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We’ve been talking about Grace in small group, so I decided to write a little post on the subject..

What is grace? It’s not an easy thing to pin down into a sentence, but here’s my attempt (with a little help.!) Grace is the kindness by which God bestows favours, even on those who do not deserve it, and by which God grants sinners the forgiveness of their sins. Giving those who believe, the gift of eternal life (salvation) through Jesus Christ instead of the eternal punishment they rightly deserve.

“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.  2 Corinthians 12:9

God’s Grace is presented in the bible as sufficient for each and every Christian. Enough to cover all of our sin, and enough to help us, encourage us and carry us through everything we will face in this life (despite our failures and weaknesses) and even more, grace carries us into the next life, pure, righteous and justified before our holy God because of the blood of Christ and our faith in Him (which is also a gift from God!)

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. Ephesians 2:8-9

It’s by God’s grace that we can learn to walk the way he wants us to, and be forgiven when we fall. It’s grace that calls us to our salvation. (2 Cor. 12: 7-10, Gal. 1: 15). God’s amazing grace is what he uses to work out all things in our lives, because we do not deserve any blessings or gifts from God, yet he has generously poured out every spiritual blessing on us through his freely given grace, just because it pleased him to do so.

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. Ephesians 1:3-6

Christians are called by grace, Man is saved by grace (Eph. 2: 5,8 ) the heart is strengthened and shown the right path by grace (Heb. 13: 9), we are justified by grace and given the status of being co-heirs with Christ (Tit. 3: 5-7).

..because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. Ephesians 2:4-5 

Through grace God can give us hope and eternal encouragement (2 Thes. 2: 16-17). Grace takes us from our sinful state and makes us better people (Cor. 15: 9-10). Grace helps us in times of need (Heb. 4: 16). We are to stand firm in grace, grow in grace, and be strong in grace (I Pet. 5:12, 2 Pet. 3: 18, 2 Tim. 2: 1).

Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.  Hebrews 4:16

Although God’s common grace extends to all mankind (the air we breath, the lives we live) I believe there is a special, more personal grace for those who have received God’s saving grace, who love Him and obediently and humbly follow him. If we do not know God then we take his grace for granted, but when we know God we can accept his grace, live in the good of his grace, come before him and ask him for gifts of grace for certain situations, and also be thankful for the grace that he has already generously poured out on us.

Special grace in God’s word.. Noah “found grace (or favour) in the eyes of the Lord” (Gen. 6: 8 – NKJ) because he was one of few who were still following God – although grace is given to the undeserved, God additionally blesses those who choose to follow his ways. The humble are also said to be favoured with grace, unlike the proud (Prov. 3: 34, 1 Pet. 5: 5). Jesus and Paul are expressly said to have experienced God’s grace upon them/working through them because God had special purposes for their lives (Lk. 2: 40, I Cor. 15: 10). God’s grace is also given to all who “love the Lord” (Eph. 6: 24).

God chose to love us, call us, adopt us, forgive us, save us, justify us, make us righteous, pour out his blessings on us, give us eternal encouragement, strengthen us, help us in times of need and bestow his favour upon us… not because we deserve any of this, just because of his grace.

What is our response? Our hearts should be overwhelmed with gratitude and love for our Father in heaven, who despite all our sin and rebellion, holds us in his arms and tells us that no matter what, he will always love us with an unfailing love.

“Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed,” says the LORD. Isaiah 54:10

 Let them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for men. Psalm 107:8

And the amazing thing is, this is just a tiny glimpse of the vastness of God’s grace! We cannot fully comprehend the extent of God’s grace in our lives, and the cost of our salvation, but thanks to God’s grace we can spend the rest of eternity with Jesus learning more about it!

What a faithful God have I.

