Consecrated for my King !

"In the course of time Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground,  and Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering,  but for Cain and his offering he had no regard"

Genesis 4 : 3-5
 

We are going to look at a couple of verses here... We read that Cain brought to the Lord 'an offering" of the fruit of the ground. And Abel also brought an offering. What was the difference ?  Abel brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions.

Abel didnt just bring any offering. He brought the best ! He wasnt caught with the technicality of placing an offering before the Lord. He offered with all his heart.He offered with reverance and honour knowing nothing less than the best was the least that he could do for the Lord Almighty

Lets turn our Bibles to Malachi 1 , v7-8 , "But you say, ‘How have we despised your name?’ By offering polluted food upon my altar. But you say, ‘How have we polluted you?’ By saying that the Lord's table may be despised.  When you offer blind animals in sacrifice, is that not evil? And when you offer those that are lame or sick, is that not evil? Present that to your governor; will he accept you or show you favor? says the Lord of hosts"

It is a definite reality that the patterns of the world will try and draw us away from the reverance and honour due to our God. 

Are we giving God the left over time of the day or are we giving God our best ?

Are we giving God our spare change or are we giving God our best ?

Romans 12 : 1-2 , "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. Do not be conformed to this world,but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect."

What causes the body to do what it does ? It is an overflow of what's burning in our hearts. So what's in our heart today ? Bitterness ? Hatred ? Unforgiveness ? Do we find ourselves allowing both curses and blessings to flow out from us ? Are we saying one thing and living another ?

Is who we are in the private spaces of our homes the same as who we are in the church ? is it the same as who we are in the work place / at school ?

We need to understand that the greatest offering we can present to Him is our very lives not as a business deal, but as an overflow from a life that desires to be consecrated for Him.

His word is living and powerful ! He is the great I am ! Angels worship Him 24*7 ! O what an honour to come before His presence.  Such joy knowing that His grace presents us as an acceptable sacrifice to our God

"Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen."  Jude 1 : 24-15

God Bless

In Christ,
SS

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God Bless

In Christ,
SS

The Holy of Holies

" These preparations having thus been made, the priests go regularly into the first section, performing their ritual duties, but into the second only the high priest goes, and he but once a year, and not without taking blood, which he offers for himself and for the unintentional sins of the people. By this the Holy Spirit indicates that the way into the holy places is not yet opened as long as the first section is still standing"

Hebrews 9:6-8

 

As per the mosaic laws , the people would wait outside and worship there and only the levitical priests would go in to the holy place for the daily offerings and once a year on the day of atonement  the high priest would enter the Most Holy place with the incense cloud rising up and having sprinkled the blood of the sin offerings (bull, goat).

 

How blessed we are . that we are no longer limited to the outer courts. We enter into the Most Holy place through the blood of Christ ! Quite often we take His presence for granted. Now you can say , "Hey SS , arent we always in His presence, so what's the big deal ?" ... Very true , we are always in His presence , and isnt that awesome ! Our God, Holy of holies, Lord of lords, King of kings, He is in our midst ! Wow !

 

Having been ransomed by the blood of the Lamb is life giving ! We are alive and free in Christ ! When we call upon His name we call as a child calls his Father , Jesus ! And its amazing ! Its more than our minds can comprehend.

 

And by His grace we are now carriers of His presence ! I pray that we will lead testimonial lives and grow in our relationship with Him, after all , we now have access to the Most Holy place ! Let worship arise, let the prayers arise , let our lives be laid down at His altar, let us bind His word upon our hearts , let us remember that by His blood we have been redeemed, we are a chosen generation, we are a royal priesthood and let us live out loud !

 

God Bless

 

Simple Obedience

" Noah did this; he did all that God commanded him."

Genesis 6:22

 

We read in the previous verses of how God saw that the wickedness of man was great and he wanted to destroy them. And Noah found favour in the sight of God. So God gives Noah this whole set of things to do. Lets read verses 14-21 , "Make yourself an ark of gopher wood. Make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and out with pitch. This is how you are to make it: the length of the ark 300 cubits, its breadth 50 cubits, and its height 30 cubits. Make a roof for the ark, and finish it to a cubit above, and set the door of the ark in its side. Make it with lower, second, and third decks. For behold, I will bring a flood of waters upon the earth to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life under heaven. Everything that is on the earth shall die. But I will establish my covenant with you, and you shall come into the ark, you, your sons, your wife, and your sons' wives with you. And of every living thing of all flesh, you shall bring two of every sort into the ark to keep them alive with you. They shall be male and female. Of the birds according to their kinds, and of the animals according to their kinds, of every creeping thing of the ground, according to its kind, two of every sort shall come in to you to keep them alive. Also take with you every sort of food that is eaten, and store it up. It shall serve as food for you and for them.”"

 

Now seriously this is a lot of instruction. And its not like its an instruction like , "Ok go here and tell this person to repent" .. This is a lot, build an ark and also the specification for the wood and the size and the number of decks and then He spoke of how two of every sort of living thing were to be kept in the ark alive ! I mean seriously imagine if God told you this ... would you have a million question marks above your head ?

