Sanctification

"Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is true worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will."  Romans 12:1-2

Holiness happens through sanctification. After you consecrate yourself unto God, repent of your sin, and renounce your sinfulness, God cleanses away your sin nature by the blood of Jesus. Once you have been made clean you can receive the fullness of the Holy Spirit. When that happens, as Romans 12:1-2 tells you, a fundamental transformation takes place.

God is in the transformation business. You and I may settle for reformation but He doesn't. Perhaps that is because reformation is the best we can do - sometimes, for brief periods. But He transforms because He can and because we need it and because we can't.

Consider some of the transformational work He does in you:

SANCTIFICATION CHANGES YOUR HEART

"this is true worship"   At the heart of your sin problem is your heart - corrupted and degenerate. It is "deceitful above all things and desparately wicked, who can know it?"  The heart of the deceit is the desire to be God and that desire makes it tough to worship the true One. That is a problem. A big problem that needs to be changed. Not reformation change but transformation change. Sanctification does that fundamental transformation of your nature.

SANCTIFICATION CHANGES YOUR HEAD

"tranformed by the renewing of your mind"  It is hard to do right when you are thinking wrong. It is hard to honor God when your thoughts are ungodly. Trying to reform what you think about only causes you to think about it more. What you need is a renewed mind, a mind transformed by the power of God - a sanctified mind.

SANCTIFICATION CHANGES YOUR HABITS

"do not conform to the pattern of this world" When your heart is transformed and how you think is transformed it positively affects your habits. Behavior is the product of desires and decisions so when both of those are fundamentally changed by the power of God's Spirit, old habits are replaced by new disciplines. Those unproductive and counterproductive behaviors no longer control you. You are sanctified.

 SANCTIFICATION CHANGES YOUR HOPES

In your own strength with a sinful heart, corrupted mind, and harmful habits what is there to hope for? Reformation? Maybe. But that is more hoping than hope. However, if you were to allow God to sanctify you wholly, heart, head and habits then you would have true hope for the future! And your future can be filled with hope not hoping!

Holiness is wholeness! It transforms you spiritually, mentally, emotionally and behaviorally! As St. Paul declares, "the old is passed away and all things became new".

So, how about you? Will you settle for trying to make yourself into a more tolerable sinner or will you consecrate yourself to God for His sanctification? In view of God's mercies, it is your reasonable service!

May 27, 2016

^"Thus I establish My covenant with you: Never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood; never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.” And God said: “This is the sign of the covenant which I make between Me and you, and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations:  I set My rainbow in the cloud, and it shall be for the sign of the covenant between Me and the earth.  It shall be, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the rainbow shall be seen in the cloud;  and I will remember My covenant which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh.  The rainbow shall be in the cloud, and I will look on it to remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.”  And God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant which I have established between Me and all flesh that is on the earth.” Genesis 9:11-17

Promises are simple to make hard to keep and easy to break.

Broken promises can break hearts and shatter trust. No doubt you have suffered a broken heart as result of a broken promise. Or, perhaps you have hurt someone else by not keeping a promise.

Most promises are not broken because they are forgotten but because someone promised more than he could deliver.

God made a century long promise to Noah that if he would build an ark to the exact specifications that he was given, God would save his family from the impending judgment via the flood. A Noah promised he would do it. He kept his promise and God kept His.

Let me tell you why this story matters so much. The Christian life is a life of faith and faith is built upon your expectations of God. Your expectations of God grow out of the experiences you have with God. When we you inexperienced in your walk you can learn from the experiences that others had with God - people like Moses and the disciples and Joshua and Noah. One thing you learn from them is they believed the promises of God and God kept His promises.

When the flood was over and Noah's family was delivered from the flood God had kept His promise and Noah had done his part, God put a rainbow in the remnants of the storm. The rainbow was a visible symbol of a promise kept and the seal of a new promise made. Never again would God destroy the earth in this manner.

Think a moment about what a rainbow is. Rainbows appear as you look back in the direction the storm came from. It is the result of the sun shining through the clouds in the aftermath of the storm. It is the promise that the storm is over and the sun is coming out and you will be safe. As you remember that you begin to understand what a perfect reminder the rainbow is! God's rainbow reminds you that this storm is over and His Son is coming and you are safe!

The Christian life is lived in promise-land until you get to THE Promised Land and the rainbow is the reminder you can trust His promises in life's storm and between the storms. So, if you are in the storm right now, remember the rainbow. God does!

So you can trust the promises of God, you can know what to expect from Him and you can be sure what He expects from you. God gave His rainbow as a reminder that He keeps His promises. That reminder is primarily for you to remember since God always remembers His promises. I guess you could say that the rainbow reminds you that He remembers to remember His promises. God will never forget His promise nor can He ever make a promise that He is not able to keep. So, His promises are as good as gold! The gold at the end of the rainbow?

