Sanctification? What’s that? (part 2)

Prompted by my son’s thoughtful question, and turning to God’s Word as the ultimate authority for my life, I began to explore God’s will, that is “sanctification”.  Where did the word sanctify first appear in the scriptures? And what was the context?

The first occurrence of the word sanctify is found in the Old Testament, in the book of Exodus after the children of Israel had been freed from their slavery in Egypt. You know the story. The children of Israel had been oppressed and enslaved for 400 long years. The hope of ever being the nation that God has promised their forefather Abraham had become a distant memory clouded by their harsh oppression.

The people cried out and after 400 years, in the fullness of His timing, the Lord moved. He raised up a deliverer. As the story goes, the Lord delivered His people through Moses, who had as a baby escaped Pharaoh's earlier death decree for first born male in every Hebrew home. The Lord brought mighty acts of judgment against Israel’s oppressors through Moses.

The last of the ten judgments, or plagues came - the death of the first born. The Lord had not forgotten His people. He had seen the Pharaoh's harshness and cruelty, even his earlier order to kill the first born Jewish male. In His judgment, the Lord provided salvation for His people and their first born. This time they need not fear, their first born would find salvation. The blood of a lamb on the doorpost would cause the angel of death to passover  the house; the first born male of the house would be saved.

It was on the heels of this miraculous liberation, the Lord commands the Israelites to remember His great and powerful hand that saved them out of Egypt, by instituting the ordinance of  an annual Passover feast  for the people to celebrate in community annually.  Unleavened bread would remind the people of the haste in which the left Egypt. Bitter herbs would remind them of the bitter oppression. Lamb would remind them of the Lord’s provision amid judgment.

Interestingly, this context is also the first use of the word sanctify, which means a setting apart. What or who was to be “set apart"”?  The first born was to be part of this memorial and was to be followed within the family. A reminder how the Lord provided salvation for His people and their first born. While we are called to remember in community, we are also called to remember within our own family.

Certain days, special meals, and distinct celebrations are part of our sanctification, of our being set apart. Such times call upon us to reflect and behold what God has done and what God has promised. Fixing our mind and heart on these truths is part of our sanctification. Drawing our thoughts backward, upward, and onward. Reordering our affections, so that any maligned appetite or desire may once again be rightly ordered according to His kingdom.

I share with my son these truths. We each carry a vision of what our life and purpose are, and we become what we behold.

Here’s the struggle: What/Who are we beholding? Practically, how do we as a family develop and faithfully carry a vision, His vision, in our modern, rapid-paced times?

Sanctification? What’s that?

This was the question my youngest son asked me just recently. Such a soul-shaping and overarching theme in my own life, I realized I had not communicated its important meaning and imperative well to my children, especially my youngest son.

I remember when I first encountered this idea… the idea of being sanctified, of being set apart. I was reading the scriptures:

“This is the will of God, your sanctification…” – I Thess 4:3

Well, how wonderful! A clear concrete declaration of God’s will for me! Not some mystical hide and seek exercise. His will was made plain to me in this verse. My sanctification!

After the initial excitement of such a profound discovery, the questions came… But what does this mean? And then, of course, came the follow up question – How?

Rats! The wrestling and quest for understanding had only just been ignited…

I have to confess I did not readily embrace what I began to learn as I search the scriptures. Set apart?!? I had spent much of my life working hard on fitting in, following the crowd, … And the idea of being sanctified, or in the process of sanctification, didn’t that sound arrogant, superior, and perhaps even self-righteous? I wasn’t sure what this meant. This wasn’t going to be easy and certainly not something natural to me and my understanding.

Perhaps you too have had similar thoughts and feelings about this word, this command, this declaration of the will of God.

So I now hope to explore this word and principle this coming year and share the posts here… On my blog: SANCTIFIED Woman. With the hopes of enlarging our own understanding while also growing in our ability to lead our own family in this understanding, we’ll allow the potter to shape us and transform our understanding.

Grace and truth are found on His wheel…

Sanctified Sections

Years ago, I was introduced to a book that would irrevocably alter my warped, worldly thinking and set me on a new path to appropriate my identity according to God’s Word. That book was The Common Made Holy by Neil Anderson and the Freedom in Christ Ministry. A book that opened my eyes and heart to the idea of sanctification on a very practical level. A book that I recently picked up, reminded me of an important principle found in Anderson’s book.

The importance of relationships in our sanctification process. The Lord uses relationships with others to sanctify US!

