Jehovah Mekaddishkem - The Lord Our Sanctifier (Daily Devotional)

Hello and welcome to Living Supernaturally, the daily devotion of All People’s church. We’ve been looking and studying the covenant names of God and it has truly been very inspiring and encouraging to look at the covenant names, to study and see what God is revealing Himself to be, in the lives of people. Even as we study the covenant names, that it is not just a revelation of God as the eternal, self-existed one but also the promise that He wants to bring to pass what He is or who He is revealing Himself to be in our lives and life circumstances. Today, we look at this covenant name of God ‘Jehovah Mekaddishkem’ which means the Lord our sanctifier. We look at Exodus chapter 31 and verse 13 and this is what the Lord says and He tells His people, ‘Speak also to the children of Israel, saying: Surely my Sabbaths you shall keep, for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am the Lord who sanctifies you.’ What does sanctification mean? What does it mean to be sanctified? It means to be set apart. It says that it is the Lord who sanctifies us. What is the need for sanctification? Why does the Lord do that? The Lord sanctifies us and sets us apart because firstly, He is a jealous and holy God and He sets us apart for Himself as His special chosen people. Our values, choices, decisions, the Lord wants it to be sanctified unto Himself. Why? The second reason is that when we don’t sanctify ourselves, we self-destruct. When we don’t live sanctified lives, we self-destruct because there are many things that happens in the world that we sometimes are ignorant of. For example, the bible says that when we give in to lust and when we don’t live as righteous people, it wars or conflicts against our soul which means our thoughts, minds, intellect, our imagination everything is battered because of giving in to lust. We don’t realize it, we feel it is something harmless we can indulge in. No! It wars against our very soul. So, we self-destruct when we don’t live sanctified lives. Thirdly, when we give in to the pull of the world, we get distracted, we lose time, move away and drift away from the destiny that God has for us. The Lord is our sanctifier and He wants us to live sanctified lives. Hebrews chapter 10, verse 14 says that, ‘For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified.’ The Lord our sanctifier, when He sanctifies us, it is not just an event but a journey with Him. It is a progressive, continuous walk of sanctification. The thing is that sanctification is being separate unto Him but it is not isolation from the world. The Lord has placed us in the world but we are called not to be off the world. So, today, may this word strengthen us. Sanctification requires the work of the Lord and it requires the responsibility and response of man as well. Shall we pray? Father, we thank you that even as it is your desire to sanctify us, we invite you to do the work of sanctification once again in our lives. We realize it is a continuous, progressive work and we open our hearts and whole heartedly we invite you. We recognize that it is our responsibility as well even as you lead us to sanctify us progressively. We yield ourselves to you to live sanctified lives for your glory, in Jesus’ name we pray, Amen. Thank you for tuning in to Living Supernaturally, for more resources to strengthen your spiritual walk, please visit apcwo.org.