Of course the teaching on sanctification is carried over to a second day......because Oswald Chambers looked at the two parts.....being emptied.....and then being filled......so again, I have needed to wait and think and pray about how to write on this.....
I must say that the living part is much less difficult for me to think about and try to process than the death. But then he says, "The mystery of sanctification is that the perfect qualities of Jesus Christ are imparted as a gift to me, not gradually, but instantly once I enter by faith into the realization that He “became for [me] . . . sanctification . . . . Sanctification means nothing less than the holiness of Jesus becoming mine and being exhibited in my life". So how do I understand that I am not perfect once and for all? That I have to have a 'do over' again and again? He continues..... "The most wonderful secret of living a holy life does not lie in imitating Jesus, but in letting the perfect qualities of Jesus exhibit themselves in my human flesh..." This statement makes it more clear for me......in letting the perfect qualities of Jesus exhibit themselves in me.......so although it is an instant transformation in me.....I must day by day chose to continue to allow His qualities to be shown in my life......and I believe I frequently get this backwards and want to imitate Jesus.....to do something for Him.......and what He is asking is that I stop doing and allow Him to be in me.....which will naturally flow out...."the gift of His patience, love, holiness, faith, purity, and godliness that is exhibited in and through"...me.....
Previously I have talked about the Mitchell family. Archie and Betty and their son, Glenn, who is my brother in law......married to my husband's sister, Kathy. This is a family who has lived lives that showed us the qualities that I want in my life.....patience, love, holiness, faith, purity and godliness.....under extremely challenging circumstances. I have spoken about the circumstances of Betty and Archie......with Archie being captured by the Viet Cong in 1962 and how Betty waited and trusted God to return him home to her. She remained in Vietnam until she too was captured in 1975 and taken to Hanoi with other missionary prisoners and finally released.......but still never found her husband. I think of how she led her life filled with the qualities that God gifts those who chose to be open to Him....and I wonder if I could have been so consistent in my living given her circumstances......15 years of continuing to work with the people in Vietnam with whom God had sent both her and her husband....and living such an exemplary life.....that it has impacted her children to follow her example and keep God first in their lives.....as well as many others that have watched her live....day by day....year in and year out.....
I spent some time with Betty in Malaysia when she was working at Dalat School in Penang. She was the dietitian for the boarding school. She had been released from captivity in Hanoi and was back working where the Christian and Missionary Alliance sent her. I needed some medical care and so went to be with her. She told me stories of her captivity......the journey from Bamnethuot to Hanoi and the hopes she had of finally being reunited with her husband. She did not dwell on the disappointment of not finding him there. She told me of one story that I believe is exactly what Oswald Chambers is talking about......"Sanctification is not drawing from Jesus the power to be holy— it is drawing from Jesus the very holiness that was exhibited in Him, and that He now exhibits in me".
Betty related how once the group of missionaries had reached Hanoi they were interrogated frequently. She said they had to write their story and tell of each person by name that they had met during their time in Vietnam......and they didn't want to do this for fear of repercussions on them.....and she said that it was tedious and she was becoming ill. One day she was taken to see the worst of the interrogators....the most harsh and difficult and he began to demand information from her......said she told him.....I have already told you all that I can......you just keep asking me to repeat myself and I have...... This man then became very angry and said to her, "You have to obey me or I will never let you see your children again". Betty said she was so weak and exhausted and although she did not want this to happen, tears began to run down her face as she said, "You have no power over what happens in my life.......my life is in God's hands and it is not up to you but His choice if I see my children again". She said the interrogation stopped and she was never questioned by this man again.
This is the heart of God being reflected in the words and life of this woman......clear, honest faith in the dependency of God to continue to fill her every word and thought.....and to allow her to express this under the most difficult of circumstances because God was dwelling in her and being exhibited in her life.
And now I watch Glenn and Kathy....my brother and sister in law...... They live in Wheaton, Illinois. Both have come from difficult background stories and have faced incredible challenges throughout their lives.....but this doesn't change their heart attitudes.....both of them live for the Lord completely no matter the circumstances...... They trust Him completely..... and they continue "to live a life of inexpressible order, soundness, and holiness— “. . . kept by the power of God . . .” (1 Peter 1:5)"
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