Offer Sacrifices

Before Christ’s death and resurrection, people presented burnt offerings to receive forgiveness of their sins. But these gifts weren’t the Lord’s only requirement. He also desired that their sacrifice be given with a thankful heart and a broken spirit—a change of attitude within. Are we required to offer sacrifices today?

Make thankfulness your sacrifice to God,
and keep the vows you made to the Most High.

Psalm 50:14, NLT

The sacrifice you desire is a broken spirit.
You will not reject a broken and repentant heart, O God.

Psalm 51:17, NLT

Once Christ sacrificed His life for us, we were no longer required to present burnt offerings. We are called, however, to model our lives after His—filled with love.

Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ.
He loved us and offered himself as a sacrifice for us,
a pleasing aroma to God.

Ephesians 5:2, NLT

Romans 12:1 teaches that our bodies are to be a living and holy sacrifice. Our true worship includes holiness, purity, and Christlikeness.

And we are taught to offer a continual sacrifice of praise—to proclaim our faithfulness to His name.

Therefore, let us offer through Jesus a continual sacrifice of praise to God, proclaiming our allegiance to his name.
And don’t forget to do good and to share with those in need.
These are the sacrifices that please God.

Hebrews 13:15-16, NLT

But when is our offering of thanksgiving and praise a sacrifice? Do we ever have bad days or days we don’t feel well? Maybe we’re too tired or busy? Even during these times, we are to thank and praise the One who has given us so much and proclaim our commitment and devotion to Him.

Sacrifice is still required today as a part of our daily worship, in our praise and thanksgiving for all God has done, and in declaring our faithfulness to His name. Other ways we may sacrifice are of our time, talent, and giving. These include doing good and sharing with those in need as stated in the above verses from Hebrews—lovingly serving others is often a sacrifice.

In what other ways do we offer sacrifices to the Lord?

Father, may I be aware of how You desire for me to lovingly serve others in the sacrificing of my time, talent, and giving. Convict me, Holy Spirit, when I sin, so I can be quick to repent and follow You—to worship You in purity and walk in Christlikeness. Help me remember to thank You on my good days and on those not so good days when I’d rather mope and complain. I desire to give You praise and thanksgiving for all Your blessings, declare Your faithfulness through my daily life, and offer sacrifices You are pleased with. In Jesus’s name. Amen.

Photo by Priscilla Du Preez - Unsplash

Sing To The Lord

Do you enjoy singing? Do you love to sing to the Lord? The Book of Psalms includes many references to singing.

I will thank the Lord because he is just; I will sing praise
to the name of the Lord Most High.

Psalm 7:17, NLT

The Lord is my strength and shield. I trust him with all my heart.
He helps me, and my heart is filled with joy.
I burst out in songs of thanksgiving.

Psalm 28:7, NLT

Why are we instructed to sing songs of thanksgiving and praise?

  • We sing because of God’s goodness.

I will sing to the Lord because he is good to me.

Psalm 13:6, NLT

  • And we sing to celebrate His mighty acts.

Rise up, O Lord, in all your power. With music and singing
we celebrate your mighty acts.

Psalm 21:13, NLT

What are we to sing about?

  • We sing with joy of the Lord’s power, love, and protection.

But as for me, I will sing about your power. Each morning I will sing with joy about your unfailing love. For you have been my refuge, a place of safety when I am in distress.

Psalm 59:16, NLT

  • And we sing about the glory of His name.

Sing about the glory of his name! Tell the world how glorious he is.

Psalm 66:2, NLT

Although the references above are from the Old Testament, Book of Psalms, the New Testament also directs us to sing.

. . . singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, and making music to the Lord in your hearts.

Ephesians 5:19, NLT

I enjoy lifting my voice to the Lord in song both in corporate worship and in the quiet of my home and car. Times of praise and thanksgiving fill me with joy, love, and strength, and inspire me to draw closer to the Lord. I love to sing to the Lord. Do you?

