02/08/2023
This morning I am concentrating on sanctification, and looking inwardly at my progress in that regard. Are you sanctified? Are you set apart and declared holy? Is your life focused on God and Jesus Christ?
When I first believed and professed Jesus as my savior, I thought I was sanctified, but what I really had become was a believer. I had gained general admission into salvation, heaven, but there was so much more that awaited. I was still moving easily back and forth into the secular world that I was seeking to transition out of... I was a double citizen; I had citizenship in the world and claimed another in heaven. I gained forgiveness in one world for the sins I committed in the other...
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
1 John 1:9 ESV
Some long for nothing more than dual citizenship, and rest assured you have been saved, but for others there is a burning desire to make their home in a different world and denounce their citizenship in the secular world that they once called home.
“Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul.”
1 Peter 2:10-11 ESV
If you are one of those who seek true sanctification, then be prepared to leave behind all that you have known and to take up residence in a new land. Be prepared when Jesus says to you...
“Jesus said to him, "If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me."”
Matthew 19:21 ESV
We are residents in a land of immigrants. The United States was founded by immigrants and continues to accept those who peacefully seek new lives. I had four grandparents who came to this country upon the Mayflower. They left all they had known, and possessed, for not only the hope of a new life, but for the desire to worship freely. This is what is required of us when we make sail for heaven. We must be prepared to leave our old homes and countries for the promise and hope of salvation, righteousness, and sanctification. We need resolve... a resolve that allows us to forsake all else for Jesus.
I asked myself, and I encourage you to ask yourself as well... "Am I ready to make the voyage of the immigrant? Am I willing to leave all I have for a life with Jesus Christ?" If the answer to those questions is yes, then the next step is to seek sanctification.
“Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.”
1 Thessalonians 5:23-24 ESV
Prayer:
Father, hear my plea for sanctification. Provide for me as I leave behind all those earthly things that I have been accustomed to, and give me those that are necessary to serve you. Help me to focus upon you and be willing to abandon those portions of my life which cause me to stumble. Sanctify me Lord and make me righteous and holy as I move closer to your Son Jesus Christ. Make me holy in conversation, and deed; let my faith grow as I walk closer to Christ, and let me be in Jesus as He is in You. This is the sanctification I desire, and the life and world I seek as I leave my earthly home and travel to that place that Jesus has prepared for me.
“In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him."”
John 14:20-21 ESV
Rich Forbes