Ohhh! So that’s why relationships can be so difficult - they touch areas that we would prefer remain untouched! YES! Some relationships more than others seem to touch such areas. And some relationship-seasons (husband-wife, parent-child, friend-friend, employer-employee, etc…), are more challenging than others at different times.

While we have a tendency to (more comfortably) focus on the OTHER person’s need for sanctification during a difficulty, we must be careful to follow the command to work out our OWN salvation, or sanctification, with fear and trembling. The principle and application of “the log and the speck” has transformative power – personal transformation and relational transformation. Sounds difficult but desirable, yes? Yet many of us settle for the paralysis created by neatly placing blame and guilt on the other party, ignoring our own participation and contribution to an often relationally polarizing process.

So let’s first look at the WHY question. Why do many of us have a tendency to solely settle for seeing others as the incessant thorn in our side and ourselves as victims? This is a big question and the answer requires expanding our thinking, which translates into exposure to ideas based on higher and deeper principles than those we may be currently operating under.

Where would I search for such principles? Among mere men and their wisdom? Perhaps as a starting point or a bridge to a greater source. Years ago, as a teenage atheist, I lived according to man’s wisdom and the wisdom the world valued. What was my primary source? Well… General Hospital, of course! Actually, GH was just one of many. I would now blush at the books, music, magazines, TV shows, and movies that shaped my futile and foggy thinking in those days. The results and consequences are not appropriate to share here, however, it was through these that a search began, a decision was made, and a line was drawn. My greater source was Him and my primary source of truth was to be God’s Word from that day forward.

So here is a perhaps new sanctification idea, drawn by men from God’s word, that I have found worthy to ponder on my own journey in the fertile fields of relationships.

For lack of a more creative term I will call this grid … Sanctification Sections and over a few blog posts, I hope the idea will take a firmer shape in your mind and heart.

Place this four-section table over your own heart – thinking of what you know or see about your OWN heart.

	What others see/know	What others do NOT see/know
What I see/know…	Best Section contains what I know and allow others to see about me. I share what I know to be the BEST about me with others.	Behind-the-Scenes section secret part of my life – * positive (specific acts and disciplines that cultivate a strong and healthy Christian life)  * negative (sin, struggles, thoughts, fleshly weaknesses not shared or trusted to others)
What I do NOT see/know	Blind Section Yikes! Others can see things about me I am BLIND to (pride, self-reliance, consequences of media choices, etc)… BUT with safe, mature counselors, I humbly allow these areas to be brought to my conscience to be transformed & sanctified.	Buried Section Again, there are things I don’t know about my own heart, and others don’t either – degrees of pride, selfishness, self-reliance, tendency to spiritualize, denial, hiding, blaming, … Sanctification seeks to reduce this “section” too!

Table adapted from Listening for Heaven’s Sake.

Can these ideas help your family along sanctification’s way? It sure has mine! Does this help provide a framework for a dialog of truth and grace? I am working on it!

So the question NOW becomes a HOW question. How do you and I move from our comfortable habit of neatly tying up all relational distress as due to the other person, to soberly and accurately allowing the Lord to poke around in our own hearts?

There are cautions and considerations as we learn How. Let’s unpack these ideas a bit… more in blog posts to come.

Wise Parents Wrestle…

Today produced yet another enlightening discussion with friends and fellow forerunners in the Christian-parenting journey. Personal struggles in passing along the live-giving ideas and principles wrapped up in a life based on truth as defined by the One who claimed to be the Way, the Truth and the Life.

The communication and cultivation of these life-giving and life-altering truths to the next generation, in a world preoccupied with its own passing beauty, is appropriately marked by struggle - a wrestling if you will.  After all,  where there is no wrestling - no struggle - inherent weakness and frailty remain unrevealed.  A result no loving parent would intentionally wish to cultivate yet statistics bear an alarming frailty among young people emerging from “Christian” homes.

Wise parents therefore welcome the wrestling and do not settle for the short-sighted temptation to exasperate our young adults by means of forcing mere external obedience while refusing to engage their young minds and hearts through relevant encounters of principles and ideas from scripture. While we, as parents, are often already resolved on such ideas and principles, we often forget how we arrived at such resolutions. Many resolutions have been made through our own struggles with truth and “truth” (and others through amiable acquiesce or clinging to a certain form or tradition, but that is a subject best left for another blog post). The next generation must be afforded the same opportunity, the same right to test His ways and truths against the world’s “ways” and “truths”. The Way, the Truth and the Life is more than up to the task, even if we parents are not! Remember, He dealt with us, didn’t He?

