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But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness Gal 5:22 |
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Dear
Friend,
If you do not already have a habit of gathering daily manna the first thing in the morning (we can look at the example given to us in Exodus 16 and find the pattern for collecting daily manna), make it a habit. Establish your life and your schedule to allow you the necessary time to do your daily collection first thing every morning to give you the strength to make it through the day. And remember that today’s manna will not be sufficient for tomorrow; tomorrow’s manna must be collected tomorrow morning. Saturday, May 06, 2017
Today's Passage : Subject:A Living Sacrifice Bible Verse:Romans 12:1 (ESV) "I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship." Message:
We have finished reading eleven rather difficult chapters in which Paul examines, in minute detail, the way in which God has operated to bring us righteousness. Here, at the beginning of Chapter 12, we see a major shift in tone. He has explained to us the differences between the Old Testament and the New, and why they are one Bible even though there seem to be many contradictions between them.
But this verse sounds very different. It is not an explanation; it is a call to action. Paul has told us "why". Now, he is going to tell us "what". And the very first "what" is to present our bodies as a sacrifice.
When we hear about the Jews making sacrifices, it sounds strange to our modern ear. How could anyone worship God — our God — by killing and burning animals or wheat? But that is what the law called upon the Jews to do in the Old Testament. We don't make animal sacrifices any longer because we live under a new covenant with God, reflected in the New Testament. Our relationship with God changed.
Does this mean we no longer make sacrifices to God? No. We now follow the law in the Spirit. We keep the same law in a new way. We follow the spirit of the law rather than the letter of the law.
This may seem easier than what Orthodox Jews go through; we can get away with doing a lot less. And in ways, it is. But in one critical detail, it is more, because Christ did not give just his sheep or his wheat or his time or his money as a sacrifice for us. He gave his body. He sacrificed his own flesh and blood.
And now, like Christ, we present more than our possessions to God as our sacrifice. We give the one thing that is really ours: ourselves. Like Christ, we present our bodies as a sacrifice; we give ourselves back to the God who created us.
I hope that none of us are called to die for Christ. We must always remember that countless Christians have done exactly that. Yet, although few are called to die for Christ, we are all called to live for Christ. Each and every one of us are called to give our bodies as a living sacrifice.
The rest of Romans will tell us, in more specific detail, how we are to make this sacrifice. It sounds scary, but it isn't; because once we have faith, once we are confident in God's Holy Spirit within us and the salvation that awaits us, we do not need to fear anything. And in fact, leading a life of Christian sacrifice is a life filled with joy and happiness.
Meditation : Prayer : If you are with me, O God, who can be against me? For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate me from the love of God in Christ Jesus my Lord. Amen. |
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