“I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; that is  the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you. John 14:16-17

Isn’t this is such good news!? To know that God did not just save us then leave us to get on with things on our own! No! Jesus told us that as soon as he was with the Father (which he is right now), he would send us the Holy Spirit as a “Helper”. Other translations say “Counsellor,” “Friend,” “Advocate,” “Comforter.” The amplified bible says: “Comforter (Counselor, Helper, Intercessor, Advocate, Strengthener, and Standby)”

The Holy Spirit living in us will help us, he will provide spiritual comfort, guidence and strength. He has promised to always be with us, to abide in us – that means that he actually lives within us when we give our lives to God. We can be assured that we always have the help we need no matter what situations we face. Sometimes we can forget this. We can go to church and small group, and have fellow believers around us to encourage us and help us in our walk with God, and this is all good for us to grow in God, but when we’re on our own facing situations at work or at home, we can forget that although our brothers and sisters in Christ can’t come to work with us, we carry the Holy Spirit wherever we go! He is our comforter, he is our helper, he will strengthen and guide us and is our “standby” for any emergency or anything we face, whether big or small.

Wherever you go, you are never alone. There’s never just “little ol me” on my own anymore. God is dwelling in you. He sees though your eyes, he listens to your heart and he is right there ready to guide, prompt, support and strengthen – you only need to ask! He’s ready and willing each and every time we ask Him for help! He doesn’t need to “come” and help you, he’s already there! He’s your instant support and strength to live your life God’s way – he’s your personal comforter and he is with you forever.

Is there any situation that’s too big for God? No! So, with God dwelling in us, there’s nothing that’s too big for us and God to handle together either!

I can do everything through him who gives me strength.  Philippians 4:13

Thank you Lord for your amazing promise that the Holy Spirit already dwells in us and will do so forever> Thank you that he is our comfort and our help.

I love the Psalms! I love the way the Psalmists were so open about their feelings (both good and bad!) Often they’d have it out with God and question how he could let things happen, or called out wondering whether God had left them, but they always ended up praising God because they knew in their hearts that no-matter-what God is good, he is faithful and worthy to be praised!!

When looking through the Psalms I noticed how many statements there are as kind of promises to God, (rather than from God). We look a lot in the bible for God’s promises over us, but I think some of these promises to God can also build us up in the faith as we speak to our hearts and spirits and spur ourselves on to live for God and Praise his name, no matter what we’re facing or how we are feeling.

So…  Here is a small selection of “I will” statements which I pulled out of the Psalms (there were a lot more!!!). Read each one through and speak to yourself as you read them, think of them as a "statement of intent".

Psalm 56:3 : When I am afraid, I will trust in you.

Psalm 52:9 : .. in your name I will hope, for your name is good..

Psalm 4:8 : I will lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety.

Psalm 86:7 : In the day of my trouble I will call to you, for you will answer me.

Psalm 27:8 : My heart says of you, "Seek his face!" Your face, LORD, I will seek.

Psalm 119:60 : I will hasten and not delay to obey your commands.

Psalm 119:34 : …I will keep your law and obey it with all my heart.

Psalm 77:11 : I will remember the deeds of the LORD; yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago.

Psalm 145:5 : …I will meditate on your wonderful works.

Psalm 86:11 : … I will walk in your truth.

Psalm 119:45 : I will walk about in freedom, for I have sought out your precepts.

Psalm 32:5 : "I will confess my transgressions to the LORD "— and you forgave the guilt of my sin.

Psalm 91:2 : I will say of the LORD, "He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust."

Psalm 31:7: I will be glad and rejoice in your love, for you saw my affliction and knew the anguish of my soul.

Psalm 9:1 : I will praise you, O LORD, with all my heart; I will tell of all your wonders.

Psalm 13:6 : I will sing to the LORD, for he has been good to me.

 ..And a couple of  “I will not’s”:

Psalm 62:6 : He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will not be shaken

Psalm 56:11 : in God I trust; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?

