Sacrifices That Please God

Sacrifices That Please God

Hebrews 13:15 "Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise- the fruit of lips that confess and give thanks to his name."

It got me thinking about the sacrifices that God had established in the Old Testament with His chosen people, Israel. As you may remember, Exodus and Leviticus give many different types of sacrifices for many situations- all given so that sin could be forgiven and right relationship with God restored. These animal sacrifices brought about the revelation of a holy God and sensitized the people to their sin

Thank God that Jesus came to bring fulfillment. No more do we need to offer these sacrifices. It was accomplished once for all by Jesus' ultimate sacrifice.

But the question is: What sacrifices are we to bring to God today?

First of all, it would be best to define what a sacrifice is, offered in the context of today. I believe the sacrifices we offer now are a response to the sacrifice Jesus made for us! We approach God now because Jesus made the access possible. Also, a sacrifice is an offering made to God that costs us something.

In 2 Samuel 24:24, David said, "I will not sacrifice to the Lord my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing."

Sacrifices today may cost us time, money or extra effort, but it pleases the Lord when you purposefully come before Him with what you have.

You might be thinking, "What could I possibly offer that God would want?"
Well, you do have much to offer Him.

Here is the list of some of the sacrifices that please the Lord today!

1. Praise
Hebrews 13:15 Let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise... Praise is the continuous attitude of gratitude. Praise is intentional and must be verbalized.

2. Do Good and Share
Hebrews 13:16 And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.
Sharing with others and nurturing friendships and fellowship with one another requires time and effort.

3. Your Bodies
Romans 12:1 ...offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God...
Your body is the temple of the living God. Voluntary surrender allows God to use us for His purposes. Aren't you glad he asks us to offer ourselves as a living sacrifice!

4. Your Financial Gifts
Philippians 4:18 ...the gifts you sent from Epaphroditus... are a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God.
Your financial giving to further the Kingdom is a sacrifice that pleases God.
It partners you with the ongoing work.
It not only blesses the receiver, but also blesses the giver.
It releases God's blessing upon you!

5. Your Heart Attitude
Psalm 51:15-17 The sacrifices of God are a broken... and contrite heart... Any sacrifice not done from a right heart of sincerity and humility means nothing to God. What grieved God about the old system was the ritual it had become. Don't fall into a casual observance of praise. Let it be fresh and honest.

These sacrifices touch on the core issue of our life - our tongue, body, money and motives.They are pleasing to God!That is why God has favoured in Abel's Offering over Cain's offering in Genesis. Abel has offered just the right and the very first of the best of his.

As we approach a new year, may the Lord grant to us a renewed passion for worship and zeal in service to the glory of our God.

Merry Christmas And Happy New Year!

We were the Reason

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BriKRukACgA

We were the Reason

As little children we would dream of Christmas morn
Of all the gifts and toys we knew we’d find
But we never realized a baby born one blessed night
Gave us the greatest gift of our lives

*We were the reason that He gave His life
We were the reason that He suffered and died
To a world that was lost He gave all He could give
To show us the reason to live

As the years went by we learned more about gifts
The giving of ourselves and what that means
On a dark and cloudy day a man hung crying in the rain
All because of love
All because of love

*Chorus
I finally found the reason for living
It’s in giving every part of my heart to Him (every part to Him)
And all that I do every word that I say (you know I’ll be saying)
I’ll be giving my all just for Him, for Him (every thing for Him)

We are the reason that He gave His life
We are the reason that He suffered and died
To a world that was lost He gave all He could give (all that he could give all)
To show us the reason to live

#He is the reason to live(don’t you know do you know the reasonthat he came,
oh he came to save uswhen he gave his life for us) he suffered and died
To a world that was lost He gave everything (everything that He had He gave)
To show us the reason to live

*chorus + # together
Don’t know how I could thank Jesus all that he had all..
*chorus + # together

Fruit of the Spirit

Every relationship is a ministry and you are the minister. The word minister means to serve. You must forget about what other party is and is not doing, and do what your Heavenly Father requires of you.

Start ministering today by demonstrating the fruit of the Spirit; love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23). Minister to them when they've gotten on your last nerve, minister to them, when you've had it up to here. Minister to them when your flesh is screaming they don't deserve you.

By taking this approach, it would please your Heavenly Father. Now, isn't that what it's all about? Pleasing your Heavenly Father. And all this time you thought it was about you.
Our Heavenly father's love always continue and never cease despite we are hard, stubborn and difficult to Him at times.

Came across this message on the last Sunday service hand out:
“ Never make a permanent decision based on a temporary storm. No matter how raging the billows are today, remind yourself: this too shall pass!

