A Living Sacrifice
Mirta Cerra (Cuban, 1904–1986), Plegaria (Prayer), ca. 1946. Oil on canvas, 24 × 17 1/2 in. (60.9 × 44.5 cm). Torna Art Gallery, Havana.
It’s hard to believe that July is almost over! Summer goes by so fast. Father, please help me to cherish the time I have. May I take nothing for granted. Amen.
Romans 12:1 (<<click here to read the passage)
When I sat down to write last night, my mind started to go down a different path, but it was one of those times when I truly believe that the Lord wanted me to go down the path I ended up going down. That message was clear, and it was important that I shared it. …but this other path contains an important message as well.
I’m by no means perfect but I do strive to faithfully follow the Lord’s leading. I am grateful that God can work through me even though I am imperfect…and sometimes probably obstruct His will to a degree, though He is Sovereign and His will is ultimately made known.
The other point that needs to be made here is that it is possible to do all the work of living out what we perceive as God’s will – in our lives and in the church – and we can still leave God out of it. It is far too easy to have Him there in name only.
In the notes of my Life Application Study Bible, it said regarding the sacrifices referred to in this first verse; When sacrificing an animal according to God’s law, a priest would kill the animal, cut it in pieces, and place it on the altar. Sacrifice was important, but even in the Old Testament God made it clear that obedience from the heart was much more important.
Then it referenced several verses and in looking at them, Amos 5:21-24 grabbed my attention. It reads,
“I hate all your show and pretense—
….the hypocrisy of your religious festivals and solemn assemblies.
I will not accept your burnt offerings and grain offerings.
….I won’t even notice all your choice peace offerings.
Away with your noisy hymns of praise!
….I will not listen to the music of your harps.
Instead, I want to see a mighty flood of justice,
….an endless river of righteous living. NLT
Though I prefer the way I worship, I am not saying that other ways are wrong or are not pleasing to God. We all must be very careful…we are handling the things of God. We are bringing people into the Holy of Holies. Our God is a holy God and yes, we are called His friends, but we absolutely cannot trifle with His holiness. He welcomes us, but we are to respect and honor Him. We are to exude the utmost reverence in all we do. It is not about us. Every bit of it is about Him…
And it doesn’t just stop in our churches. Animals are no longer sacrificed, but the Apostle Paul calls us to be a living and holy sacrifice. And our lives of sacrifice are to be lived out, not just on Sundays or other times of worship but we are to daily lay aside our resources letting Him use us at his disposal and trusting him to guide us…at home, at work, at school, in the grocery, behind our steering wheels…every place we go, our mindset of sacrifice must go with us.
Paul got it right when he said, “And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you… This is truly the way to worship him.”
July 31st, 2023, Mon, 7:42 pm
Do All You Can Do and Let God Do the Rest
It was a full day as Sundays always are. Thank You, Father, for the blessings of Your presence in worship and throughout every other aspect of our day together!
Romans 12:1 (<<click here to read the passage)
Today was a wonderful day of worshipping together with fellow believers. We aired our online service, which was recorded at our home. And then I gathered with two of my three congregations – my partner in ministry taking responsibility for the third. They all had similar components, but all were simultaneously unique.
I diligently work every week, to ensure that I have put my very best forward. I strive to make sure the sermon is solid – Scripture is on point, and that thoughts are coherent and applicable. There are times when the hymns don’t perfectly reflect the sermon topic, but I endeavor to make sure that they are impactful.
I do all I can do with what is at my disposal and with the gifts that God has bestowed upon me. I do it all with the core mindset that God will then take the offering that I extend and fill in all the blanks. I cannot make people listen. I cannot make the seed that I spread find a receptive plot of “soil” in the hearts and minds of those who hear my voice and partake of the offering that is placed before God. Only God can do those things and only we can open ourselves for God to do what He desires in our lives.
On occasion, I will refer to The Message paraphrase of the Bible. It was put together by a very well-respected minister, theologian, and author, Eugene Peterson. Here is how he transcribed this verse. The “I” in the first sentence would be the Apostle Paul speaking.
So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. MSG
I do all I can do and let God do the rest, but the thing is, each of us is responsible to take all aspects of our lives – all of our comings and goings, thoughts, and actions – and let God work in us and through us. As my Life Application Study Bible states, “We do this out of gratitude that our sins have been forgiven.”
Lord Jesus, enable us to give You everything You have given us and use it for Your glory. Make us what we need to be. Amen.
July 30th, 2023, Sun, 8:00 pm
Unsearchable Riches
From GLORIOUS GOSPEL HYMNS, (c) 1931, Nazarene Publishing House
Thank You, Father, for the focus to get so much done today! I am glad You are by my side throughout the day!
Romans 11:33-36 (<<click here to read the passage)
If you’ve been following me for very long, you know that I am a lover of hymns. One of my favorite writers is Fanny Crosby. She was a prolific hymnist, writing more than 8,000 hymns and gospel songs, with more than 100 million copies printed. She was born on March 24, 1820, and lived until February 12, 1915, living to the ripe old age of 94.
Today’s passage, from the end of Romans 11, got to thinking of one of her hymns that I grew up singing. It is entitled, Unsearchable Riches. I’m sure she was inspired by the Apostle Paul’s writings when she wrote the hymn, though it is more likely that she was referencing Ephesians 3:8 where he proclaimed that due to the grace given him that he was able to preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ. KJV
First, read through these last four verses from Romans 11.
Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!
….How unsearchable his judgments,
….and his paths beyond tracing out!
“Who has known the mind of the Lord?
….Or who has been his counselor?”
“Who has ever given to God,
….that God should repay them?”
