Monday May 23, 2022 - First Methodist Mansfield

Today is Monday, May 23 and we are exploring what the bible says about entire sanctification.

Opening Prayer

As I enter this time of prayer, I pause to make room for God in the cramped quarters of my heart and mind. I deepen my breathing and quiet my wandering thoughts. I focus my entire being on God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Pause and Pray

Loving Lord, I have come to this place to meet you and experience the joy of your abiding presence. Teach me your truth about sanctifying grace. Speak the words you have for me this morning, show me how to listen with the ears of my heart and comprehend your promises. Amen.

Scripture Reading

Day and night I seek the presence of the Lord and praise him with the words of Psalm 42.

Deep calls to deep in the roar of your waterfalls; all your waves and breakers have swept over me. By day the Lord directs his love, at night his song is with me— a prayer to the God of my life. Psalm 42:7-8

Pause and Pray

God is a holy God and we are called to be a holy people. Holiness is realized through the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit in us through grace. The more John Wesley studied the scriptures, the more convinced he was that “holiness of heart and life was a central theme” of the entire bible. Actually, it is the focus of the Christian life itself. If you read the bible looking for an emphasis on holiness, you will notice it consistently throughout the pages from beginning to end, Genesis to Revelation. (Kevin M. Watson, Perfect Love – Recovering Entire Sanctification – The Lost Power of the Methodist Movement) In Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonians, he indicates that it is God’s will for believers to be sanctified and made holy.

As for other matters, brothers and sisters, we instructed you how to live in order to please God, as in fact you are living. Now we ask you and urge you in the Lord Jesus to do this more and more. For you know what instructions we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus. It is God’s will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; that each of you should learn to control your own body in a way that is holy and honorable, not in passionate lust like the pagans, who do not know God; and that in this matter no one should wrong or take advantage of a brother or sister. The Lord will punish all those who commit such sins, as we told you and warned you before. For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life. 1 Thessalonians 4:1-7

Reflection

As a brother or sister in a community of faith I am a part of a church family and live daily in order to please and honor God. Paul urges me to do this more and more. I gain instruction in God’s word for faithful Christian living – learning to control my thoughts and actions in a manner that is holy and honorable. God calls me to be pure and live a holy and righteous life. In this passage, Paul clearly declares it is God’s will that I should be sanctified – made holy and mature, made to be like Jesus. I cannot even attempt to realize this in my own power, I desperately need the power of sanctifying grace that comes through the Holy Spirit. The Spirit’s power living in me will enable me to live a truly holy life honoring my Lord.

Ask: Do I believe it is God’s will that I should be sanctified?How can I best cooperate with the Holy Spirit’s purifying work in my life?

Pause and Pray

Lord God, you are holy and you call me to be holy. I want to honor and please you, yet I continually fall short and miss the mark of holy living. I ask you to sanctify me in your grace by the power of the Holy Spirit. I wholly surrender myself to you, humbly aware of my utter helplessness to realize holiness or purity in my own power. I read the words from First Thessalonians again and listen for the message you have for me.

As for other matters, brothers and sisters, we instructed you how to live in order to please God, as in fact you are living. Now we ask you and urge you in the Lord Jesus to do this more and more. For you know what instructions we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus. It is God’s will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; that each of you should learn to control your own body in a way that is holy and honorable, not in passionate lust like the pagans, who do not know God; and that in this matter no one should wrong or take advantage of a brother or sister. The Lord will punish all those who commit such sins, as we told you and warned you before. For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life. 1 Thessalonians 4:1-7

Ask: What image, word or phrase stands out to me when I slowly read this passage?What is God trying to say to me through these words of scripture?

Pause and Pray

God wants to speak to me about sanctification and I endeavor to listen. The concept of holiness is consistent throughout the scriptures. God’s will is for me to be sanctified and perfected in love. I consider the places in my life where God wants to reveal unrepented sin, impure thoughts or immoral actions. Perhaps God wants to expose self-imposed barriers to my progress in holiness or ways I am not cooperating with his desire to mature me in love. Maybe the Holy Spirit wants to take me by the hand and instruct me in the true meaning of holy living so I am able to please God more and more. What difference would it make for me to wholly trust and obey the God who loves me and guides me?

Pause and Pray

Come, Holy Spirit, sanctify me through and through, purify me more and more, and keep me blameless. Reveal the hidden sins that lurk behind the curtain of my heart and expose them to the light of your powerful cleansing grace. I cannot make progress in the spiritual life without your consistent labor in the depths of my soul. Amen.

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. The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it. 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24