Sermon Title: To be one like God; or to be one with God... ...
“And the Lord God said,
“The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil.
He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.” "(Genesis 3:22)
Dearly Beloved,
Greetings in the Name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!
Today in Canada, a revolution is brewing.
This is a nation now dealing with both COVID and a convoy.
The seats of government in Ottawa, and major cities across Canada; along with major highways and border crossings are jammed up with big trucks – an unfolding drama of historical reminiscence; a well-worn tale of the working class pushing back against the ruling elite.
It is a complicated and complex situation; revealing of a deeply broken, universal human society.
Both sides stand on merits and demerits, facts and faults; and both sides imbue grave misunderstandings.
In this conflict – fueled by the uncertainty of what is the truth - misinformation and disinformation has become the fodder that society now feeds on.
The foundational and fundamental problem of human society is this:
Trust has been broken; and truth has become elusive.
The truth is out there; but no one knows where it is.
By and large, if this conflict is between the working class and the ruling elite; what should the church do about this?
Firstly, this is not about determining who is right or who is wrong and taking sides.
To take sides with any worldly entity is to actually live out what God declared about the fallen human race in Genesis 3:22:“…the man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil” – where man is now independent of God, disconnected from Him and dead in spirit.
Man was not created, nor designed to be independent of God; but our sin created this chasm that prevents us from coming before God.
From being one with God, Man has become one like God.
To this, when we see conflicts like what we are seeing today in Canada; and most likely a similar protest movement in Washington D.C., we are actually witnessing the fallen human race exercising their independent minds - choosing sides and coming against each other.
So in the face of the troubles of this world; would you choose to know what is good and evil independently of God? Would you readily choose a side and take a stand in the midst of any human conflict?
For the children of God; there are no sides that we must ever take except God’s side.
And therein lies the key distinction between those who belong to God; and those who do not.
God’s children constantly strive to be ONE WITH GOD – to be restored to the spiritual condition of the unfallen human race; to always be found on, and by, God’s side.
The essence of what we are witnessing around world; and what we will continue to witness in struggles and conflicts of every kind - is the human race living independently of the living God.
The only side we must resolve to take; is God’s side.
Our only allegiance and loyalty is to King Jesus.
The only way in which we must live; is the way of the Lord Jesus Christ – to be one with God.
How must we live to be one with God?
“The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them.” (Genesis 3:22)
We observe that God’s Salvation plan for us – in saving us; through consecration (setting us apart) and sanctification (making us holy) - is to restore us from a fallen human nature to a holy human nature.
The phrase: “I’m only human” - speaks to the brokenness; and sinfulness of the human being.
By God’s Grace - according to His Word and His Work, we are assured that the moment we meet Christ face to face, to be human is to be holy.
But not yet; not today.
There is work to be done.
By the fall, Man had begun to sink deeper into corruption, immorality and depravity; and soon, even the mind would be lost.
Desensitised to every manner of evil; wrong would seem so right.
Having asserted an unholy independence and exercised the ‘right’ to choose, Man chose to be disconnected from God and is now spiritually dead; a slave of satan, governed by the bondage of fleshly lusts, and destined for a life of darkness leading to death.
Mankind’s likeness to God has lost its essence of holiness.
Though what remains is the perishing vessel of our doomed souls; we can still experience the Grace of God today by ignoring the tree of knowledge, and choose the tree of life – and be re-connected to the Creator God through Christ Jesus, our Saviour, and made to come alive (born again) by the Power of the Holy Spirit. (Ref: John 3:3)
That is the very first step to be ONE WITH GOD – to be on God’s side; to never take any side in this world; but only be found on God’s side, by God’s side.
To be ONE WITH GOD begins with His Redemption through Christ.
“Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh.” (Romans 13:14)
The desires of the flesh demands an independence from God, and dictates what is right or wrong; and which side to choose – completely blinding the human from the existence and love of God.
Christ heals blindness; and through Christ, our holiness and innocence can be restored.
To be ONE WITH GOD – is to clothe yourself with the Lord Jesus Christ.
He either rules your life, or He does not.
And if He does not, it is the devil who does.
Choose.
Choose life.
Choose God’s Redemption.
