dailywordofdestiny

“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present you bodies a LIVING SACRIFICE, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. 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” (Romans 8: 1, 2).

Over the next few days I ask that you would spend some time reading and thinking about the meaning of all that you read in the following teaching. Seek God; ask Him to clearly speak into your heart! Actively listen to what He tells you. I pray that you will recognize its importance to you individually and how it effects the corporate Body of Christ.

Have you ever desired to do something for God, not out of a sense of duty, but simply because you love Him? I am not talking here about a love that gives you a warm, cuddly feeling, or a love that is given only when you have time to spare. I am talking about a love that is like a FIRE that burns continually deep within your being (Song of Solomon 5: 10-16). This kind of love is so great that you would willingly die for that person. The Scripture above relates to the flaming hot and passionate love-relationship that God desires to have with each of His sons and daughters.

In preparing this lesson, I decided to look up the Hebrew and Greek meaning of some key words within the above verses. As I did, Holy Spirit gave me new revelation of His Word. In the Old Testament we read that the sacrifice for the burnt offering was to be a male without blemish (Leviticus 1: 10). MALE (to be mindful, bring to remembrance) and WITHOUT BLEMISH (entire, integrity, truth; uprightly “whole”). Therefore, I understand this to mean that the sacrifice had to be PURE.

We then read that the INWARDS (heart, inward (self) thought) and the LEGS (from knee to ankle; to bend the knee, prostrate, bow) have to be WASHED (life; semen) first. This suggests that our heart and thought life must be humbly submitted to God to be filled with His life. You see, the love of God is not created; it is His very nature. When we receive the Life of Christ through faith, Holy Spirit begins to UNITE us with God so that His love is demonstrated within us! Holy Spirit also gives us revelation of God’s will and love through His Word.

The PRIEST (one officiating; chief ruler) then lays all of it on the ALTAR (slay; kill) to be a BURNT (stairs ascending; come up) SACRIFICE (slaughter flesh). I believe this refers to each of our ‘old nature’; basically the parts of our life we want to hold on to, even though we have supposedly died to it. We have been given “free will” so we are the chief ruler who makes an active choice about whether we will allow the slaughter of our FLESH nature. It is only when we choose to bow in submission to the Lord through our obedience to what He clearly states in His Word; and through prayer, that we will come up to the higher call God has placed upon our life. I believe this verse also alludes to whether we are willing to pay the cost of discipleship. 1 Samuel 24:24, “But the king (David) replied to Araunah, ‘No, I insist on paying you for it. I will not sacrifice to the LORD my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing.’ ” Jesus also addresses the cost of discipleship in Luke 14: 25-33.

The OFFERING (something brought near the altar; a sacrificial present; to bring near, join) made by FIRE (flaming; hot) is of a SWEET (pleasant, delight; to rest, dwell) SAVOR (odor, breathe, makes quick understanding) unto the Lord. This is so awesome I hardly know how to get the message to you. Our choice to passionately love God so much that we choose to slaughter our old nature is actually CAUSED BY HIM to JOIN US TO HIM! It is then with great joy that He comes and dwells within us. As many of you already know; it is only when we live with someone that we really get to KNOW them!

The last line of verse 9 also says that the fire on the altar is burning all the time. To me this means that our “flesh” has to be continually slain; moment to moment. It doesn’t say that it’s totally gone in the first few flames; Oh, no! It can take a LIFETIME of continual burning to get rid of all of “self”. I love the last part, “and the fire of the altar shall be burning IN IT.” Daily, as we willingly choose to offer our lives (body, soul, and spirit) to be washed with and in His LIFE! Holy Spirit’s FIRE and PASSION will burn in and through us! Hallelujah! What a promise for all who would choose to believe!

The words in Romans 12: 1,2 confirm the Old Testament scriptures just spoken of. They say we are to present our BODY (sound “whole”; save self) as a LIVING (lifetime) SACRIFICE (slaughter for any purpose; the act, or the victim). The Word of God calls us to slaughter our SELF our whole lifetime; to be purified and ready to be used in whatever capacity He chooses. Sacrifice is an ACT of intent; we choose to do it. God waits to see if we will submit to being a burnt offering.

The end of verse 1 basically says that we aren’t doing Him a favor by offering our all to Him but, that it is our reasonable service. I believe this to be an important KEY to discipleship. I see that the offering of our self as a living sacrifice is actually RATIONAL WORSHIP. It is the highest form of worship we can give to God because it’s performed with the heart, mind, and soul of intelligent beings, in contrast to the worship of idols (Romans 1: 25).

Finally, I ask you to read John 17: 13-19; 1 Thessalonians 5: 19-24; Hebrews 13; 11-15; Titus 2: 11-15. JESUS was the perfect Lamb, slain from the foundation of the world. He was Himself an offering for us, an offering and sacrifice to God, for a sweet-smelling aroma. It is done; Jesus paid the price (sacrifice) for all! For those who have accepted Jesus Christ as their personal Savior; “We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are always being given over to death (dying to self) for Jesus’ sake, so that His life may be revealed in our mortal body…” (2 Corinthians 4: 10-12). It is through our COMPLETE surrender and passionate love for Him that we then become transformed through a supernatural change in our spirits because we become totally ONE with Him. When we carry the continually burning FIRE OF HIS PRESENCE within us… we are truly His FIREBRANDS. Wherever we go, He goes with us, to ignite the world with a passion for more of Him.