Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple. And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple."
The above is a very hard word to take in and digest. What does it mean to hate father, mother, wife, children, brothers, sisters and your own life? I believe it has to do with sanctification and the first commandment; "love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind." Matthew 22:37 NIV
Sanctification
Dictionary.com defines sanctification as:
1. to make holy; set apart as sacred; consecrate.
2. to purify or free from sin: Sanctify your hearts.
3. to impart religious sanction to; render legitimate or binding: to sanctify a vowSanctification is Jesus in me not something He puts into me but the perfections of Jesus Christ are given to me, not slowly but instantly when in faith we believe that Jesus gives us holiness or sanctification. It is the point where nothing is more important than Jesus Christ Himself and where we give all of us over to Him and allow Him to let His perfection shine in us. It is when we say hate, and Jesus relates hate to murder so, in essence, we are murdering our number one ties to our father, mother, husband, wife, children and self. Where nothing but Jesus Christ is number one in our lives and this is the first commandment
Matthew 22:37 NIV
"love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind."
Then, through the gift of Jesus in us, we will be equally yoked with Jesus walking along beside Him bearing our cross in life.
John 14:15-21 NIV
“If you love me, keep my commands. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever—the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.”
The impartation of the Holy qualities of Jesus Christ is His love, patience, holiness, faith and purity that is obvious in every sanctified soul. This is not taking from Jesus His power, but drawing from His power that is manifested in Him that He makes apparent in us. This is not an imitation of Jesus but Jesus in perfection in us. This is very wonderful news, knowing that the Holy Spirit living in us manifests in us the power of Jesus Christ if we keep His commands which Jesus tells us in
Matthew 22:37-39 NIV
Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ "
May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it.
Come to Jesus just as you are with all of your baggage and stuff. Believe He is God's Son given up for you and He will take you as is and change you into the person He created you to be. The Holy Spirit will come in and live in your heart and give you the qualities of Jesus.
Blessings,
<><
Come to Jesus just as you are with all of your baggage and stuff. Believe He is God's Son given up for you and He will take you as is and change you into the person He created you to be. The Holy Spirit will come in and live in your heart and give you the qualities of Jesus.
Blessings,
<><
Beautiful writing. You elicited a beautiful truth and expressed it gently and lovingly. Our Holy Spirit is magnificent, our Jesus is Peace and Light personified, our God is Holy beyond imagining. I'm continually surprised that He wants anything to do with us, let alone to the degree of intimacy you showed so clearly. :) But He does! And that is to His glory and for our eternity.
ReplyDeleteHi Elizabeth,
ReplyDeleteI was well inspired this weekend from all the research you did. I asked God to please show me how to dig and He did. :)
Blessings,
<><
Beautifully written, friend, and absolutely, it is TRUTH!
ReplyDeletePraise God for this word!
Hi Emily,
ReplyDeleteAll glory and praise to our Mighty GOD! WOOT!
<><
I love this - explains what "freedom in Christ" is all about - that it isn't about ME being Christlike - but Christ, being Himself, in and through me!! Great post - thank you!!
ReplyDeleteLuke 6:40 - "A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone who is perfectly trained will be like his teacher." Oh may we all be trained by the Lord Jesus Christ!
ReplyDeleteBy John MacArthur - "Justification refers to the very salvation event whereas sanctification refers to the process of spiritual development. And we believe that justification and sanctification are inseparable so those who were truly justified are being sanctified. Those who experienced the saving event are in spiritual progress and it shows up in their life."
To read full article - http://www.gty.org/Resources/Sermons/52-35_A-Prayer-for-Complete-Sanctification
Wonderful article to go along with God's word.
I am justified/sanctified by being saved by the Lord Jesus Christ in an instance. I am being made holy by the sanctification process. In the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, a bride for our bridegroom.
In love to my Sister in Christ. Have a wonderful day tomorrow!
Wow, that scripture is so timely. Sigh, I have to do some more sanctification (that's family related) and it's not easy! But by God's grace, I have the strength to do what He asks of me.