Choose to be restored unto His Holy likeness.
Our Lord Jesus reveals to us how in John 15:5:
“I am the vine; you are the branches.
If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”
We have been warned.
Apart from Jesus, we will die.
However, if we remain in Him, we will live for all eternity!
To be one with God is to remain in Christ.
In Leviticus 14:14, we observe a ritual of guilt sacrifice which frames a life lived in Christ:
“The priest is to take the blood of the guilt offering and put it on the lobe of the right ear of the one to be cleansed, on the thumb of their right hand and on the big toe of their right foot.”
Our spirits – as symbolised by the blood placed on our right ear - must hear and receive only God’s Word;
Our worship and service – as symbolised by the blood placed on the thumb of our right hand – must be devoted only unto God;
Our life’s path – as symbolised by the blood placed on the big toe of our right foot – must be dedicated only to following God.
All of which means that we must live our lives keeping a firm grip on the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
To be one with God, this is what we start with:
“I am a sinner, saved by Jesus Christ… covered in His Blood and Clothed with Him.”
The Gospel message is the very foundation to be restored unto God’s Holiness and our former state of Glory – the condition of the unfallen man.
To be one with God is to be found in His Truth; and be solely guided by His Truth.
It begins by believing in Jesus in the deepest and most intimate knowledge of how you have been saved.
It is seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness in the certainty that “all these things shall be added unto you.” (Matthew 6:33)
To be apart from Christ is to die.
Only if we remain in Him, do we truly have life.
Know the Gospel very well.
To be one with God, how must we daily live?
Now that we are saved; how do we live in Christ despite living with our fallen nature; and in a fallen world?
For this, we take a glimpse at what was the world like for an unfallen Mankind.
“8 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden.
9 But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”
10 He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.”” (Genesis 3:8-10)
Just the day before when their spirits were still alive – what did God’s visit hold for them?
It was likely the favorite part of their day.
It was the moment when they could be with their heavenly Father – their most favorite person in the Universe and all of Creation.
They were unfallen.
Mankind’s first and only nature was holiness and righteousness; as they encountered God face to face each day.
At that time, they didn’t know anything else.
They had no knowledge of good and evil; it was unnecessary because they were simply holy – as God is holy.
On the day they heard the sound of God walking in the garden and they hid, they knew that they have sinned against God; for their spirits have already died.
They have fallen short of the glory of God; and hiding from Him has become the result of their new, first nature - sin.
First nature is that which is natural to us; something that we are not taught nor has it been our training.
Second nature is what we acquire through discipline, practice, training, and habit – before it becomes natural to us.
In our fallen state, sin is our first nature; and thus, what is natural to us is sinful.
The spawn of sin is to store up treasures in this world; to choose an earthly perspective to life; or even, to choose an earthly side.
Christians must realize and learn never to hinge our lives on our first nature; for what is natural to us – without Christ - is sinful.
Today, like our first parents, we are fallen.
We are mired in brokenness and sinfulness.
Holiness is no longer our first nature.
However when we are clothed with the Lord Jesus Christ, and made alive by the Holy Spirit; we are given the privilege and power to make holiness our second nature.
Till Christ returns - each day faced with the possibility (of His return) or the eventuality of physical death – this is what we must strive for.
For when we meet Christ in the midst of our unyielding pursuit for holiness, we are assured that holiness will once again become our first nature.
Hence, the foundation to be ONE WITH God – is intimate and personal knowledge of the GOSPEL – to understand with deepest certainty what it means to be clothed with the Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 13:14); and the key steps to live being ONE WITH GOD is to be found in the GARDEN - always listening out for the sound of God (lobe of the right ear), always worshipping and serving Him (thumb of the right hand) and running towards Him when He call (big toe of the right foot).
That is what our personal, daily prayer times, G3 Discipleship prayer groups, corporate Sunday Worships are meant to do; to give us the necessary sacred space and time to make encountering God on a deeply personal level become a habit – forged in discipline and training - till praying and listening to God, worshipping and serving God, and daily walking with God and sharing the experiences of our walk with Him - become our second nature.
