What am I longing for?

Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.

Hebrews 11:16 NIV

It seems to me that most of what I long for is in this world.  I need to spend more time thinking about being with the Lord and His promises for me so that I will long for what He wants.

Father, please help me see things from your perspective.  Jesus, thank you for your example of living according to the promises of God.  Holy Spirit, thank you for being with me and giving me power to live by faith. Change my desires so that I long for what you long for.  I love you.

The blood of Jesus propels us into the presence of God

Hebrews 10:19‭-‬22 NIV

Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.

Since we have confidence, let us draw near to God.  If Jesus has made a way to the presence of God, why in the world would we not urgently go that way?!

Perhaps we might be distracted by visible and tangible things (1 John 2:16), but those things could never satisfy us.  We are designed by God to be in holy fellowship with Him (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit), maybe something like three-phase electrical power or like subatomic particles (protons, neutrons, and electrons, with the nucleus analogous to Father and Son, and the electron cloud analogous to Holy Spirit).  

Hebrews 10:23‭-‬25 NIV

Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

So, hold on, and spur one another on.  Like spurs on cowboy boots.  Sharp prodding in the right direction.

Father, thank you for sending Jesus to make a way for me to fellowship with you.  Jesus, thank you for offering your blood as the sacrifice and your body as the curtain to enter into the Most Holy Place.  Holy Spirit, thank you for spreading out from the Most Holy Place to dwell also in my spirit.  I give you authority over my soul and body, as well.  Make yourself at home.  Remove anything that you don't like, and add on and decorate as you please.  I am yours.  I love you.

A long way to go

Hebrews 9:12‭-‬15 NIV

He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption. The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean. How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!  For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance—now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant.

I don't think you can fully parse out salvation into three separate parts (justification, sanctification, and glorification), maybe like you can't separate the Father, Son, and Spirit, but it seems to me that justification is the kickoff moment of a life of sanctification.

I feel like I still have such a long way to go to having my conscience cleansed and being free from fleshly/worldly impulses.  I am often easily frustrated by trivial things.  I selfishly want my way about things, and I am disappointed or angry when I don't get my way.  I care way too much about what other people think of me.  I need Jesus to cleanse my soul so that I can serve God.

Father, I feel like I have such a long way to go to be like you.  Like the difference between zero and infinity on a logarithmic scale. Jesus, how do I open myself to a deeper measure of your cleansing work.  Can you get your scrub brush a bit further into my soul?  Or perhaps it is more of an effervescent process like hydrogen peroxide?  Actually, you are focused on transformation, not just cleansing the surface.  You want to transform the essence of my soul from earthly to heavenly.  Holy Spirit, thank you for your presence.  May my spirit, soul, and body be fully yours and of you.  I love you.

Self-control and gentleness

Titus 2:2‭, ‬6 NIV

Teach the older men to be temperate, worthy of respect, self-controlled, and sound in faith, in love and in endurance.  ... Similarly, encourage the young men to be self-controlled.

Titus 3:1‭-‬2 NIV

Remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good, to slander no one, to be peaceable and considerate, and always to be gentle toward everyone.

I want to follow Jesus's example of overcoming evil by allowing the Spirit to govern my behavior, and two of the fruit of the Spirit listed in Gal 5, self-control and gentleness, are highlighted by Paul as key attributes of transformation.

Father, thank you for the opportunity to become holy like you.  I want to be like you.  Jesus, thank you for your example.  Holy Spirit, thank you for your presence and fruit, specifically self-control and gentleness.  I love you.