"Belonging to Jesus!"

 "They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world." (John 17:16 KJV)

  "See how much our Father loves us, for he calls us his children, and that is what we are! But the people who belong to this world don't recognize that we are God's children because they don't know him. Dear friends, we are already God's children, but he has not yet shown us what we will be like when Christ appears. But we do know that we will be like him, for we will see him as he really is. And all who have this eager expectation will keep themselves pure, just as he is pure." (1 John 3:1-3 NLT)

 Having been purchased by His blood, I can say with certainty that I am a child of God! It has been as if I have been adopted into the family of God, which comes with certain rights, rights that have not been given to those that might have inherited the same standing, by natural birth. That might seem strange to some; but the difference between the two, is that one is born into the family, while the other is adopted in, which means that they been chosen to be part of the family, and now it is God's obligation to keep them! 

 That will all make better sense when we get to heaven, where we belong! As for now, we must do our very best to keep ourselves pure! Well, that hasn't gone all that well, so far as I can tell! If I was the one to judge myself, I would consider the purity thing was broken, like maybe the first week of my rebirth; maybe even sooner! So then, how is it possible to remain pure in this world? 

 If you have ever read the book, "Sit, Walk, Stand," then you probably know that is based upon the Book of Ephesians, and the whole premise of the book is about Abiding in Christ. If you consider yourself to be someone that is not capable of walking on you own, let alone being able to stand, then you are the kind of person that requires a wheelchair to move from one place to another. 

 In the same instance, if you want to remain pure, you must have assistance, other than yourself; as it is, you yourself have no ability to be pure on your own! You must abide in Christ, for He is pure, not you by yourself! If you abide in Christ, then you are made pure, as He is pure; making it possible to walk out your life in Christ! This is all His doing, not your own! 

 Therefore, if you attempt to stand, you will fail, unless you have been abiding in Christ and have been able to walk by the power that He has given you walk, you cannot stand on your own! This is the point of Sanctification; even though we have been Justified in Christ, before we can be Glorified, we must be Sanctified. Even the thief on the cross was Sanctified in Christ, when he died upon his own cross! He was Justified when Jesus said, "Today you will be with me in paradise!" He was Sanctified when he died on his cross; and Glorified, when he was with Jesus in Heaven! 

 Anywho, what say you? Do you belong to Christ? If so, then you must remain pure! We can only remain pure by abiding in Christ Jesus, because He alone is pure...

"Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins. You used to live in sin, just like the rest of the world, obeying the devil - the commander of the powers in the unseen world. He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God. All of us used to live that way, following the passionate desires and inclinations of our sinful nature. By our very nature we were subject to God's anger, just like everyone else. But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God's grace that you have been saved!) For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus. So God can point to us in all future ages as examples of the incredible wealth of his grace and kindness toward us, as shown in all he has done for us who are united with Christ Jesus. God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can't take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boost about it. For we are God's masterpiece. He has created anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago." (Ephesians 2:1-10 NLT)