You are a living sacrifice

A LIVING SACRIFICE!

We aren't to kill an animal in sacrifice, we are to BE a LIVING SACRIFICE.

The offering animal sacrifice was to show that there is a PRICE to be paid for sin, and an INNOCENT animal had to pay that price for a person.  But no more, not since our SAVIOR paid the price for us ALL.

Rom 12:1  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.

Rom 12:2  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.

Rom 12:3  For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.

BY THE MERCIES OF GOD!

A LIVING SACRIFICE.

Psa_51:17  The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.

God would have us- as living sacrifices- SACRIFICE SELF and SELFISHNESS and all that turns our minds inward and not outward towards others.  A broken spirit- we are not to be proud of ourselves, though this world the way it is would have us believe we have to be proud of ourselves.  A broken and contrite heart- we are taught NOT to desire broken and contrite hearts- we are told to want to feel good at all costs. We are taught to feel broken is wrong, yet we have to comprehend our worthlessness in righteousness, not worthlessness in God's eyes, how could we be worthless for Him to pay the ultimate price for us?  He LOVES us, but we must comprehend it is HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS not OURS in any way that saves us. Our broken hearts, our contrite hearts comprehend that it is GOD who is our everything, and ONLY GOD.

Mar 12:33  And to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbour as himself, is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.

LOVE Him with all the heart.

LOVE Him with all the understanding.

LOVE Him with all the soul.

LOVE Him with all the strength.

LOVE our neighbors as WE would be loved!

LOVE.

Heb 13:16  But to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.

DO GOOD.

COMMUNICATE.

God would have us be HIS and our lives reflect this in all we do.

1Pe 2:5  Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.

1Pe 2:6  Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded.

1Pe 2:7  Unto you therefore which believe he is precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner,

1Pe 2:8  And a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed.

1Pe 2:9  But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:

1Pe 2:10  Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.

1Pe 2:11  Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul;

1Pe 2:12  Having your conversation honest among the Gentiles: that, whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works, which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation.

ABSTAIN from FLESHLY LUST- which war against the soul.

Any flesh pursuit that would destroy our spirit needs to be abstained from!  We know what these things are, we know! We aren't stupid. We could be blind if we choose blindness and MANY, MANY DO. We can't believe we are beyond choosing blindness. We can't get cocky with our lives! We have to constantly seek truth in God.  We have to examine ourselves…

2Co_13:5  Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves…

We can't coast through, never examining ourselves, never presenting ourselves as living sacrifices by the MERCIES of GOD.

Please FATHER, help us to present ourselves as living sacrifices by YOUR MERCY through the SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST OUR LORD! May the HOLY SPIRIT guide ALL WE DO! PLEASE FATHER! PLEASE!

Amen.

Of Flesh, Of Spirit

Gal 4:22  For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a freewoman.

Gal 4:23  But he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh; but he of the freewoman was by promise.

The flesh and the spirit.  The flesh and the promise.

The Holy Spirit enabled Sarah and Abraham to conceive Isaac.

Gen 17:15  And God said unto Abraham, As for Sarai thy wife, thou shalt not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall her name be.

Gen 17:16  And I will bless her, and give thee a son also of her: yea, I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of people shall be of her.

Gen 17:17  Then Abraham fell upon his face, and laughed, and said in his heart, Shall a child be born unto him that is an hundred years old? and shall Sarah, that is ninety years old, bear?

Gen 17:18  And Abraham said unto God, O that Ishmael might live before thee!

Gen 17:19  And God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him.

Gen 18:9  And they said unto him, Where is Sarah thy wife? And he said, Behold, in the tent.

Gen 18:10  And he said, I will certainly return unto thee according to the time of life; and, lo, Sarah thy wife shall have a son. And Sarah heard it in the tent door, which was behind him.

Gen 18:11  Now Abraham and Sarah were old and well stricken in age; and it ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women.

Gen 18:12  Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, After I am waxed old shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?

Gen 18:13  And the LORD said unto Abraham, Wherefore did Sarah laugh, saying, Shall I of a surety bear a child, which am old?

Gen 18:14  Is any thing too hard for the LORD? At the time appointed I will return unto thee, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son.

Gen 18:15  Then Sarah denied, saying, I laughed not; for she was afraid. And he said, Nay; but thou didst laugh.

Flesh and Spirit.

We try so hard to do things our way. We believe so much just in our own ideas of how things are supposed to be. We laugh when we hear of the impossible to our minds. We doubt God's true power.