May 26, 2016

"The Lord is the stronghold of my life — of whom shall I be afraid?" Psalm 27:1b 

Here is some more good news from this great 27th Psalm!

Not only does God deliver your from inner and outer darkness, because He is your light and salvation, but he also is the "stronghold" of your life!

That just sounds comforting doesn't it? "Stronghold"!

Exactly, what does that mean?

A "stronghold" usually referred to the concept of a "Strong" tower - a very high, very strong and inaccessible structure nearly impossible to prevail against.

When I think of a "stronghold" I think safety. It is a place to flee when danger threatens. Do you have a safe place to run to?

The Lord is a stronghold, a safe place to run!

When I think of a "stronghold" I think security. A stronghold is a safe place to stay and remain secure against the attacks of the enemy.

The Lord is a stronghold, a secure place to rest!

When I hear the word "stronghold" I think solitude. A stronghold is a quiet place where you can find solitude in your spirit.

The Lord is a stronghold, a silent place to retreat and recover!

Where do you flee for safety? 

Where do you look for security? 

Where can you find solitude?

Can you declare with the Psalmist, "The Lord is the stronghold of my life!"

Faith Floats

^"Now the flood was on the earth forty days. The waters increased and lifted up the ark, and it rose high above the earth."  Genesis 7:17

What can you expect from a God Who can do anything, anytime, to anyone when ever He wants to?

From the perspective of Noah, you can expect God to keep His promises!

And, indeed, He did! And trusting in God's promise strengthened Noah before the storm. But that is not all! Noah also found that trusting God's promise also supported him IN the storm!

Can you get your mind around what Noah did? He spent 120 years preparing for an catastrophic event that would be caused by a meteorological phenomenon never seen before! That's faith! That is believing God!

Noah expected that the same promise that strengthened him while he prepared for the storm would also support him IN the storm!

What do you trust during your storms? 

What supports you?

This stirring story of Noah reminds us that life is stormy! As you read this you are either in a storm, coming out of a storm or headed to the next one! When those storms come you will either sink or swim! That's the way it is! Where will you look for support?

There are so many great lessons to learn from this story, but one that I want to focus on is this: when you expect God to support you in the storm He will use the flood that would have destroyed you will lift you up!

Faith floats! When you claim the promises of God and live by them every day, faith will keep you afloat! When you base your decisions on the promises of God, faith will keep you afloat! 

God's promises will lift you above your doubts! His promises will lift you above your despair! His promises are based in His character and guaranteed by His power so you can hope in them like Noah did.

Don't be fearful in the storm! 

Don't sink and don't get swamped. 

Cling to His promises and they will support you!

I promise!

May 24, 2016

"Noah did everything just as God commanded him." Genesis 6:22

What can you expect from God?

You can expect Him to keep His promises! All of them.

When you believe that it strengthens you! It strengthened Noah!

How do I know?

I read the story! You read it! You think about it.

God asked Noah to build something he had never built (a boat) and maybe something he had never even seen before. And it was not just a boat, it was a big one!

And Noah was asked to build this big boat to save himself and his family from something no one had ever seen before (a flood) caused by something no one had ever seen (rain). How hard is that? Would you do it?

What would motivate a farmer to become a boat builder who prepared for an unprecedented catastrophy and do it for 120 years while his neighbors ridiculed him on a daily basis? Faith! Faith in a promise of salvation for his family. Obviously, he expected God to keep His promises!

Imagine a day in the life of Noah. He is up early each day to do his farm chores so he can feed his family and then out to the building site to begin sawing wood and pounding nails and pitching tar. As he does these physically demanding tasks a neighbor stops by and the conversation begins:

"Noah, what are you doing?"

"I am building an ark as the Lord has commanded."

"Oh. What's an ark?"

"An ark is a large boat."

"But why build a boat here? There is no water anywhere near."

"There will be!"

"What? What are you talking about? Everyone says you're nuts and I am beginning to believe it! There is not enough water around here to float a boat that big!"

"There will be!'

"Say, what? How?"

"There is going to be a flood!"

"What is a flood?"

"It is a lot of water caused by a whole lot of rain."

"What is rain?"

Can you imagine how tired you would get of having that conversation day after day after day for 12 decades? I can't.

What gave Noah that much strength? How did he do it that faithfully and patiently and persistently for that long?

Noah found strength by trusting in the promises of God! He believed that God would deliver him and his family if he did would build the ark.

Guess what? 

He was right!

Do you need spiritual strength? 

Are you running low on patience?

Find strength in the promises of God!