Is such wrestling permitted and promoted within the arena of your home, my home? The days of parenting by authority alone were appropriate when our children were young and their capacity to understand and reason required consistent external governance, correction and intervention. However, in healthy, and I would argue Biblical, parenting of the human soul, this external governance must give way to internal governance upon which the work of His spirit must be fully relied upon for all application and wisdom on the parents part and the budding youth’s heart.

Consequently, if we parents continue to rely more upon our own strength by exerting our unilateral authority to its fullest extent in all matters on behalf of these young adults, this internal governance in our youth remains neglected, and as a result, it is profoundly retarded. Producing what kind of adult? At best, an adult that is conditioned to be controlled and cared for by other humans with an identity grounded in human elements and efforts. In the end, both parent and youth resent this regretful result.

The human soul innately knows it was designed for a greater governance, a governance that does not produce slavery to a human element, but a governance that paradoxically produces freedom from human frailties of self and others. Producing a freedom to love and serve from the heart. With a transcendent identity characterized by an attractive and unassuming authority that stems from the internal governance of His spirit. This is the appropriate and fruitful governance the human soul was designed to find its fullest satisfaction.

My spirit is vexed in this sober undertaking. What parent is able to labor in a worthy manner under such weighty matters? Hope abounds because of His provision. For whom He has granted precious and magnificent promises through which, when apprehended and appropriated by His grace, we wrestle with Him who bestows strength, blessing, understanding, and wisdom.

May we wrestle with Him, so that we may have personal strength to pass to our youth in their time of wrestling.

Thankful and Content

I am thankful for my eyes that see,
Your creation, your power and nature so clearly.
But should you take this gift away,
I would be most content, for it can often cause me to stray.

I am thankful for the legs that carry me,
To do your work and meet my fellows in need.
But should you take this gift away,
I would be most content to sit at your feet and stay.

I am thankful for the keen mind given me,
By it, I may think and dwell on ways of Thee.
But should you take this gift away,
I would be most content to more quickly find your narrow way.

I am thankful for the health given me,
To serve and minister with bended knee.
But should you take this gift away,
I would be most content and prepared for glory’s day.

I am thankful for the many gifts given me,
To be a faithful steward of them in word and deed.
When you decide your purpose for me is complete,
I would be most content to live forever with Thee.

Heather Shirley
November 1999

From Triangles to Tattoos?!?

Each week, I have the privilege of gathering with a group of 16 and 17 year olds where we learn math and more about the God behind the language of math!

This week, we were once again learning even more about triangles. Let me just say, I love triangles! Triangles are so important in measuring and relating to God’s creation that there is a whole course called Trigonometry devoted to them! And guess what, my God is a triune God.  Interesting that He would choose the triangle as a corner piece in understanding so many aspects of His creation. Very interesting, isn’t it?!?

So this week, we were contemplating triangles. Formulas for triangles, similar triangles, right-triangles, congruent triangles, … and I stopped!

“Students. What do the words congruent triangles mean?”

A student replies reading the bold text from a lesson, “Congruent triangles are similar triangles with a scale factor of one.”

“Good!” I replied. “So you could say congruent triangles are the same. They have the same side lengths and same angles.”

Frustrated and forlorn, one student states, “Well then! Why don’t we just say that then! Why do we have to use strange words!”

YES!! The moment had come! You see, I have been waiting, waiting for this fated pivotal moment. The moment when the stars aligned, and I could share a secret I learned seven years ago - a learning secret.

“Every subject has a language that we have to learn! This is called the grammar. Do you feel stupid when someone keeps using a word as if you should know what it means? I sure do! Does anyone here know what a direct object is? A few nodded, others whispered “No.” I said, “If you knew Latin or sentence patterns and structures you would.”

So it is so important to go back and ASK, what do you mean by _______? Or hustle back through a lesson and find the definition of that unfamiliar word.  In order to learn anything, we have to understand the words people use and how they are using them – this is called the grammar!” If we don’t understand the words, or know the grammar, we tend to shutdown and tune out, because it really is “all Greek to me!”

I didn’t stop there. Oh no! The door had been swung open and I have been invited in! I went on … to the dialectic stage. Learning how to think and make connections; perceive relationships between subjects, between concepts and between their personal faith and their personal choices.

On and on, I went! Until finally, as I was moving into the third learning skill, rhetoric, I stopped and I asked. “Does anyone here have a tattoo?”

