{"id":6212,"date":"2012-02-08T06:17:52","date_gmt":"2012-02-08T14:17:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/wordpress\/?p=6212"},"modified":"2012-02-08T09:51:17","modified_gmt":"2012-02-08T17:51:17","slug":"the-cost-of-sanctification-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/?p=6212","title":{"rendered":"The Cost of Sanctification"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>May the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely . . . \u20141 Thessalonians 5:23<\/h2>\n<div>\n<div id=\"post-1062\">\n<div>\n<div><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/prGl5kOzDWc\" frameborder=\"0\" width=\"570\" height=\"315\"><\/iframe><br \/>\nWhen we pray, asking God to sanctify us, are we prepared to measure up to what that really means? We take the word <em>sanctification<\/em> 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\u2019s point of view. It means to secure and to keep all the strength of our body, soul, and spirit for God\u2019s 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? \u201cFor their sakes I sanctify Myself . . .\u201d (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=John+17:19\">John 17:19<\/a>). 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\u2019s 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\u2019s prayer in this verse? Are we prepared to say, \u201cLord, make me, a sinner saved by grace, as holy as You can\u201d? Jesus prayed that we might be one with Him, just as He is one with the Father (see <a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=John+17:21-23\">John 17:21-23<\/a>). The resounding evidence of the Holy Spirit in a person\u2019s 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\u2019s work in us?______________________________________________February 8, 2012<\/p>\n<p>Journal Entry for Today-JDV<\/p>\n<p>Lord, it was ten days ago that you taught us that we could best pursue sanctification as we engaged others with the gospel of our lives,\u00a0that pursuing sanctification for the sake of sanctification was a selfish act. Today we read that sanctification can be pursued but it is very costly. I am a bit confused.<\/p>\n<p><em>And God says\u2026\u201dPursuing\u00a0for the sake of being righteous is by itself a selfish pursuit. And pursuing sanctification so you can enhance your peace or personal feelings and wellbeing is also pointless and selfish. However, it is My will for you to pursue an<br \/>\nintimate relationship with Me, through Jesus, and for us to be connected. Sanctification will follow being connected and you will take on the likeness of Christ as you live out the Gospel for others. As a result of this kind of living,\u00a0 and giving that\u00a0 can only come from the inside out, you will have peace and life more abundantly. It is the priority of the relationship that is always at issue. Do not pursue the outcomes of peace, good feelings, health, and wellbeing. Simply pursue our intimate relationship, and everything else will follow\u2026..or not. When you are connected, you will notice that it does not matter what else may\u2026\u2026. or may not follow.\u201d\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>May the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely . . . \u20141 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 [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6212"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6212"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6212\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6218,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6212\/revisions\/6218"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6212"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6212"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6212"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}