Disciplined Worship

"The Lord is my Light and my Salvation--whom shall I fear or dread? The Lord is the Refuge and Stronghold of my life--of whom shall I be afraid? When the wicked, even my enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell. Though a host encamp against me, my heart shall not fear; though war arise against me, [even then] in this will I be confident."  Psalm 27:1-3

This idea that discipline is a vital part of worship is a new thought for me and perhaps to you as well. So, I want to spend more time elaborating on it because I think it has powerful potential to improve your worship.

The Psalmist declares the Lord is his "Light and Salvation" and the Lord is the "strength of his life".  As he glorifies God in that state he also indicts himself. By acknowledging God as his light he also admits that he is darkness. When he commends God as His salvation he implies that he is lost without that salvation. With God he lives in light. Apart from God he dwells in darkness. Believing in God he has salvation but without God he is lost.

Therein is the need for discipline! To enjoy worship and to know God's light and His salvation you must discipline yourself to resist the darkness and come out of your lostness. You will only do that if you choose to believe what His Word says about you and choose to act upon it. That requires a conscious decision that goes against your human nature. That is faith! 

Faith takes discipline because it is not natural.

Discipline may have taken a negative context in your thinking because it usually is associated with punishment. When you were failed to discipline yourself as a youngster and did something bad, your parents had to do the disciplining for you. That was not pleasant for you or them. But let me give you another way to think of discipline - "discipline is saying no to one thing in order to say yes to something better".

So, if you want to become a better worshiper you must say "no" to your darkness and come to His light! That means putting down the TV remote, or the newspaper or the magazine or the video game control and pick up your Bible. It means saying "no' to the selfish desires and the destructive thoughts and "yes" to His Spirit.

Is your lack of discipline hindering your worship? Are you choosing His light above your darkness? Are you saying "no" to self to say "yes" to His Spirit. What should you pick up in order to worship better? What do you need to put down in order to worship well?

May 22, 2016

"But who can discern their own errors? Forgive my hidden faults. Keep your servant also from willful sins; may they not rule over me. Then I will be blameless, innocent of great transgression. May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer."  Psalm 19:12-14

Praise should arise out of the thrill of what He is creating through you!

When God’s Word gets welcomed and becomes active in your life, it convicts you of sin and leads you into His will. When He uses His Word to work His will in your life, look what thrilling things happen through you.

Verse 12 – "FREEDOM FROM FALSE GUILT" – That’s thrilling! False guilt is from the Enemy of your soul. He is the "accuser". He will dig up things from your past that God has already forgiven and remind you of them to discourage you and defeat you. But through the Word, God's Spirit will remind you that you have been forgiven and He will make you aware of any unconfessed sins so you can find forgiveness for those as well.

Guilt is a good thing that the Holy Spirit uses to point out a sin that you have committed. But false guilt is not good and is used by the devil to defeat you.

Verse 13 – "FREEDOM FROM WILLFUL SIN" – “blameless” – pure in thoughts and motives. Sin is what happens when you exercise your will against God. For instance, you know that something is wrong. The Word of God says it is wrong and the Holy Spirit tells you it is wrong but you willfully decide to do it anyway. That is willful sin and it is dangerous because it is rebellion against God by after you have committed to follow Him.

Followers of Christ will sin occasionally, but they should not willfully sin. They may get caught up in a moment of anger or a careless moment of thoughtlessness and sin against God - but to deliberately sin against Him is something Christians should not and need not do.

When the Word is active in your life and you are aligned with His will you can be blameless - free from intentional sin! That’s Thrilling!

Verse 14 – "PLEASING TO GOD" – If there is anyone that you would want to please it would be God! And if there is someone you don't want to displease it would also be God! To know that you are obeying God's Word and to know His will is being accomplished in your life and that He is pleased with you - that’s thrilling! When you see God using you to bless someone else or to inspire them and you are aware that it is His power at work in your - that is praiseworthy!

What positive changes do you see around you because of the changes God is making in you?

What lives are different because they have come into contact with you?

What will be your spiritual legacy?

I AM AFRAID WE DON’T PRAISE GOD NEARLY AS OFTEN AS WE SHOULD. WE USE PRAISE LIKE A REWARD FOR GOD WHEN HE DOES SOMETHING THAT WE LIKE – “Good God, Here’s Some Praise, God!”

PRAISE SHOULD NOT BE A REWARD TO GOD – IT IS THE RESPONSE HE DESERVES IN HIS GREATNESS AND GLORY!

PRAISE IS A THREE DIMENSIONAL EXPERIENCE WITH GOD THROUGH HIS WORLD AND HIS WORD AND HIS WILL!

ARE YOU THRILLED ABOUT WHAT GOD HAS DONE AROUND YOU?

ARE YOU THRILLED ABOUT WHAT GOD IS DOING IN YOU?

ARE YOU THRILLED BY WHAT GOD IS DOING THROUGH YOUR LIFE?

WHAT MUST YOU DO TO MAKE PRAISE A MORE POWERFUL PART OF YOUR LIFE?