Resonating His Father’s words in Leviticus 11:44: “Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am holy”, the very words of our Lord Jesus Christ in Matthew 5:4 - Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect – reveals to us that truly:
Practice makes perfect.
To be One with God, we must strive to make being holy and perfect our second nature.
To strive to follow Christ in such discipline, frequency and intensity that following Him becomes second nature; to strive to sin less and less each day – in looking forward to the day we will sin no more.
To be resolute in our training to “take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” (2 Corinthians 10:5)
“The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming—not the realities themselves.” (Hebrews 10:1)
God’s law is our training facility; where we must know and rid our lives of sin, in dedicated training to be holy.
In every sense, we obey God over and over - till it becomes second nature to obey Him.
So is attaining the “confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body,” (Hebrews 10:20-21) so that we may “draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.” (Hebrews 10:22-23)
How do you build confidence?
Practice.
Practice Holiness.
Begin to learn, and be willing to attach holiness to everything you do - making sure that everything you do, you do so by the Lord’s side, and with the Lord right with you.
Be holy – till it becomes your second nature; passionately looking forward to the day of His return when holiness becomes your first – which is when your disciplined and resolute practice of holiness through Christ results in God’s Covenant fulfilled:
“16 “This is the covenant I will make with them after that time, says the Lord.
I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds.”
17 Then he adds: “Their sins and lawless acts, I will remember no more.”” (Hebrews 10:16-17)
When Christ returns, because we are diligent in working out our salvation – being obedient to God and making holiness through Christ our second nature - God will reward us by making holiness our first nature.
Salvation – though exclusively available by Grace – can only be received when responded in utter reverence of God that comes from a life devoted to working out our “salvation with fear and trembling.” (Ref: Philippians 2:12)
To be One with God - think of His Gospel, and think of His Garden.
Only through the practice of holiness in the knowledge of His Gospel, and in daily encountering Him in His Garden may we ever inherit the Kingdom of God.
The foundation to be one with God – is intimate and personal knowledge of the Gospel – to understand what it means to be clothed with the Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 13:14);
The key steps in living forward to be one with GOD; as oppose to being one like God; is to always listen out for the sound of the Lord God; and daily draw close to Him in His Garden - just as Adam and the woman did before the fall.
Be one with God in His Gospel and His Garden today.
Daily, practice holiness till it becomes your second nature; and one day, you will cease to be only human, you will forever be holy - one with God.
Shalom.
Let us pray.
Our Father in Heaven,
Hallowed be Your Name.
Your Kingdom come, Your Will be done; on earth, as it is in heaven.
Lord, may I forever be found on Your Side; and by Your Side.
May I daily strive – by the Power of the Holy Spirit – to be one with You.
By Your Grace, grant that I may receive Your Salvation through Christ; daily and utterly striving to be holy as You are Holy; to be perfect as You are Perfect.
Holy Spirit, create in me a clean heart; and restore Your Holiness within me. (Ref: Psalm 51:10)
Today, every day and forevermore, help me choose only the Tree of Life – and be daily live the life of a born-again: connected to my Heavenly Father through Christ Jesus, my Lord and Saviour; living each day by Your Power to share the Gospel!
Lord Jesus, rule over all of me; that I may deny myself, pick up my cross and follow You.
This day, I choose Your Redemption and be restored unto Your Holy Likeness.
Help me daily practice hearing and receiving Your Word; daily worshipping and serving You; and be utterly dedicated to following You.
Indeed, Lord Jesus, I am a sinner, saved by You – covered by Your Blood and clothed with You.
Holy Spirit, help me keep my firmest grip on the Gospel, and grant me the strength and resolve to make holiness my second nature in the knowledge of God’s Salvation – clothed with the Lord Jesus Christ.
May I always be found listening for You, my Lord; worshipping and serving You; and daily walking with You in Your Garden.
Yes – I long to be perfect as my heavenly Father is perfect (Ref: Matthew 5:4); guide me, Holy Spirit, to daily strive to make being holy and perfect my second nature – with such discipline, frequency and intensity that I would sin less and less each day – till the day I see the face of my Lord Jesus Christ, and sin no more.
Thank You for Your Gospel; and thank You for Your Garden, where I may encounter You; and forever be one with You.