Psalm 23:4 : Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

Read through the list a second time and this time pick out one or two that you would like to learn by heart. Ones which you think will help you in your walk with God if you can remember them ..and put them into practice!   :-)

The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart." 1 Samuel 16:7

There are over 700 mentions of the heart in the bible. We are commanded to love God with "all our hearts" (Deuteronomy 6:5), we are warned to "guard our hearts as they are the wellspring of life" (Proverbs 4:23) and we are told that "where our treasure is, our hearts will be also" (Matthew 6:21).  Jeremiah 17:9 claims that "The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure" and Matthew 15:19 says "For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander" which doesn’t paint a very hopeful picture of us being able to get our hearts in the right place with God at all! We’re going to need some help…!

So what can we learn from what the bible says, and how do we put this into practice?

Now devote your heart and soul to seeking the LORD your God.

Psalm 139 says the following:
²³ Search me, O God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
²⁴ See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting.

That’s a good place to start – asking God to reveal our hearts to us. Sometimes we can presume our hearts are in the right place, but actually rather than having hearts fully after God, we find out that often our hearts are divided or our motivations are not right. Just because our hearts are telling us something, doesn’t mean it’s automatically going to be right.

One way the bible tells us of finding our where our heart is, is to look at where we invest (what’s our treasure?) Matthew 6:21 : "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." Where do we choose to spend our available time and money?  What do we choose to invest our energy or finances in? What do we spend much of our time thinking about? If the answers are  not "God / Jesus / God’s kingdom / loving the Lord & our neighbours" then we’re investing in the wrong things, and our hearts are not aligned to God.

God knows well that we often follow our hearts, and sometimes we follow our heads, but actually neither of these are the right things to follow!! That’s why there are so many warnings in the bible, and verses telling us to set our hearts on God and on his laws. Instead of following our hearts (or our heads) we should be following God’s word, and the Holy Spirit living in us, seeking God for his will and his plans for our lives. Like the request in the psalm above we should be praying "lead me in the way everlasting" We cannot walk on the right path without asking and following God… our hearts will lead us astray.

Psalm 86:11 says "Teach me your way, O LORD, and I will walk in your truth; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name." I think it’s key that we realise a lot of the time our hearts can be divided. We want to live for God and trust God fully, but although perhaps a good percentage of our hearts are willing, there’s often another part of our hearts that cannot fully let go and trust God. Because we don’t always get what we want, our hearts try to trick us into believing that perhaps our way is actually better than God’s!! We cannot be divided! James 1:6-8 says a double-minded man is "unstable in all he does." We must ask God continually to help us with our divided hearts, so that we can learn to have hearts that are sold out for Him and prepared to walk in all his ways, not just the ones that suit us.

Proverbs has a lot to say about man’s heart, including this "Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the LORD’s purpose that prevails" Proverbs 19:21. Therefore, what we need to do is learn to align our hearts with God’s, so that God’s plans are our plans! If not, our plans are not going to get us far!  Proverbs also says  "trust in the LORD with all your  heart and lean not on your own understanding" Proverbs 3:5.

There’s a passage in the bible that’s quoted quite a lot : Psalm 37:4 "Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart". A really lovely passage, but what we need to be careful of is that we don’t skip over the first bit of this passage “delight yourself in the Lord” and rush straight into the getting the desires of our heart bit!! It’s when our hearts are totally after God, when we love to be in his presence and are so thankful to him for all he has done, that our hearts become aligned to God’s own heart. We start to get glimpses of his heart for us, and for others, and our selfishness and our own desires get put back in their place. That’s when we start to desire the things that God desires and our hearts stop leading us astray.

So in Summary: Don’t trust your heart!! It can be very deceitful! Do love God with all your heart and you can’t go far wrong! Ask God to test your heart and be willing to work on anything he reveals to you. Look for yourself at where you spend your time and money to get an idea of if your heart’s currently focused on the right things. Trust The Lord with all your heart, and don’t be divided – He’s the only one who is faithful. Pray for God to help you to do this so that you can love and serve him fully. Delight yourself in God, and your heart will become aligned to his, then he will be pleased to give you the desires of your heart!

Now devote your heart and soul to seeking the LORD your God.  1 Chronicles 22:19

In Praise of a Good Wife

 10 A truly good wife is the most precious treasure a man can find!

 11 Her husband depends on her, and she never lets him down.

 12 She is good to him every day of her life,

 13 and with her own hands she gladly makes clothes.

