Sanctification (2) My Utmost for His Highest Thursday, July 23, 2020 Daily Devotional

Sanctification (2)
My Utmost for His Highest <donotreply@email.rbc.org>
Thursday, July 23, 2020 Daily Devotional
My Utmost For His Highest
Sanctification (2)
But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us…sanctification…  (1 CORINTHIANS 1:30)
The Life Side. The mystery of sanctification is that the perfect qualities of Jesus Christ are imparted as a gift to me, not gradually, but instantly once I enter by faith into the realization that He “became for [me]…sanctification….” Sanctification means nothing less than the holiness of Jesus becoming mine and being exhibited in my life.
The most wonderful secret of living a holy life does not lie in imitating Jesus, but in letting the perfect qualities of Jesus exhibit themselves in my human flesh. Sanctification is “Christ in you…” (Colossians 1:27). It is His wonderful life that is imparted to me in sanctification— imparted by faith as a sovereign gift of God’s grace. Am I willing for God to make sanctification as real in me as it is in His Word?
Sanctification means the impartation of the holy qualities of Jesus Christ to me. It is the gift of His patience, love, holiness, faith, purity, and godliness that is exhibited in and through every sanctified soul. Sanctification is not drawing from Jesus the power to be holy— it is drawing from Jesus the very holiness that was exhibited in Him, and that He now exhibits in me. Sanctification is an impartation, not an imitation. Imitation is something altogether different. The perfection of everything is in Jesus Christ, and the mystery of sanctification is that all the perfect qualities of Jesus are at my disposal. Consequently, I slowly but surely begin to live a life of inexpressible order, soundness, and holiness— “…kept by the power of God…” (1 Peter 1:5). (From My Utmost for His Highest Updated Edition)
Bible in One Year: Psalms 33-34; Acts 24
Psalm 33-34
33:1 Rejoice in Adonai, you righteous!
Praise is well-suited to the upright.
2 Give thanks to Adonai with the lyre,
sing praises to him with a ten-stringed harp.
3 Sing to him a new song,
make music at your best among shouts of joy.
4 For the word of Adonai is true,
and all his work is trustworthy.
5 He loves righteousness and justice;
the earth is full of the grace of Adonai.
6 By the word of Adonai the heavens were made,
and their whole host by a breath from his mouth.
7 He collects the sea waters together in a heap;
he puts the deeps in storehouses.
8 Let all the earth fear Adonai!
Let all living in the world stand in awe of him.
9 For he spoke, and there it was;
he commanded, and there it stood.
10 Adonai brings to nothing the plans of nations,
he foils the plans of the peoples.
11 But the counsel of Adonai stands forever,
his heart’s plans are for all generations.
12 How blessed is the nation whose God is Adonai,
the people he chose as his heritage!
13 Adonai looks out from heaven;
he sees every human being;
14 from the place where he lives
he watches everyone living on earth,
15 he who fashioned the hearts of them all
and understands all they do.
16 A king is not saved by the size of his army,
a strong man not delivered by his great strength.
17 To rely on a horse for safety is vain,
nor does its great power assure escape.
18 But Adonai’s eyes watch over those who fear him,
over those who wait for his grace
19 to rescue them from death
and keep them alive in famine.
20 We are waiting for Adonai;
he is our help and shield.
21 For in him our hearts rejoice,
because we trust in his holy name.
22 May your mercy, Adonai, be over us,
because we put our hope in you.
34:1 (0) By David, when he pretended to be insane before Avimelekh, who then drove him away; so he left:
2 (1) I will bless Adonai at all times;
his praise will always be in my mouth.
3 (2) When I boast, it will be about Adonai;
the humble will hear of it and be glad.
4 (3) Proclaim with me the greatness of Adonai;
let us exalt his name together.
5 (4) I sought Adonai, and he answered me;
he rescued me from everything I feared.
6 (5) They looked to him and grew radiant;
their faces will never blush for shame.
7 (6) This poor man cried; Adonai heard
and saved him from all his troubles.
8 (7) The angel of Adonai, who encamps
around those who fear him, delivers them.
9 (8) Taste, and see that Adonai is good.
How blessed are those who take refuge in him!
10 (9) Fear Adonai, you holy ones of his,
for those who fear him lack nothing.
11 (10) Young lions can be needy, they can go hungry,
but those who seek Adonai lack nothing good.
12 (11) Come, children, listen to me;
I will teach you the fear of Adonai.
13 (12) Which of you takes pleasure in living?
Who wants a long life to see good things?
14 (13) [If you do,] keep your tongue from evil
and your lips from deceiving talk;
15 (14) turn from evil, and do good;
seek peace, go after it!
