"The whole earth is full of His glory...
The whole earth is full of His glory...
You reign victorious over all..."
Just a couple lines of it there, I can't sing, which is why you will not see a video of my BedHead Devotionals featuring me trying to capture this moment. ;) ha, ha!
A couple things were so deeply confirmed today in my quiet time today. As I sat in awe of how years ago I wrote 2 words in my old Bible ( that I used from 2003-2005) that were on my heart today. AMAZING STUFF FOLKS!
See, I've claimed that I would be in ministry again for the last 5 years. I've claimed that I was made for ministry. There is nothing else that I want to pour my time and energy into except seeing people come into a full revelation of Jesus Christ, God - their Creator!
Believers and unbelievers. Yes...I have a hunch that many people who are saved, have the 'fire insurance', but have yet to experience the full revelation of Jesus Christ as Lord, Savior, Messiah.
Heck, I still have some revelation to be received, so I imagine many others do too.
I think of people who have confessed with their mouth and heart that Jesus is Lord, yet still sink in the bondages of sin. Addictions, sexual immorality, greed, lust, lying, dishonesty...the list goes on and on of the sins that people STAY entangled in.
It is true, "You will know them by their fruit"...but can I have you consider the 'sanctification process'? The Word says to 'work out your own salvation with fear and trembling'...there's a working out that has to be done...a process.
See when I first got saved...I was living a rated-R life of promiscuity...I was an undercover homewrecker. I partied on the weekends: drinking and drugs. I cussed like a sailor, I lied, manipulated, and was so vain and conceited. I was horrible. I was. That's the truth.
- That's who I was B.C. -
BEFORE CHRIST!
Now, as I look back over my life, I see that I did not do a 180 with my external behaviors immediately, although my internal, heart's desires did. My heart longed for Jesus to heal me of my addictions, for him to give me self-control with my body, and to purify my mouth and motives.
I share the story of my sanctification process along these lines..."When I first got saved, I don't think that my potty mouth and the way I dressed was as much as a priority as my adultress affairs. I was jeopardizing marriages and families. God is all about protecting family and marriages. So guess what? Married men were 100% off limits, a.s.a.p.
Next thing to go was the dangerous hardcore drugs of cocaine and ecstasy. Those stopped immediately, those were potentially more fatal than the other things that I was doing. Next was the drinking...because that too was dangerous as I was horrible to drink and drive...(I know, is your mouth dropped? I warned you I was bad...). The next thing to change was my cussing...
I remember hearing the verse: How can blessings and cursings come from the same mouth?...I was like 'ouch!'
Remember, when I learned of Jesus' love and forgivenness...I needed soooooooooooo much of just that, so I loved Him so much! (Those who are forgiven much love much, right? It's a also a verse in the Bible).
So my passion for the party, rated-R life was turned into passion for Christ....but I had some addictions and habits that had to become sanctified...purified. It did not happen overnight...at all.
Had someone looked at my outside appearance 3-6 mos...even 1 year after being saved, many of the self-righteous would've doubted my salvation because at that time I was not 'bearing fruit'....yet. I was in the pruning process.
You got to cut the dead stuff off so that new life can grow. I am grateful that within 2 1/2 years of my salvation, I was completely alcohol, drug, and sex free. In fact, I called off an engagement because my fiance did not 'keep it pure'...that's how intense my sanctification process was.
I got strong enough, by the power of the Holy Spirit to
let go of all the things that were
in opposition of what the Word of God taught.
Now...here's the thing...to me, that was too long...but some people take even longer. My gut feeling is that we will take as long as we allow ourselves. It's a matter of 'our will' lining up with the will of God.
The speed of the sanctification process is
proportionate to the measure of our
submission to the Holy Spirit.
For me, my addiction to marijuana was the last addiction to go...it seemed like it took forever for me to make the last time...the last time. I can't tell you how many times I said..."THIS IS THE LAST TIME!" I got so fed up with myself saying that...I was sick of failing.
I decided one day, the guilt and shame from giving in again and again over pronouncing 'the last time' was so burdening that the highs were no longer fun. They were laden with shame and guilt!
And then, I got so sick of myself feeling dirty and sinful after spending the night with my fiance...the prayers of repentance following my stay made me nauseous.
I had the strong conviction in my heart that I was
WILLFULLY sinning and I had to stop.
I took the verse about 'if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off'. My relationship with this guy was causing me to sin...so I did just that....I cut it off. Gave him back his ring and basically said, "I want to live sold-out to Jesus and have a pure life...so since you don't want that, I can't be with you".
I can't tell you how liberating that was. I was finally free of all the sins that were thorns in my flesh, the ones that had my body in bondage.
However, I hadn't arrived yet. And I still haven't. I am still being sanctified. I still have to put my vanity, judgementalness, pride, intelligence, opinions, and thoughts on the altar. But I am still being sanctified....the PROCESS is not yet complete.
For me, I believe my willingness to give up what God has told me to is what has sped up the process.
Since the day I was saved...I've poured the Word in me nearly daily. I've had an on-going prayer life. I've had amazing answers to prayers for others to build my faith for God to do great things in me and for me. I've had revelations and studied the Word and know that I know that Jesus is who He says He is....ALL THE TIME!
I had the faith for the deliverance of drug addictions and sexual sin. Perhaps, the people lacking 'fruit' really have little fruit growing, hidden under the bondages that they are so entangled with. Perhaps, they have little faith for the deliverance.
Are there people who are saved, yet they lack faith in the power of the Holy Spirit? Are there too many people observing their lives and claiming 'lack of God' that they buy into it? Are there not enough believers reaching out and loving on them long enough to see a change? Is the change taking place so slowly that the 'righteous' miss it and discredit their salvation?
I don't the answers to these. Only ONE knows who is and is not truly saved.
My goal is to 'be ready and prepared' for His return whenever it is...I don't know if it's today or 10 years, or 100 years from now. I just know that I want to see everyone I know experience the love of Christ....so I just show up in the mornings, asking God to equip me to love the unloveable, forgive the unforgiveable, and be a witness of His grace unto the world!
My prayer is that each of you would come into a full revelation of who Jesus Christ really is, the true power of the Holy Spirit, and the deep love of the Father! The Trinity....three in one. It's mind-boggling...I know. I just believe it because it's what the Word shows me...and by my faith I've been healed! Hallelujah!
