Part of the process that we will undergo in our sanctification will be the trade of our identity for that of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. This is definitely a hard stage to undergo due to many reasons. When we allow the process to take place and we start to allow Jesus Christ to rule our lives, people start to respond to us as they would Jesus Christ. We spent so many years building friendships and then you find that these same people you cared for now want nothing to do with you. Think this not strange, it is not you, it is the Christ in you that they are rejecting. The presence of Christ in you is all the offense some will need to separate themselves from you.
Mark 6:1-6
A Prophet Without Honor
1 Jesus left there and went to his hometown, accompanied by his disciples. 2 When the Sabbath came, he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were amazed.
“Where did this man get these things?” they asked. “What’s this wisdom that has been given him? What are these remarkable miracles he is performing? 3 Isn’t this the carpenter? Isn’t this Mary’s son and the brother of James, Joseph,[a] Judas and Simon? Aren’t his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him.
4 Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own town, among his relatives and in his own home.” 5 He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. 6 He was amazed at their lack of faith.
Make no mistake, when Christ takes over your life, you will change. The way you walk, talk, and even look will change to all the people around you. The hard pill to swallow for most that go through this process is that they recognize that the person they were before conversion, could never be a better friend than the person they have become in Christ. When the Holy Spirit deals with our brokenness and sets us free from the pains of our past, we become a vessel of fresh water, giving life and encouragement to all who wish to drink from the source of Christ. We find out that those who were close to us would rather have the broken and pain filled friend from years past than the one who has been transformed through the blood of Christ. Many will stop the process right here from the pain of rejection from family and friends. We cannot turn back!!! While that pain is as real as a knife to the heart, we must also commit that pain over to the cross in order to keep running our race. The biggest pain we will feel is the rejection from those in the body of Christ. Once again remember Christ biggest obstacles came not from the world but from the children of Israel. Christ exposed so much brokenness and truth of motives when He was present that it caused such a great offense. The same takes place today, as the vessel of Christ the greatest offense you will cause will be in the body of Christ. We must stand, in freedom and in the Spirit of truth. We should not worry when people are offended by our presence, we should worry when they are not!!! Be Encouraged!!! Have a wonderful life of enjoying the process on purpose!!!!!
Luke 6:20-26
20 Looking at his disciples, he said:
“Blessed are you who are poor,
for yours is the kingdom of God.
21 Blessed are you who hunger now,
for you will be satisfied.
Blessed are you who weep now,
for you will laugh.
22 Blessed are you when people hate you,
when they exclude you and insult you
and reject your name as evil,
because of the Son of Man.
23 “Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For that is how their ancestors treated the prophets.
24 “But woe to you who are rich,
for you have already received your comfort.
25 Woe to you who are well fed now,
for you will go hungry.
Woe to you who laugh now,
for you will mourn and weep.
26 Woe to you when everyone speaks well of you,
for that is how their ancestors treated the false prophets.
Romans 12
A Living Sacrifice
1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
1 Thessalonians 4
Plea for Purity
1 Finally then, brethren, we urge and exhort in the Lord Jesus that you should abound more and more, just as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God; 2 for you know what commandments we gave you through the Lord Jesus.
3 For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you should abstain from sexual immorality; 4 that each of you should know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, 5 not in passion of lust, like the Gentiles who do not know God; 6 that no one should take advantage of and defraud his brother in this matter, because the Lord is the avenger of all such, as we also forewarned you and testified. 7 For God did not call us to uncleanness, but in holiness. 8 Therefore he who rejects this does not reject man, but God, who has also given[a] us His Holy Spirit.
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