To Pardon And Sanctify Me

This verse from the old hymn, The Old Rugged Cross, offers powerful hope for our earthly lives and for our eternal souls:

In the old rugged Cross, stained with blood so divine,
A wondrous beauty I see,
For the dear Lamb of God, left his Glory above,
To pardon and sanctify me.

Jesus died to pardon our sins -- our acts and deeds of rebellion -- and to purify our Sin -- our attitudes and dispositions of rebellion.

But if we confess our sins to Him, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.
-- 1 John 1:9 (NLT)

Lord, thanks for saving and for sanctifying me.
Grateful

A Saving Passion For Sanctified People

The Holy Spirit cannot conquer the world with unbelief, nor can He save the world with a worldly Church. He calls for a crusade, a campaign, and an adventure of saving passion. For this enterprise He wants a separated, sanctified and sacrificial people.
-- Rev. Samuel Chadwick

Lord, I want to be in this world but not of this world. Yes, by faith, please include me in the adventure of Your saving passion. Make me (by the indwelling presence of Your Holy Spirit) to be a separated, sanctified, and sacrificial saint for Your glory, that is, make me exclusively Yours. In the Name of Jesus, I ask these things. Amen.

High Priestly Prayer of Jesus to the Father for His Disciples:
(15) My prayer is not that You take them out of the world but that You protect them from the evil one. (16) They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. (17) Sanctify them by the truth; Your word is truth. (18) As You sent Me into the world, I have sent them into the world. (19) For them I sanctify Myself, that they too may be truly sanctified. -- John 17:15-19 (NIV)

By Faith! In Faith! (Hebrews 11)
Grateful

May A Holy New Year Be Ours!

It's almost one-hour into the New Year here in the Eastern Standard Time Zone of the World. A penny for my thoughts? Well, presently I am recalling some powerful thoughts pertaining to the words "happy" and "holy" that are demanding attention in the depths of my mind:

Our temporary happiness is whatever it is at any one given moment in time, but Jesus really was crucified to impute (credit) and to impart (give) to us His timeless holiness -- to truly sanctify you and me in our time, for all-time, and for Eternity.

Lord, as we look ahead to a New Year, beyond being happy, that is, beyond being temporarily satisfied, let us seek first and foremost to be holy, that is, to seek the pinnacle of Your will for our lives -- to be truly sanctified. In Jesus' Name. Amen.

For them I sanctify Myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.
-- Words of Jesus John 17:19 (NIV)

May God Himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul, and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. (24) The One Who calls you is faithful and He will do it.
-- 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24 (NIV)

Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without Holiness no one will see the Lord...
-- Hebrews 12:14 (NIV)

May a Holy New Year Be Ours!
Grateful

The Holy Breath of God

The Holy Spirit is the Holy Breath of God within our lives. Without the Holy Spirit living within us, we are spiritually dead. Christianity is but a lifeless corpse apart from God the Holy Spirit.

Come, Holy Spirit, I need Thee.
Come, Sweet Spirit, I pray.
Come in Thy strength and Thy power.
Come in Thine own gentle way.

Come, Holy Spirit. Regenerate us. Sanctify us. Be the Holy Breath of Holy God within our eternal souls. In the name of Jesus. Amen.

1 John 3:24b (NLT) -- And we know He lives in us because the Holy Spirit lives in us.

My ministry partner, Joseph, sent these lyrics to me recently:

Breathe on me, Breath of God, fill me with life anew,
that I may love what Thou dost love, and do what Thou wouldst do.

Breathe on me, Breath of God, until my heart is pure,
until with Thee I will one will, to do and to endure.

Breathe on me, Breath of God, till I am wholly Thine,
till all this earthly part of me glows with Thy fire divine.

Breathe on me, Breath of God, so shall I never die,
but live with Thee the perfect life of Thine eternity.

IF MY PEOPLE... WILL? I WILL! God's Promise in 2 Chron. 7:14.
Grateful

The Real Lord's Prayer

My most cherished passage in the Holy Scriptures has to be, without doubt, John 17. (Now, what we commonly refer to as "The Lord's Prayer" in my opinion is actually "The Disciple's Prayer" taught to us by the Lord. You know, it's in Matthew 6, and begins with "Our Father Who Art in Heaven...") However, "The Real Lord's Prayer" has to be "His High Priestly Prayer" recorded in John 17. If you haven't read it lately, I highly recommend that you consider reading it.

Here are a few verses just to heighten your hunger and thirst to read and saturate in the whole prayer of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ: Jesus is praying to the Father shortly before being crucified. Here's a portion of "The Real Lord's Prayer" -- John 17:19-23 (NIV)

(19) For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified. (20) My prayer is not for them (the original disciples) alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, (21) that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. (22) I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: (23) I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.

ALL JOY!
Grateful