Photo by Aaron Burden - Unsplash

Recognizable?

As believers in Christ, we are His ministers. Our lives are a testimony to who He is and what He has done for us and in us. When we interact with others, they should recognize attributes of Christ in us—His love, kindness, and compassion to name a few. We may be the only epistle from Christ they see (or read).

Clearly, you are a letter from Christ . . . This “letter” is written not with pen and ink, but with the Spirit of the living God. It is
carved not on tablets of stone, but on human hearts.
We are confident of all this because of our great trust
in God through Christ. It is not that we think we are qualified
to do anything on our own. Our qualification comes from God.
He has enabled us to be ministers of his new covenant.

2 Corinthians 3:3-6a, NLT

During a recent phone call, a friend of ours experienced a situation where he contacted a woman from his church to see if he could schedule a sales appointment with her. The lady he called hung up on him. The woman texted him a few days later to apologize. She felt terrible that she’d been rude. She explained that she’d had several robocalls already, and it was late. Since the call, her actions bothered her, and she wanted to tell him she was sorry. This is an example of a believer who admitted their mistake and was quick to seek forgiveness. We’re not perfect—we mess up, but we strive to be like Christ and fix our blunders.

Just as Paul spoke the words above to the Church at Corinth, we are living epistles or letters read and recognized by others. The Holy Spirit has written on our hearts Christ’s message of life and love. We have confidence in the Holy Spirit’s work in us because of our trust in God. Our sufficiency comes from Him. We cannot do anything on our own, but God qualifies us and has enabled us to be His ministers.

We don’t have to be called into a full-time ministry to be used by God. As His ministers, we can share His love in little ways as well as big. I’ve listed a few basic ways to show Christ’s love, kindness, and compassion to others in our daily lives.

  • Be a blessing to someone in need

  • Be a friend

  • Be quick to forgive and to seek forgiveness

  • Do our best for our employer and to those who we’ve made a commitment

  • Keep our word

  • Share a smile

  • Speak kindness to those we meet and to those we love

  • Write a note of encouragement

There are many more. Please list your thoughts in the comment section on how we can be recognizable as a letter from Christ in our daily lives. I believe the key is to do whatever we do for the Lord and for His glory.

And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father.

Colossians 3:17, NLT

Photo by Kelly Sikkema - Unsplash

Prized Possession

I love God’s creation—His prized possession. Not only people, but the beautiful mountains, rivers, and yes, even the deserts. I enjoy seeing the many animals He created and love traveling and experiencing all He has made. My husband and I recently traveled to West Texas and made stops at the Natural Bridge Wildlife Ranch and Big Bend National Park. Our most recent excursion took us to Bosque Del Apache National Wildlife Refuge located in Central New Mexico.

The Natural Bridge Wildlife Ranch is in San Antonio. Their website boasts that they offer an African safari—Texas style. Over 500 animals and 40 species from around the world live on the ranch covering 450 acres. This was our second time to drive through and view the many animals from the safety of our vehicle.

Big Bend National Park consists of over 800,000 acres, including canyons, desert, mountains, forests, and the Rio Grande River. We only spent a day there and explored by car. We hope to return one day soon to hike and enjoy the outdoors. The Rio Grande at Santa Elena Canyon was our favorite site.

This was our second trip to Bosque Del Apache National Wildlife Refuge. This wildlife area of over 57,000 acres is a temporary home to water birds who spend their winters here. The refuge offers a 14-mile Scenic Drive around various lakes and marshland. We saw cranes, geese, ducks, herons, roadrunners, hawks, eagles, deer, and turtles.

What amazes me is that in all of God’s creation, all the beauty that surrounds us and all the creatures of the earth, nothing comes close to His love for us and our importance to Him. Although I stated above that God’s prized possession is His creation, more specifically we, His children, take first place with Him.

He chose to give birth to us by giving us his true word.
And we, out of all creation, became his prized possession.

James 1:18 (NLT)

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