THE FATHER COMPLETES WHAT HE STARTED.
I am continually overwhelmed at God’s glorious plan of redemption which He planned in eternity past, which Jesus produced through His death and resurrection, and the Holy Spirit works to see it fulfilled in the life of every Believer.
Paul tell us we were CHOSEN by God before He even created the world, Eph.1:4 NKJV just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, and He even knows my my name.
I am sure my readers will never forget the day they were born again of the Spirit, life changed forever that day. We were declared RIGHTEOUS, this is now our POSITION in Christ, and then the Holy Spirit begins working in us to prepare us for eternity. Paul describes it this way in 1 Thess. 5:23 NKJV Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it.
MESSAGE May God himself, the God who makes everything holy and whole, make you holy and whole, put you together—spirit, soul, and body—and keep you fit for the coming of our Master, Jesus Christ.
AMP. N.T. And may the God of peace Himself sanctify you through and through [separate you from profane things, make you pure and wholly consecrated to God]; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved sound and complete [and found] blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah).
This from day one is a PROGRESSIVE WORK OF THE HOLY SPIRIT, we are now a WORK IN PROGRESS.
The Lord uses so many ways and situations to bring about this work of Sanctification. Again Paul tells us in Phil.1:6 NKJV Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ;
We must constantly make the right decision and choose to co-operate with the Lord, and in every situation learn to RESPOND AND NOT REACT, as God wants to use every every situation in life to make us more like Jesus. That is why Paul tells us in Rom.8:28 NKJV And we know that all things work together for GOOD to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.
AMP. N.T. We are assured and know that [God being a partner in their labor] all things work together and are [fitting into a plan] for good to and for those who love God and are called according to [His] design and purpose.
N.L.T. And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose for them.
PASSION So we are convinced that every detail of our lives is continually woven together to fit into God’s perfect plan of bringing good into our lives, for we are his lovers who have been called to fulfill his designed purpose.
MESSAGE He knows us far better than we know ourselves, knows our pregnant condition, and keeps us present before God. That’s why we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good.
We know the saying and reality well, OUR BIGGEST PROBLEM IS OURSELVES. It is so easy to blame the devil or some other negative situation, but Paul is telling us EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENS IN OUR WORLD IS PERMITTED BY THE LORD AND HE WANTS TO USE THEM TO WORK IN US SO THAT WE WILL BECOME MORE LIKE JESUS.
Sadly, we often relax, and situations arise, and we react and not respond to them, the reality is the more we respond the more the process proceeds positively.
There are times when the Lord BRINGS PRESSURE TO BEAR UPON US, as the Prophet Isaiah tells us in 64:8 NKJV But now, O Lord,
You are our Father;
We are the clay, and You our potter;
And all we are the work of Your hand.
I don’t fully understand the Pottery Process, but we have all seen a Potter at work, with his clay on the wheel, and his thumb/s and hand/s bringing pressure upon the clay to shape it into a beautiful vessel. The Prophet is telling here that we must learn to respond to the Divine Potter’s hands He knows what He is doing, He knows how much pressure we can take, let us cry unto the Lord for His grace so that we do continue to respond. I want to be a vessel of honour as I am sure you do too.
Sometimes the Sanctifying process, can be painful, the writer of the Book of Hebrews says in Hebrews 16: 5-11 NKJV My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord,
Nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him;
For whom the Lord loves He chastens,
And scourges every son whom He receives.”
If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten? But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons. Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live? For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best to them, but He for our profit, that we may be PARTAKERS OF HOLINESS. Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the PEACEABLE FRUITS OF RIGHTEOUSNESS to those who have been trained by it.
MESSAGE
My dear child, don’t shrug off God’s discipline,
but don’t be crushed by it either.
It’s the child he loves that he disciplines;
the child he embraces, he also corrects.
God is educating you; that’s why you must never drop out. He’s treating you as dear children. This trouble you’re in isn’t punishment; it’s training, the normal experience of children. Only irresponsible parents leave children to fend for themselves. Would you prefer an irresponsible God? We respect our own parents for training and not spoiling us, so why not embrace God’s training so we can truly live? While we were children, our parents did what seemed best to them. But God is doing what is best for us, training us to live God’s holy best. At the time, discipline isn’t much fun. It always feels like it’s going against the grain. Later, of course, it pays off handsomely, for it’s the well-trained who find themselves mature in their relationship with God,
We love our children with all our hearts and when they were small and still under our care, we often had to discipline them as we wanted them to grow up good citizens in our nation and in the Kingdom of God, God so loves us, not only did He send Jesus to be our sin bearer, but also to ever intercede for us, so that what was begun in eternity past will come to its total fruition as we enter eternity, Hallelujah.