 14 She is like a sailing ship that brings food from across the sea.

 15 She gets up before daylight to prepare food for her family and for her servants.

 16 She knows how to buy land and how to plant a vineyard,

 17 and she always works hard.

 18 She knows when to buy or sell, and she stays busy until late at night.

 19 She spins her own cloth,

 20 and she helps the poor and the needy.

 21 Her family has warm clothing, and so she doesn’t worry when it snows.

 22 She does her own sewing, and everything she wears is beautiful.

 23 Her husband is a well-known  and respected leader in the city.

 24 She makes clothes to sell to the shop owners.

 25 She is strong and graceful,  as well as cheerful about the future.

 26 Her words are sensible, and her advice is thoughtful.

 27 She takes good care of her family and is never lazy.

 28 Her children praise her, and with great pride her husband says,

 29 "There are many good women, but you are the best!"

 30 Charm can be deceiving, and beauty fades away, but a woman who honors the LORD deserves to be praised.

 31 Show her respect– praise her in public for what she has done.

Proverbs 31:10-31 (CEV)

 I am a wife, and I believe that any wife (or anyone who would like to be a wife in the future) can learn a lot about God’s view of women and their role in the family from this passage. Perhaps the men can use it to make sure they choose their wives wisely (or to remember to praise their wives a bit more for all the hard work they do! – see verse 31)

 In the past women were treated as inferior to men and they were not given the same opportunity to earn money, study or even express their own opinions. Nowadays we can have certain negative or incorrect views of what a wife is meant to look like. However, even though this passage was written a few thousand years ago, it shows a wife who is greatly respected, she not only looks after her home and family, but also trades, manufactures and purchases land in order to grow crops. She is someone with intelligence, independence and God-given drive. She uses her skills to invest, earn, produce and trade.  

 This is a strong and graceful woman who knows that her role as a wife and mother is significant and fulfilling and in it she can bring much value to her family as well as to the poor and needy community around her. She is respected by her children and praised by her husband. This wife works hard from dawn until dusk and is cheerful about the future. (Good attitude!) She is free to use the skills and abilities God gave her – creativity to make beautiful clothes, intelligence to trade and to invest, purchasing land in order to plant a vineyard out of the income she has made for herself. She’s a sensible woman, who is someone that people would go to for thoughtful advice and guidance.

 This lady knows that by using all her gifts in this way, she’s a blessing to her family and her community. Verse  11 says that her husband depends on her.

 God shows us that if we’re a wife we will “always work hard”  but it’s work that is rewarding, varied and exciting. It’s fulfilling work that will result in blessing, encouraging, supporting and taking care of both our family, and those in need.

 I think this passage is such an inspiration (and challenge!) to me to go and use every gift and skill God has given me and not to belittle my role as a wife, but to embrace it, knowing that its so much more than the world often tells us it is!

 So men, choose your wives wisely, and ladies,  are you up for the challenge of being a "wonder-wife" ?!

It’s been a while since I’ve spoken about love in a bible study, and today I felt like it was time to revisit what I believe is the most important thing to God (Wow, now there’s a bold, put-yourself-on-the-line statement!!)

Not a wishy-washy mushy sentimental feeling that you see in the movies, but the choosing to put God and others before ourselves. Not putting ourselves down (we are all loved and equal in God’s eyes) but realising that through loving and serving others we too are blessed and set free to live our lives as God intended.

Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence whenever our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. 1 John 3:18-24

God shows us in 1 John 3:18-24 that when we love with “actions and in truth” (not just saying it, but living it) that’s when our hearts can be at peace with God (even when sometimes our heart tries to tell us otherwise!) and how we know we are his children. When we love, this is a sure sign of our faith and relationship with God, and we can come into his presence without worry or fear, but knowing we will find rest.