ReplyDeleteAmen! Yes the Spirit does transform. Appreciate you telling me about this post. Still, I would have popped on over any ways. Blessings to you dear one.
ReplyDeleteHi Alice,
ReplyDeleteThe thought process of Jesus IN me is totally different that being like Jesus. When we imitate Jesus it is by our strength and we so often fail but when we realize Jesus IN us, is working through us this is a whole different ball game because now it is not of our doing but His, through His strength not ours. :)
Hi Sara,
What a great comment to add in to this post! Justification goes along with Sanctification. We are justified by Jesus. That just throws me for a loop! Like Elizabeth commented, why does He even want anything to do with us. His love is so complete, that it just makes you want to dive in.
Hi Queen E.,
It is not easy. I too have to sever ties to family. :( My children, and it is very hard but when you obey God He comes in and rewards you in such a way that you wish you had done it earlier.
Praying for you sweet girl.
Hi JBR,
The Spirit does transform from the moment we believe and accept Jesus Christ, our problem is we seem to take back what we have given Him, our self, and we worry and fret. If only we would just trust Him to work in us and obey His word.
I guess that is where renewing our mind comes in. Filling our mind up with the Word of God and things that are uplifting to Him changes our thought process which allows us to be a vessel for the Holy Spirit to shine through.
Thanks for all your great comments.
Blessings,
<><
Thank you for the kind post on my blog this morning! You are such an amazing woman of God - I am so greatly encouraged by your commitment to Christ; as seen from your blog and your kindness!!! I am so glad we follow each other ~ Blessings
ReplyDeleteHi Alice,
ReplyDeleteI am really such a sinner. :( But what you see is Jesus in me! I would be so lost without Him and His love. His guiding Words show me what to do, I only hope that I would be more active in His word than in mine. I am working on this.
I too am glad we are following each other, so we can both grow and learn more about the one who gave His life up for us. :)
Blessings,
<><
Hi Child of God,
ReplyDeleteRight on, you nailed it!
God bless,
Ken
Dear Child of God,
ReplyDeleteThis post explains what it means to love God... have Him as our first love... putting Him first... and indeed, this is not so easy to take in. It goes against our natural grain. But if it is Jesus who put this kind of love in our hearts, then it will not be us loving Him with our human effort, but Him giving us the power and the desire to do so.
I like what you said - that it is not imitation at all. Imitation connotes that something is being done with our own strength. Rather, it is allowing self to go with the flow of the Spirit.
How special this makes me feel, that I have been set apart for my Master. What a privilege!
Love
Lidj
Hi Ken,
ReplyDeletePraise God!!
Hi Lidj,
It is so amazing to see and uncover just how much God loves us and how Jesus gives us the love to love Him back. Our pastor gave a sermon on agape love; the love of the Father. This is something we don't have naturally, it is a love that God gives us. Pretty amazing!!
Blessings,
<><
I love how you explained everything. So thankful how He does accept us no matter how much garbage we bring with us! Jesus is the best thing that ever happened to me!
ReplyDeleteThank you Child of God for such a beautiful psot.
Blessings in Him...Chelle
Hi Chelle,
ReplyDeleteWelcome! Jesus is the best thing that ever happened to me too! It is so exciting to get to know Him more.
Blessings,
<><
Beautifully said ...
ReplyDeleteGiving all to Jesus or else, it'll be too heavy. All is ALL.
Word in season ..
I don't know what's wrong with my RSS fee.d I'm working on evolving the blog into a full website so haven't been updating the blog.
I am looking for contributing writers :)
Hi lani.
ReplyDeleteHaha yes, All is All.
I am not much of a writer but I can spread the word. :)
Thanks for letting me know about your RSS feed.
Blessings,
<><
Hi Child of God -
ReplyDeleteThank you for this rich comforting message.
You expressed, "It is the point where nothing is more important than Jesus Christ Himself and where we give all of us over to Him and allow Him to let His perfection shine in us."
Amen!
Hi Sandra,
ReplyDeleteIt has always been about Jesus and always will be about Him. :) Sometimes I feel so selfish thinking it is about me, but it isn't.
Blessings,
<><