I thank You and pray all these in the Name of our King, Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.
“And the Lord God said,
“The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil.
He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.” "(Genesis 3:22)
Dearly Beloved,
Greetings in the Name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!
Today in Canada, a revolution is brewing.
This is a nation now dealing with both COVID and a convoy.
The seats of government in Ottawa, and major cities across Canada; along with major highways and border crossings are jammed up with big trucks – an unfolding drama of historical reminiscence; a well-worn tale of the working class pushing back against the ruling elite.
It is a complicated and complex situation; revealing of a deeply broken, universal human society.
Both sides stand on merits and demerits, facts and faults; and both sides imbue grave misunderstandings.
In this conflict – fueled by the uncertainty of what is the truth - misinformation and disinformation has become the fodder that society now feeds on.
The foundational and fundamental problem of human society is this:
Trust has been broken; and truth has become elusive.
The truth is out there; but no one knows where it is.
By and large, if this conflict is between the working class and the ruling elite; what should the church do about this?
Firstly, this is not about determining who is right or who is wrong and taking sides.
To take sides with any worldly entity is to actually live out what God declared about the fallen human race in Genesis 3:22:“…the man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil” – where man is now independent of God, disconnected from Him and dead in spirit.
Man was not created, nor designed to be independent of God; but our sin created this chasm that prevents us from coming before God.
From being one with God, Man has become one like God.
To this, when we see conflicts like what we are seeing today in Canada; and most likely a similar protest movement in Washington D.C., we are actually witnessing the fallen human race exercising their independent minds - choosing sides and coming against each other.
So in the face of the troubles of this world; would you choose to know what is good and evil independently of God? Would you readily choose a side and take a stand in the midst of any human conflict?
For the children of God; there are no sides that we must ever take except God’s side.
And therein lies the key distinction between those who belong to God; and those who do not.
God’s children constantly strive to be ONE WITH GOD – to be restored to the spiritual condition of the unfallen human race; to always be found on, and by, God’s side.
The essence of what we are witnessing around world; and what we will continue to witness in struggles and conflicts of every kind - is the human race living independently of the living God.
The only side we must resolve to take; is God’s side.
Our only allegiance and loyalty is to King Jesus.
The only way in which we must live; is the way of the Lord Jesus Christ – to be one with God.
How must we live to be one with God?
“The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them.” (Genesis 3:22)
We observe that God’s Salvation plan for us – in saving us; through consecration (setting us apart) and sanctification (making us holy) - is to restore us from a fallen human nature to a holy human nature.
The phrase: “I’m only human” - speaks to the brokenness; and sinfulness of the human being.
By God’s Grace - according to His Word and His Work, we are assured that the moment we meet Christ face to face, to be human is to be holy.
But not yet; not today.
There is work to be done.
By the fall, Man had begun to sink deeper into corruption, immorality and depravity; and soon, even the mind would be lost.
Desensitised to every manner of evil; wrong would seem so right.
Having asserted an unholy independence and exercised the ‘right’ to choose, Man chose to be disconnected from God and is now spiritually dead; a slave of satan, governed by the bondage of fleshly lusts, and destined for a life of darkness leading to death.
Mankind’s likeness to God has lost its essence of holiness.
Though what remains is the perishing vessel of our doomed souls; we can still experience the Grace of God today by ignoring the tree of knowledge, and choose the tree of life – and be re-connected to the Creator God through Christ Jesus, our Saviour, and made to come alive (born again) by the Power of the Holy Spirit. (Ref: John 3:3)
That is the very first step to be ONE WITH GOD – to be on God’s side; to never take any side in this world; but only be found on God’s side, by God’s side.
To be ONE WITH GOD begins with His Redemption through Christ.
“Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh.” (Romans 13:14)
The desires of the flesh demands an independence from God, and dictates what is right or wrong; and which side to choose – completely blinding the human from the existence and love of God.
Christ heals blindness; and through Christ, our holiness and innocence can be restored.
To be ONE WITH GOD – is to clothe yourself with the Lord Jesus Christ.
He either rules your life, or He does not.
And if He does not, it is the devil who does.
Choose.
Choose life.
Choose God’s Redemption.
Choose to be restored unto His Holy likeness.
