By Danna Appleby

 

Monarch ButterflyTHE SANCTIFYING WORK OF

 THE HOLY SPIRIT

 

“Therefore come out from them and be separate, says the Lord.  Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you.  I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.”  2 Cor. 6:17-18 (NIV

 

The Monarch butterfly is one of God’s most amazing and magnificent creations.  It is not only delightful to look upon as it flutters down upon a flower to obtain the nectar it longs for, but is also unique in form. The awesome thing about the Monarch is that it does not come by such a splendid existence from birth, but is something that is acquired over time. 

 

I checked out a website concerning the Monarch and the pictures were incredible. Actually, the Monarch comes from a very humble beginning. To make a long story short, a very small egg develops into a caterpillar and then the caterpillar finds a place to hang for further development, becoming what is known as a chrysalis. The chrysalis is basically pretty unsightly to look upon, but you know how beauty is, it may take some time. Several weeks go by when suddenly a small creature inside the chrysalis begins to have some movement and then later emerges.  At first, the creature which comes forth almost seems weak and of little significance, but still continues to hang allowing its wings to fill out a little more and to dry.  After a little more time, that which was awkward and unsightly becomes radiantly beautiful and then spreads its wings and departs, ready for a life of graceful flight. 

 

Several years ago, the Lord showed me through a series of events that I would be taught many things through what I called “word lessons.” Lately, I have noticed that another word has been popping up in conversations, sermons and in prayers, and that word is “change.”  It got to the point that I felt like the Lord must be trying to get me to pay close attention because this was going to be another “word lesson.” 

 

I decided to do a search on the word “change” and found many other words which were synonymous of the word and ended up with four pages of information!  In this writing you will see many words which have to do with the word “change” that came about from my search. 

 

It came to me that just as the butterfly has to do some changing over a period of time, the same goes for us as Christians in that we have to change if we are to become all God wants us to become.  It will not happen overnight, even though we may wish it would.  In fact, we can even get a little impatient with ourselves at times. But we must allow God to change, mold, modify, transform, sanctify, purify, even fine-tune, and tweak this contrary, sin nature of ours. (See Gal. 5:16-22 which describes the sin nature.)  We must allow the Father to mold and shape us and we must let Him know through prayer that changing is what we desire. 

 

There must be a departure from the way we used to be. There needs to be a difference in us resulting from the change and evidence that something has taken place.  There must be a modification of our character which may need to be repaired and we all usually have that going on! (I know I do!) The Father may have to make some adjustments and alterations along the way that are not always comfortable and many times painful, but we must remember that it is for our good to develop our character.

 

Just as the butterfly is not very attractive in its chrysalis stage, the same goes for us in that when we first come to Christ our hearts are dark, full of sin and unsightly, but when the Potter goes to work on us, we become as priceless jewels, fit for the Kingdom of God.

 

Sometimes change requires the Potter to tweak something in us and He has to make an adjustment just as a mechanic might fine-tune an engine.  And, there are other times the change may be more significant and may need a major overhaul. (Oh well . . . it’s me again Father!)  The great thing about the Father is He is always patient with us, no matter what the case may be, giving us a nudge at just the right times to get us to see the correct way to know how to walk in the Spirit.  Other times, He may need to take a nip or a tuck to enhance our overall appearance.  But the sanctifying work of the Spirit continues to be faithful to help us.  (1 Pet. 1:2) 

 

One vital word that came out of my word study for the word “change” was “sanctify.”  As we change the Holy Spirit continually sanctifies us, making us holy, purified, separated and set apart from the world.  It is all through the sanctifying work of the Spirit of God that any of this is accomplished:

 

But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers loved by the Lord, because from the beginning God chose you to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth. (2 Thess. 2:13)  

 

Sanctification has to do with the process or result of being made holy.  How is this possible anyway, you might say.  As we “allow” the Holy Spirit to reign in our hearts and as we seek the face of God, it will be done.  We can’t do it for ourselves, although we may have to cease from some of our activities, but we just have to be willing and want the modification. There is a song I sing all the time that I believe was written by Steve Chapman that says: “Change us Lord, remake us Lord. Conform us to the image of Your Son.  So change us Lord, remake us Lord, till Father, Spirit, Jesus, we are One.”  I believe that the Father wants more than anything for us to be “one” with Him. 

 

Sanctification is also an ongoing process.  When we’re born again, this is the first step of the sanctifying process. (1 Cor. 1:2) To prove this point, we can read about the Apostle Paul when he wrote a letter to the new Christians at the church at Corinth.  Corinth was a very wicked city and the church was having a hard time behaving themselves. They continued to act like they did before they became Christians by being jealous and quarreling among themselves and many other things.  Paul told the people that they were “worldly” even though they were supposed to be sanctified Christians! (1 Cor. 3:2-3)

 

Worldliness will not get us anywhere with God. Why? Because God is a holy God and desires for us to be holy and blameless as He is (Col. 1:21-22), without spot or blemish (2 Pet. 3:14).  Some Christians believe they can have one foot in the world and that God will close His eyes to their ways. They believe they can continue doing many of the things they always did before they received Christ as Savior.  Scripture tells us that we’re God temple and if we’re God’s temple, we cannot live our lives like that and please Him. (1 Cor. 3:16) 

 

We must be very careful where we go, how we talk, how we dress, what we allow ourselves to think about, and many other things that God will have to show us as we follow the way of the cross. We’re to move AWAY from the old desires, habits and customs we once had, and move TOWARD Christ. As we move toward Him, He will move toward us (James 4:8) and will change and transform us into His holy people.  We must remember that we are Christ’s ambassadors (2 Cor. 5:20) and people are watching whatever we do, wherever we go and are listening to our every word. 

 

People will notice if we’ve conformed to the world even by the way we dress.  You may say, “Well, it’s the style and I will buy whatever is in fashion.”  The thing about the fashion industry is that they’re making clothing very seductive these days and it’s worse than I have ever seen it.  I don’t believe God is pleased with that.  If you’re in doubt about an article of clothing, don’t buy it.  

 

While I’m on this point, I hope you will please be careful how you let your young daughters dress.  Child predators are living in our neighborhoods by the scores, according to the news just this past week.  I have thought for some time now that if we allow our young people to dress as they do now, then it’s no wonder they’re attracting these people!  We hear stories every day on the news about such incidents and we must, as parents and grandparents, guard our children and take whatever precautions we can.  When we step back and take a look at the provocative clothing children and teenagers are allowed to wear, it is little wonder that any of this is going on. 

 

I came across a Scripture that I think is very appropriate: 

 

“I will listen to what God the Lord will say; He promises peace to His people, His people, his saints but let them not return to folly.”  Psalm 85:8:

 

Remember that it was Christ who made us free when we came to Him for salvation.  We don’t want to become entangled again with the yoke of bondage.  (Also see Gal. 5:1.) 

 

Let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think.  Then you will know what God wants you to do, and you will know how good and pleasing and perfect His will really is.  (Rom. 12:2, NLT)

 

Prayer: 

Father, I thank you today for every person reading this study. I praise You because You have made each and every one of us for Your glory.  I honor You because of Your divine holiness and purity.  I pray that we will see more than ever that You want us to live sanctified, pure and holy lives, since You are indeed holy.  Help us to walk in the Spirit every day of our lives, drawing closer to You.  Help us to become more and more like You Jesus, since You desired to be like Your Father and to be one with Him when You walked the earth.  We seek Your face this day and we ask You to help us Father, please help us to walk in the Spirit.  We love You and want to please You in every way.

Amen.