We Must Be A Living Sacrifice.

1 Peter 2:3-5; Romans 12:1; 1 Peter 1:19-21; Matthew 26:41-42; Matthew 26:39; Isaiah 53:5; Isaiah 53:10-11; Romans 8:28; Psalm 34:19; 1 John 5:5; Romans 10:9; Luke 23:34

We are walking in today:  We Must Be A Living Sacrifice.

1 Peter 2:3-5 3) If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious.  4) To whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious,  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.  Sacrifice is defined as an act of offering, of something precious--especially the killing of a victim, on an alter.  A sacrifice is an offering made to God as an atonement for sin or any offering made to Him and His servants, as an expression of thanksgiving or homage.  It implies that he who offers it, presents it entirely, releases all claims or rights to it and leaves it to be disposed of for the honor of God.  Fiveamprayer devote yourself to God, as if there is no longer any claim of self!  To be disposed by Him to suffer and bear all that He might appoint and to promote His honor in any way which He might command.  This is the nature of true religion.  We must truly learn to be a living sacrifice.  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.  The Jews of old offered their victims, slew it and presented it dead--it could not be presented again--in opposition to this, we are to present ourselves with all of our living, vital energy.  1 Peter 1:19-21 19) But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: 20) Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you, 21) Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God.  Your sacrifice is in that cup.  Matthew 26:41-42 41) Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. 42) He went away again the second time, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be done.  With all hell going on in that cup of marriage, finances, children, no job, unhappiness, pain ect--can you truly say to God, Thy will be done?  Jesus is praying for this cup to pass from Him.  Matthew 26:39 And he went a little farther, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.  Isaiah 53:5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.  Oh what a sacrifice!  Isaiah 53:10-11 10) Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. 11) He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.  Isaiah 48:10 Behold, I have refined thee, but not with silver; I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction.  We must be a living sacrifice, fiveamprayer!
I don't know about you but when I am reminded of my Savior, the King of kings, the Lord of lords, my soul cries hosanna!  God looked for someone to be an acceptable sacrifice.  Finding none, He wrapped the word in flesh and sent us Jesus!  He came and died for our sins.  Fiveamprayer, our response should be not our will, but Thy will be done!  As our Messiah said in the garden, in prayer with His Father.  We must not turn away from drinking from the cup even if we see the disappointment, discouragement, issues in our marriage, problems with the children--we are to present ourselves as a living sacrifice.  Not our will, Lord, Your will be done!  Let us crucify our flesh, the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.  Here I am Lord, use me Father, in the state that I am in right now!  Romans 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.  There is a cross for us to pick up, fiveamprayer!  Tell the devil that he is a liar!  Psalm 34:19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the LORD delivereth him out of them all.  Fiveamprayer, the Lord is our Shepherd, we shall not want!  We will respond like Job did, thou He slays me, yet will we trust Him!  We are to lean not to our own understanding, in all of our ways acknowledge Him because He will direct our paths!  Thank You Lord!!  Praise Your holy name!!  The joy of the Lord is our strength--His strength is made perfect in our weakness.  It is through Christ that we can do all things!  Greater is He that is within us than he that is within this world!  Tell God where ever you want me to go, I will go!  Nevertheless, Thy will be done!  We can trust Him in the valley and as we cross over this Jordan.  It is God that is bringing us out and over!  He is calling us to come out from among them.  God will not put more on us than we can bear!  There is nothing that shall overcome us!  1 John 5:5 Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?  That is why we are not overcome, because we believe that Jesus is the Son of God!  The only Begotten of the Father, sent to be the perfect sacrifice, to cleanse us of all of our sins!  Thank You Jesus, for loving the Father so much and being obedient, even until death!  Hallelujah!  And so many of us are saying that we can't sacrifice for God?  All that has been done and all that He has planned to do in our lives--you can't experience any discomfort, or any thing?!  Pastor Taffe taught on yesterday that God has called us to lengthen our tent cords, Isaiah 54:2 Enlarge the place of your tent, and let the curtains of your habitations be stretched out; spare not; lengthen your cords and strengthen your stakes.  That is gonna take some stretching on our part--going beyond what we normally do for God.  We are to be living sacrifices, to continue on the path that God has placed us, and to really press in to His word, even more to really drive those tent pegs deep.  God is doing more than we could ask or think and we must make ready!  We serve God, and  as living sacrifices, there is no longer a need to make daily, weekly or yearly sacrifices, Jesus is the perfect sacrifice that covers all the need of blood shed.  Our response is to yield to God, to how He would use us!  That we are His earthen vessels and to be used for His purpose!  We are to pick up our cross and follow Jesus!  Call on the name of Jesus!  Shout glory!  Hosanna, blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!  Tell the devil that there is still power in the name of Jesus!  Tell your flesh, I am crucifying you and I will operate in the mighty power of God.  Pain is a part of the process, we must carry our cross and seek our own soul salvation.  It is a sacrifice to get up early at 5am.  Tell the devil that he is defeated!  That I will bless the Lord at all times!  We magnify the Lord, come on and bless Him with me!  