Skip to main content

Be Still


Yesterday was my birthday. Another 365 days have gone by, all too quickly. I took this picture at about 8:30 in the morning. The frost was on the ground, and the air was brisk. I pray that my year ahead will be spent growing closer to the Lord and getting to know Him better. I want to be more Christ-like, but some days I forget. I am always learning. How gracious and forgiving our God is! May we all delve into the Word each day and learn more fully how to obey and please the Lord Jesus Christ.



My Utmost for His Highest
Friday, February 8, 2013
The Cost of Sanctification
May the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely . . . —1 Thessalonians 5:23
When we pray, asking God to sanctify us, are we prepared to measure up to what that really means? We take the word sanctification much too lightly. Are we prepared to pay the cost of sanctification? The cost will be a deep restriction of all our earthly concerns, and an extensive cultivation of all our godly concerns. Sanctification means to be intensely focused on God’s point of view. It means to secure and to keep all the strength of our body, soul, and spirit for God’s purpose alone. Are we really prepared for God to perform in us everything for which He separated us? And after He has done His work, are we then prepared to separate ourselves to God just as Jesus did? “For their sakes I sanctify Myself . . .” (John 17:19). The reason some of us have not entered into the experience of sanctification is that we have not realized the meaning of sanctification from God’s perspective. Sanctification means being made one with Jesus so that the nature that controlled Him will control us. Are we really prepared for what that will cost? It will cost absolutely everything in us which is not of God.
Are we prepared to be caught up into the full meaning of Paul’s prayer in this verse? Are we prepared to say, “Lord, make me, a sinner saved by grace, as holy as You can”? Jesus prayed that we might be one with Him, just as He is one with the Father (see John 17:21-23). The resounding evidence of the Holy Spirit in a person’s life is the unmistakable family likeness to Jesus Christ, and the freedom from everything which is not like Him. Are we prepared to set ourselves apart for the Holy Spirit’s work in us? — Oswald Chambers

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Modest March Fashion Week - Day 4

One of my favorite outfits. "Pink and Old Fashioned"                                                               Today I wore:                                          Brown t-shirt: White Stag (Walmart)                                  Cream crocheted cardigan: Handmade gift from a friend in Turkey.                                  Paneled skirt:  Mlle Gabrielle brand (thrift store)                    Pink and Silver bracelet: from Regal Designs by Regan   regaldesignsbyre...

Happenings in my home...

“The same Jesus Who turned water into wine can transform your home, your life, your family, and your future. He is still in the miracle-working business, and His business is the business of transformation.”    ~ Adrian Rogers “A man ought to live so that everybody knows he is a Christian… and most of all, his family ought to know.”     ~ D. L. Moody                                                                                                   I just started reading "The God Who is There" by Francis Schaeffer. It is an excellent book.                                   This cat has been hanging out by our back door, and w...

Jesus Christ - and We

Jesus Christ- and We Christ has no hands but our hands ,   to do His work today; He has no feet but our feet   to lead men in His way; He has no tongue but  our tongues to tell men how He died, He has no help but our help   to bring them to His side. We are the only Bible,  the careless world will read; We are the sinners' gospel,  we are the scoffers' creed; We are the Lord's last message,  Written in deed and word- what if the line is crooked,  what if the type is blurred? What if our hands are busy,  with other work than His, What if our feet are walking,  where sin's allurement is? What if our tongues are speaking, of things His lips would spurn, How can we hope to help Him,  Unless from Him we learn? By Annie Johnson Flint  (1862-1932)    I was going through my old school folders and found this great poem. It is so true. We as Christians are to show the world how Christ would act and ta...