Abraham was given the ability to give children after losing it. Sarah was given the ability to bear the child Abraham was able to give her. God VISITED them, God ENABLED them to do this impossible- by human standards- miracle.  Elisabeth- Mary's cousin was given this same ability to bear a child when she was past the age of bearing. God's hand was at work. Mary, not even knowing a man was given a child by God. 

Flesh and Spirit.

Flesh and Spirit are at war one with the other.  Flesh and Spirit united in Jesus, just as it must unite in us THROUGH Jesus- the only successful Flesh and Spirit being- sinless. 

Flesh and Spirit.

When we QUENCH the Spirit, we are denying ourselves the only way to be One with our Savior- through the Holy Spirit, the same Holy Spirit that gave Him His flesh life.

We NEED the Holy Spirit in us!

Please LORD teach us NOT to quench the Holy Spirit, we NEED the Holy Spirit! We NEED YOU, we NEED the Father God!  We need to be SAVED!

Please.

In the name of our Savior Jesus Christ our LORD now and forever!

Amen.

Let ALL bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor and evil speaking be put away from you

Do you grieve God, the Holy Spirit?

Grieve- From G3077; to distress; reflexively or passively to be sad: - cause grief, grieve, be in heaviness, (be) sorrow (-ful), be (make) sorry.

READ ALL of the following! If you want to know HOW you can grieve the Holy Spirit (in part) read and pray for understanding, as I am definitely doing.

Eph 4:1  I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called,

Eph 4:2  With all LOWLINESS and MEEKNESS, with LONGSUFFERING, FORBEARING ONE ANOTHER IN LOVE

Eph 4:3  Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

Eph 4:4  There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling;

Eph 4:5  One Lord, one faith, one baptism,

Eph 4:6  One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.

Eph 4:7  But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ.

Eph 4:8  Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.

Eph 4:9  (Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth?

Eph 4:10  He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.)

Eph 4:11  And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;

Eph 4:12  For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:

Eph 4:13  Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:

Eph 4:14  That we henceforth BE NO MORE CHILDREN TOSSED TO AND FROM AND CARRIED ABOUT WITH EVERY WIND OF DOCTRINE, BY THE SLEIGHT OF MEN AND CUNNING CRAFTINESS, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;

Eph 4:15  But SPEAKING THE TRUTH IN LOVE, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:

Eph 4:16  From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.

Eph 4:17  This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth WALK NOT AS OTHER GENTILES WALK IN THE VANITY OF THEIR MIND

Eph 4:18  Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart:

Eph 4:19  Who being past feeling have given themselves over unto LASCIVIOUSNESS, to work all UNCLEANNESS WITH GREEDINESS.

Eph 4:20  But ye have not so learned Christ;

Eph 4:21  If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the TRUTH is in Jesus:

Eph 4:22  That ye PUT OFF CONCERNING THE FORMER CONVERSATION THE OLD MAN, WHICH IS CORRUPT ACCORDING TO THE DECEITFULNESS LUSTS

Eph 4:23  And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;

Eph 4:24  And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.

Eph 4:25  Wherefore PUTTING AWAY LYING, SPEAK EVERY MAN TRUTH WITH HIS NEIGHBOR: for we are members one of another.

Eph 4:26  Be ye angry, and SIN NOT: LET NOT THE SUN GO DOWN UPON YOUR WRATH:

Eph 4:27  NEITHER GIVE PLACE TO THE DEVIL.

Eph 4:28  Let him that stole STEAL NO MORE: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth.

Eph 4:29  Let NO CORRUPT COMMUNICATION PROCEED OUT OF YOUR MOUTH, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.

Eph 4:30  And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.

Eph 4:31  Let ALL BITTERNESS, AND WRATH AND ANGER AND CLAMOUR AND EVIL SPEAKING BE PUT AWAY FROM YOU WITH ALL MALICE:

Eph 4:32  And BE YE KIND ONE TO ANOTHER, TENDERHEARTED, FORGIVING ONE ANOTHER, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.

Do you, do WE understand?! Do we want to understand! Are we being enlightened with TRUTH? Do we want the truth? Truth meaning realizing just how far we are from being able to say we DO NOT grieve the Holy Spirit.

ALL evil in all its many forms from the greatest evil to the least- grieves the Holy Spirit.

Some want to believe that they can do anything -all the evil they desire without consequence- this isn't true.  Every minute of every day we need to be consecrated to God. We need to comprehend our Savior as a reality. We need to look at the word of truth to comprehend reality. If we look just to ourselves there is little truth. We need to trust that everything we are going through in our life, all the tests we face, all the evil temptations we are exposed to all of these will somehow work towards our GOOD because we LOVE GOD and truth in HIM.

