Category: Sacrificial living

Petition & Praise: Self-sacrifice & Surrender

Deliver me from every deception O LORD, my Father!

You desire truth in the inward parts. You are the only one who cleanses my soul.

I offer myself to you once again as a living sacrifice.

All within me bows before you.My entrails hail you as LORD!

I give you my heart in exchange for your truth, never to be re-sold.

My knees bend on their own accord. Freely my mouth utters praises and my body willingly follows your leading.

Fastened by your Word, I abide in your presence forevermore.

©️DENyamekye

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Petition & Praise: Self-sacrifice and Surrender

Deliver me from every deception O LORD, my Father!

You desire truth in the inward parts.

You are the only one who cleanses my soul.

I offer myself to you once again as a living sacrifice.

I give you my heart in exchange for your truth, never to be re-sold.

All within me bows before you. My entrails hail you as LORD!

My knees bend on their own accord. Freely my mouth utters praises and my body willingly follows your leading.

Fastened by your Word, I abide in your presence forevermore.

Scriptural inspiration:

“Buy the truth, and do not sell it” Prov. 23:23

“Behold, You desire truth in the inward parts” (Psa.51:6)

“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. 2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” (Romans 12:1-2 KJV)

📸Snapshots of Glory – Word Focus 2 Day: At The Altar of Sacrifice

As believers in Jesus Christ, we have been called to not only bring ourselves to the altar of sacrifice as covenanted children of God, but also to bring all that belongs to us and all who we love to the altar of sacrifice. The term altar of sacrifice simply means committing ourselves, what is ours, people and things we love sacrificially to the LORD.

The use of the word “altar” here is in reference to Abraham and how he obeyed God by preparing to sacrifice his son Isaac at the altar as he would do a ram or a goat. It was when he was about to kill his son Isaac that God stopped him and provided a ram as a substitute.

God then said “16..Because you have obeyed me and have not withheld even your son, your only son, I swear by my own name that 17 I will certainly bless you. I will multiply your descendants[a] beyond number, like the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will conquer the cities of their enemies.18 And through your descendants all the nations of the earth will be blessed—all because you have obeyed me.” (Gen. 22:16-17NLT).

As in Abraham’s case, it is evident that it is not enough being covenanted or surrendered to God as Abraham was, He requires us to covenant or surrender all that we cherish to him.

God also led me to think further about what else constitutes a sacrificial life unto God. What came to mind is the fact that our calling is to not only love God but others sacrificially.

As much as we love God unreservedly or sacrificially and we love ourselves as a result, we are also called to love others, believers and non believers, unconditionally.

“Jesus replied, “..,You must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind.’ And, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’””Right!” Jesus told him. “Do this and you will live!” (John 10:26-28 NLT). One’s “neighbour” is either a Christian or a non Christian.

Sadly many hold back from expressing love and therefore care for others because of past experiences of being hurt or rejected when they had done so. Some leaders have also developed the erroneous mindset that the mark of a good leader is one who ensures they show their authority by not being too familiar with their subordinates.

Jesus ate at table with his disciples, washed their feet and allowed one of them John to rest on his bosom. Jesus did these things and more to demonstrate that in the Kingdom of God the mark of a great and true leader is one who is not afraid to demonstrate humility and love to those they lead.

One can give all one’s goods to the poor and manifest diligence in Godly service and have gifts of prophecy among others, but if one is not demonstrating the sacrificial God kind of love them one is actually not pleasing God. The Apostle Paul expressed it in this manner to the biblical book of Corinthians:

“If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing.” (1 Corinth. 13:2 NLT).

Jesus who died a sacrificial death for mankind said “There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” (John 15:13NLT).

Jesus taught as follows “…I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you!” (Matthew 5:44 NLT)

It is worthy to note Jesus used the word “friend” in John 15:13 NLT. Indeed it is sacrificial to “lay down one’s life” for someone who is not even blood related to us and also for our enemies. It means we are willing to go the extra mile in terms of demonstrating unconditional love and kindness towards them.

Jesus was criticised by the Jewish religious leaders for keeping company with “many tax collectors and other disreputable sinners…” (Mark 2:15-16 NLT).

If we are able to love sacrificially despite being at the risk of making ourselves vulnerable and therefore open to criticism and rejection, then we are truly manifesting sacrificial behaviour for the sake of God as Christ did, hence affirming our love for God.

The Apostle John said “If someone says, “I love God,” but hates a Christian brother or sister, that person is a liar; for if we don’t love people we can see, how can we love God, whom we cannot see?” (1 John 4:20 NLT).

Let us always remember brethren that what constitutes genuine sacrificial living before God “at the altar of sacrifice” includes but goes beyond what we normally think of as sacrifice which is the giving of ourselves, all that belongs to us i.e. those we love, to God.

In fact the affirmation of whether we are true Children of God who please God is determined by how we relate to our fellow human beings.

