PURIFIED

And Joshua said to the people, "Sanctify yourselves: for tomorrow the LORD will do wonders among you" - Joshua 3:5

Possession demands being PURIFIED! Conquest calls for Consecration! The people were out of the wilderness and now gaining access into the Promised Land. They were benefiting and enjoying the provisions of God’s promises. But Joshua realized that something was wrong. He realized that they weren’t sanctified. Many Christians have obtained and are enjoying the benefits and provisions of God's promises. They have enjoyed victories won by others, and ridden the backs of other people’s prayers, warfare, work, and study of the Word. However, many of God's people are not living clean. Too many confessors are not living consecrated, sanctified or holy lives. They are in Christ's camp and are blessed because of it, but they have not sustained their status of sanctification. They keep one leg in the world and the other in the Lord.

Purity produces power to possess. You can visit the Promised Land without being holy, but you cannot abide, stay or prosper there without purity. It is easier to obtain than it is sustain. Too many believers are content with merely confessing God's promises and fantasizing on the benefits. They occasionally visit the periphery of destiny, but are unable to fully maintain possession. Purity implies being prompt in acknowledging and repenting of sin and dealing with it sincerely. Purity empowers the process of possessing your possessions. Praise God, in the New Covenant of Grace, our purity is not so much related to anything we have done; it is due exclusively to the fact that we have been purified in Jesus’ blood. Only by being washed in His blood can the stain of sin be removed. That status must however be sustained in practice.

It is on the platform of purity that you can settle or inhabit the place of promise. Talent will get you to the Promised Land but it is your character that will enable you to abide and flourish there. It is not enough to be acting like you are ready to possess your promise, you need to remain consecrated, sanctified, and purified. You must take time to reflect, repent, and get things cleaned up and cleaned out. You may never be able to possess God's best until you wholly consecrate yourself: "For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you should abstain from sexual immorality; that each of you should know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor" (1Thes. 4:3-4).

1 John 1:6-7 says, “But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, His Son, purifies us from all sin.” To be consecrated implies to give your life to God to do His will instead of yours; to present your soul and body as a living sacrifice (Rom.12:1). For you to possess God's promises, you must learn to possess the vessels of your soul and body. The day of trying to live in the Promised Land yet staying close to the filth and corruption of worldly culture is over. You cannot possess without purity! You cannot conquer without consecration! Salt must maintain its purity and integrity in order to have lasting impact (Mt.5:13). In a similar way, you must guard your purity by walking in newness of life instead of loving the things of this world (1Jh.2:15). You must remain purified to possess your possessions in Christ!