Titus 2 Tuesdays - Jana Gregory

I just LOVE Titus Tuesdays. I love to that through Shanda at ateachableheart.blogspot.com, I am connecting with sisters-in-Christ all over this nation. Thank you Shanda!!!

Titus 2 says "...Guide older women into lives of reverence so they end up as neither gossips nor drunks, but models of goodness. By looking at them, the younger women will know how to love their husbands and children, be virtuous and pure, keep a good house, be good wives. We don't want anyone looking down on God's Message because of their behavior."

Sanctify - to set apart, to make free from sin.

Synonyms: holy, pure, consecrated.

I wish you could meet Jana Gregory. I met Jana 3 years ago when I went on my Walk to Emmaus. Jana spoke this past November about "Sanctifying Grace" on the last walk I worked. It was so good, so life-changing that I had to get her notes. I want to share a portion of her talk with you today...

Jana began her testimony describing the time she and Jim (her hubby) spent in Argentina as missionaries...

"I don't remember her name, but I remember her home and the beautiful flowers that grew in her yard. She lived in a small community in Argentina, and she invited us over to her house after Jim had preached a meeting at her church. She was so proud of the unique and colorful flowers, and she wanted to share with us her gardening secret. She said, 'You'll never guess what I do--I water these plants with the water I collect when I rinse out my menstrual rags."

At this point Jana had every one's attention =) Ha!

"Up until a few decades ago, women had to use cloth rags during the time of their periods. Now I know that it's not a really pleasant idea for us to think about that now, but I want you to really think about what it would be like to use cloth rags during your period. (At this point she was holding up torn strips of white cloth).

"Think about how limited you would be as to what you could wear, where you could go, what you could do. Think of the things around you that become stained with your flow of blood. I don't know about you, but I definitely think that I would feel "unclean" in that situation. Every month, I would be reminded of my 'uncleanness'...It's hard for us to really wrap our minds around the 'unclean' idea because of the hygiene products we have today, but I want you to look at Isaiah 64:6."

"All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags."

"Guess what "filthy rags" translates to in Hebrew. Menstrual rags."

"Think about the most EXTRAORDINARY and SACRIFICIAL act that you could do/have done for God. You wrap that 'gift' up so pretty in a colorful box with a big bow (and present it to your King), and when He opens it, what does he find?"

Not a pretty picture is it?

Jana goes on to say,

"The holy is actually the common infused by God's Spirit and transformed for His service."

READ THAT AGAIN...what she said was so profound to me!

"So, our sanctification has to do with God's transformation of us into persons whose actions in daily life are expressions of the Lord. (Our sanctification has nothing to do with OUR EFFORTS to be 'good Christians'.) He can take those menstrual rags, and like our Argentine friend, rinse them out and use them for something beautiful."

What sanctifies me isn't the ways I try to be "good" or the "good" things I think I do.

The only thing that will "set me apart" & "make me pure" is the Spirit of God that is transforming me from the inside out.

I heard an evangelist compare self-righteous acts to being a glove with no hand in it. My glove can be sturdy, clean, and have all the bells and whistles. BUT, with no hand in it, my glove is useless.

WITHOUT A HAND IN IT, MY GLOVE IS USELESS.

When we are doing church work that leaves us feeling tired & burned-out, you can bet we are trying to operate a glove without THE HAND in it! I AM GUILTY, SO GUILTY!!!

BUT,

if my glove is filled with the Spirit of God I am in business. Big things start happening without me even 'working' because it is the hand of God working in me and bringing EVERYTHING into motion. I am being filled/changed/sanctified from the inside-out.

Thank you Jana for being a Titus 2 woman in my life. The joy of the Lord radiates from your face each time I see you! You are a truly gifted teacher. God bless you and your sweet family!

One Last Deep Thought:

What is total repentance?

I think when I rise to Glory and see Christ's face, I will be ashamed not only my sins, but my 'good deeds' and 'sacrificial acts'. Does total repentance mean you take your best and your worst, roll it up into one, and place it under the Cross? Does it take the blood of Jesus covering even our 'best moments' to become worthy of entering HIS Glory?