Living Sacrifices

Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. - Romans 12:1

 Let's really think about this verse, breaking it down into it's constituent parts. Verse 1: “Therefore” looks back to chapters 1-11. The Apostle is urging or appealing (ESV) the brethren to, by the “mercies of God” (all those mentioned in 1-11), “present”. This is interesting...all believers do is “present [our] bodies a living and holy sacrifice,”. (Think about each word here). An Old Testament sacrifice was something offered to God, as an act of worship. The sacrifice of a believer’s life is “living and holy”, sustained and set apart spiritually and physically by God. Our sacrifice is “acceptable to God” because of Christ and His Gospel (2 Cor. 5:21). This is our “spiritual service of worship.” This verse describes the believer’s existence. We must quit struggling to play a bigger role in our life with God. We, by His mercies, present ourselves to God. Christ is all in all. Will you trust Him? His grace is sufficient for you to live for Him. Perhaps you've never trusted in Christ as your Lord and Saviour. Would you do so today?

Verses for further reading: Lamentations 3:22-24:

               22      The LORD’S lovingkindnesses indeed never cease,

         For His compassions never fail.

               23      They are new every morning;

         Great is Your faithfulness.

               24      “The LORD is my portion,” says my soul,

         “Therefore I have hope in Him.” 

Matthew 16:24-28:

          24      Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.

          25      “For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.

          26      “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?

          27      “For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and WILL THEN REPAY EVERY MAN ACCORDING TO HIS DEEDS.

          28      “Truly I say to you, there are some of those who are standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom.”

New American Standard Bible: 1995 update. (1995). (Ro 12:1; La 3:22-24; Mt 16:24-28). La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.

I'm Thankful For...

The attitude of gratitude is often not an easy one to have. Though the Lord has given us more than enough supply, we struggle to give Him thanks. This is because our sinful flesh does not want to trust God. We actually doubt God.

I want to encourage you, by God's grace, kill this sinful attitude. Christ has freed us from our sin that we may live for Him (Romans 6-8, 2 Corinthians 5:14-21). Simply start by praying thanksgiving to God. Thank Him for:

Good things.

Our God is holy and awesome (Ps. 111:9). Be thankful for who He is! Look up Scriptures on the character of God, and thank Him. (See Exodus 34 - the glory/Person of the LORD).

Thank Him for the eternal realities that He has created. For example, we have eternal life with Him (Jn. 3:16; Rev. 21-22)! Thank Him for salvation, hope, the word, the promises of God, His presence, His church.

Thank Him for all that He is for us in Christ. (Romans and many other passages detail this).

Thank Him for other blessings such as family, friends, food, clothes, the different seasons that He faithfully brings about. And the list goes on!

Psalm 103:1-5 lists several things to thank God for.

Thank God for adversity. Job 2:10 says, "...Shall we indeed accept good from God and not accept adversity?" When we read the Bible, we see that God's has glorious plans from eternity past to eternity future. I once heard it said that God's plans are like an intricate tapestry; knotty and indecipherable on one side but beautiful on the other side as a result.

God uses the difficult things in life to sanctify (cf. Rom. 8:28; Jas. 1), so thank Him for them. When you're anxious, sick or tired, thank God that moment. This is His will for us (1 Thess. 5:16-18). This is trusting Him.

In closing, memorize and meditate on passages about thankfulness: 1 Thess. 5:16-18; Eph. 5:20;  Col. 3:17; Ps. 50:14; 100; 136 etc.). Pray that you'll be more thankful. Discipline yourself to pray thanksgiving to God, by His grace and the power of the Holy Spirit. Once you start responding to His Spirit leading you to be thankful, you will begin overflowing with thankfulness!

Psalm 23

Psalm 23 is a wonderful Psalm, rich in the glorious truths of God:

         A Psalm of David.

               1      The LORD is my shepherd,
         I shall not want.
               2      He makes me lie down in green pastures;
         He leads me beside quiet waters.
               3      He restores my soul;
         He guides me in the paths of righteousness
         For His name’s sake.
               4      Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
         I fear no evil, for You are with me;
         Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
               5      You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
         You have anointed my head with oil;
         My cup overflows.
               6      Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life,
         And I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.¹

Think about each phrase in this Psalm, and thank God! It is familiar, concise, and thus easy to meditate on. In a myriad of circumstances, the Holy Spirit wondrously brings beautiful facets of truth to my mind from this Psalm.

When struggling with distrust in the LORD, discontentment, insufficiency and fear or anger, vengeance, hopelessness and worry, Jesus reminds me of Psalm 23. He is our Sovereign, Good Shepherd, Who gives His life for His sheep (Jn. 10). He always cares for us, and not one particle of life slips out of His loving hand (cf. Rom. 8:28-39). We must remember Who the LORD our Shepherd is. He is the LORD! These truths apply with regards to the world around us too.

Sometimes we fret over other people and their struggles, like the unsaved, family members, the church, governing authorities etc. May these concerns be brought before our Lord in prayer. May we trust Him to care for those who are His sheep, knowing that He will bring all those whom He will into His fold.

For His glory, praise the LORD. Amen!

---

1 New American Standard Bible: 1995 update. (1995). (Ps 23:title–6). La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.

Weddings & Revelation

This past summer, I attended a couple of weddings. Many ideas danced around in my mind of how God-glorifying weddings cans be. Many Biblical symbolisms and principles could be played out. Like, a multitude of invited guests would worship the Lord, serving as a witness to God's glorious kingdom plans. The bold proclamation of Christ and the Gospel would be foundational to the event. Wonderful, beautiful, powerful music would praise and exalt the God of heaven and earth. And a celebratory banquet would be held as Christ's Bride on earth enjoyed fellowship with one another and Himself! All these and more kept me awake in the night with excitement and anticipation to partake in such festivities. Then the Lord gently reminded me how these mere earthly experiences give way and point to much greater heavenly realities yet to come! To God be the glory!

I turned to the book of Revelation, chapters 19-22. The evil world system has just been done away with and the marriage of the Lamb and His Bride have come. Read these chapters. Below are some tasty verses that stuck out to me in writing this blog post, but they need to be read in their proper context. Verses 6-7, 17 & 20:

...And he said to me, “These words are faithful and true”; and the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, sent His angel to show to His bond-servants the things which must soon take place. 7 “And behold, I am coming quickly. Blessed is he who heeds the words of the prophecy of this book. ... 17 The Spirit and the bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who wishes take the water of life without cost. ... He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming quickly.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus. ...¹

May Christ come, and may you come to Christ while there is yet time! May you, "confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved;" (Romans 10:9). ²

Pray for Christ to come and for others to come into His kingdom (cf. Matt. 6:9-13)!

---

1 New American Standard Bible: 1995 update. (1995). (Re 22:6–7, 17, 20). La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
2 New American Standard Bible: 1995 update. (1995). (Ro 10:9). La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.