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A LIVING SACRIFICE UNTO GOD AND A TRANSFORMATION BY THE RENEWING OF OUR MINDS.
Romans 12:1-2
1 . I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your 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.
A sacrifice is an offering or total surrender of a gift to a person or deity. A living sacrifice means the sacrifice has life in it. The sacrifice mentioned in this scripture doesn't refer to killing oneself to shed blood, because of the blood of Jesus that was shed for us. God’s word tells us to present ourselves as a living sacrifice because, in order to please God, we must surrender totally unto Him so that, He will help us to live lives pleasing unto Him.
The way we can present our bodies as a living sacrifice is obeying the greatest commandments in, Matthew 22:37-40 which says,
37 . Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’
38 . This is the first and great commandment.
39 . And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’
40 . On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”
Now how do I prove my love to God? The answer can be found in John 15:14, “If you love me keep my commandments” and 1st John 4:20-21, “If someone says, ‘I love God’ and hate his neighbor he is a liar for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen how can he love God whom he has not seen? (21) And this commandment we have from Him that he who loves God must love his brother also.”
PRESENT YOUR BODY AS A LIVING SACRIFICE.
Now if we are living sacrifices unto God, we are no more of our own rather, we are now of God. The Bible tells us that, “He who finds his life will lose it and he who loses his life for My sake will find it.” (Matthew 10:37) This tells us that we have to give up everything that will obstruct us while serving God in order to serve Him. Now a transformation by the renewing of our mind will come by reading the word of God and obeying it. Instructions necessary for Christians can be found in the Bible. We must read the Bible always, constantly and diligently and meditate upon it. We must also pray to God without ceasing. The prayer of a Christian is very important because it is the means of speaking with God. We must pray for grace to obey the word of God, we are reading.
BE HOLY.
Now the Bible tells us to be holy. We can be only if we surrender our lives to God and ask Him to help us live a holy life. We have to know the word of God in order to obey God. We have to pray and ask for direction on how we must live. We have to love God with all our hearts, souls and minds.
BE ACCEPTABLE.
The Bible tells us that we have to be acceptable the only one who can make us acceptable unto God is God himself we just have to surrender unto Him by trusting and obeying Him and praying that His will be done in our lives. That way, we will be acceptable unto Him and we will perfect.
DON’T BE CONFORMED TO THIS WORLD.
Now, the word of God tells us that we should not be conformed to this world. The dictionary defines the word conform to mean, acting in accordance with expectation or behaving in the manner of others, especially as a result of social pressure OR Being in accordance with the set of specifications regulations with a policy or guideline. The Bible says we shouldn’t be conformed to the world so we shouldn’t act or be in accordance with the policies or guidelines of the world (things that oppose God) since we are now of God and God’s country is Heaven then we are citizens of Heaven by faith. This doesn’t mean even if a believer backslides without repenting, he will still make it to Heaven. If he falls away, it would be impossible for Him to be saved. (Hebrews 6:4). We have to strive to enter through the narrow gate because many will seek to enter and will not be able. Luke 13:24. Matthew 7:14 tells us that, “because narrow is the gate and difficulties that way which leads to life and there are few that find it.”
BE TRANSFORMED BY THE RENEWING OF YOUR MINDS.
A very important commandment was given to Joshua by God in Joshua 1:8 that, “This book of the Lord shall not depart from your mouth but you shall meditate in it day and night that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it for then you make your way prosperous and then you will have good success.”
Meditation is the process of pondering over something to get a deeper understanding of it. Meditating upon the word of God does not only give us a deeper understanding but also causes the word to sink into our hearts and transform us and purge us of sin. This transforms us as our hearts and minds are renewed unto God and the things of God.
We must ponder over the word of God all the time in order to prevent sinful negative thoughts. We must read the word of God and pray without ceasing. We must also constantly ask God for forgiveness of sin and plead with Him to purify us.