Found(Hill Song)

Verse1:
Amazing love,now what else shall I need
Your name brings life,it's more than the air I breathe

Verse 2:
My world has changed,when Your life You gave for me
My purpose found and all that You want for me

PreChorus 1:
And I've found myself in You, Lord
And I've found myself in You

PreChorus 2:
And I've found myself in You, Jesus
And I've found myself in You, Lord

Chorus:
So take me to a place where I can see You face to face
and all I wanna do, all I wanna do is worship You
So take me to a place
where I can see You face to face
and all I wanna do, all I wanna do is worship You

Get Connected with God's People

Get Connected with God's People

09-11 Nov
Away for Training. Have few days of fantastic stay and connected with people who do not recognize God. Being surrounded by people without God and living in eventful schedule for few days, which has little connection with God, i get carried away by the overwhelming lifestyle. I was very timid to make prayer before meal with people around, and sometimes i even forgot that i need to, and of course, i sacrified time alone with God. At the end of the stay, i felt spiritually dry.

12 Nov
Was back to office. Was exhausted and weary after a long day work. I could not figure out how i could able to re-gain spiritual freshness. I went on to meet with SK after work. After dinner, we had quite a long chat and sharing, and we focus on God. In the midst of the sharing, i felt my spirit get re-freshed. It was just great! i felt enpowered by the Holy spirit again! Only then, i realized that whenever we get connected with God's people with God as our centre of focus, our power of Holy spirit get edified and we get encouraged!

That's why care cell is important to you and me. In care cell, power of encouragement easily spread like a "Influenza X". I am glad that i belong to a care cell!
Are you having one yet?

Revelation

It is said that Satan once called his demons and said he wanted to send one of them to earth to aid women and men in the ruination of their souls. He asked which one would want to go. One creature came forward and said, “I will go.” Satan said, “If I send you, what will you tell the children of men?” He said, “I will tell the children of men that there is no heaven.” Satan said, “They will not believe you, for there is a bit of heaven in every human heart. In the end, everyone knows that right and good must have the victory. You may not go.”

Then another came forward, darker and fouler than the first. Satan said, “If I send you, what will you tell the children of men?” He said, “I will tell them that there is no hell.” Satan looked at him and said, “Oh, no; they will not believe you, for in every human heart there’s a thing called conscience, an inner voice which testifies to the truth that not only will good be triumphant, but that evil will be defeated. You may not go.”

Then one last creature came forward, this one from the darkest place of all. Satan said to him, “And if I send you, what will you say to women and men to aid them in the destruction of their souls?” He said, “I will tell them that there is no hurry.” Satan said, “Go at once!”

Satan has successfully duped the church and the world into believing that there is really no hurry. He has robbed us of a sense of urgency. As believers we assume that we can get serious about Christ once we have grandkids and retire. Unbelievers have been led to believe that, if they need to, they will be able to trust Christ at will, when they are old and decrepit and in some rest home. What a mistake! We must realize that our day of reckoning with the Lord Jesus Christ is imminent. Final accountability is on the horizon. We must urge believers and unbelievers to prepare to face the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. There is a hurry. Revelation is relevant. Prepare for eternity TODAY.

Time Alone with God

Getting close to God – A Quiet Time Alone With God

What is a Quiet Time Alone With God?

The Biblical Perspective
Now that you have your own view of what a daily time alone with God is, now let’s compare it with what the Biblical perspective is of it means to spend time alone with God. Read the following verses and write down what they teach you about developing a quiet time alone with God.

The example of Jesus; Mark 1:35 Time alone with God

A call in Psalm 119:15, 23, 48

A call to Joshua, Joshua 1:8

David’s example, Psalm 5:3

A call of James, James 5:17-18

These verse are only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to what a quiet time alone with God should be.

Why Should We Have Quiet Time Alone With God?
Having a time alone with God is one of the most important aspects of the Christian walk, but it also one area of the Christian walk that is most neglected. From the verses we looked a t so far you should have a pretty good idea of what makes up a quiet time with God. We will go over a couple of these areas in a little more detail alter. For now we need to look at why we need to spend some time alone with God

1) We need to eat
Just as your body need food to keep it going. We need to spend some quality time with God for our soul. Through prayer and a daily meal of God word we will grow and prosper in our walk with God
Read Matthew 4:4 and 1 Peter 2:1-3 and in your own words describe what these verses say about God’s Word.

