SACRIFICES THAT SAVE LIVES
(First part)
Memory verse: JOHN 12:24-25 " Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain. He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life "
Sacrifice life is the ultimate form of life one can ever live. Jesus was ready to lay his life down to die for our salvation. The only begotten Son of God sacrificed his on life and by his death he has raised many sons unto God. His death on the cross has set the captives free, has brought forgiveness to the sinners, he made sinners saints, has made the poor riches, has brought healthy to the sick, has brought peace to those who were confused (Is 53: 1-5)
Just one life of the Son of God sacrificed once, brought salvation for the whole world and all generations. That’s why Paul said that the preaching of the cross of Jesus is the power of God to us who are saved ( ICor1:18) Lives that were dead in sin and were doomed to die forever now have found life eternal just by the one life that was sacrificed. Sacrifice is the greatest power of the kingdom of God. Salvation is a product of sacrifice. You will save nothing in life until you learn the lifestyle of sacrifice. Your daily sacrifices will guarantee you a great harvest in the future. Sacrifice less seasons will gives you harvest less future.
Sacrifices Jesus made, (Phil2:5-11)
-He left Heaven (glory) and came to live in sinful world.
-He set aside his glory and became man.
-He became a servant.
-He chose to die the most shameful death.
Benefits of his sacrifice:
-His sacrifice has brought salvation to millions of souls that were to perish forever.
-He was given a name that is above every name.
-He was given authority in heaven and on earth.
-Every knee bow to him and every tongue confess that He is Lord etc.
The greatness of your sacrifice will determine your size in life. Choose a life that will give you worth in this world and in the world to come!
Tomorrow we will see, ‘ The Sacrifice of God The Father’
(Second part)
Memory verse: JOHN 3:16 " For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life "
Love is the womb of sacrifices. Absence of love means absence of sacrifices. Paul said love was his constraining force (II Cor 5:14) It’s love that compelled God to give His only one Son. In fact God Himself is love, love is not what God has, love is what God is. Love is not what God does. Love is what God IS! The nature of God is love. God loves you just because He can’t deny Himself, He’s love. That’s why He loves you. His nature caused him to give the greatest sacrifice that has produced the greatest results ever!
God loved us so much that he wanted us saved and there was no other way He could, except through the death of His Son. So He gave Him. Your love determines your giving. What you love will force you to pay whatever it takes to get it. Where your treasures are that’s where your spending will be. You spend on what you value. You are the thing God treasure most on earth, because God purchased you with the highest price of the blood of His Son. God’s heart is on you because you’re his treasure on this earth; the church is God ‘s greatest treasure on the earth. The church is God’s commodity. You’re precious. Your value is determined by your price, the blood of God’s Son bought you; you’re worth God’s son’s blood.
Little sacrifices you make in life determine the quality of life you’ll enjoy. Your positions, or what you have or know will not touch the world but your sacrifices you offer for people. People don’t care how much you know or have but how much you care. What you have can impress people, your eloquence can be mind boggling, your riches can be reaching staggering figures but all these put together cannot touch peoples lives, it’s sacrifice that impact lives.
God did not save us because He’s the almighty; He saved us because he loved us. Its time your life is filled with God’s love so you’ll begin to impact your world. Remember this: its love that sacrifices! And its sacrifices that saves!
Tomorrow we see, ‘Abraham’s Sacrifice’
(Third part)
Memory verse: Gen 22:1-2 " Now it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham, and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” Then He said, “Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you ”
Abraham our father in faith was a man of sacrifices. He gave what he loved most; even God knew it and said to him, give me your son Isaac whom you love. If they were many perhaps that could be affordable, but how can you part with the only one thing that is most important in your life! Something that is irreplaceable, something without an equivalent, something you can’t buy anywhere in the world. Sacrifice is painful but gainful. Once prices are fully paid, prizes are guaranteed! But Abraham went ahead and obeyed God to sacrifice his only one son of promise, Isaac. (Gen 22: 3-10). God watched Abraham’s action and it moved Him greatly. Sacrifices done in obedience to God moves God’s heart! (Gen 22: 11-12). Sacrifice operates under the law of sowing and reaping, giving and receiving. Abraham’s sacrificial giving moved God and he provided a lamb to Abraham to offer. (Gen 22:13-14)
Benefits of sacrifices
a) Sacrifices provoke blessings of God (Gen 22:17). I know blessings of God are ours by the Grace but we access them through the ways God has provided to us through his word, and one way we tap into the blessings is through sacrificial lifestyle. It was by grace that God chose Abraham, but again there’s a way God wanted Abraham to walk.
b) Sacrifices releases multiplication (Gen 22:17). Jesus emphasized this law of sacrifice and multiplication, " if a seed falls in the ground and dies (sacrificed), it produces much grain ". God promised multitudes to Abraham like the sand of the sea and God fulfilled it, it’s your turn to turn your seeds into harvests by your sacrifices.
C) Sacrifice changes your status (Gen 22:17). God promised him that his descendants should possess the gates of the enemy. Sacrifices produce greatness. The sacrifice Jesus gave made him the king of kings and Lord of Lords. It’s your turn to turn your story. It’s all in your hands; What life you choose to live, a history reader or a history maker!
