TOPIC: UNDERSTANDING WHAT TIME IT IS NOW
IT IS THE TIME OF LIVING SACRIFICES.
A living sacrifice requires the absolute surrender of our cherished lives to God.
This is achieved by presenting our bodies to Him, refusing to conform to the ways of the world, and by continually transforming and renewing our minds . Rom 12:1-2(KJV) I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
God calls us to be living sacrifices as an act of worship. This means living in a constant state of surrender and consecration.
Jesus is our ultimate example, offering Himself as a living sacrifice Heb 10:12-14(KJV)12 But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God;13 From henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool.14 For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified.
Jesus expects us to offer our lives to others as a living sacrifice.
When we replace hate with love and anger with kindness, we draw closer to God and experience greater peace in our lives.
Matt 22:37(KJV)37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
V39And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself
Jesus died as a sacrifice to reconcile us to God. 2 Cor 5:21 (KJV)21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
Heb 9:22(KJV)22 And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission
We rejoice because the sacrifice of our redemption is born.
You pay a price to achieve a thing.
Acts 10:3-5 illustrate how practical acts of sacrifice, like giving alms, can accelerate our prayers. Acts 10:1-5 (NLT)In Caesarea there lived a Roman army officer named Cornelius, who was a captain of the Italian Regiment. 2 He was a devout, God-fearing man, as was everyone in his household. He gave generously to the poor and prayed regularly to God. 3 One afternoon about three o’clock, he had a vision in which he saw an angel of God coming toward him. “Cornelius!” the angel said4 Cornelius stared at him in terror. “What is it, sir?” he asked the angel. And the angel replied, “Your prayers and gifts to the poor have been received by God as an offering!
This is a prayer plus sacrificial offering.
We can never out give God, whether in quality or quantity
James 1:17(KJV)17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.
God knows how to give. When God sacrifices, there is always an overflow.
The ultimate sacrifice we can offer is our very lives – the best of ourselves.
This act of total commitment triggers abundance, as seen in Gen 22:1-19(NLT)Some time later, God tested Abraham’s faith. “Abraham!” God called.”Yes,” he replied. “Here I am.”2 “Take your son, your only son—yes, Isaac, whom you love so much—and go to the land of Moriah. Go and sacrifice him as a burnt offering on one of the mountains, which I will show you.”3 The next morning Abraham got up early. He saddled his donkey and took two of his servants with him, along with his son, Isaac. Then he chopped wood for a fire for a burnt offering and set out for the place God had told him about. 4 On the third day of their journey, Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. 5 “Stay here with the donkey,” Abraham told the servants. “The boy and I will travel a little farther. We will worship there, and then we will come right back.”6 So Abraham placed the wood for the burnt offering on Isaac’s shoulders, while he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them walked on together, 7 Isaac turned to Abraham and said, “Father?””Yes, my son?” Abraham replied.”We have the fire and the wood,” the boy said, “but where is the sheep for the burnt offering?”8 “God will provide a sheep for the burnt offering, my son,” Abraham answered. And they both walked on together.9 When they arrived at the place where God had told him to go, Abraham built an altar and arranged the wood on it. Then he tied his son, Isaac, and laid him on the altar on top of the wood. 10 And Abraham picked up the knife to kill his son as a sacrifice. 11 At that moment the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!””Yes,” Abraham replied. “Here I am!”12 “Don’t lay a hand on the boy!” the angel said. “Do not hurt him in any way, for now I know that you truly fear God. You have not withheld from me even your son, your only son.”13 Then Abraham looked up and saw a ram caught by its horns in a thicket. So he took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering in place of his son. 14 Abraham named the place Yahweh-Yireh (which means “the Lord will provide”). To this day, people still use that name as a proverb: “On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.” 15 Then the angel of the Lord called again to Abraham from heaven. 16 “This is what the Lord says: Because you have obeyed me and have not withheld even your son, your only son, I swear by my own name that 17 I will certainly bless you. I will multiply your descendants beyond number, like the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will conquer the cities of their enemies. 18 And through your descendants all the nations of the earth will be blessed—all because you have obeyed me.”
A true living sacrifice is felt deeply. It is not a living sacrifice if there is no pang.
It is only when you break this shield that your blessing/honour will be unveiled.
Luke 22:42-44(KJV)42 Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.43 And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him.44 And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground.
2 Sam 24:22-25(NLT)22 “Take it, my lord the king, and use it as you wish,” Araunah said to David. “Here are oxen for the burnt offering, and you can use the threshing boards and ox yokes for wood to build a fire on the altar. 23 I will give it all to you, Your Majesty, and may the Lord your God accept your sacrifice.”24 But the king replied to Araunah, “No, I insist on buying it, for I will not present burnt offerings to the Lord my God that have cost me nothing.” So David paid him fifty pieces of silver for the threshing floor and the oxen.25 David built an altar there to the Lord and sacrificed burnt offerings and peace offerings. And the Lord answered his prayer for the land, and the plague on Israel was stopped.
A sacrificial life does not seek reward or negotiate for its benefit.. Instead, it loves unconditionally.
This kind of love is selfless – it gives whether or not it is reciprocated.
Luke 6:32-36(TLB) 32 “Do you think you deserve credit for merely loving those who love you? Even the godless do that! 33 And if you do good only to those who do you good-is that so wonderful? Even sinners do that much! 34 And if you lend money only to those who can repay you, what good is that? Even the most wicked will lend to their own kind for full return! 35 “Love your enemies! Do good to them! Lend to them! And don’t be concerned about the fact that they won’t repay. Then your reward from heaven will be very great, and you will truly be acting as sons of God: for he is kind to the unthankful and to those who are very wicked. 36 “Try to show as much compassion as your Father does
Even in human relationship, sacrificial love carries no regret. As the saying goes, when you thank someone, they reply, “Don’t mention it, “signifying the joy and selflessness inherent in true sacrifice.
