Page 9 - The Standard Volume 2

“So, what if I’m mad about something?” The Bible has all you need to know. It says you may be angry but sin not (Ephesians 4:26). You don’t have the right to be in somebody’s face threatening them, talking about their momma, and still say you are presenting your body as a living sacrifice.
SACRIFICE
Sacrifice can be a little hard sometimes. You have to bite your tongue, change your attitude, and not be in places you aught not be in! Throughout the Old Testament, God is very specific about sacrifice. He is so serious about it that He lays it down line by line: how to drain the
blood; what piece to put on the altar; when you should sacrifice; how it should look; who should do it, and so on.
In the Old Testament, they
sacrificed many animals and
shed a lot of blood. What
they found was that it was
not able to keep the people
from sinning. The sacrifices
were being made, but the
people did not have the
power to keep them from
committing the same sin
time and again. But thank
God we are different today!
When Christ saw all the
sacrifices that took place and
the people were continually
going back and committing
the same sin over and over, He went to God and basically said, “This isn’t working. Why don’t you give me a body and let me be the final and ultimate sacrifice? My blood is not more than all the animals that were sacrificed, but it is enough. And then when I leave the earth, they will have another Comforter to live on the inside of them to empower them to keep them in Your ways.”
After Jesus made the ultimate sacrifice by dying on the cross and shedding His blood for us, He endued us with power by sending the Holy Spirit. If we would just tap into His power, we would know how to live our lives Holy and acceptable!
Compromise can never be a part of our DNA, especially now that we have the abiding of His Spirit. We might slip up every now and then, but if we’re going back to that sin over and over, there is something wrong.
GOD IS SPECIFIC
The book of Exodus describes how specific God is when it came to sacrificing animals.
Exodus 12:3-5 KJV
“3Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for an house: 4And if the household be
too little for the lamb, let him and his neighbor next unto his house take it according to the number of the souls; every man according to his eating shall make your count for the lamb. 5Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year: ye shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats."
Even in the Old Testament, the qualification was that the
sacrifice must be without blemish could not be lame or crippled.
or in other words, spotless. It
“Hmm...I have this three- legged goat that I can’t do anything with so I might as well offer it up as a sacrifice.” To get rid of the bad one, especially if it’s crippled, blind, or speckled, was not the kind of sacrifice the Lord required.
“But I can’t give my best! It makes more sense to give the one that I don’t want to reproduce itself.” Oh, I see. You don’t want to give God your best bull because you need it to make other good bulls, right? If you sacrifice the best, what are you going to do to keep your livestock going because that’s how you make your money, right?
Yet the Scripture says, “Your lamb shall be without blemish.” When we say we are a sacrifice unto God, He is looking for us to be without blemish. If we have any infractions or frailties aboutus,wearetogotoHimtogetitrightsowhenwe sacrifice ourselves to Him, it is Holy and acceptable.
Ask yourself, “What am I presenting to God when I am offering up excuses? Am I without blemish? Am I a Holy and acceptable sacrifice to God or am I compromising by being just a part-time giver?”
Ladies, I can assure you that when you get married, your spouse will not accept you as a part-time spouse. You can’t just go where you want to go, do whatever you want to do, and get to your husband whenever you decide to. God didn’t say just present your legs and arms and the rest you can do with as you please. No, He said to present your body, which includes your spirit and soul, thereby presenting ALL of you!
GIVING YOUR BEST LIFE
Mark 12:33 KJV
“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.”
January 2020 | THE STANDARD 9