“Our Daily Bread”
http://odb.org/2012/10/19/unused-gears/
The Daily Devotions of Greg Laurie
http://www.harvest.org/devotional/daily-devotions/home.ht
Romans 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. (NKJV)
The Apostle Paul was speaking to believers in the opening scripture… In Old Testament times, the only way sins could be forgiven by God, was if animal sacrifices were made by the high priest to cover sins…
Hebrews 5:1-3… But Jesus Christ became the High Priest who sacrificed Himself once and for all (Hebrews 9:28), when He shed His blood on the cross at Calvary to cover the sins of those who come to Him, seeking a personal relationship with Him…
Hebrews 9:11-12… But Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation. 12 Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. (NKJV)
The once and for all sacrifice made by Jesus will cleanse the sins from those who come to Him seeking a personal relationship with Christ… This relationship is consummated by understanding and obeying the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ… The sinner must humble themselves, and understand that they can in no way save themselves from eternal damnation… The sinner must then look to Jesus Christ, turn from and repent of their sins with heart felt prayer…and seek Jesus Christ to become their personal Lord, their Master, and their Savior… By God’s pure grace and His mercy through saving faith alone in Jesus Christ (Ephesians 2:8-9), God in His perfect timing can declare a sinner righteous in His sight… The righteousness of Christ is imputed into the sinner in exchange for forgiveness of a lifetime of sins…2 Corinthians 5:21… (This is known as obeying the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ)
After the new believer has been saved from eternal damnation by God, there should be such thankfulness for this pure grace God has bestowed upon the new Christian, that their lives should from that point forward be dedicated to serving the Lord… I believe this is what the Apostle Paul means, when he tells us that this “is your reasonable service” as a Christian… To be “holy & acceptable to God”, means that God must be first in the Christian’s life… How many of us have forgotten that the Lord must be first and foremost in our hearts and lives ??
Many Christian’s get so bogged down in serving the Lord, that they forget their first love… This is exactly what happened to the church at Ephesus… In Chapter 2 of the Book of Revelation, the Apostle John writes about this church at Ephesus that the Apostle Paul started some 30-40 years before, in…
Revelation 2:3… and you have persevered and have patience, and have labored for My name’s sake and have not become weary. 4 Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love. (NKJV) The Christian’s “first love” is the Lord…
We then read in the next verse how to correct this neglect for the Lord, in…Revelation 2:5… Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place—unless you repent. (NKJV)
This scripture refers to God putting an end to this church (remove your lampstand from its place), in which the believers had lost their love for God… They were so busy with the work of the church, they had forgotten about God Himself… It is not speaking about individual believers loosing their salvation… But we as Christians should learn from this scripture the Apostle John records in Revelation…
We cannot be holy in God’s eyes if we as Christians let our busy lives and our priorities take precedence over keeping Christ at the very core of our being… Loving the Lord with all of our heart, all of our soul, and all of our mind is what we are called to do as God’s child… Anything less, and we will have lost our first love…
Heavenly Father, Your Word was recorded by approximately 40 men of God, who were inspired by You to record the Bible…2 Timothy 3:16-17… I pray Lord, that all of us will spend time every day in Your Word, to grow in our spiritual knowledge and wisdom about how to live our lives in a way that will be pleasing in Your sight… Help us Lord, as Your children…to live in Your will and Your ways… I pray for this commitment of love for You, in Jesus’ most precious name and for His sake…Amen…
written by bruce r mills
P.S. The gospel of Christ is presented in the link below, to plant the seed toward salvation for those who want to become part of God’s family; to be sure they are righteous in God’s eyes, and filled with the awesome power of the Holy Spirit…
God's group 