Hi Friends,
I talked last week about how we are saved, being saved and will be saved. Let’s distinguish between these a little more. Hear God’s Plan:
“He must become greater; I must become less.” Jn 3:30 NIV
As you can see, Salvation has different stages, if you will. When we say, “I am saved,” we are talking about our spirit and with it, our eternal destiny. Because God so loves us and we have simply chosen to humble ourselves and trust Him, we place our Faith in what He has done for us and instantly become saved. Ahhh, but that old soul! Our dead spirits have taught our soul to think thoughts that are self-absorbed, to use our emotions selfishly and to want things that are self-centered. Self-self-self…MMI…this is our condition when we are saved. Again, let’s liken this to becoming pregnant. The moment the two seeds join, and God blesses that union, life is conceived. But it takes 9 months to take that tiny life and form it into who it will be when it is born into the world, right? It is a process.
He must become greater. Once we are saved, our lives become more and more about God’s Kingdom than our own. As we grow in Christ, His thoughts become more important to us than our own. The way He used His emotions becomes the model for the way we choose to use ours. That Gethsemane Moment, “not My will but Yours be done,” becomes the beat of our own hearts too. Our soul- which is our thinker, feeler and chooser- imitate Jesus more and more. This process we call Sanctification, is where we show we are saved as we are being saved daily. We needed Jesus to save our spirit and need Him still to save our soul. It is here where Jesus is not only our Savior, but also our Lord. He has more than won the right to tell us how to think, how to feel and what to desire. And as we allow Him to have more power in our lives, everyone wins…hey, I’ve said this often enough so say it with me: God is glorified, others are blessed and we have and enjoy a fulfilling life. Everyone wins!
I must become less. Have you ever had a bottle filled with gross liquid? We can choose to pour it all out, making the bottle completely empty, then clean the bottle, scrubbing every nook and groove, then fill it up with clean water again, hoping that we got all the old dirt out. That takes a lot of time and effort on our part. Or another way we can change that water is to simply hold the bottle under a flowing stream of clean water. The pure clean water goes down deep into the bottle and pushes out the dirty water until all that is left is clean, pure water. No need for us to work hard and weary ourselves. The water actually does all the work for us. This is sort of what happens to us during Sanctification. The Love of the Father, the Immaculate example of Jesus and the Life-giving power of the Holy Spirit go deep into our hearts and push up and out of us all the old, sinful ways we used to operate in. Our part? To come to the Father, to stay with Jesus and to abide in the Holy Spirit. God is actually the One Who does all the hard work, we just stay in His flowing Love and Grace. It is the only way to truly become less, when He is more. Sanctification will continue until the day we are called Home.
New You is a total transformation. In Salvation, we ARE saved. In Sanctification, we are BEING saved. When we go Home, we WILL BE saved. Then the entire “bottle” is transformed into its eternal glory. It will only hold pure, clean water for there will no longer exist any other kind. Wow, I’m looking forward to that day…in the meantime, I choose to make Jesus greater, which will make me lesser. That is giving me a fuller more satisfying life. I know you want that too. So won’t you join me?
Until we meet again, keep lifting your eyes to God, He’s closer than you think.
<>< Peace, Diane
Thanks, my Friends, that’s the first “ripple” called New You.
Next month, we’ll start delving into Health Seekers.
