Using Alpha Power to Be a Living Sacrifice

UV 2944/10000 Using Alpha Power to Be A Living Sacrifice
Rom 12:1 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.
Romans 12 v 1

If we read or study the rules of sacrifice explained in the books of Leviticus, Numbers under the old covenant God instituted with Israel, people were required to offer sacrifices of the good parts of dead animals while under the New Covenant relationship instituted through Jesus, we are now required to sacrifice the bad parts of our own lives or the bad use of the good parts of our lives, the animal in us. We are to put to death our old sinful nature. As priests of the Most High God, we are to offer our own egos to the Lord. We are to offer the members of our bodies- our tongues, our hands, our legs, our minds, our mouths, our appetite, our tastes, our emotions, our decisions or our wills to the Lord as part of the living sacrifice this uni-verse calls us to do.

The apostle Paul who had sacrificed the old Saul, his pride, his arrogance, his predilection for vengeance and violence, his misguided zeal to Jesus after his encounter on the road to Damascus pleads in this uni-verse with the body of believers to offer their bodies as living sacrifices. In short, our whole lives are to be consecrated to the Lord God not out of our own sense of self righteousness or pride in our own goodness but out of repentance, having received and benefitted and continuing to benefit from the rich mercies of the Lord. We are to abstain hereafter from the illicit or illegitimate desires or lusts of the bodies, minds and egos. We are to offer our minds or our intellects, our imagination, our emotions and our wills to the Lord Jesus who will make it acceptable, good and perfect to be offered as sacrifices to the Lord God. As priests, we sacrifice the very heart of our being to the Lord. We offer praise and thanksgiving continually to the Lord. We make positive confessions or declarations of faith in all practical aspects of life for these then become our spiritual sacrifices to the Lord. As kings by appointment and anointing of the Lord, we offer our crowns, our joys, our victories, our trophies, our claims to greatness, fame and power to the Lord for His use and enjoyment. When we fail, we offer a broken and contrite spirit for repentance is also a living sacrifice acceptable to the Lord for it shows that we have not received His grace in vain or that we despise it. Obeying the Word or fulfilling a vision is also a form of living sacrifice.

We use the double edges of the Alpha, the sword of the Word to kill or cut our own over-sized egos so that we do not consider ourselves better or more entitled than any other person. We curtail our selfishness by considering the needs and well being of others in whatever we say or do. Whatever we offer in thought, word or deed, the Holy Spirit sanctifies or perfects that which is imperfect in our lives. Our lives and every part thereof, then become sweet smelling sacrifices to the Lord, wholly acceptable, pleasing and perfect in His sight. Jesus in His role as High Priest in heaven presents us daily to the Lord God as the living sacrifices He has prepared unto the Most High on earth. Our homes are the tabernacle of sacrifice, our workplaces, the altars of living sacrifice. Every day takes on the shade of the Sabbath for we enjoy His rest or peace even in our workaday lives, while we are up and about. Our meditation and our communication on godly lines are a living sacrifice. Living a life worthy of the high calling we have received is a living sacrifice. Living a life of excellence or continual improvement in all aspects is a worthy and pleasing sacrifice. Choosing to think thoughts that are good, positive, beautiful, noble, edifying is a living sacrifice that take place in the sanctum sanctorum of our lives- our minds. Incremental as well as radical change for the better in our lives is a living sacrifice. Enduring suffering that one does not deserve patiently, faithfully, without complaining if not joyfully, is sacrifice that is pleasing to the Lord. Using our natural talents and spiritual gifts for His glory is living sacrifice. Stretching oneself to face enormous challenges with a victor mentality instead of a victim mentality is a spiritual sacrifice. Speaking in psalms, hymns and spiritual songs is a spiritual sacrifice that both the sacrifice and the One sacrificed to enjoys equally.