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He is the wonder working God. And He is not interested in acts of magic. He is the Way maker, Miracle worker, Promise keeper, in your life and mine. And as we continue to meditate upon His word in prayer and supplication, in this turbulent season, may all encircling gloom be dispelled as our hearts are enlightened by the light of His word. Teach me to do Your will, for You are my God; May Your good Spirit lead me on level ground [Psalm 143:10]. Everything around you could be shaky and uncertain, right now, with loss and setbacks threatening to take you backward. But it us not the good and perfect will of God, who intervenes in your life to comfort you, by rebuilding the waste places of places of your life to lead you forward.
He has spoken it; and He will also do it, requiring from you a seeking after Him in prayer that He may reveal to you the specific nature of it [Ezekiel 36:36,37]. It is how He prepares you to receive His promise to you, as a seed and it’s fruit, seed that needs to be planted in your heart’s soil, to be manifested as it’s fruit, which is it’s ultimate expression.
Prepared – to receive and possess :
It is a lesson that you and I can learn from the life of Joshua as he stood on the verge of entering into what had been promised by God. ‘I have given…’ and ‘You shall give…’ was the spiritual reality, something already accomplished by God.. And He did not leave it at that. For, He also prepared Joshua to receive and see it become a physical reality. He needed to be strong and very courageous, and how it would become possible by meditating upon the word of God day and night, focusing, and staying focused upon it exclusively, to also combine it with obedience, or abiding in it without turning aside from it in any different direction [Joshua 1:3,6,7,8,11]. And, there was another significant step in the process, one that was prescribed by God, as Joshua stood before the waters of Jordan, a truth that is very relevant in your life and mine in a deeper dimension. We are the beneficiaries of the new covenant, washed in the Blood of Christ Jesus, to become a new creation in Him. It is being sanctified or consecrated unto Him, to be His exclusively, a wondrous experience of comfort and joy.
Prepared – by sanctification :
And Joshua said to the people, ‘Sanctify yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you’ [Joshua 3:5]. Sanctifying was a ceremonial cleansing under the old covenant, the dispensation that was in operation then. But today in the glory of the new covenant, the truth goes deeper , for it is a moving from the old testament, the shadow, symbolic of things to come, to the reality, the substance, which in the new covenant, is Christ, and Christ alone. So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival, or a new moon, or sabbaths. Which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ [Colossians 2:16,17].
And as a child of God, Christ in you, is your hope of glory. So, not just regarding what you eat or drink, even when it comes to doing something, you begin with Christ in your inner being to progress by it to working it out on the outside, in what is external. A mere outward symbolic cleansing is never enough to be sanctified, for the problem lies within a person. And you and I, if we are honest with ourselves will acknowledge it. It is why your focus needs to be on the Cross, humbly accepting your need for a personal Savior, and receiving by faith, all that He has done for you, by His death and miraculous resurrection.
And as you find your rest in the provision made available to you through the divine exchange, you will see and know that the God of wonders is a miracle worker in your life and mine. What He does, is not magic, for performing an act of magic is in the purview and control of man. And it is invariably for purposes that are diametrically different. It could be seen in the Lord chiding the disciples who in an act akin to magic, wanted to call down fire from heaven, to cause destruction! For, He came to seek and save the lost, salvation being the greatest miracle that any person on earth can experience. Thus, the wonders, the miracles that God works, are a demonstration of His power for the fulfilling of His purpose, a revelation of His nature and plan for your life.
a. Sanctification – Christ takes center stage :
The substance is of Christ, is the wondrous truth of the new covenant, of which you are now a blessed partaker. You have been redeemed, from the dominion of sin and satan, through Christ’s finished work on the Cross. He takes center stage. And you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption [1 Corinthians 1:30]. Christ Himself has become your sanctification. And , flowing from this truth, sanctifying yourself, as God instructed Joshua in preparation to receive from Him, is very simply, sanctifying the Lord in your heart, for it is what will give in you, the clarity and courage to do what is necessary and right.
b. Sanctification – Christ takes first place :
Sanctification thus begins on the inside of you, as you set apart Christ to be first in your heart, and therefore, keep Him first in everything that concerns you, to say in willing submission unto the Lord, as Mary did, ‘Lord, I am Your servant; be it unto me according to your word’ [Luke 1:38]. Mary heard the word of God, to ponder or meditate upon it, to be led to be sanctified, for the accomplishment of His glorious purpose. It is how it can happen within you too as you let the scriptures be your guide, and in trusting and obeying it, you will know that He is the God who sanctifies you. Consecrate yourselves therefore and be holy, for I am the Lord your God. And you shall keep My statutes and perform them; I am the Lord who sanctifies you [Leviticus 20:7,8].