We cannot embrace ANY evil we find in ourselves, not a single bit. To embrace the evil we are prone to and strive towards accepting the evil puts us on a slippery slope towards calling that evil good.  Please LORD help us to forever see how we grieve the Holy Spirit so we may SEEK forgiveness from YOU and strive not to keep grieving the Holy Spirit, we would NOT grieve you God-the Holy Spirit who is our comforter, our sealer, our teacher, our all in all in our Savior Jesus Christ our LORD.

Please!

All in YOU! Now and forever! 

Quench NOT the Holy Spirit

Quench not the Spirit.

1Th 5:19  Quench not the Spirit.

Eph 4:30  And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.

Psa 51:11  Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me.

Isa 63:10  But they rebelled, and vexed his holy Spirit: therefore he was turned to be their enemy, and he fought against them.

Act 7:51  Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye.

*******

The Holy Spirit is NOT forced upon us.

We are sealed by the Holy Spirit.

We can get rid of the Holy Spirit, we can grieve the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit can be taken from us. These are FACTS, these are TRUTHS.

We NEED the Holy Spirit! And we need to keep the Holy Spirit!

We need to comprehend HOW we can quench the Spirit and seek NOT to do so.  We have to learn how to NOT resist the Holy Spirit. We need to understand how we can stay in God's presence.  By the grace of God we need this!

The Holy Spirit is a GOD. 

Just as the FATHER is a GOD, the HOLY SPIRIT is a GOD, as JESUS CHRIST is a GOD. They all AGREE as one. Their purpose is the SAME. They are all LOVE.

The Holy Spirit is LOVE.

Some believe the Holy Spirit is a LESSER GOD, but this isn't true at all.

God, the Holy Spirit will seal us, will comfort us, will teach us, will help us, will bring all things to our remembrance, gift us with His gifts, and the Holy Spirit will leave us if we do NOT seek Him, if we do not truly want Him, if we resist Him, if we QUENCH Him.

Please God, help us learn MORE of the HOLY SPIRIT, please God the Spirit teach us!

All through the grace and mercy of YOUR Son, Jesus Christ, our LORD, our SAVIOR.

Amen.

The LORD will direct our patient waiting for Christ!

2Th 3:3  But the Lord is faithful, who shall stablish you, and keep you from evil.

2Th 3:4  And we have confidence in the Lord touching you, that ye both do and will do the things which we command you.

2Th 3:5  And the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God, and into the patient waiting for Christ.

The LORD IS FAITHFUL.

The LORD will KEEP us from EVIL.

The LORD will DIRECT our hearts INTO the LOVE of GOD.

The LORD will direct our PATIENT waiting for Christ.

The LORD is faithful! It is the LORD'S faithfulness that matters, believing in the LORD'S faithfulness towards us. We need to believe.

Mar 9:23  Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.

Mar 9:24  And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.

If we can believe, if we can have faith in the faithfulness of our Lord, trust in HIM- it's not about TRUSTING and having FAITH in ourselves!  Satan wants us to believe we have to do this, that it is our FAITH that saves us but in truth it is CHRIST'S FAITH. It can't be ours because then we would be saving ourselves.

Christ will SAVE us from ourselves!

Christ will HELP our unbelief with HIS belief, His power, His truth!

Christ has the faith to save me, I have nothing that will save me.  I believe I cannot save myself and am in need of being saved.

This is truth, this is FACT, this is undisputable.

When we deny truth and would rather believe a lie, we deny our Savior and cannot be saved.

The LORD is FAITHFUL!

The LORD will DIRECT US, OUR HEARTS into the LOVE OF GOD.

The LORD will direct our PATIENT WAITING for CHRIST.

We must have patience- knowing we have to wait for CHRIST, wait for ETERNAL LIFE in CHRIST. 

We live in a world filled with opposition - blatant, hidden, opposition that will fight against the truth so much so that this will happen--

Mat 24:22  And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened.

If the days of mankind's existence upon this earth in the sinful state it is in, is not cut short NO ONE WOULD BE SAVED! 

So while some strive for world peace, the truth is told to us, any worldwide peace that should appear would only be made on lies. This isn't to say we are to oppose peace, it's to comprehend that without Christ, without sin being wiped out by our Savior there can be NO TRUE peace. Mankind cannot manufacture peace, true peace that is found only IN CHRIST. 

