READY.......OR NOT????

Are we prepared to pay the cost of sanctification? 
Are we really prepared for God to perform in us everything for which He separated us?


Those were some of the questions posed in my devo today.  


I often ask God to separate me for Himself.  My hearts desire is to be set apart for His glory and His glory alone. I want my life to reflect Him in me (I am a work in progress!).  I constantly give Him authority over me and ask Him to have His way in my life.  Not my will but your will be done Lord.  
But after I read those questions, I thought "do I even know what I am asking when I pray all those things?"
Well, the answer is yes! I know exactly what I am asking.  I am asking God to have full reign in my life and I sincerely mean it.  However, am I prepared to go through the process and pay the cost of sanctification (being set apart), well, sometimes that is another story!


I have learned through my own experiences that saying yes is (usually) the easier part.  It's what happens after you say yes.  It's after you say yes and the sanctification process begins that we realize "uh oh....what is going on here?"
See I am ready for the end result (at least I tend to think I am!).  I am ready to be oh so holy and set apart.  What I am not ready for is the process to get there.  You know what I'm talking about.  It's when God begins to reveal things to you about yourself that you would rather not know, when the poking gets harder,  the convictions stronger, and the sacrifices and the cost become real.   But it's also when your time with God becomes sweeter, you feel stronger, and you receive fresh revelations of God's grace and of who He is.  
So I ask myself, am I prepared for the cost of sanctification? Am I prepared for God to perform in me everything for which He has separated me for?
More often than not, I don't quite feel prepared.  However I have decided that I will go through the process anyway.  God has always been faithful and He will give me the grace and the strength that I need to go through the process and come out victorious.  God wants to separate us for a purpose.  It's because He loves us and has plans for us, some that we know nothing about. There is something that He wants to do in us and through us, but first He wants to sanctify us.
When we say yes to God to whatever He is asking us to do, it is a process.   Some processes are short and some are way longer than we would like them to be.  But in order for us to get to the place where God wants us, we must allow the process to take place.




Lord, 
Help me submit to the process. Help me to trust in You with all of my heart and not lean on my own limited understanding.  May I walk through this process with grace and end up in the place You have prepared for me.  Set me apart daily for You.






Pa Lante y Pal Cielo!
Cece