Tomorrow we shall learn about ‘The Widow’s sacrifice’
(Fourth part)
Memory verse: I Kings 17:10-14 "... And Elijah said to her, “Do not fear; go and do as you have said, but make me a small cake from it first, and bring it to me; and afterward make some for yourself and your son. For thus says the LORD God of Israel: ‘The bin of flour shall not be used up, nor shall the jar of oil run dry, until the day the LORD sends rain on the earth ”
There’s a world wide economic recession today. It’s not been the first one. Though, the Bible is full of records of famines, i.e. economical bad times. There was famine in the days of Abraham, Isaac. Egypt in days of Joseph, Israel in days of king Ahab, in the days of King David etc. In all those dark days God raised up men and women who feared him to bring divine solutions. God inspired Isaac to sow in the famine and he prospered mightily; God gave Joseph the economic solution for the upcoming dearth. Here we’re today with a threat of global economic down turn and no one knows how long it's going to take and how much it's going to impact world.
To the widow of Zerapath, she and her son were one meal between life and death. But the God of heaven is all knowing and loving and sent her Elijah with a divine solution that would save her life. God‘s wisdom was that she did not have to eat the last meal she had, but sow it. When what you have is not enough to meet your need, then it’s your seed. You can turn your bread into a seed (Eccl 11:1, Is 55:10) God gives the seed for sowing and bread for eating, but often time we fall into the trap of greed and end up eating what we had to sow. When you eat the seed, then you have lost the harvest. Your sacrifice will save your life and family in these dark days. Your answer for the future lies in that small thing you call nothing. Your last will be last if you put it into you mouth, but if you sow it into good soil, it will become your beginning! Your painful sacrifices will bring to you joyful harvests (Ps 126:6)
Tomorrow we will see ‘The cost of Discipleship’
(Fifth part)
Memory verse: Luke 14:33 " So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple "
Discipleship means sacrifice. Kingdom life is transformational, revolutionary, life changing (Rom12:1-2)Kingdom life is a give and take. Jesus came to take away our sins to give us His righteousness, we give Him the works of the flesh and He gives us the fruit of the Spirit, we give Him our death and He gives us His life, we give Him our pride and He gives us His humility, we give Him our lives and He gives us His life. Discipleship means following Him, imitating Him. Stop living our lives and start living His life, stop doing our desires and start doing what please Him, stop walking in our ways and start walking in His ways, stop leaning on our strength and start depending on His grace.
Paul compared the things he held dear with the surpassing glory of the knowledge of Christ and found that the difference was like heaven from earth. What he thought was treasure actually was trash compared to the new life in Christ, so he made his decision, he put the junk at God’s altar and picked up God’s life (Phil3:7-11)
There are things we're to give up so we may pursue the life that God is giving to us daily. The choice is yours: you can’t live both the old lifestyle and the new life in GOD AT THE SAME TIME. You have to put off the old and put on the new. Until you give them up you cannot go up. We have to examine the ways we're walking in. Whether they’re leading to life or death (Prov16:25). Sacrifice produces greatness. The disciples of Jesus asked him what was the benefit of their sacrifice life (Mk10:29-30). Jesus told them they were to receive a hundredfold of everything they seemed to have lost, they would receive eternal life plus persecution.
These men who left everything began to shake the whole world not after many years. Your impact is a function of your sacrifice. They made history which 2000 years have not been able to erase. There’s a cheap and base life you have leave and cleave to a life that brings meaning, fulfillment and significance. Your sacrifice will determine your significance! If you desire to impact your generation for God’s glory, then sacrifice is the way to go!
Tomorrow you’ll learn ‘ The Highest sacrifice to offer’
(Sixth part)
Memory verse: Rom 12:1 " 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 "
God gave the best to get the best out of world; He gave His only begotten son to bring many sons to himself in glory! The law of sowing and reaping states "what you sow is what you reap". The higher the sacrifice the higher the prize! When it came to the Lord Jesus, the sacrifice He gave was His very life. Abraham sacrificed his very son.
What is the highest sacrifice the Lord is demanding of us? The scripture has revealed it, our own bodies, i.e. our own lives. So the highest form of sacrifice is not what we have. It's who we are (Jn3:16) By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. It’s not enough to give to God or to give away everything we have; God wants us to give him our lives as sacrifices. The scripture says the sacrifice of the Lord is a contrite spirit and a broken heart (Ps 51:17) Scripture reveals the true service we have, i.e. we’re priests who have a duty to offer to God not lives or flesh of goats and sheep but our bodies. We’re the priests and we are the sacrifice. There’s nothing we can do for God, except to give Him our lives and He himself can turn them into His vessels or channels or instruments or whatever. Just give it to Him, once it’s in His possession it’s up to Him what He wants to turn it into and what He uses it for. A life surrendered to God is the life that will be most productive.
God turned Moses’ rod into a divine instrument to do great miracles, He turned the ass’s jawbone into a weapon of war into Samson’s hands that killed one thousand philistines. John the Baptist told the Pharisees that God has the ability of turning stones into sons of Abraham. You just don’t have any idea what God can make out of your life once surrendered to Him. God wants to feel through you, He wants to touch your generation through you, there are places God wants to reach through. Give Him your life and your generation will be blessed. God does not lack power but vessels, God does not lack a word to your nation but a mouth, God has never stopped to heal, He only lacks hands, there are no places God cannot reach to save lives but He lacks legs, God has never run short of messages but messengers! Beloved, there is a word hanging over your head: "will you give me your life" says God!
Enjoy your weekend while musing on the color of your destiny.