Post by titus2daughter on Jan 9, 2007 22:47:24 GMT -5
I tend to organize my thoughts better through writing and so whenever the Lord shows me something I try to write it down. I tend to write in a devotional and/or sunday school lesson style, so thus the first person and rhetorical questions. Anyway, here is something I did the other day that I thought y'all might enjoy!
ARE YOU SERVING?
John 12:25-26 “He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal. If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honour.” What are you doing for the Lord? I assume most of the people who read this are saved, but are we serving Him in all that we do? Have we surrendered our entire lives to Him? Are we living in reckless abandonment to follow Him wherever he may lead? I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately, and it seems that most of the hymns I play on the piano nowadays are about living a life of service for Him. So I thought Id just share some of the things I have been thinking about…
Living for Jesus –
“O Jesus, Lord and Savior, I give myself to Thee,
For Thou, in Thy atonement, didst give Thyself for me.
I own no other Master, my heart shall be Thy throne.
My life I give, henceforth to live, O Christ, for Thee alone.”
Romans 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.”
I love the term “a living sacrifice.” The dictionary defines sacrifice as: the surrender or destruction of something prized or desirable for the sake of something considered as having a higher or more pressing claim. That’s a pretty high call for a human being. Our very nature is independent and we don’t like having someone rule over us. Something I always think about when I read this verse is when Abraham brought Isaac, up to the mountain to sacrifice his only son. I am continuously amazed at Isaac, I don’t know about you but if my dad brought me up to an altar and started trying to tie me down onto it, I would kick and scream for all I was worth. Yet Isaac didn’t fight back, he didn’t know all that was going on, but he trusted his father. Are we willing to be “tied down” by the Lord if that is what he sees fit? Are we really willing sacrifice everything?
I Surrender All -
“All to Jesus I surrender;
Humbly at His feet I bow,
Worldly pleasures all forsaken;
Take me, Jesus, take me now.
I surrender all, I surrender all,
All to Thee, my blessèd Savior,
I surrender all.”
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 “What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.”Whenever I think of this I just shake my head in amazement. To think that the very Son of God who created the universe, died for me! Just so I wouldn’t have to suffer in hell. That’s more than enough to boggle the mind. We are all simple human beings with an evil nature. The thought that the Lord of everything cares about me enough to come to earth and put on a human shell, then suffer more pain that any man ever before or since, just for me. And then, knowing my evil nature better than anyone else chooses to use me in His service! What a privilege, in my mind at least, to live for Him all my life. It still won’t equal what He has done for me but it’s all I can give… What can you give for Him that has given you all?
I Gave my Life for Thee -
“I gave my life for thee, my precious blood I shed, that thou might ransomed be, And quickened from the dead;
I gave I gave My life for thee – what has thou giv’n for Me? I gave I gave My life for thee – what has thou giv’n for Me?”
ARE YOU SERVING?
John 12:25-26 “He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal. If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honour.” What are you doing for the Lord? I assume most of the people who read this are saved, but are we serving Him in all that we do? Have we surrendered our entire lives to Him? Are we living in reckless abandonment to follow Him wherever he may lead? I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately, and it seems that most of the hymns I play on the piano nowadays are about living a life of service for Him. So I thought Id just share some of the things I have been thinking about…
Living for Jesus –
“O Jesus, Lord and Savior, I give myself to Thee,
For Thou, in Thy atonement, didst give Thyself for me.
I own no other Master, my heart shall be Thy throne.
My life I give, henceforth to live, O Christ, for Thee alone.”
Romans 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.”
I love the term “a living sacrifice.” The dictionary defines sacrifice as: the surrender or destruction of something prized or desirable for the sake of something considered as having a higher or more pressing claim. That’s a pretty high call for a human being. Our very nature is independent and we don’t like having someone rule over us. Something I always think about when I read this verse is when Abraham brought Isaac, up to the mountain to sacrifice his only son. I am continuously amazed at Isaac, I don’t know about you but if my dad brought me up to an altar and started trying to tie me down onto it, I would kick and scream for all I was worth. Yet Isaac didn’t fight back, he didn’t know all that was going on, but he trusted his father. Are we willing to be “tied down” by the Lord if that is what he sees fit? Are we really willing sacrifice everything?
I Surrender All -
“All to Jesus I surrender;
Humbly at His feet I bow,
Worldly pleasures all forsaken;
Take me, Jesus, take me now.
I surrender all, I surrender all,
All to Thee, my blessèd Savior,
I surrender all.”
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 “What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.”Whenever I think of this I just shake my head in amazement. To think that the very Son of God who created the universe, died for me! Just so I wouldn’t have to suffer in hell. That’s more than enough to boggle the mind. We are all simple human beings with an evil nature. The thought that the Lord of everything cares about me enough to come to earth and put on a human shell, then suffer more pain that any man ever before or since, just for me. And then, knowing my evil nature better than anyone else chooses to use me in His service! What a privilege, in my mind at least, to live for Him all my life. It still won’t equal what He has done for me but it’s all I can give… What can you give for Him that has given you all?
I Gave my Life for Thee -
“I gave my life for thee, my precious blood I shed, that thou might ransomed be, And quickened from the dead;
I gave I gave My life for thee – what has thou giv’n for Me? I gave I gave My life for thee – what has thou giv’n for Me?”