Attention riveted, as they each craned their necks to be sure they had heard my question correctly. Everyone shook their head, but I could tell I had struck an already contemplated cord. A tempting knock on the debate door was heard loud and clear. I allowed for a temporary trek down tattoo lane… but only to serve my greater purpose.

“Why would someone want a tattoo?” I fished.

Immediately, the answer from one student was - “To tell a story, to share a message that is important to the bearer.”

Ahhhh HAAA! Here is where I rounded out the robust and riveting discussion, by dropping my premise into place. The idea that words – speaking and writing words – are superior to images in many ways. What’s my authority? God’s illustrations and metaphors in His word. Specifically, referencing our God in speaking creation into existence and Jesus being the word of God, just to name a few. Words carry great power!

I challenged the students – work on using words well!

I concluded by saying… whether you or your friend has a tattoo or piercing or whatever… people will ask questions about it and you will eventually need words to tell the real, whole story … and that is the heart of rhetorical skills – mastering the right usage of words!

We bantered a bit more, even laughed as we shared thoughts and ideas. One student asked me, “What do you think, Ms. Shirley?” Good! They are interested in what I think. Like any good teacher would do, I let the question linger, leaving them to ponder what I might think and why. “That discussion is for another time.” Though I am disappointed that no one asked me if I had a tattoo, but I think I inadvertently let that cat out of the bag when I said, “It is by the grace of God that I don’t have a tattoo. Before the age of twenty, I was an atheist, but that’s yet another colorful story for another time!”

So I leave the rest of this discussion to your family’s dynamics, history and walk with the Lord. You can thank me (or curse me) later! :)

Either way, your family still needs to answer the question…

What is MY communication strategy?

Rainbows as Reminders

Have you ever had moments of desperation?

Seasons of life that drive you to your knees? To your face?

Not necessarily a moment or season of difficult circumstances or outward trials, but an inward hunger and thirst for righteousness – right-ness with your Lord.

The anguish of heart, as you desire to know that you are pleasing Him first and foremost – not yourself and not merely a people-pleaser.

Do you ever have an overwhelmingly keen sense of your own inadequacy? The “Whom am I Lord…?” syndrome?

Who am I Lord…

• … to steward the lives of these children?
• … to respect and help my husband?
• … to teach your word to others?
• … to minister to other parents?
• … to lead areas of a national homeschooling organization?
• … to teach my children at home?
• … to manage the monthly grocery bill?!!!

Often times these roles and responsibilities overwhelm me like a flood! My frailties floating higher and higher around me. How about you? Do you ever feel that you will drown in the sheer volume of responsibilities contained in your day-to-day life?

Do you ever need a reminder that He is in charge? That He oversees the affairs of your life? That He will not allow the flood to overtake you?

Well… these last few months have been like this for me.

This morning I intentionally cried out to God and poured out my heart before Him! Wrestling with Him for His perfect work in my life, in lives of our family, in our community, in our church, in Classical Conversations and beyond.

As I went out to the mail box around 7:10am this morning to put something in the mailbox (which is NOT a normal habit of mine :))…

I turned around to head back toward my house, and here is what I saw!

NOW…. Does that rainbow look like it is perfectly and personally encircling my house?

You tell me?

Do you, like me, sometimes need a rainbow to remind you of who He is? His faithfulness?

Let me share mine with you today!

He’s bigger than our floating frailties that can seek to sink us!

Grace and peace along sanctification’s way….

 

Go Deeper…

Read Genesis 9:8-17 for more on God instituting the rainbow as a sign of His covenant (solemn, binding promise).

By the way… What did I put in the mailbox? My payment for the upcoming Catalyst Conference. I look forward to what the Lord is doing among His people and the next generation! I want to be in on it!

What is the Catalyst Conference? Check out this link:

http://www.catalystconference.com/

The Winnowing Valley

Throughout the Christian life there are times of faith-filled victory and trust as well as times of deep doubt and even crippling despair.  This week I received a call from a dear and trusted friend who has experienced the first but is currently walking through the later.

How about you? Have you too experienced the presence and power of the Lord so undeniably that you were sure that you would never doubt His word or intention for your good ever again?

Most of us would be honest enough to say that these words echo our own experience.  This side of heaven the battle to hold onto the unseen, to trust the eternal and to not give into the world's ways is an everyday reality in the Christian life.

I call these times of struggle and despair: Winnowing Valleys.

Are you familiar with a few of the "winnowing valley" symptoms?

