September 24
Happy Monday Everyone,
 
The scripture for today is Romans 12:1
 
Romans 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
 
By the grace of God we have been redeemed and all of our sins have been forgiven. And amazingly, God looks upon us as if we had never sinned in the first place.  That is only possible through the blood of Christ, which was shed on our behalf.  "But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, has made us alive together with Christ, (by grace you are saved;)" Ephesians 2:4-5 It is the richness of God's mercy that is manifested toward us that causes us to glorify Him. Honoring God is the privilege we have as the recipients of His mercy and grace. We honor Him by offering the entirety of our being to Him and His service. There is nothing in our makeup that is not placed on the altar of sacrifice to God; everything is sacrificed; nothing is withheld. 
    
We have died with Christ and the entirety of our being is now yielded to God in complete surrender to His will. Nothing that we have, including our very bodies, is to be considered our own; all is sacrificed to God. If all is not sacrificed, then we are not His. And if all belongs to God, He has the right to decide the disposition of that which is His. How we think, speak, behave, eat, dress, etc., are no longer our decisions to make. We are not our own; we belong to God. As our Creator, He alone has the right of ownership of these bodies and minds of ours and He has but one standard; holiness. "For God has not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness. He therefore that despises, despises not man, but God, who has also given unto us his Holy Spirit." 1 Thessalonians 4:7-8 Holiness is not something that we have because we engage in certain behaviors. Holiness comes from God and God alone. If God lives inside the heart, holiness is present and He will manifest His Holy character through a life that is yielded to Him. The presentation of our bodies as a living sacrifice represents the yielding of the entire being to God; we have been called to nothing less. It is the only path to true service to God and life above the crowd.
 
God bless you as you continue in His service.
Tim