1 Peter 4:8 even says that love “covers over a multitude of sins.” Not that we can sin lots as long as we love people enough (this is not loving for the right reasons after all!) but that when we sin, God still sees that in our hearts we want to love him and put others first, even if in practice we make mistakes along the way. The story of David is such a good example of this. It is said that David was a man after God’s own heart, and yet David did some pretty bad things – like committing adultery and then killing the husband!!! – but when his eyes were opened to what he had done, he fell on the floor and was horrified at how he had managed to sin against God in such an awful way. Notice that he said he had sinned “against God” (not the husband) because he knew first and foremost that when he sinned it was God he was hurting, and he was truly sorry for what he had done. Just read what God himself says of David when talking to his son Solomon : "As for you, if you walk before me in integrity of heart and uprightness, as David your father did… 1 Kings 9:4 You What?? Say that again?! Did God just totally forget that David was an adulterer AND a murderer?! Yes he did. Not because he is forgetful, but because he chose not to hold it against him. David had got down on his face in shame when he realised his sin and repented before God. God knew David’s heart and that David truly loved Him, and so when God spoke of David he didn’t bring up his past sin and mistakes, he remembered instead David’s love for his God and his desire to do God’s will.

From another perspective, love between one another, it’s like having a friend who makes lots of mistakes, who regularly puts their foot in it and never seems to be able to make it anywhere on time, they still haven’t paid back that tenner you lent them (and you know you’re unlikely to see it again). Yet this friend knows you so well – sometimes better than you know yourself! They’ve seen you at your best and your worst, but for some reason, they still think you’re great. You know you can call them night or day and they’ll always answer the phone when they see your name pop up on the screen. And, although they ruined your best top by accidentally squirting ketchup down it, and snapped at you last week when they were tired, you forgive them every single time. Why? Because none of that other stuff really matters when love is at the centre of your friendship.

Do you see? Love can cover over all the other stuff, it doesn’t make any of it right, but when you know that someone genuinely loves you and cares about you (and you love them too), the other stuff may be sooo annoying and also quite painful at times, but you choose to forgive, not because you have to, but because you love them and you want to be back in that right relationship with them.

When we love one another, we can be united, despite our differences and the mistakes that we make. When we love we can forgive and choose to re-build relationships, rather than allowing them to be destroyed by an argument or misunderstanding. This brings glory to God, and shows others who He is!

When we love God we can also forgive ourselves when we mess up because we understand that God doesn’t want to punish us or make us suffer. Having a loving relationship with God gives us the freedom to come to Him quickly when we sin, to ask for forgiveness and be straight back in that right relationship with our loving father, knowing he will never hold it against us.

Love also helps us not to sin, because we do not want to hurt those we love, especially when they’ve loved us, and forgiven us so unconditionally.

Jesus replied: " ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ Matthew 22:37-39

The thing about love is: Love is the greatest thing we can do!

…That is why I believe love is the most important thing to God.

 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love.

But the greatest of these is

love

1 Corinthians 13:13

..be holy, because I am holy.  Leviticus 11:45

I’ve had a song in my heart this week, its the worship song that goes “I want to be Holy, set apart for you Lord Jesus, ready to do your will“. While I was painting wood in the garden this week I started pondering on the words and whether I really meant what I was singing.

Do I really want to be holy, above all else? Do I really want to be set apart – not of the world – choosing not to follow worldly desires and what culture tells me I should act like?  To live my life totally as God wants me to? Am I ready to do God’s will, rather than my own? Am I prepared to make the sacrifice of being holy; of obeying Christ in all things; of giving up my selfish, sinful ways for holy and selfless living?

I thought about this for a while and searched my heart and I found that actually yes, in my heart, I do desire to be holy and obedient to God’s will. This is not because of me, it is because God has done a work in me by His Spirit, and changed my sinful heart.  Yet in practice this is not so simple! As you will know well, there’s still a real daily battle with the flesh and the world, pulling us away from actually doing what our hearts wants to do! (Read Romans 7:18-25, Paul comments on this very thing!)

