Thank You Lord For Being Washed, Sanctified And Justified.
God wants us to come completely out of sin. He makes it possible through His Son, Jesus Christ, by forgiving us our sins. We have been washed, sanctified and justified and that we, too, have a new identity, we are a new man or we are a new woman in Jesus Christ. Our identity today is we are a Christian – we are a follower of Jesus Christ.
We shall be strong because the word of God stays within us. It obviously means abide. It also means “to dwell”. It means “to be present”. It means “to remain” - because the word of God remains in us, we shall be strong. The word means “to continue to be present”. I like that. Because the word of God continues to be present in us, we shall be strong.
So God gives us the tools to help us maintain our status of being washed, justified and sanctified and He wants us to continue in that state because He knows that it is for our benefit, it is for our well-being. So in Jesus Christ's temptation He used the word of God because the word of God continually abided in Jesus Christ. There was no question about that. 
So Auckland friends, God wants us to come completely out of sin. He makes it possible through His Son, Jesus Christ, by forgiving us our sins. He says, "I also make it possible by washing you, justifying you and sanctifying you." That is who we are, Auckland friends. As far as we are concerned, we are no longer sinners.
We are washed, justified and sanctified. Can we sin? But even then God allows us to have the tools – of prayer, the power of His Holy Spirit, and as Jesus emphasized, the word of God. And when we allow the word of God to abide in us, to remain continually in us, we can be strong.
So as we look out over these Auckland friends, we see a strong group of people who want to do the will of God, who want to serve their living God and their Savior, Jesus Christ, with all of their hearts. And we encourage all of us to maintain that steadfastness, which is the word of God. So enjoy our lunch or dinner, all of us, justified, sanctified and washed Auckland people.
From Watercolour Artist/Prayer Essayist/Columnist James Seo.
