Such a great verse, listen:
“Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling,”
Php 2:12 NIV
So one more time in case you missed it yesterday: we do not DO anything to earn Salvation. It is a gift from our loving God. And now that we have Salvation, it is time to work it out. Think muscles again here. We do not go to the gym to GET muscles, we already are born with them, right? But now that we have them, if we really want them to help us live a full life, we should strengthen these muscles, yes? Same idea here. Now that we have Salvation, next comes the work out. This is the process we call Sanctification. We begin to take what God has given us on the inside, in our spirit, and we work it out to the surface, where it can be seen by others…who will hopefully want to receive Salvation for themselves, and then work it out too.
Remember God changes us from the inside out. So first, He saves us, transforming us from death into Life. Then He continues this transformation as we work with Him to renew our mind, help us control our emotions and align our will with His Will. Then we begin to live life differently than we used to live. Recall my “Cascade of Life”? When we allow God to change our Beliefs, it will influence our Thoughts, which will affect our Emotions, which will inspire our Will, which will directs our Actions which will give us different Results. This is Sanctification and the work out regimen we will be in for the rest of our earthy lives…but we are never alone!
Join me in memorizing 52 verses this year:
January: 1- Jn 3:16; 2- 2Co 5:17; 3- Jas 2:26; 4- Eph 2:10
February: 5- Jn 10:10; 6- Ro 6:23; 7- Rev 21:4; 8- Php 4:13
March: 9- 1Pe 5:7; 10- Jn 8:32; 11- Dt 30:19; 12- Jn 3:30; 13- 2Chron 20:3
April: 14- 2Chron 20:12; 15- 2Chron 20:15b; 16- 2Chron 20:17; 17- Ro 8:28
18- 1Co 13:13
19- Php 2:12
<>< Peace, Diane
