02-09-2018
Romans 12:1-2 New King James Version (NKJV)
Living
Sacrifices to God
12 I beseech[a] you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God,
that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which
is your [b]reasonable service. 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be
transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good
and acceptable and perfect will of God.
The basis of Christian service is and will always be spiritual worship.
The natural and correct respond is to worship God by the way we conduct ourselves by the lives we live.
Our lives must change. God's Spirit lives in us and we are changed.
Individual transformation leads to the transformation of the church, the State and the world.
It is difficult to change mindsets.
We need to change our culture and thinking first before we change others.
It is not about improvements but rather, it is all about transformation.
Don't trust in the comfortable situation that you are in right now because change can come overnight.
Apart from comforts, people are busy with their careers and making money.
You support others' ministries but you reckon you do not have the capacity to do much.
God will do it. (Zechariah 4:6)
But we tend to overspiritualise things.
God rested on the seventh day and He consigned the full process to the church to do work and bring God's purpose into being.
We think we can get a person converted and that's it. God will take care of the rest.
If we don't play that role, God will raise up others.
We are that spiritual pipeline that can serve the people, collect the souls that are saved and raise them up.
We need the Holy Spirit to help us but the Holy Spirit also teaches us to organise.
We need Spirit and we need hard work to build the Church together.
Be inspired by the example of Paul. He's spirit filled, then plan and execute with hard work.
God has not meant for us to function alone.
Romans 12:3 New King James Version (NKJV)
Serve God with Spiritual Gifts
3 For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is
among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to
think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith.
1) Be humble.
a) Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought.
People perceive wrongly and a lot of misunderstood people get hurt. Our ego surfaces and misunderstanding happens and it breaks a lot of things that God wants to do. Very often we get hurt by what people tell us. Because of our ego, we perceive another person's sincere motives.
The area of humility is missing.
This area of misunderstanding and misperception also happens amongst husbands and wives. It leads to a lot of problems because of ego.
b) We must not take ourselves too seriously.
We think too great of ourselves.
Are you uninformed, ill-informed and misinformed? Do not be so quick to pass judgments and tell people what to do.
Philippians 2:3 New King James Version (NKJV)
3 Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in
lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself.
c) God is not in a hurry. We are.
We want to see results when we serve God. We fail to understand the Isaiah's call (Isaiah 6:9-13) vs the Disciples' call (Matthew 9:37).
Isaiah says, "God, you call me, I do."
Christians today are hyped up Christians.
When success don't come our way, we get depressed.
And we wonder why God is so unfair.
At the end of the day, we serve because it is a form of spiritual worship acceptable unto God.
2) Think of yourself with sober judgment.
You serve to fulfil God's will and destiny for you. It is not self-actualisation.
God saved you to make you holy. God didn't save you to make you feel good. That is temporal and delusional.
So serve God with the correct humble attitude as a spiritual worship unto God. Then you will find a lot of things that discourage you and a lot of people that disappoint you will not matter anymore.
We find significance in doing God's will. It determines our joy in the Lord.
3) In accordance to the faith God has distributed to each of you.
People are not mere statistics.
Where is that self sacrifice and spiritual worship?
We must also realise that when people talk numbers, not everybody is talking nonsense.
Before we accuse people of becoming worldly minded, ask why the numbers are being given. Is it a way of correct motivation or practical evaluation? Sometimes numbers help us to have a picture of what is possible. Look at the talents that we have.
Ultimately we need to make honest assessment. Is it because we fail to do what God has called us to do? When was the last time we share Christ with others? Opportunities are given to each of us but we have become spiritually indolent.
Romans 12:4-8 New King James Version (NKJV)
4 For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do
not have the same function, 5 so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and
individually members of one another. 6 Having then gifts differing according to
the grace that is given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, let us prophesy in
proportion to our faith; 7 or ministry, let us use it in our ministering; he
who teaches, in teaching; 8 he who exhorts, in exhortation; he who gives, with
liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with
cheerfulness.
1) One body with many members.
a) The church is the Body of Christ.
In an organisation, position matters. Everybody wants to climb to the top.
The church is never an organisation. The church is a body. When that particular organ is not functioning, we don't take out the organ.
The organisation moves on and leave the stragglers behind.
The church don't leave anybody behind.
b) We are connected for mutual benefit.
Every single member is important. It is not by chance.
You are important. Otherwise Jesus would never have died for you. God gives His Son for you. All the more you should grow in the knowledge and grace of God.
God wants you to present your body as a living sacrifice and your mind transformed to fulfil His will for your life.
God can use you so long as you are humble and willing.
We need givers and not takers.
2) Each member belongs to the other.
a) We are interdependent, not independent.
The church is not a club.
But today we are all consumers.
How much you benefit from the church depends on how much you give, not how much you take. It is in giving and contributing to the body of Christ that your spiritual sacrifice become acceptable to God. You are beloved by God. God will give you the peace and blessings.
When the Body of Christ functions well, the whole body is edified and you become the beneficial person.
In the church, there are no superstars but there are real stars. Be the heart to care and do good. These are the people that bring salvation to the masses. The real stars do not hunger for accolades. The real stars humble themselves.
3) Different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us.
a) Gifts and abilities
Many of us hanker for position or recognition.
God uses our talents.
God gives spiritual gifting (prophecy, healing etc).
We employ everything to build up the Body of Christ.
b) Proactive steps to discover our gifts and talents.
Leviticus 26:8 New King James Version (NKJV)
8 Five of you shall chase a hundred, and a hundred of you shall put
ten thousand to flight; your enemies shall fall by the sword before you.
Submit whatever gifting and talent that you have to God. Together we can make a greater significance.
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