Santification

His people will be called the Holy People,

the Saved People of the Lord,

and Jerusalem will be called the City God Wants

the City God Has Not Rejected.

Isaiah 62:12

READ Isaiah 62:1-64:12

SITUATION Isaiah prophesied that God would one day be proud of his people--a day to long for, prepare for, and pray for. Recollecting God's past favors and faithfulness, Isaiah passionately pleaded for God's compassion and mercy. He asked that Israel's enemies be punished.

OBSERVATION When Jesus Christ came and provided a way for salvation. God would exalt his people. God would see his children as people without sin because Jesus paid their penalty.

INSPIRATION The holiness we are to exhibit is not our own, but the holiness of Christ in us. We are not holy, and we will not become holy humans. Christ in us can manifest His holiness if we will yield our flesh to Him. This is not a human operation; it is a spiritual one. Jesus installs His holiness in us by grace. Not a once-for-all-time transaction, this is a daily, moment-by-moment striving to live more by the Spirit and less by the flesh.

...A friend bought his daughter a new car, but it must sit in the garage until she reaches the legal driving age. Until her sixteenth birthday she only has partial use of the car, when accompanied by an adult. Similarly, holiness is like a gift already purchased for us (by the blood of Christ), but we can not have full use of it until a certain date in the future (our glorification).

Becoming holy is a process which includes God's part and our part. On one hand, our part is to say out of the God's part--to yield, to surrender, to stop seeking God on our own terms. But our part also is to obey. It is to enter His rehabilitation program.

When you put yourself under a doctor's care, he cannot help you if you don't follow his instructions. As the patient surrenders his own good ideas and obeys the doctor's instruction, he becomes well. The same is true in sanctification. If you and I want to be made holy, then we must willingly surrender ourselves to His care, and we must also actively obey His instructions.

We have no more power to make ourselves holy than a dying man has to save himself. We are weak and tired, and we cannot offer much help. However, we can submit to His rehabilitation program--sanctification. The key to our part is faith--to seek Him in obedience. (From Walking with Christ in the Details of Life by Patrick Morley)

APPLICATION Are you working for God's kingdom? Are you active in spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ? Do you tell others what God has done for you? All these things are done by those who desire to see God's kingdom come. Be an active member of God's kingdom.

EXPLORATION Holiness -- Exodus 20:8-11; Leviticus 11:44-45; Psalm 93:5; Isaiah 4:2-4; Hebrews 10: 14; 1 Peter 1:14-16.

The Devotional Bible - Experiencing the Heart of Jesus; Max Lucado General Editor, New Century Version, Thomas Nelson Publishers