16 (15) The eyes of Adonai watch over the righteous,
and his ears are open to their cry.
17 (16) But the face of Adonai opposes those who do evil,
to cut off all memory of them from the earth.
18 (17) [The righteous] cried out, and Adonai heard,
and he saved them from all their troubles.
19 (18) Adonai is near those with broken hearts;
he saves those whose spirit is crushed.
20 (19) The righteous person suffers many evils,
but Adonai rescues him out of them all.
21 (20) He protects all his bones;
not one of them gets broken.
22 (21) Evil will kill the wicked,
and those who hate the righteous will be condemned.
23 (22) But Adonai redeems his servants;
no one who takes refuge in him will be condemned.
Acts 24
24:1 After five days, the cohen hagadol Hananyah came down with some elders and a lawyer named Tertullus, and they presented their case against Sha’ul to the governor. 2 Sha’ul was called, and Tertullus began to make the charges: “Felix, your Excellency, it is because of you that we enjoy unbroken peace, and it is your foresight that has brought to this nation 3 so many reforms in so many areas. It is with the utmost gratitude that we receive this. 4 But, in order not to take up too much of your time, I beg your indulgence to give us a brief hearing.
5 “We have found this man a pest. He is an agitator among all the Jews throughout the world and a ringleader of the sect of the Natzratim. 6 He even tried to profane the Temple, but we arrested him. 7 [Acts 24:7 Some manuscripts include verses 6b–8a: We wanted to try him under our own law, 7 but Lysias the commander intervened. He took him out of our hands by force 8 and ordered his accuser to appear before you.] 8 By questioning this man yourself, you will be able to learn all about the things of which we are accusing him.” 9 The Judeans also joined in the accusation and alleged that these were the facts.
10 When the governor motioned for Sha’ul to speak, he replied, “I know that you have been judge over this nation for a number of years, so I am glad to make my defense. 11 As you can verify for yourself, it has not been more than twelve days since I went up to worship in Yerushalayim; 12 and neither in the Temple nor in the synagogues nor anywhere else in the city did they find me either arguing with anyone or collecting a crowd. 13 Nor can they give any proof of the things of which they are accusing me.
14 “But this I do admit to you: I worship the God of our fathers[Acts 24:14 Exodus 3:15] in accordance with the Way (which they call a sect). I continue to believe everything that accords with the Torah and everything written in the Prophets. 15 And I continue to have a hope in God — which they too accept — that there will be a resurrection of both the righteous and the unrighteous. 16 Indeed, it is because of this that I make a point of always having a clear conscience in the sight of both God and man.
17 “After an absence of several years, I came to Yerushalayim to bring a charitable gift to my nation and to offer sacrifices. 18 It was in connection with the latter that they found me in the Temple. I had been ceremonially purified, I was not with a crowd, and I was not causing a disturbance. 19 But some Jews from the province of Asia — they ought to be here before you to make a charge if they have anything against me! 20 Or else, let these men themselves say what crime they found me guilty of when I stood in front of the Sanhedrin, 21 other than this one thing which I shouted out when I was standing among them: ‘I am on trial before you today because I believe in the resurrection of the dead!’”
22 But Felix, who had rather detailed knowledge of things connected with the Way, put them off, saying, “When Lysias the commander comes down, I will decide your case.” 23 He ordered the captain to keep Sha’ul in custody, but to let him have considerable liberty and not prevent any of his friends from taking care of his needs.
24 After some days, Felix came with his wife Drusilla, who was Jewish. He sent for Sha’ul and listened to him as he spoke about trusting in the Messiah Yeshua. 25 But when Sha’ul began to discuss righteousness, self-control and the coming Judgment, Felix became frightened and said, “For the time being, go away! I will send for you when I get a chance.” 26 At the same time, he hoped that Sha’ul would offer him a bribe; so he sent for him rather often and kept talking with him.
27 After two years, Felix was succeeded by Porcius Festus; but because Felix wanted to grant the Judeans a favor, he left Sha’ul still a prisoner. (Complete Jewish Bible (CJB))
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Is He going to help Himself to your life, or are you taken up with your conception of what you are going to do? God is responsible for our lives, and the one great keynote is reckless reliance upon Him. (from Approved Unto God, 10 R)
My Utmost for His Highest
My Utmost for His Highest © 1992 by Oswald Chambers Publications Association, Ltd. Original edition © 1935 by Dodd, Mead & Company, Inc. Copyright renewed 1963 by Oswald Chambers Publications Association, Ltd. All rights reserved. United States publication rights are held by Discovery House, which is affiliated with Our Daily Bread Ministries.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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