Praise Him from the rising of the sun to the going down of the same!  The cross is a part of the process.  God is giving us wisdom, knowledge and understanding as we are going through.  We must keep seeking Him first--we are to pick up our cross and to follow Him!  Tell God, I am a living sacrifice. Thou He slays me, yet will I trust Him!  He has chosen us in the furnace of affliction.  Many are the afflictions of the righteous but the Lord delivers us our of them all!  We are to go where God leads us!  Fiveamprayer, present yourself as a living sacrifice, 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.  We will walk on this path, that God has placed us on, even if it gets dim, we are to walk by faith and not by sight!  We are the seed of Abraham and God knows the plans that He has for us, to give us an expected end.  Pick up your cross, fiveamprayer and follow Him.  Now is the time to trust Him like never before!  The devil wants us to be in fear of the cross that we are bearing right now, he is still a liar!  Keep your eyes on God and His word--it will keep you in perfect peace!  Thank You God for being the Resurrection, as we walk through Resurrection week and for coming to let us know that we are to be a living sacrifice.   We are to pick up the cup and drink.  We were created to worship Him, to be a living sacrifice.  Offer Him a sacrifice of praise, praise in the mist of that thing you are in!  Let God know no matter what is going on, that you are still seeking Him first and always!   Tell others your testimony, be a witness of God's goodness to others.  Are you being an example of God's love in how you treat others, no matter what they have done to you?  Are you walking in offense?  Are you forgiving them and walking in love?  We are to teach our children what Resurrection Sunday is all about, not the candy and Easter bunnies!!  That God loved the world so much to send His only begotten Son to die--to cleanse the world of it's sins, if we would believe and confess Him as our Savior.  Romans 10:9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.  Be committed to the will of God, He will strengthen us to walk this thing out!  Present yourselves as a living sacrifice.  Hallelujah!  It isn't easy to get up at 3 am to start your day calling on the Lord.  He wants our first, fruits; our first, thank you; our first, to God be the glory, our first, hallelujah!  No more leftovers for God!  No more waiting until the evening to give God some praise.  We must be seeking, asking and knocking every single day!  You told us that this is the year that we will see.  And it is all to Your glory!  We are a living sacrifice!  The God that we serve is a living God!  Thank You God.  Thank You Holy Spirit for being here on the line before we even showed up!  Thank You Holy Spirit!  We will offer ourselves as living sacrifices, we will not back down nor turn around.  We must learn how to sacrifice now, that we will not bow to any one but our God!  He is a jealous God and will have no other god's before Him!  The roaring lion is roaming the earth, seeking whom he may devour.  Ask yourself what have you really sacrificed for God?  Getting up early, is that really a sacrifice, you can go back to sleep after this call.  What have you sown?  What did you offer up that God would receive as a sacrifice?  Are you holding out on God?  What is it that is in your grasp so tight.  Don't you know that God can not bless you with your hand closed?!  Think about it, Jesus laid down His life for you, what have you sacrificed?  Truly walk in forgiveness, not walking in prideful self.  We are learning how to walk through this valley.  Christ was crucified, there was blood streaming down, He was spat upon, pierced in His side, whipped all night long.  Fiveamprayer, what have you sacrificed?  Hold on joy comes in the morning, they that sow in tears shall reap in joy!  We are to be His living sacrifice, which is our reasonable service.  What can you do for somebody else?  Don't always be looking for a blessing and not, at how to bless others, as God has blessed you!  Start sacrificing today--ask Him what would You have me to do?  Present yourself as a living sacrifice.  I can see Jesus, our Mediator saying oh what a sacrifice!  It will all pay off, afterwhile.  It is getting late in the evening, the sun is going down.  We lift up prayer requests, those known and unknown. We lift up Donovan for healing, for we know that by Your stripes he is already healed.  You gave him a praying mother and she is seeking after You, Lord in prayer!  Fiveamprayer, we must come before God repenting for all that we have done.  Let's go down to the alter, making ourselves a living sacrifice, with hands up lifted on without wrath and one without doubt--asking what would You have us to do, Lord?  We submit to Your will.  Thank You for forgiving us, that You cast our sins into the sea that they be remembered no more!  Thank You for letting us know that we must be a living sacrifice!  Lord we ask of Your forgiveness, we did not always operate in the love of Christ, as Jesus walked.  Thank You God for teaching us to forgive others that we may be forgiven also.

We seal this prayer in His precious blood, by His Spirit:  Genesis 32:24-26 24) And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day. 25) And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob's thigh was out of joint, as he wrestled with him. 26) And he said, Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me.

Welcome to the overflow...
We thank You God,  this morning we know that we are to be a living sacrifice--we will not let go until You bless us!  Sometimes we don't want to go through anything.  Look at all that Christ suffered, all that He went through.  God can and will deliver us out of any and every thing that we are in or could be in.  We are to pick up our cross and follow Him.  As we walk through resurrection week think about this:  could you have done what Jesus did?  Thank You Lord!  Visit us on facebook, it will encourage you.  Make a sacrifice, give where you have not given before.  Call someone and let them know that you truly forgive them.  Help some sister or brother know who God is.  Love them anyway.  Walk in love, Jesus did it!  Luke 23:34 Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. And they parted his raiment, and cast lots.  Thank You Jesus!  Fiveamprayer, have a blessed day!