 

But here is the best part, verse 22 , " Noah did this; he did all that God commanded him." 

 

We have the living word of God... How are our hearts postured today ? Are we those whom God can say "he did all that I commanded him" , "she did all that I commanded her"  ? Its not complicated. God is looking for simple obedience

 

God Bless

 

With Him it is possible

 "The young man said to him, “All these I have kept. What do I still lack?” Jesus said to him, “If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” When the young man heard this he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions."

Matthew 19:20-22

 

We read from verses 16 , " And behold, a man came up to him, saying, “Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?” And he said to him, “Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. If you would enter life, keep the commandments.” He said to him, “Which ones?” And Jesus said, “You shall not murder, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother, and, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” The young man said to him, “All these I have kept. What do I still lack?” Jesus said to him, “If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” When the young man heard this he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions."

 

The young man went away sorrowful becuase he knew his life was so tied to his possessions. And just the thought of letting it all go and the following Christ was not something he could do left him sorrowful.

 

Sometimes we can be quick to judge and say , "What's wrong with that guy ? Christ gave him an invitation to follow Him and he just walks away ? What's the big deal ?" ... Its good to take a moment to introspect into our own lives and check and see where our life is wrapped around... what in our lives takes a higher priority in our life... Its easy to answer back saying "Christ is my highest priority", but when we evaluate our actions where do we stand ?

 

Now here is the best part, we read in verses 25-26 , " When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished, saying, “Who then can be saved?” But Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”"  The disciples were astonished with what Christ said and asked who then can be saved ? Because following Him seemed like a task of such great magnitutde that was beyond what a person could seem to handle. And this is what Christ says , "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible"  And this is the key. More than often we find ourselves striving on our strength to do the right things, to figure things out with our own strength. And you know what ? Trying it with our own strength solely will be impossible . And this is what God desires, to walk with Him for with Him all things are possible.We are saved by His grace !

 

We read His Word, sit in His presence, pray, do His will living out His word not by our own might , not by our own strength , but by His Spirit . WITH GOD - this is the key.

 

Have a wonderful blessed day walking with Him, growing in Him and trusting in Him.

 

God Bless

 

How are we shining today ?

" In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven." 
Matthew 5:16

 

For His light to shine through us there is a need for us to surrender all to Him. Imagine a light bulb and on that we place different pieces of cloth here and there... The amount of light coming out of the bulb will surely be diminished.

 

God is calling us for a life of Holiness and Purity. These just make us more transparent to the watching world and His light shines through us. However if we choose to pick up pride , pick up different patterns of the world and place it upon us, these are opaque bodies that will hinder the light shining through us.

 

We cannot choose to have patterns of darkness in us and say we are children of the light. We serve an amazing loving Father, He is so gracious.. He gives us strength beyond what we can imagine. It is He who cleanses us from all sin, It is He who gives us strength and grace to follow after Him.. It is He who gives us wisdom...

 

So lets rely on Him completely , lets surrender all and ask Him to chip away things that are in us that are not pleasing in His sight.

 

May this be our prayer , that our light  will shine before others, so that they may see our good works and give glory to our Father who is in heaven. May we truly be walking as children of Light

 

God Bless

God transform this for Your glory

 "Blessed are those whose strength is in you, in whose heart are the highways to Zion. As they go through the Valley of Baca they make it a place of springs; the early rain also covers it with pools. They go from strength to strength; each one appears before God in Zion."

Psalm 84:5-7

 

A continuation from yesterday...

 

PIcture this with me..  On the heart are the highways to Zion.. and the inward desire to seek His face, and this inward desire is translated into outward actions of actually going before the Lord ! :)

 

A lot of times we tend to stop with just having the desires in our heart to read His word, to seek His face... but there is no translation into actions. The Psalmist says that as they (those whose strength is in Him, those in whose heart are the highways to Zion) go through the valley of Baca they make it a place of springs...

 

Isnt that just so beautiful... In the journey of just seeking His face , drawing closer to Him that even valleys of dryness become a place of springs. But here is the best part.. we need to go through it... and He sends the early rain and covers it with pools... How amazing is that ! And guess what.. we now continue to go from strength to strength ! There is growth..

 

A lot of times when we face tough situations or circumstances we instinctively pray "God get me out of this" , but guess what we can also pray , "God transform this for Your glory"...

 

It doesnt matter how dry the valley may be.. just know this.. as long as we are walking with our hearts focussed on Him, and outwardly actions of drawing closer to Him (not just thinking God is the centre of our life  but actually living a life where He truly is the centre of it all) even as we go through a valley not only will the valley be transformed to a place of springs but we will be found going from strength to strength

 

What a joy to love the Lord ! Such an honour to seek His face ! How powerful is His word. May He continue to transform us and may we continue to walk in complete surrender and obedience to Him

 

Have a wonderful blessed day

 

God Bless