wonder to places it should not.  We must sit in the weakness of our flesh, faint and feeble; so that we can do the second part of this verse… know God.

When we “know” God, we are acknowledging Him for who He truly is.  We have left behind all of the distractions of this world and reminded ourselves of the mighty works our God accomplished in the past, not only for us, but others around us.  When we are “still”, we allow God the freedom to reveal Himself to us, deeply and intimately.   This sort of knowledge and intimate relationship with the Lord is not something that just happens in life, but something that we must be intentional about.  Satan knows that we are easily distracted in our flesh, and that these distractions keep us from knowing God the way God intends.  In other words, if we are not still, we will never truly know God.

Lastly, when we are still and know God, an ongoing daily process, we are able to see God exalted.  We begin to see Him work in ways that we could not see before.  We begin to acknowledge the little coincidences in life are acts of divine intervention of a God who loves us and wants the best for us.

I challenge each of you, as I challenge myself, to take time daily to “be still” before God, allowing Him to reveal Himself to you.  This will strengthen our faith on this journey, and make it easier to conquer the difficulties we will face along the way.

Here are a few quotes that struck me… enjoy!

“The sole consideration that God is God, sufficient to still all objections to his sovereignty.” Jonathan Edwards.

“Hold off your hands, ye enemies! Sit down and wait in patience, ye believers! Acknowledge that Jehovah is God, ye who feel the terrors of his wrath! Adore him, and him only, ye who partake in the protection of his grace." Charles Spurgeon

“We sing this Psalm to the praise of God, because God is with us, and powerfully and miraculously preserves and defends his church and his word, against all fanatical spirits, against the gates of hell, against the implacable hatred of the devil, and against all the assaults of the world, the flesh and sin.” Martin Luther