• Everything that once seemed fine and manageable is now difficult or larger than life.
• Spiritual truths and principles that were once clear and accepted are now foggy and up for question.
• Perhaps a particular temptation that you had been victorious over now has a newfound magnetic power.

What is going on??  Where did this come from? Why is this happening?

Questions like these loom and linger.  Somewhere along your journey you have been transported from the majestic mountain top to the vulnerable valley below.

While winnowing valleys are a bit enigmatic in nature their ultimate purpose is always crystal clear... but before we identify the purpose of these strategically appointed seasons, we must know more about Him who oversees the seasons of our lives...

The Silence is Broken

Yes, I am returning to BLOG land this week!

With other pressing priorities and seasons of sickness, I return with much blogging catch-up to do!

I hope to catch up with many of you soon and blog our happenings too...

As I continue along sanctification's journey through everyday life with my family, life lessons in mothering, principles revealed in my studying, dialectic discussions in our home schooling and what God is doing as I travel around speaking.

My heart overflows... I look forward to sharing more soon!

Sanctified Steps

Every day.  Every choice. Every decision. 

Is dictated by our beliefs. 

Our beliefs about what is most important in this life - our priorities if you will. 

Our priorities dictate how we spend our time and how we spend our money.

The calendar and the wallet are the true barometers of our heart. 

Not the words we speak on Sunday or what we do when we know others are watching - but our the day-in and day-out, habitual expenditures of our time and our monies.

How is your barometer reading?

Lord, help me to take an honest inventory and make adjustments as necessary.  Show me the sanctified steps I need to follow to be more in line with your priorities amid the clamor of this world.

Hebrews 4:12
For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.

John 17:17 Sanctify them with truth; thy word is truth.

For Whom the Bell Tolls (part 2)

The following days Caleb interjected concerns about the looming dentist visit that was weighing heavy on his mind.

"Mom, I should have listened.  Now I understand that you were trying to help me and save me from having to go through this. I wish I would have really listened and I'm sorry it will cost you so much money."

Mindful of his precarious position between self-absorbed pity and true godly sorrow, I proceeded with discernment.

"Caleb, we have the cost covered, that is not something you can bear or have the resources to cover.  However, I need you to be a big man and walk through these dental repairs with courage.  I also need you to remember that many times the counsel and warnings I give you, you will not fully understand at the time they are given.

 There is a way that seems right to a man, 
but in the end it leads to death.  Proverbs 14:12

But I do. You then have to choose if you will rely on your own limited understanding and wisdom or my greater understanding and perspective."

Trust in the LORD with all your heart,
And do not lean on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He will make your paths straight. Proverbs 3:5-6

"Yes, mom, I understand that better now."

"Good, Caleb."

Enough said today.  More sober simmering.

Can you think of times of regret when you have relied upon your own understanding or limited perspective, instead of His? 

Or perhaps the converse.  Have you known the joy of trusting Him when your understanding would have taken you in a different, more short-sighted direction?

Recollecting Fearful Family Beginnings and Rejoicing in Festive Family Birthdays

Nauseous and tired, I poured myself into my Maxima at the early hour of 7:30am.  I drove a short distance to our neighborhood drug store, where I waited in the parking lot until 8:00am when the doors would opened.  While waiting, I pulled out my small Bible and began to read Psalm 139.  In my heart I knew I was pregnant, but my mind needed E.P.T. to make it real. 

I was 26. I began to cry. Me, a mother? I can't do this. What does this really mean? In my heart, I knew someone was getting ready to come into my world that would make me want to sacrifice many of my current comforts and perhaps delay a few of my personal dreams.  My own sleeping schedule, study schedule, speaking, teaching, work opportunities, etc.  I was good at my work, in ministry, but I wasn't so sure how I would fair as a mother...

In short, the reeling weight of pending responsibility had crashed into my world.  Don't get me wrong, I understood how this all occurred.  Ed and I had talked about it a few short months ago. However, talking and reality are often two different worlds, aren't they?

Several months later, on October 13th, 1995, Daniel Edward Shirley was born.  My first born.  Named after Daniel in the Bible, Edward after Ed's family name.  He came quietly into the world, almost peaceful.  His easy going nature continues to be his character trade mark as He has grown.

This week is Daniel's Birthday!

Happy 13th Birthday Daniel!

Daniel, just when I thought it wasn't possible, I find myself liking you more and more every year! 

Isn't he cute!  Wait until you meet him in person - he's even better!