2)We need to listen
It is hard to hear God speaking to you when the reception is fuzzy. You need to make a clear connection to God so you can hear what He is telling you and the only way to do that is by eliminating all distractions so you can hear his still quiet voice. This means you must find a quiet place in order to listen His voice and only His voice. Effective listening also means coming before God with an obedient heart a willingness to listen so you will be able to hear His insight for your life.

Read James 4:8, What does this verse tell us about our relationship with God?

Read Psalm 5:3, What should our response once we talk to God in prayer?

Read Psalm 143:10, From this verse give two reasons we should wait to hear from God?

3)We need closeness
A quiet time allows us to draw closer to God as we shut out the world around us and focus on His Word and His voice. We will sense His presence as we lift our hearts and bare our souls to Him. As Christians we should always desire to worship and obey God and see Him more clearly. We must draw need to God with our hearts, not only with our words. Remember where your heart is there also will be your affections.

James 4:8 tell us that if we “ come near to God…He will Come near t us” .

Read the following two verse from Isaiah and decide for yourself if the first or second verse describes you.
Isaiah 34:1
Isaiah 29:13

4)We need protection
As Christians we are in a battle and our weapon of choice is God’s Word. Satan cannot stand against when we call on Jesus and use the Word of God to defend ourselves. A quiet time allows not only tio study the Word of God but also to call on God for our daily protection.

Ephesians 6:13-17 Details a list of the Armor of God. Take the time to read these verses and list for yourself each piece of that armor. As you right them down meditate on how God is our strength and shield. Also think about the times you have tried to stand alone without God’s protection and what the outcome was.

5)We need correction
A quiet time allows us to get right with God. Even thought our salvation is secire we are still going to sin. After all we are only perfected the moment we open our eyes and stand before Jesus.

Part of falling into temptation and sinning is correction. None of us likes to be corrected or told when we do something wrong but we need it in order to learn and move on. God always corrects us out of love but we must be willing to confess our sin before Him.

Read Psalm 139:23-24 and then ask yourself when was the last time you said the words “God correct me?

Part of developing intimacy with God is in knowing when we need to come clean and ask for forgiveness

Read Jobs call to God in Job 6:25- Again is this your call to God or do you need to humble your heart?

6)We need comfort
No one can make it through the Christian life without someone to encourage and comfort us. We need to know that God cares for us and knows exactly what we need in the midst of trials. In our quiet time we go to God in prayer and read His word in order to find the comfort and encouragement we need

Read Psalm 10:17-18 and describe what this verse means to you.

Read 2 Timothy 4:2 Even though this verse is about the way Christians are to deal with each other, it can give us a great insight into the way God deals with us. What does this verse teach you about God and how He handles us in all situations?

Does this give you comfort?


What is involved in a quiet time with God?

Bible Reading - Pick a passage of scripture, book of the Bible or even a devotional and read it. If you want get one of those Bible study books at your local Christian Book Stores to help you work through a topic or book of the Bible

Bible Journaling – As you read each passage of Scripture or each book of the Bible jot down in a journal or diary your thoughts about the passage or something God ahs revealed to you as you read it. You could also keep track of your prayer requests.

Prayer - How can you have quiet time alone with God if you do not pray and ask God for guidance. As you read each book, each passage pray about what is in the passage and ask God to reveal what he wants you to know. Each time I read a passage of Scripture God reveals to me all manner of new information.

Listen – Take time to sit back and listen for God to speak to you in His still quiet voice.

A quiet time alone with God is an important aspect of your Christian walk. It is one way in which we can draw closer to God and become more intimate with Him. If you want to know what someone is like you have to get to know them so set a quiet time now and get to know God.

Loving as Jesus Loved

"But he did not answer her a word. And his disciples came and begged him, saying, "Send her away, for she is crying out after us."
--Matthew 15:23

When the disciples were walking through the city with Jesus one day, a Canaanite woman came clamoring after him yelling, "Have mercy on me! Have mercy on me!"

The disciples saw this woman as an annoyance and someone to avoid, as we see in today's verse, when they basically said, "Jesus, make her go away; she's a crazy lady!"

There's a reason God allows us to see the disciples' bad attitude here. You see, this same attitude can be found in many churches today.

Too often, the church doesn't want to be bothered with sinful, desperate people. The church isn't comfortable around the lost. These people have baggage. They can be rough around the edges!

Yet we should never look with condemnation at those who struggle with unhealthy behaviors or bad life decisions.

Instead, as Christ-followers, we should bless and encourage those seeking hope and bring them to the feet of our Lord... the same place where we found our own salvation.

Will you be this kind of Christ-follower? Remember the grace you received, and be generous in spirit with those who desperately need his touch.

(From crosswalk)