Therefore Brethren, when we are committed to doing all that we desire to do as living sacrifices unto God, let us remember that God places great significance on how we conduct our interpersonal relationships on a day to day basis. May He help us in our weakness.

Poem – Altar of Sacrifice

At the altar of sacrifice

I arise from the fall,

surrendering before God,

I give Him my all.

My all is giving of my heart

and that is where I start.

My all is offering what’s so dear

’cause of reverential fear of God.

At the altar of sacrifice,

I give my all

to stand tall before the LORD.

My all is loving mankind

as I am loved by God

who is one of a kind.

My all is giving up my life for

friends and praying for my foes.

Always ready to pay a price,

I surrender all

at the Altar of Sacrifice.

©2016 Deborah E.Nyamekye

Weekly Snapshots of Glory series

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I Am Home

Thank you LORD for another day! I pray God’s blessings & protection on whoever is reading this & that Holy Spirit will lead them higher & deeper into the realms of God’s Kingdom to communion with Him & receive greater revelation from Him. In Jesus name Amen!

“1After this I looked, and, behold, a door [was] opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard [was] as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter.” (Rev 4:1KJV)
Deborah xx

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My Heart, My God! 

The chosen day of congregational worship is not what God will use to judge me but the condition of my heart. What I bring to God in terms of financial offering or good works that everyone sees is not as important to Him as the state or condition of my heart before him (Isa.1:10-17); I’m I obedient to His commands? Do I treat people as I would like to be treated?
If I engage in rituals which have pagan roots knowing full well this is the case then I am guilty of compromise, as the kings of Israel who knew they had the authority to remove the high places of idolatrous worship but did not while at the same time worshipping Yahweh, also as the person who knows it is called “stealing” when they engage in the act of taking pens or notebooks from their place of work even though they make excuses for doing so. John 8:32 states “you shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free”. Complete freedom lies in honestly applying the truth that one knows so that one is set free. Likewise, we are told in scripture that “faith without works is dead” (James 2:14-26). You can say you have faith in God, but do your fruits or actions confirm that you do or is it just lip service?

As the Pharisees in the time of Jesus, if we want to be baptised and have the genuine title of a people of God then we have to produce fruit that shows we have repented. John the Baptist said to the Pharisees as they watched him baptizing:

8Produce fruit worthy of repentance. 9And do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. 10The ax lies ready at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire. (Matthew 3:8-10 Berean Study Bible).

There is a saying that is expressed as follows “show me your friends and I will show you your character”. By our fruit people will know whether we are children of God or not (Matt.7:16). Do people you allow among your close circle of friends have the same belief systems as you? By this I mean do they live to please God, men or self? However strong you think you are, know that you are capable of being influenced one way or another by people, society and events around you and even more so by those close to you and whatever society or events they form alliances with.

Brethren, my message today is this “Let us beware and be aware of God’s key requirements and so guard our hearts “above all else, for it determines the course of your life.(Prov.4:23 NLT)””

©Jan2017 Deborah E.Nyamekye

THE HOUSE THAT GOD BUILDS:The power of loving and pleasing God

We must all, not least those who minister in any capacity to believers in Christ, always have at the forefront of our minds that our worth is not based on whether people accept us or not, or what they say about us, it is in who God says we are.

We must remember that we live our lives to please God first and foremost because we love Him.

If that is your focus, then there is inevitably a ripple effect for you cannot genuinely love and so please God without desiring to and succeeding in loving and pleasing others. Loving God and pleasing Him means we obey His commands and live according to His Word.

We therefore commune with Jesus in this way for he is the Word and came to dwell among men in the flesh. He is still with us and within us today in the power of the Holy Spirit, Jesus prayed for Father to send us.

Loving and pleasing God cultivates His nature within us and this is not surprising because we are created in His image and our redemption through Christ is meant to restore God’s nature within us because we are reconciled to Him.

The outflow of God’s divine nature is that which others see and this is how they know that we are indeed children of God. This is expressed in how we relate to one another and the world in general.

Pleasing God because we love Him is the foundation upon which our outward expression of loving His world and creation is made manifest. When we love God because we have developed a lifestyle of intimacy with Him, we want to please Him and therefore we search the scriptures or take hold of all He has to say in relation not only to how we must love and relate to others, but also what He has predestined we are to do on earth or our purpose.

How can the aforementioned point be expressed concisely? Upon the foundation of loving and pleasing God we are inevitably built as ones who are empowered to live lives that glorify him (one becomes a “light house” of God), this means our inward sanctification or holiness affects, influences and impacts our families, work colleagues and the world at large according to God’s perfect will.

We are effective Ambassadors as citizens of the Kingdom of God under the rule and government of God.

God’s children are individually a “house” that God builds to make a difference in each life on earth and His world in general.

