Able to be Holy

"And above all, believe most confidently that Jesus Christ Himself delights in maintaining the new nature within you and imparting to it His own strength and wisdom for its work......Let it fill you with a quiet and assured confidence that you are indeed able to do what the Father expects of you as His child, under the covenant of His grace, because you have Christ strengthening you."~Andrew Murray

I love learning new things. I love that aaaah moment of understanding something that I previously did not understand. I love it even more when that new understanding draws me close to Christ. That happened to me this morning in my devotion time. I learned what grafting was....wait don't stop reading this is good, keep going.

Grafting is a gardening term where the gardner makes a slit in the stem of one plant and inserts a sprout from another plant. If it is done correctly and tended to carefully the sprout grows using the life of the original plants life but new fruit are produced. This in my mind is a beautiful picture of me in Christ!

Andrew Murray paints this beautiful picture in today's reading. He says if you could speak with the grafted tree this is the response it would give to as it was bearing new fruit "In me, that is, in my roots, the sap I collect from the soil is in its nature corrupt and ready to show itself in bearing evil fruit. But just when the sap rises into sunshine to ripen into fruit, the wise gardener has clothed me with new life, through which my sap is purified and all my powers are renewed to the bringing forth of good fruit. I have only to abide in that which I have received. He cares for the immediate repression and removal of every bud which the old nature still would put forth"

The process of being santified-being made holy- isn't instant. It is a process where I grow less and Christ grows more. I yield myself to Him so that I will be more like him. Old roots bearing new fruit! Holy fruits that please my Father, and what child doesn't like to make daddy smile?

Without abiding holiness is NOT attainable. Holiness flow from Christ to me if I choose to abide in His presence. I can't reach this on my own no matter how badly I desire or how hard I try. It is His very nature and unless He is living in me I can't be made holy. And get this HE WANTS TO MAKE ME HOLY! He wants to cover me, supply me with all I need, care for my every fruit! He loves me! And He love you.

This abiding is pretty sweet! Thank you sweet Heavenly Father for allowing and wanting me to abide in You.