c. Sanctification- holiness or being set apart :
Sanctification is separation or holiness to be set apart from what is common. And the application of holiness in your life, is by doing that which is connected to what God is doing, and has already done in your life.As the Lord has spoken, ‘Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; Before you were born I sanctified you, I ordained you a prophet to the nations; [Jeremiah 1:5]. And this is a truly encouraging truth that can liberate and uplift you even this day, opening your eyes to know that God has sanctified you, even when you were in your mother’s womb. You did not have to do anything, to qualify for it.In other words, before you knew yourself, even before you were formed, God has called, appointed, separated you for Himself.
You are the wonderful handiwork of God :
The psalmist acknowledges the wonderful aspect of this truth, to declare, For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise You for I am fearfully and wonderfully made [Psalm 139:13,14]. You can give praise unto God for the wondrous work that He has already done in you, when you were yet in your mother’s womb..
Knowing the truth in your soul :
Marvelous are Your works,and that my soul knows very well [Psalm 139:14]. And it is the knowledge of this truth, of you having been sanctified, separated unto God, even before you were born, in your soul, that will keep you strong, especially in a time like this with wars and rumors of wars all across the globe, not to mention a deadly pandemic. It was how the song writer was able to write ‘It is well with my soul’ a song that still remains powerfully haunting and inspiring, for his circumstance then was anything but well!
He who has begun will bring it to completion :
For, you having been sanctified, set apart for a special purpose, even before you were born, is the wonder that God has already done in you. And, He has continued the good work, even as the psalmist has continued to testify – that it was God who brought him out of the womb, and also even at that point birthed the trust in him to be able to say, ‘From my mother’s womb You have been my God’ [Psalm 22:8,9]. And even in your life, He is the Author and Finisher of your faith in Him. He has made you trust Him; It is His gift of salvation, that is your overwhelming security in life. Sanctification therefore, is about a separation unto God. And it involves being secure and sustained in it by the God who has already done it in you.
d. Sanctification – sustained in youth & old age :
By Thee I have been sustained from my birth. Thou art He who took me out of my mother’s womb; My praise is continually before Thee [Psalm 71:6]. You have been sanctified or separated even before you were born, for a special purpose by God. And for it yo be fulfilled He sustains you, from the time you are born into this world, in your youth, and even when you are old and gray haired [Psalm 71:17,18]. And it is to declare His wondrous works, His glorious strength and power to this generation, and even to the coming generations – a specific purpose, that will cause your very self to be a wonder, for the glory of His Name.
Your holy calling -from darkness to LIGHT :
God has saved you, and called you with a holy calling, not according to your own works but according to His purpose and grace which was given to you in Christ Jesus, from all eternity, with no beginning or end [2 Timothy 1:8]. It is why the apostle Paul’s words are, ‘I am what I am by the grace of God; I do what I do by the grace of God; not I, but the grace of God, working powerfully in me’ [1 Corinthians 15:10]. You have been sanctified, even in your mother’s womb, separated unto God, to fulfill His purpose for your life, for which you are empowered by His grace. You are therefore, already wonderful. You are not waiting for something wonderful to happen in your life. And when your doing flows out of what God has already done in you, your very life will be wonderful and marvelous, even in these difficult and challenging times.
For, it is He who has chosen you, to make you His very own possession, that you may proclaim His praises and be a testimony, You are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness, into His marvelous light [1 Peter 2:9].
‘Set apart for Me..’
God Himself has separated you, as illustrated in the life of Paul and Barnabas, And as they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, ‘Now separate to Me Barnabas and Saul to the work for which I have called them [Acts 13:2]. And as they comprehended the truth to walk in it, God wondrously worked through them, they spoke boldly in the Lord, who was bearing witness to the word of His grace, granting signs and wonders to be done by their hands [Acts 14:3]. And, even this day, as you bow in humble adoration, giving thanks unto the Father, may the light of God’s powerful truth illuminate your heart and soul to know that you have been separated, sanctified and set apart for His glorious purpose, and you have already been made wonderful in Him. And therefore, may you be as the prophet has said, Here am I, and the children whom the Lord has given me. We are for signs and wonders in Israel, from the Lord of Hosts who dwells in Mount Zion [Isaiah 8:18].
He is also the Lord who dwells in your heart and home this day, to accomplish it in your life, that He may be glorified, and you may be fulfilled. It is how He leads you forward from where you are to where He wants you to be, for the glory and honor of His Name.
In the Name of Christ Jesus Amen.