You and I are the “house” that God builds daily and declares through us that “the kingdoms of this world have become the kingdom of our God and His Christ”(Rev. 11:15)

©Deborah Nyamekye 9/05/2016

Inspirational Prose for Today

Blessings! Being at the Altar of Sacrifice is surrendering ourselves, loved ones/precious things to the LORD as well as engaging in relationships in the manner that pleases the LORD.

May the LORD help & strengthen us in each and every area of our lives so as to be surrendered completely as is humanly possible. Amen.

 

altarofsacrifice

 

 

 

 

At the Altar of Sacrifice

What does living sacrificially for God really mean?

image

As believers in Jesus Christ, we have been called to not only bring ourselves to the altar of sacrifice as covenanted children of God, but also to bring all that belongs to us and all who we love to the altar of sacrifice. The term altar of sacrifice simply means committing ourselves, what is ours, people and things we love sacrificially to the LORD.

The use of the word “altar” here is in reference to Abraham and how he obeyed God by preparing to sacrifice his son Isaac at the altar as he would do a ram or a goat. It was when he was about to kill his son Isaac that God stopped him and provided a ram as a substitute.

God then said “16..Because you have obeyed me and have not withheld even your son, your only son, I swear by my own name that 17 I will certainly bless you. I will multiply your descendants[a] beyond number, like the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will conquer the cities of their enemies.18 And through your descendants all the nations of the earth will be blessed—all because you have obeyed me.” (Gen. 22:16-17NLT).

As in Abraham’s case, it is evident that it is not enough being covenanted or surrendered to God as Abraham was, He requires us to covenant or surrender all that we cherish to him.

God also led me to think further about what else constitutes a sacrificial life unto God. What came to mind is the fact that our calling is to not only love God but others sacrificially.

As much as we love God unreservedly or sacrificially and we love ourselves as a result, we are also called to love others, believers and non believers, unconditionally.

“Jesus replied, “..,You must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind.’ And, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’””Right!” Jesus told him. “Do this and you will live!” (John 10:26-28 NLT). One’s “neighbour” is either a Christian or a non Christian.

Sadly many hold back from expressing love and therefore care for others because of past experiences of being hurt or rejected when they had done so. Some leaders have also developed the erroneous mindset that the mark of a good leader is one who ensures they show their authority by not being too familiar with their subordinates.

Jesus ate at table with his disciples, washed their feet and allowed one of them John to rest on his bosom. Jesus did these things and more to demonstrate that in the Kingdom of God the mark of a great and true leader is one who is not afraid to demonstrate humility and love to those they lead.

One can give all one’s goods to the poor and manifest diligence in Godly service and have gifts of prophecy among others, but if one is not demonstrating the sacrificial God kind of love them one is actually not pleasing God. The Apostle Paul expressed it in this manner to the Corinthians

“If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing.” (1 Corinth. 13:2 NLT).

Jesus who died a sacrificial death for mankind said “There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” (John 15:13NLT).

Jesus taught as follows “…I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you!” (Matthew 5:44 NLT)

It is worthy to note Jesus used the word “friend” in Matthew 5:44. Indeed it is sacrificial to “lay down one’s life” for someone who is not even blood related to us and also for our enemies. It means we are willing to go the extra mile in terms of demonstrating unconditional love and kindness towards them.

Jesus was criticised by the Jewish religious leaders for keeping company with “many tax collectors and other disreputable sinners…” (Mark 2:15-16 NLT).

If we are able to love sacrificially despite being at the risk of making ourselves vulnerable and therefore open to criticism and rejection, then we are truly manifesting sacrificial behaviour for the sake of God as Christ did, hence affirming our love for God.

The Apostle John said “If someone says, “I love God,” but hates a Christian brother or sister, that person is a liar; for if we don’t love people we can see, how can we love God, whom we cannot see?” (1 John 4:20 NLT).

Let us always remember brethren that what constitutes genuine sacrificial living before God “at the altar of sacrifice” includes but goes beyond what we normally think of as sacrifice which is the giving of ourselves, all that belongs to us i.e. those we love, to God.

In fact the affirmation of whether we are true Children of God who please God is determined by how we relate to our fellow human beings.

Therefore Brethren, when we are committed to doing all that we desire to do as living sacrifices unto God, let us remember that God places great significance on how we conduct our interpersonal relationships on a day to day basis. May He help us in our weakness.

Poem – Altar of Sacrifice

At the altar of sacrifice
I arise from the fall,
surrendering before God,
I give Him my all.

My all is giving of my heart
and that is where I start.

My all is offering what’s so dear
’cause of reverential fear of God.

At the altar of sacrifice,
I give my all
to stand tall before the LORD.

My all is loving mankind
as I am loved by God
who is one of a kind.

My all is giving up my life for
friends and praying for my foes.

Always ready to pay a price,
I surrender all
at the Altar of Sacrifice.

©Deborah E.Nyamekye 11/06/2016