Always remember we belong to God and are no more of ourselves after salvation.
© claim_all_all_Jesus
1 . I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your 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.
A sacrifice is an offering or total surrender of a gift to a person or deity. A living sacrifice means the sacrifice has life in it. The sacrifice mentioned in this scripture doesn't refer to killing oneself to shed blood, because of the blood of Jesus that was shed for us. God’s word tells us to present ourselves as a living sacrifice because, in order to please God, we must surrender totally unto Him so that, He will help us to live lives pleasing unto Him.
The way we can present our bodies as a living sacrifice is obeying the greatest commandments in, Matthew 22:37-40 which says,
37 . Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’
38 . This is the first and great commandment.
39 . And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’
40 . On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”
Now how do I prove my love to God? The answer can be found in John 15:14, “If you love me keep my commandments” and 1st John 4:20-21, “If someone says, ‘I love God’ and hate his neighbor he is a liar for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen how can he love God whom he has not seen? (21) And this commandment we have from Him that he who loves God must love his brother also.”
PRESENT YOUR BODY AS A LIVING SACRIFICE.
Now if we are living sacrifices unto God, we are no more of our own rather, we are now of God. The Bible tells us that, “He who finds his life will lose it and he who loses his life for My sake will find it.” (Matthew 10:37) This tells us that we have to give up everything that will obstruct us while serving God in order to serve Him. Now a transformation by the renewing of our mind will come by reading the word of God and obeying it. Instructions necessary for Christians can be found in the Bible. We must read the Bible always, constantly and diligently and meditate upon it. We must also pray to God without ceasing. The prayer of a Christian is very important because it is the means of speaking with God. We must pray for grace to obey the word of God, we are reading.
BE HOLY.
Now the Bible tells us to be holy. We can be only if we surrender our lives to God and ask Him to help us live a holy life. We have to know the word of God in order to obey God. We have to pray and ask for direction on how we must live. We have to love God with all our hearts, souls and minds.
BE ACCEPTABLE.
The Bible tells us that we have to be acceptable the only one who can make us acceptable unto God is God himself we just have to surrender unto Him by trusting and obeying Him and praying that His will be done in our lives. That way, we will be acceptable unto Him and we will perfect.
DON’T BE CONFORMED TO THIS WORLD.
Now, the word of God tells us that we should not be conformed to this world. The dictionary defines the word conform to mean, acting in accordance with expectation or behaving in the manner of others, especially as a result of social pressure OR Being in accordance with the set of specifications regulations with a policy or guideline. The Bible says we shouldn’t be conformed to the world so we shouldn’t act or be in accordance with the policies or guidelines of the world (things that oppose God) since we are now of God and God’s country is Heaven then we are citizens of Heaven by faith. This doesn’t mean even if a believer backslides without repenting, he will still make it to Heaven. If he falls away, it would be impossible for Him to be saved. (Hebrews 6:4). We have to strive to enter through the narrow gate because many will seek to enter and will not be able. Luke 13:24. Matthew 7:14 tells us that, “because narrow is the gate and difficulties that way which leads to life and there are few that find it.”
BE TRANSFORMED BY THE RENEWING OF YOUR MINDS.
A very important commandment was given to Joshua by God in Joshua 1:8 that, “This book of the Lord shall not depart from your mouth but you shall meditate in it day and night that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it for then you make your way prosperous and then you will have good success.”
Meditation is the process of pondering over something to get a deeper understanding of it. Meditating upon the word of God does not only give us a deeper understanding but also causes the word to sink into our hearts and transform us and purge us of sin. This transforms us as our hearts and minds are renewed unto God and the things of God.
We must ponder over the word of God all the time in order to prevent sinful negative thoughts. We must read the word of God and pray without ceasing. We must also constantly ask God for forgiveness of sin and plead with Him to purify us.
Always remember we belong to God and are no more of ourselves after salvation.
© claim_all_all_Jesus
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