So what is being holy? To put it simply, it means being like God in our hearts and in our actions. It means keeping ourselves “from being polluted by the world” (James 1:27) and above all, loving God and putting him first (Mark 12:30). It’s so important to God that He even called us to be holy & set us apart before the world was created! (1 Corinthians 1:2, Ephesians 1:4) He commands us to be holy because He Himself is holy (Leviticus 11:45)  and because when we live holy lives, we show Jesus to the world! 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 ..Quite a challenging verse there from Hebrews.

How do we do it? I think Adam’s series on progressive sanctification is really helpful here! Go and read it if you haven’t done already! It’s a process, but loving and relying on God more and more is the only way we can truly live holy lives. We cannot do it just by willpower, as we will either fail miserably or, if we start to think we’re getting “good” at being holy, we become arrogant, prideful and can often start judging others – then (hopefully) we realise we are not being holy at all!!

I think the “ready to do God’s will” statement is also a thing is key. God would never ask us to do anything that was sinful, instead he points us in the direction of holiness, by the Holy Spirit living in us (and he always has the best plan for our lives!) Often God will prompt us on something that he wants us to change, so that we can be more holy, and sometimes we can be quite slow to respond. We try to justify it to ourselves, as it’s so hard to change ways of acting/living/thinking or even a relationship that is unhealthy, so we think it’s just never going to be possible or we come up with the age-old excuse that “now is not the right time”. Yet if God is prompting us, who are we to tell him he’s got the timing wrong, or he doesn’t’ realise how hard it is?! The sooner we obey, the sooner He can step in and give us the power to overcome! It’s a joint effort, but it starts with us being obedient to God’s will, no matter what we think the consequences/cost might be.

Father God I pray that you would help us to be holy.  Help us fight the temptations of the flesh and the ways of the world, in order to be set apart for you. I pray that we would be ready and willing to do your will as soon as you prompt us, so that we may become more holy and the world would see Jesus through us. Amen.

But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.” 1 Peter 1:15-16

Six active disciplines to practice

In my last post on this topic I spoke about how we have a passive and active role in our sanctification. Here, in my third and final post, I will talk about six active disciplines that can help our pursuit of sanctification.

1) Bible reading and meditation

How are we to know God more and understand his will for us if we don’t commit ourselves to reading, studying and reflecting on what he has spoken to us?

People always complain that they don’t “hear” from God. While I do believe that God can speak to us audibly (although rare) as well as through our conscience, I do believe that the primary way that God communicates with us is through the bible. All of it.

It was only the other day that I read 1 Corinthians 10:27-30 in which the Apostle Paul is talking about not eating food that has been offered to idols, not because it in itself is wrong but because it may cause others who see you do it and don’t understand to sin in the hearts by copying. At first I thought this was totally not applicable anymore and discarded it but then only a day later I was watching a film called In Bruges with a friend. Anyone who has seen this film will know that it is hilarious but is full of swearing (and I mean full).

The person I was watching it with is a fairly new Christian and even though I knew in my faith that there was nothing wrong with listening to the bad language I was causing them to sin in their hearts by showing to condone it and almost recommend it. We stopped watching the film after only 10 minutes but it was a real eye opener to me on how the bible is vital for our growth, even the bits that may not seem relevant anymore.

The bible is a big book though (or more accurately collection of books) and can be really hard going. But, just like with sanctification, we are not called to read it all and understand it all as soon as we become Christians. It is a process that will last a lifetime, we just have to keep reading, studying, memorising and meditating on it as much as we can.

2) Prayer

“And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.” – Ephesians 6:18

Where reading the bible is the primary way in which God communicates with us, prayer is the primary way in which we communicate back again. We are called to have a relationship with God and the way we have relationships with people is to talk to them. The more open and honest we are with people, the closer and more intimate those relationships can become.

We are to pray always for anything and everything and everyone. Prayer needs to become as important to us as breathing. Whenever we are troubled we need to learn to turn to God and give it to him in prayer (Philippians 4:6-7).