For from him and through him and for him are all things.
….To him be the glory forever! Amen. NIV
Now the lyrics of Unsearchable Riches. (Click here to open a new tab to listen to the tune. It has a nice intro.)
Oh, the unsearchable riches of Christ!
Wealth that can never be told;
Riches exhaustless or mercy and grace,
Precious, more precious than gold!
Refrain
Precious, more precious,
Wealth that can never be told!
Oh, the unsearchable riches of Christ!
Precious, more precious than gold!
Oh, the unsearchable riches of Christ,
Who shall their greatness declare?
Jewels whose luster our lives may adorn,
Pearls that the poorest may wear! [Refrain]
Oh, the unsearchable riches of Christ!
Freely, how freely they flow,
Making the souls of the faithful and true
Happy wherever they go! [Refrain]
Oh, the unsearchable riches of Christ!
Who would not gladly endure
Trials, afflictions, and crosses on earth,
Riches like these to secure! [Refrain]
Lord Jesus, thank You for the riches we have in You – for from You and through You and for You are all things. To You be glory forever! Amen.
July 27th, 2023, Thurs, 9:06 pm
Unpredictable and Untamable
[Our untamable ditch following torrential rain on May 18, 2020.]
Romans 11:25-32 (<<click here to read the passage)
We have a major drainage ditch that bisects our lot from south to north, flowing from a ditch that runs parallel to the road with water collecting there from a large field to the south of it. The ditch requires quite a bit of upkeep because you can’t mow across it but only to the edge, and then you have to use a push mower or trimmer to keep it maintained.
I spoke to a friend of mine some time back who is very familiar with excavation. I was seeking to find out if there was any way to possibly bury a culvert in the middle portion of it, which is not nearly as deep as the area where it first comes onto our property. I was hoping for less upkeep and more green space.
He explained that water is unpredictable and untamable – basically, if it comes roaring through it’s going to go where it’s going to go. Yeah, we could invest in the culvert and getting it into place along with planting grass and the whole nine yards… Now it may last for a while, maybe even years…but at some point, torrential rain will come, and all of our investment would be gone in a relatively short period of time.
We in our humanity have this mindset that we can keep God in a box. We pray to Him to do our bidding. And unless we call on Him, He stays right where He is and we stay where we are, and He will not interfere with our hopes and dreams and all the things we have in store for ourselves. Even believers can live in this mindset. Of course, some put no stock in God whatsoever.
My Life Application Study Bible has some wonderful thoughts. It states,
In this passage Paul shows how the Jews and the Gentiles benefit each other. Whenever God shows mercy to one group, the other shares the blessing.
It goes on to state that from the very beginning, it was God’s plan that the Jews would be the source of God’s blessing to the Gentiles (see Genesis 12:3). When the Jews neglected this mission, God blessed the Gentiles anyway through the Jewish Messiah.
God is a mighty river, and His will will never be thwarted! Absolutely nothing can stop our Sovereign God. Yes, we have our free will, but that does not hinder God in the least. What He has planned will come to fruition.
We may think we can keep God in a box to do our bidding but know this, God is unpredictable. He is untamable. His is God Almighty! And when He chooses to come roaring through, He’s going to go where He wants to go! He will do what He deems best to do. We may have all kinds of plans, but His will will be done!
The privileges and invitation of God given to Israel will never be withdrawn. …someday all faithful Jews will share in God’s mercy. God’s plans will not be thwarted He will “have mercy on everyone.” v32b
Amen and amen!
July 26th, 2023, Wed, 8:01 pm
Grafting
Laying to rest the ones we love is never an easy task, Father, but we are grateful that we find You always by our side.
Romans 11:13-24 (<<click here to read the passage)
I know what grafting is. I’ve watched videos of plants being grafted and the outcome. But I decided to look it up and do a little online research.
I didn’t want it to be too complicated, so I found a website called Academic Kids Encyclopedia and discovered a (relatively) easy-to-understand piece on grafting.
Basically, it is a means of joining parts of two plants together. In most cases, one plant is selected for its roots, and this is called the stock or rootstock. The other plant is selected for its stems, leaves or flowers, and is called the scion. This is done with fruit trees too, so you might graft in order to get more or better fruit.
One reason for grafting is because the scion has weak roots or the roots of the stock plants have roots tolerant of difficult conditions.
Paul in this passage is referring to grafting but, in this case, instead of talking about plants, he’s talking about humanity and God. He said in the last part of verse 16 – if the roots of the tree are holy, the branches will be, too.
The original branches of the tree were the Israelites, God’s chosen people, but over time verse 20 tells us that they were broken off because of unbelief.
We as Gentiles (non-Jews) were not part of the original tree – we are considered wild branches. Paul specifically uses the illustration of a wild olive shoot. Olive trees were a prominent part of culture and trade in Israel. These wild olive shoots – us non-Jews – were grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing sap from the olive root… v17
We’ve got to keep our pride in check here because – one – we are no better than the native olive branches. We are here only because of our faith. And – two – those native branches that God pruned off because of their unbelief can easily be pruned back in. They may seem dead, but God, after all, is God!
So, we are grafted in not just to take up space and look pretty, we are grafted in to bear fruit! In and of ourselves our roots are weak and unproductive. Grafted into the roots of God, we can become strong – accomplishing and producing more than we ever thought possible. And because we are grafted into those holy roots, we now have the ability to be tolerant of difficult conditions. Where we are intolerant, in God we can be tolerant. When we find ourselves in difficult conditions, we can have the assurance that we are rooted firmly in God’s almighty hands. All praise to God our creator and sustainer!
July 25th, 2023, Tues, 7:54 pm