May we be found in TRUTH, may the LORD direct us in all our ways towards HIM and HIS LOVE always!

Amen!

Soldiers

Conscious choice daily from the heart- choosing to BELIEVE.  Choosing to believe in a living GOD, to believe in a SAVIOR-Jesus Christ, to believe in the HOLY SPIRIT, to believe that we belong to all three of them.  Choosing to believe the Holy Spirit will live in us opening our hearts and understanding to the love of our Savior Jesus Christ.  The SPIRIT with our spirit.  With our minds - our spirit

Rom_7:23  But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.

Law of flesh- the carnal nature.  Law of our minds- the conscious choice, the believe, the hope, the faith needed.

The law of the flesh will WAR against the law of our minds.

The law of the flesh will try desperately to bring our MINDS captive to our sins, so we have NO hope, NO faith, NO belief.  We talked about MORTIFYING the deeds of our flesh, doing ALL within our limited ability to rid ourselves of sin, and allowing our minds to comprehend that Christ alone can fully and wholly rid of us sin. Christ alone is righteousness, and He will clothe us with HIS righteousness, not with righteousness of our own.  We must desire to serve the LORD with all we are, thanking GOD THROUGH JESUS CHRIST that He will do all we cannot do.

Rom_7:25  I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.

Rom_8:5  For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.

CHOOSING the SPIRIT.

Rom_8:7  Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.

If we choose to live embracing our carnal natures, nurturing our carnal minds we are choosing to forsake God. If we tell ourselves that we are weak and will always be weak, that we sin and will always sin, that we are LOST to our flesh nature, our carnal nature then we are choosing to serve self over God. YES, we are WEAK- our strength is CHRIST. YES, we are sinners- our SINLESS SAVIOR saves us from sin! YES, we have a flesh nature that will WAR with our spirit, and we must choose the spirit over flesh!

1Pe_1:13  Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ

We MUST GIRD UP our minds!

We MUST HOPE to the end!

We MUST HOPE for GRACE, the GRACE of our SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST!

WAR!

FIGHT!

Don't give in to sin, ANY SIN!  Don't ACCEPT any sin you are prone to as being okay! Do NOT call sin, good! Do NOT excuse away any sin, not a single one!  If you are being pricked in your conscience that something you are doing, thinking, is sin then seek forgiveness! Go to WAR against the sin that so easily besets you! We ALL have to do this, there isn't a single human being who doesn't have to WAR if they would be Jesus Christ's!

To be Christ's means you have become a SOLDIER in the battle between good and evil! What kind of soldier you'll be is truly up to you and the choices you make- choosing to BELIEVE in the GIFT of SALVATION, choosing to BELIEVE in our HOPE JESUS CHRIST always! Choosing to WAR against the carnal nature, against sin in ourselves! Choosing to REVEAL CHRIST to all you are called to reveal Him to.

Soldiers of Faith in Jesus Christ!

All by HIS GRACE and MERCY forever and ever!

AMEN!

Are we ashamed of anything, any longer?

Rom 8:13  For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.

What deeds of our body are we to mortify?

Rom 6:21  What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? for the end of those things is death.

In this day and age we've become immune to feeling shame.  We've called so much evil - good, that to find shame in that evil seems almost impossible any longer.

Gal 5:19  Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,

Gal 5:20  Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,

Gal 5:21  Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

What shame is there any longer in those who are adulterers, fornicators?  We glorify both of these. Uncleanness, lasciviousness, again, we glorify these works of the flesh. Idolatry, witchcraft do we even believe in these things any longer, does anyone? We should. Hatred- we pick CAUSES so we can utilize our hate. Emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings-   maybe, just maybe we still turn our nose up at murder, but not always.  We don't believe in our flesh being in need of mortifying do we?

Through the Spirit we MUST mortify the DEEDS of the body.

Through the Spirit.

Please Holy Spirit, please teach us, help us to mortify the deeds of our body- we want to live for our Savior, we do NOT want to die eternally having lived to our flesh.  Our flesh will destroy us, please be greater in us than the evil that would destroy us, greater than our overwhelming flesh nature that we would allow to destroy ourselves. Please save us from ourselves! Please, we are HELPLESS without You, completely helpless.

Please.

In the name of Jesus Christ our Savior, save us from ourselves!

All in YOUR love, help us to mortify the deeds that would separate us from You. Help us to feel ashamed of anything that would keep us from You and in that shame help us mortify those deeds THROUGH the Holy Spirit and only through the Holy Spirit!

All in YOU, all by YOU now and forever, AMEN!