Tag: sanctification

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1 Thessalonians Devotionals

The God of peace

God of peace

Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely. And may your whole spirit, soul, and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

He who calls you is faithful; he will do it. (1 Thessalonians 5:23-24)

I was thinking about the words “God of peace,” today.

Paul said in 1 Thessalonians 4:3,

For this is God’s will: your sanctification…

Now here in chapter 5, Paul prays that God would fully work out that sanctification in our lives.

Sometimes that process includes discipline. And that discipline can be painful at times. But we need not think God is constantly staring at us with an angry face.

He is the God of peace. We are at peace with him.

So that’s the truth I’m soaking myself in today, even as I’m thinking about all the areas God’s working on in my life.

“God is not angry at me. I’m at peace with him.”

Categories
1 Thessalonians Devotionals

God’s will

God's will

For this is God’s will, your sanctification… (1 Thessalonians 4:3)

Those words struck me today, probably because this is one of the few places that outright says, “This is God’s will.”

I think a lot of Christians, myself included, say, “I want to know God’s will.”

And we usually think in terms of things like who we should marry or what career path to take.

But God reminded me this morning, “This is my will: your sanctification.”

Paul is primarily talking about sexual purity here, as sexual sin was as big a problem then as it is now.

But sanctification isn’t limited to sexual purity. It’s becoming more like Jesus in everything: in love, in speech, in thoughts, in everything we do.

So today, I’m thinking about certain heart issues God’s been working on in my life.

And as I’m wrestling with them even now, I’m reminding myself of loving Abba’s words to me.

“This is my will: your sanctification.”

Categories
1 Thessalonians Devotionals

God is faithful. He will do it.

God's love and faithfulness

Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely.

And may your whole spirit, soul, and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

He who calls you is faithful; he will do it. (1 Thessalonians 5:23-24)

“He who calls you is faithful; he will do it.”

Those words rung in my mind this morning.

It brought to mind what Paul wrote in Romans 8:29-30:

For those he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, so that he would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.

And those he predestined, he also called; and those he called, he also justified; and those he justified, he also glorified.

I wonder. Do we really believe this?

He started this work, choosing us before we were born. Choosing us to become like his Son, our whole spirit, soul, and body sound and blameless before him.

And what he started, he will complete. Because he is faithful.

Do you like what you see in the mirror? Or do you see your sins and failures, the dirt and grime, and grimace?

Our Abba doesn’t grimace. He knew you from the first. And he still chose you. He called you. He justified you, wiping away your entire record of sin.

And whether you can see it or not, he’s in the process of sanctifying you through and through.

This is God’s will: your sanctification, your becoming like Jesus. (1 Thesssalonians 4:3)

And he’s not going to stop until he’s completed the process and he glorifies you, making you completely like his Son.

So put on the breastplate of righteousness. Not your righteousness, but the righteousness of God that comes by faiith. Let confidence in God’s love for you guard your heart. (Ephesians 6:14; 1 Thessalonians 5:8)

And know that the hope of your salvation, of your becoming like Jesus is a certain hope. Wear that hope every day.

For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ… (1 Thessalonians 5:9)

And again,

He who calls you is faithful; he will do it. (1 Thessalonians 5:24)

Categories
Zechariah

The purging of all evil

Zechariah

Happy Easter for those of you across the international date line. I celebrated Easter yesterday in what turned out to be a very long (but great) day, so I didn’t get around to doing this blog.

Anyway, the visions kept coming to Zechariah, and this one concerns the purging of evil from Israel.

In the first vision, Zechariah saw a flying scroll that on one side listed the curses for stealing, and on the other listed the curses for swearing falsely.

Although it lists only two of the ten commandments God had given Moses, those two commandments are probably representative of all the commandments. For as James put it,

For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it. (James 2:10)

Perhaps these two sins were particularly representative of the Israelites of that time. Or perhaps, it had a broader meaning of hurting your neighbor (stealing) and despising the holiness of God (using his name to make false oaths).

Two things to note from this vision. First, because of the size of the scroll, there was no excuse for anyone not to know judgment was coming. Anyone could easily read it.

Second, judgment is certain. God said,

I will send [the curse] out, and it will enter the house of the thief and the house of anyone who swears falsely by my name.

It will remain in that house and destroy it completely, both its timbers and its stones. (Zechariah 5:4)

In the second vision, God shows Zechariah how he would purge all evil from the land.

Zechariah saw a basket that represented evil in the land. And within it, we see the source of the wickedness (represented by a woman) trying to rise out, only to be pushed back in by the angel.

Then two women carried it out of Israel to bring wickedness to a place where it would be more welcome, the land of Babylonia.

What can we get from all of this? First, the day is coming when evil will be dealt with. Satan will fight God to the bitter end, but no matter how hard he fights, he will be overcome.

Second, let us purge ourselves from the evil that is within us. God has made it crystal clear how he feels about sin, and that judgment is coming because of it. We have no excuse for not knowing.

So as Paul said,

Let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God. (2 Corinthians 7:1)

There is a balance in this of course. We do not purify ourselves by our own efforts alone. In our own strength it would be impossible.

But God does give us the strength and ability to live holy lives for him (2 Peter 1:3–4).

And as he carried away evil from Israel in Zechariah’s vision, so he will carry evil from our lives as we follow him. This is the process called “sanctification.”

As Paul also wrote,

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. (1 Thessalonians 5:23–24)