Fasting: Sanctify Yourself Before the Lord
We desire to be in the will of God and to walk according to His plans. Sanctification is the key to being in God’s will. As Paul said, “For this is the will of God, your sanctification,” (1 Thess. 4:3).
There is no need to try to find some mysterious “wheel of God” out there. You cannot follow God’s leading until you start where Paul said start.
Fasting is an essential means of sanctifying yourself, pulling yourself away from the world and getting closer to God. Fasting allows you to filter your life and to set yourself apart to seek the Lord.
Fasting will help you identify areas of even hidden sin and things that are displeasing to God in your life. Fasting helps you discern between serving the flesh and serving the spirit.
“For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?” (Heb. 9:13–14). If we are in Christ, His blood cleanses us from dead works, enabling us to serve God in holiness.
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Necessity of Sanctification
Why do we need to sanctify ourselves? We have no place in our hearts for pride. We have no place in our hearts for complacency. If God has blessed your life, you are critically in need of sanctifying yourself.
Beware of being a member of the “first church of the frozen chosen.” Do not let the blessings of the past interfere with the blessings of the future. The blessings of the future will be greater than anything He has done in the past.
David was a man after God’s heart, yet he cried out, “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me,” (Ps. 51:10). We need a sanctification of motives. We need a sanctification of desires. We need a sanctification of attitudes. We need a sanctification of the right spirit. We need a sanctification of our flesh.
Responsibility of Sanctification
The writer of the book of Hebrews warns, “Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God; but exhort one another daily, while it is called ‘Today,’ lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin,” (Heb. 3:12–13).
While the leadership should certainly set an example in personal sanctification and holy living, it is the responsibility of every believer to “exhort” fellow believers. Exhort means to be abrasive with one another, to encourage one another, to push one another to live holy so that no one falls into temptation and ends up turning away from God.
There are too many people on the edge of what God is doing and not enough of us standing firmly in the middle of His will. Do you want things to change in your home? You are the priest of your home—fast, sanctify yourself and take a firm stand in the middle of God’s will!
When your family sees you stepping off the edge of mere “Sunday-morning religion” and getting right into the middle of what God is doing, they will follow and find God’s direction for their lives.{eoa}
To learn more about the spiritual impact fasting has on your life, click here!
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