Prayer can also be one of the hardest things for us to do though, especially new Christians. I remember sitting in silence for about an hour, while my friends encouraged me to pray, because I was too scared to pray out loud.

Thankfully, I am finally realising how important prayer is and am becoming more and more comfortable with it. I still have my moments where clam up or where I don’t pray anywhere near as much as I should but I’m growing like everyone else and I’m learning as I go. Things just seem a lot easier to deal with when I pray about them though…

3) Worship

When I first became a Christian I really struggled with the singing part of church. But as I have grown I have found it is so important and has now become vital to my walk with God. Worship is how we thank God and give him praise (Ephesians 5:18-20)

To further prove that God knows what He is doing, a recent study showed that singing is actually really beneficial to you from a mental and physical point of view.

The bible says that we’ll all be singing to God in heaven, so my viewpoint is we’d better get practising here on Earth!

4) Witnessing

Witnessing has always been the hardest thing for me to do. I know that when I step out and do it I feel closer to God and I long to see people saved but I am still fearful of people’s reactions and putting them off for good.

The only way for people to come to know about God though (not counting God stepping in like he did with Apostle Paul) is for us to talk to people about it. I long for people to ask me about my faith or even challenge me on some of my beliefs. Until then I’ll try my best to be salt and light in the lives of those around me and keep an eye out for opportunities.

5) Self-discipline/self-control

Self control is vital in all areas of our life. Our battle against sin is about learning to have self-control and resist the devil. It also helps us be structured and persistent with bible reading and spending time with God.

I’m not sure there is any way of learning self-control other than practising it. When temptations come about (and they will), practise self-discipline but saying no and resisting. Easier said than done but you won’t get anywhere without trying…

6) Christian fellowship

And finally, sanctification is regularly a corporate process in the new testament. We Christians are all in this together and we have been brought together as brothers and sisters in God’s family to care for each other and help each other along. We are to nudge each other in love and support each other when we are in pain.

The best way to find this kind of support is to get in to a God-loving church and a home group where you can find good friends who will care for you and you can care for them. Nowadays there are churches of all shapes and sizes.

If you believe in Christ and are not part of a group of Christians you are at risk. You are like a lamb that has wandered away from the flock and is vulnerable to the world. Another illustration is to think of Christians as individual pieces of coal and the church is the fire. When you take the coal out of the fire it will slowly grow dim and eventually go out. Put it back in the fire and around other Christians and it will fulfil its purpose and burn bright for God.

Our role and God’s role

Whereas justification is totally down to God and we contribute nothing towards it, sanctification is a co-operative effort between us and God. God wants us to be involved in our growth but doesn’t leave it entirely up to us…

God’s role in sanctification

Each member of the trinity (father, son and spirit) has a role in our sanctification:

God disciplines us as a father: He shows us the path to holiness  by correcting us in love when we stray. Hebrews 12:7-11 beautifully illustrates God’s discipline as a method of teaching.

Jesus earned our sanctification and became our sanctification with what he achieved here on the Earth (1 Corinthians 1:30). But just as importantly, Jesus is our example for sanctification. He came to show us how we are to live our lives. We are to pursue a likeness with Jesus (1 Peter 2:21 and 1 John 2:6)

However, it is specifically the Holy Spirit that works within us to change us and sanctify us. 2 Thessalonians 2:13, Galatians 5:22-23 and Galatians 5:16-17 all show how the Spirit within us works to change us.

Our role in sanctification

To begin with our role is a passive one: We depend on God to save us and allow him to work in us.

However, we need to be cautious so not to become lazy and fall back on the passive role and wait on God to do all the work. So we also have an active role in that we strive to obey God and take steps to increase our sanctification. Philippians 2:12-13 says we need to “work out our own salvation” and I love how Hebrews 5:12-14 tells us to grow up and train ourselves for God.

Both the passive role and active role are important but if we neglect our active role of striving to obey God we become passive, lazy Christians and if we neglect the passive role of trusting God and yielding to him we become proud and overly-confident in ourselves. The correct balance is vital!

To be continued…