Our Lord Jesus reveals to us how in John 15:5:
“I am the vine; you are the branches.
If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”
We have been warned.
Apart from Jesus, we will die.
However, if we remain in Him, we will live for all eternity!
To be one with God is to remain in Christ.
In Leviticus 14:14, we observe a ritual of guilt sacrifice which frames a life lived in Christ:
“The priest is to take the blood of the guilt offering and put it on the lobe of the right ear of the one to be cleansed, on the thumb of their right hand and on the big toe of their right foot.”
Our spirits – as symbolised by the blood placed on our right ear - must hear and receive only God’s Word;
Our worship and service – as symbolised by the blood placed on the thumb of our right hand – must be devoted only unto God;
Our life’s path – as symbolised by the blood placed on the big toe of our right foot – must be dedicated only to following God.
All of which means that we must live our lives keeping a firm grip on the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
To be one with God, this is what we start with:
“I am a sinner, saved by Jesus Christ… covered in His Blood and Clothed with Him.”
The Gospel message is the very foundation to be restored unto God’s Holiness and our former state of Glory – the condition of the unfallen man.
To be one with God is to be found in His Truth; and be solely guided by His Truth.
It begins by believing in Jesus in the deepest and most intimate knowledge of how you have been saved.
It is seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness in the certainty that “all these things shall be added unto you.” (Matthew 6:33)
To be apart from Christ is to die.
Only if we remain in Him, do we truly have life.
Know the Gospel very well.
To be one with God, how must we daily live?
Now that we are saved; how do we live in Christ despite living with our fallen nature; and in a fallen world?
For this, we take a glimpse at what was the world like for an unfallen Mankind.
“8 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden.
9 But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”
10 He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.”” (Genesis 3:8-10)
Just the day before when their spirits were still alive – what did God’s visit hold for them?
It was likely the favorite part of their day.
It was the moment when they could be with their heavenly Father – their most favorite person in the Universe and all of Creation.
They were unfallen.
Mankind’s first and only nature was holiness and righteousness; as they encountered God face to face each day.
At that time, they didn’t know anything else.
They had no knowledge of good and evil; it was unnecessary because they were simply holy – as God is holy.
On the day they heard the sound of God walking in the garden and they hid, they knew that they have sinned against God; for their spirits have already died.
They have fallen short of the glory of God; and hiding from Him has become the result of their new, first nature - sin.
First nature is that which is natural to us; something that we are not taught nor has it been our training.
Second nature is what we acquire through discipline, practice, training, and habit – before it becomes natural to us.
In our fallen state, sin is our first nature; and thus, what is natural to us is sinful.
The spawn of sin is to store up treasures in this world; to choose an earthly perspective to life; or even, to choose an earthly side.
Christians must realize and learn never to hinge our lives on our first nature; for what is natural to us – without Christ - is sinful.
Today, like our first parents, we are fallen.
We are mired in brokenness and sinfulness.
Holiness is no longer our first nature.
However when we are clothed with the Lord Jesus Christ, and made alive by the Holy Spirit; we are given the privilege and power to make holiness our second nature.
Till Christ returns - each day faced with the possibility (of His return) or the eventuality of physical death – this is what we must strive for.
For when we meet Christ in the midst of our unyielding pursuit for holiness, we are assured that holiness will once again become our first nature.
Hence, the foundation to be ONE WITH God – is intimate and personal knowledge of the GOSPEL – to understand with deepest certainty what it means to be clothed with the Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 13:14); and the key steps to live being ONE WITH GOD is to be found in the GARDEN - always listening out for the sound of God (lobe of the right ear), always worshipping and serving Him (thumb of the right hand) and running towards Him when He call (big toe of the right foot).
That is what our personal, daily prayer times, G3 Discipleship prayer groups, corporate Sunday Worships are meant to do; to give us the necessary sacred space and time to make encountering God on a deeply personal level become a habit – forged in discipline and training - till praying and listening to God, worshipping and serving God, and daily walking with God and sharing the experiences of our walk with Him - become our second nature.
Resonating His Father’s words in Leviticus 11:44: “Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am holy”, the very words of our Lord Jesus Christ in Matthew 5:4 - Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect – reveals to us that truly:
Practice makes perfect.
