Sanctify

I mentioned in an earlier posting that the word Sanctify did a number on my faith. I was trying to think of a way to somehow write about it and then I read something today that seemed to fit perfectly. 
I was reading more on Jesus' time in the wilderness and how he was "tempted" by the Devil. He had just come from being baptized by John... the Heavens opened and the spirit of the Lord descended upon Him! Quite an experience for Jesus I'm sure. After this one of a kind occurrence, Jesus immediately went into the wilderness to be tested by the Devil himself. Yikes.
It seems that it is our lot in life that just after we do a marvelous job of resisting something and have, what many people refer to as, a "mountain top experience," it is then that we nose dive and fail miserably in our faith.
It seems that it is within in our own inmost thoughts and desires that the Devil finds and uses his allies and his weapons, It is where he has an advantage and foothold on our life. It is within our gifts that we are repeatedly tempted again and again. For example... the person with charm will be tempted to use their charms to get what they want and get away with anything. The person with the gifts and power with words will use their command of words to produce slick excuses to justify their conduct or to manipulate others with their power of persuasion. With Jesus, it was His gifts of being all powerful, His faith in God, and unwavering devotion to His mission.
There was time that I thought I would reach a stage in my life where I would be beyond temptation. A stage where the tempter would have no business or power in my life. I would arrive at some maturity where I would have it all figured out. Well... Jesus never reached that stage. From the very beginning to the end He had to fight His battle of being tempted and tested. This is where sanctification comes in to play... To sanctify something is to turn it over and fully give it to God. Farmers sanctified their fields and animals. Jesus even sanctified Himself before His mission. I've found sanctification is a daily appropriation and not something that if done just once is instantaneous and suitable for the rest of your life. It's something you do every morning, day, and night... and is not something you fully arrive at until the day Jesus comes back and we're celebrating in heaven. Once I realized this, it took so much of the pressure off me. I felt like I was continually failing at life and with God. Once I realized that life was indeed going to be a roller coaster and that I would have my good days and bad... It just made following Christ more doable. It made it more adventurous. It made it more real.
Because Jesus dealt with and fought temptation makes Him able to help us fight ours.