Daily Devotional with Dr. Charles Stanley @ InTouch.org
Weekend, March 3, 2012 & March 4, 2012
Sanctified and Special
Read | 2 Timothy 2:20-21
Do you feel special, or does a sense of insignificance hang over you like a cloud? Maybe it seems as if God has wonderful plans for some Christians and is effectively using them in amazing ways, but you’re just an ordinary person living a mundane life. And you wonder, Why would He be interested in me?
The good news is that everyone is special in the Lord’s eyes, and He has an awesome plan for each one of us. When we accept Christ as our Savior, He sets us apart for a very sacred purpose. We now belong to Him, and that means we’re not here on this earth to live as we please. As God’s children, we exist to bring glory and honor to Him by becoming more and more like His Son in our character, conduct, and conversation. It’s not a matter of following a list of rules, but of letting Christ live His life through us.
The Bible calls this sanctification. It is a process whereby the Lord continually changes His followers through the power of His indwelling Holy Spirit. I’m not saying that we’ll become sinless, but the more we yield to the Spirit’s leadership, the more we will find ourselves victorious over sin. As our old attitudes and habits are replaced with godly ones, we’ll become useful servants in the household of God.
Being special to the Lord has nothing to do with what kind of work you do or how intelligent or successful you are. It’s based on whose you are. But are you living as if you belong to God? The wonderful plan He has for your life can be fully realized only when you walk in obedience to Him.
2 Timothy 2 (NKJV)
Be Strong in Grace
You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. 2 And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. 3 You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. 4 No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier. 5 And also if anyone competes in athletics, he is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules. 6 The hardworking farmer must be first to partake of the crops. 7 Consider what I say, and may the Lord give you understanding in all things.
8 Remember that Jesus Christ, of the seed of David, was raised from the dead according to my gospel, 9 for which I suffer trouble as an evildoer, even to the point of chains; but the word of God is not chained. 10 Therefore I endure all things for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.
11 This is a faithful saying:
For if we died with Him, We shall also live with Him. 12 If we endure, We shall also reign with Him. If we deny Him, He also will deny us. 13 If we are faithless, He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself.
Approved and Disapproved Workers
14 Remind them of these things, charging them before the Lord not to strive about words to no profit, to the ruin of the hearers. 15 Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. 16 But shun profane and idle babblings, for they will increase to more ungodliness. 17 And their message will spread like cancer. Hymenaeus and Philetus are of this sort, 18 who have strayed concerning the truth, saying that the resurrection is already past; and they overthrow the faith of some. 19 Nevertheless the solid foundation of God stands, having this seal: “The Lord knows those who are His,” and, “Let everyone who names the name of Christ depart from iniquity.”
20 But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay, some for honor and some for dishonor. 21 Therefore if anyone cleanses himself from the latter, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified and useful for the Master, prepared for every good work. 22 Flee also youthful lusts; but pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. 23 But avoid foolish and ignorant disputes, knowing that they generate strife. 24 And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient, 25 in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth, 26 and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will.
