Everything that has breath must praise the Lord. At all times we must praise Him. Let this be in your heart as you gather together in corporate worship and as you go out in the highways and byways. He is holy and He demands worship and praise
All the great servants of God throughout the Scriptures and throughout history were people of prayer and fasting. Don’t be so afraid to fail that you refuse to obey the urging of the Holy Spirit. God is for you: if you “step out of the boat” and obey, He will uphold you. Be willing to be a fool for Christ, and God will bless you with more grace.
For the Holy Spirit to work in you, you must cooperate with His work and submit to His will by spending time in prayer, seeking communion with Him. You can’t “fix it”; when you focus on your lack you are focusing on yourself. Rather, focus on God, His love and grace, and He will fix it for you.
The effectual fervent praying of righteous men avail much. Our prayers should be specific and we should expect results when we pray. Our lives should be lives of prayer as the Word becomes alive in us and our faith and expectation creates those answer to prayers. We must pursue what God has predestined to happen.
Our faith is the victory. When we walk in faith we delight in the things of God. His commandments are not burdensome for us, though obeying might not be easy, and might result in temporary pain or affliction. But we are invincible through faith because we walk in the victory Jesus won over sin and death. “To him who overcomes will I give the crown of life.”
As an apple tree produces apples, we as the children of God should produce a life that imitates God. But it is God that does the work. He puts in us a new heart and a new spirit that enables us to walk in and keep His statutes. It’s not I but Christ living in me (Galatians 2:20).
There are many opinions and philosophies about what love is, but it is essentially obedience to God in expressing the fruit of the Spirit. Agape love thinks nothing of itself, but always prefers others, whether in encouragement or rebuke. Christians should not be easily offended: we don’t have “thick skin”; we are dead to ourselves. God is Love, and we are of God.
Sanctification causes you to crucify your flesh, which is denying your own preferences for what the Holy Spirit would have you do. You will not be free from sin until you see Jesus, but it should occur less as you grow as a Christian. Good works cannot earn God’s grace, but a life of good works is the evidence that God is working in your life. A life of godliness is a life of good choices.
As we trust God to sanctify us, we must remember that we must cooperate with the process. He told us to put off the “old man” and put on the “new man”; we must do it. Too often, we replace the visible sins we used to commit with the “little foxes”—sins of the heart such as unforgiveness, bitterness, and unbelief. We must be honest with ourselves, and humble ourselves in order to move on with God.
Sanctification cannot occur without a full surrender to the will of God. In that surrender, we will also rely on our brothers and sisters to help us in our journey by exhortation, encouragement, and rebuke. If you are humble and consecrated, you will be content where God has placed you, and accepting of the input of others.
We are not saved or sanctified by good works, but unto good works. As we become more consecrated, greater chastening and purging will come, whether by washing with the Word of God or the fires of adversity, including persecution by those who hate us as they hate Jesus. Are you willing to go on to His likeness by faith, or will you bail and turn to the natural means for relief?
Biblical holiness is not keeping rules; it is making your thoughts more like God’s thoughts so that you no longer need rules. If all you do is to bring glory to God and to bless others, then why would you need rules and laws? You are holy in a legal sense, but not so much in the practical sense. Sanctification is getting your practical holiness more and more in line with your legal holiness.
The process of sanctification has been called “Dependent Responsibility.” We can do nothing to be either saved or sanctified, but we must cooperate with the work God is doing in each case. By faith we confess our holy position in Christ even as we trust Him to purify us by the Word and the Spirit. Our “works” involve obedience to the purifying work He is doing. We still do good works, but to glorify God rather than to appease Him: we “exercise ourselves unto godliness.”
