Monday Motivational - In The Process

                                                                 Monday Motivational – In the Process
 
      Welcome to another Monday Motivational guys! I hope that those of you wrapping up your school year are doing so with conviction and integrity to finish strong, and preparing for a great summer. I hope that those of you not being held captive by the school calendar are also preparing for a great summer. In my personal opinion there is no better time than summer time—unless you’re an adult with an adult job and adult responsibilities. As a kid summers were the absolute greatest. Sleeping in until you felt like getting up, eating junk food in place of real meals until dinner when your mom forced you to eat real food, causing chaos with all the other neighborhood kids, going to the pool or lake or beach, and best of all…going to summer camp! Kids really don’t know how great they have it. And that ends my tangent on how great summer was as a kid because that actually has nothing to do with this week’s topic!
 
      For this weeks Monday Motivational I want to talk with you guys about something my Sunday School class went over yesterday. Before I get too far into it I want to give a quick shout out to David Powell (my Sunday School teacher) because although I had previous knowledge of what I am about to share with you, I would not have been able to explain it so clearly without him doing so for me yesterday. We did a study of Colossians chapter 1 and a large portion of yesterday’s study was focused on Salvation and Sanctification. These two things are very closely related, but also very different in their own meanings and application. David broke down salvation in the following way: Step One – I was saved on (date of your salvation here) , Step Two – Today I am still in the process of being saved , Step Three – Someday I will be completely or fully saved. I love this breakdown because it shows our journey.
 
      Step one is a clear picture of our starting point. The moment you placed faith in the action of Christ on the cross to redeem you from all your sins, you were saved. Step two tells us that the life we live after step one is a process in which we are striving to be more and more like Christ and remove ourselves from a life that has sin in it. Step three tells us that someday we will be fully saved and completely free of sin. The good news of step three is that we will someday be free of sin completely, while the bad news is that the someday being referenced here is not one on this earth but rather one post death. So where does Sanctification come into play? Glad you asked!
 
      Sanctification is taking place in step two. As a born again believer we are in the process of it. Sanctify means to make holy, set apart, or free (remove) from sin. If we are in the process of sanctification, what does it look like? Galatians 5:16-17 says “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.”. Galatians 5:25 says “If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.”. It is impossible for us to sanctify ourselves, but sanctification does require us to surrender to the influence and guidance of the Spirit.
 
     As believers we are in the process of sanctification and are working towards step three of someday being fully and completely saved (completely free of sin). This process only works if we surrender to the Spirit and “keep in step with the Spirit”. Make sure that your desires are being created out of the leadership and desires of the Spirit in your life and not out of your fleshly desires.
 
Happy Monday!