Are you scratching your head, wondering more about my transition from a sought-after corporate business analyst and project manager to a full-time stay-at-home mom?  Well more on that another day...

For Whom the Bell Tolls (part 1)

He approached with downcast eyes. In a meek voice, "Mom, the dentist needs to talk to you." A distinctly different entrance into the waiting room than my other two children after their dentist visit.

As you remember, Caleb and I had been working on life lessons, as it related to listening, responsibility and oral hygiene.  See Responsibility Merge Ahead post.

I proceeded to the dreaded dentist area and was greeted with the information that Caleb did indeed have four cavities.  Now you have to understand, Caleb is more adverse to discomfort than my other two.  So he was already calculating in his mind the "sleepy juice" shot and the drilling, and his heart was most distraught.

Later, as we all piled into the van, Caleb's first words were, "Mom, is there any way to undo the cavities without going back to the dentist?" (and going through the discomfort is the implied meaning here).

"No, my precious son, but I'll go with you and I'll pay the bill.  Remember my words of counsel, reminding and warning (again refer to my previous post) are for your good and your protection."

Enough said today.  This moment needs to soberly simmer in the heart of my beloved son.  This moment must not be rushed nor relieved, it must simmer.

Now, you draw the powerful parallel.

While immediately inconvenient and ignorantly unappreciated, the Lord's counsel and warnings are for our great protection and benefit.  He sees down the road, the consequences and the cost...  While he covers the cost, alas the consequences, at some level, will have to be walked out.

Dog Days and Life Lessons

Most of you are aware of our new family addition...

Yes, she's cute and yes, she is too cuddly... However she is only 5 months old. So that means potty training is top priority!

Do you already see the fun we have... We take Dottie out every hour or so and chant, "Go potty Dottie, go potty" - wonderful rhyming isn't it?

But now onto the real story... Dottie had but once again potty'd inside the house. My youngest, nine-year-old Caleb, was tasked with the job of clean up. After the clean up, Caleb thoughtfully approaches me to share his insightful revelation...

"Mom?"

"Yes, Caleb."

"I think I know what it feels like to be a parent."

"How so, Caleb?"

"Well, I had to scold Dottie. I have to teach her the right thing (to go potty outside), but I didn't enjoy doing it. I really just wanted to hold her and cuddle her, but at that moment I knew she needed to be corrected, so she would learn where to potty."

"Yes, son I suppose that is a bit like being a parent. Why did you want to teach Dottie?"

"Because that is what you and Dad say we should do."

Well... it's always good for the kids to follow our model, even when they don't understand - understanding is illumined more over time and experience. However, I did proceed to share with Caleb that we chose Dottie to be part of our family-life and therefore we teach her because we love her and she is under our care - her survival and life depend upon our care and protection. And that on a much greater scale, we parents love and instruct because of our great love - never see discipline and instruction in opposition to love - but rather as evidence of the presence of love. Conversely, "being left to yourself, your own devices" is a sad and sober indicator of the absence of a loving, caring and protective authority-relationship.

Even after we clean up the pooh, parents still want to love and cuddle the little mess-maker.

And doesn't our Lord do the same? Time after time?

Ahhh! Another potty break is needed... We are off - Let's go potty Dottie!

Past, Present and Future

I have been sanctified...
I am being sanctified...
I will be sanctified...

Did you know all three tenses of sanctified are used in scripture?

Very interesting, isn't it?

So there is a work that has been done; a work that is being done; and eventually a work that will be done.

When talking with my kids, my sister sojourners, other parents... this principle consistently comes up... We are a work in progress -some things complete, other parts are in progress, and still other transformations yet to come.

So journey on!

Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus.
Phil 3:12 NASB

Sanctified Woman... Who me?

Yes you!

I am not THE sanctified woman, merely A sanctified woman. I am only one of many sanctified women out there.

What do I mean by a "sanctified woman"? Perhaps clarity is needed. The word sanctified simply means "set apart". In the context of my life and my understanding of His word, this has come to mean "set apart" from the world's ways and learning His ways...

(when I speak at Parent Practicums, I often say His ways are often the "inverse operation" of the world's ways - mathematically speaking)

That I may live a life that allows me to hear the words "Well done my good and faithful servant." on the day that I will see Him and give an account for my life, my choices, the things and people I have been a steward of...

My hope is to live more and more with "eternity stamped on my eyes"...

Check out my Sister Soujourners links to meet other ladies making their choices to be set apart, living more and more according to His priorities and purposes for their lives.

For this is the will of God, your sanctification I Thes 4:3