To be One with God, we must strive to make being holy and perfect our second nature.
To strive to follow Christ in such discipline, frequency and intensity that following Him becomes second nature; to strive to sin less and less each day – in looking forward to the day we will sin no more.
To be resolute in our training to “take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” (2 Corinthians 10:5)
“The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming—not the realities themselves.” (Hebrews 10:1)
God’s law is our training facility; where we must know and rid our lives of sin, in dedicated training to be holy.
In every sense, we obey God over and over - till it becomes second nature to obey Him.
So is attaining the “confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body,” (Hebrews 10:20-21) so that we may “draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.” (Hebrews 10:22-23)
How do you build confidence?
Practice.
Practice Holiness.
Begin to learn, and be willing to attach holiness to everything you do - making sure that everything you do, you do so by the Lord’s side, and with the Lord right with you.
Be holy – till it becomes your second nature; passionately looking forward to the day of His return when holiness becomes your first – which is when your disciplined and resolute practice of holiness through Christ results in God’s Covenant fulfilled:
“16 “This is the covenant I will make with them after that time, says the Lord.
I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds.”
17 Then he adds: “Their sins and lawless acts, I will remember no more.”” (Hebrews 10:16-17)
When Christ returns, because we are diligent in working out our salvation – being obedient to God and making holiness through Christ our second nature - God will reward us by making holiness our first nature.
Salvation – though exclusively available by Grace – can only be received when responded in utter reverence of God that comes from a life devoted to working out our “salvation with fear and trembling.” (Ref: Philippians 2:12)
To be One with God - think of His Gospel, and think of His Garden.
Only through the practice of holiness in the knowledge of His Gospel, and in daily encountering Him in His Garden may we ever inherit the Kingdom of God.
The foundation to be one with God – is intimate and personal knowledge of the Gospel – to understand what it means to be clothed with the Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 13:14);
The key steps in living forward to be one with GOD; as oppose to being one like God; is to always listen out for the sound of the Lord God; and daily draw close to Him in His Garden - just as Adam and the woman did before the fall.
Be one with God in His Gospel and His Garden today.
Daily, practice holiness till it becomes your second nature; and one day, you will cease to be only human, you will forever be holy - one with God.
Shalom.
Let us pray.
Our Father in Heaven,
Hallowed be Your Name.
Your Kingdom come, Your Will be done; on earth, as it is in heaven.
Lord, may I forever be found on Your Side; and by Your Side.
May I daily strive – by the Power of the Holy Spirit – to be one with You.
By Your Grace, grant that I may receive Your Salvation through Christ; daily and utterly striving to be holy as You are Holy; to be perfect as You are Perfect.
Holy Spirit, create in me a clean heart; and restore Your Holiness within me. (Ref: Psalm 51:10)
Today, every day and forevermore, help me choose only the Tree of Life – and be daily live the life of a born-again: connected to my Heavenly Father through Christ Jesus, my Lord and Saviour; living each day by Your Power to share the Gospel!
Lord Jesus, rule over all of me; that I may deny myself, pick up my cross and follow You.
This day, I choose Your Redemption and be restored unto Your Holy Likeness.
Help me daily practice hearing and receiving Your Word; daily worshipping and serving You; and be utterly dedicated to following You.
Indeed, Lord Jesus, I am a sinner, saved by You – covered by Your Blood and clothed with You.
Holy Spirit, help me keep my firmest grip on the Gospel, and grant me the strength and resolve to make holiness my second nature in the knowledge of God’s Salvation – clothed with the Lord Jesus Christ.
May I always be found listening for You, my Lord; worshipping and serving You; and daily walking with You in Your Garden.
Yes – I long to be perfect as my heavenly Father is perfect (Ref: Matthew 5:4); guide me, Holy Spirit, to daily strive to make being holy and perfect my second nature – with such discipline, frequency and intensity that I would sin less and less each day – till the day I see the face of my Lord Jesus Christ, and sin no more.
Thank You for Your Gospel; and thank You for Your Garden, where I may encounter You; and forever be one with You.
I thank You and pray all these in the Name of our King, Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.