IS
YOUR ALL ON THE ALTAR?
Romans
12:1-2 J.B. Phillips New Testament (PHILLIPS)
12 1-2
With eyes wide open to the mercies of God, I beg you, my brothers, as an act of
intelligent worship, to give him your bodies, as a living sacrifice, consecrated
to him and acceptable by him. Don’t let the world around you squeeze you
into its own mould, but let God re-mould your minds from within, so that
you may prove in practice that the plan of God for you is good, meets all his
demands and moves towards the goal of true maturity.
Luke
1:34-38 Authorized (King James) Version (AKJV)
34 Then said Mary
unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man? 35 And the angel answered and said unto her,
The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall
overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee
shall be called the Son of God. 36 And,
behold, thy cousin Elisabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age: and
this is the sixth month with her, who was called barren. 37 For with God nothing shall be
impossible. 38 And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me
according to thy word. And the angel departed from her.
Luke 1:3. Phillips Modern English New
Testament (PHILLIPS)
38 “I belong to the Lord, body and soul,”
replied Mary, “Let it happen as you say.” And at this the angel left her.
·
There will be no meaningful travail or labour
until we have laid our ALL on the Lord’s altar, until we have come to the end
of ourselves.
·
Laying all on the altar requires a total
yielding of our rights and our claim to anything…
·
In fact, my greatest travail is to present my
body, my life, my plans, my preferences, my confidence, my intellect, my
ambitions, my pleasure, my everything to God as a living sacrifice; to allow
CHRIST to live HIS life in my body.
Prayers
1. Lord, I am grateful that You have need
of me, even me! Thank You for making it a possibility for me to be of use to
You.
2. Lord, I surrender my body and soul to
You. They are Yours.
3. Lord, please give me grace to lay my
ALL on the altar of sacrifice for You. Help me to lay ALL that I have and ALL
that I am on the altar.
4. Lord, let my senses be Yours, moving
only at the impulse of Your nudge.
5. Lord, please help me not to hold back
anything from You.
6. Lord, I lay down everything I think I
know and can do in my own strength.
7. Lord, let my body be a living
sacrifice, holy and acceptable to You. Please accept my sacrifice on Your altar.
8. Lord, change me from within; re-make me
with a whole new attitude of mind so that I can be transformed into the image
of Christ. Eph 4:23 (Philips NT)
·
God is looking for my willing consecration.
What is the mark of my consecration to the Lord?
- Mary gave up her virginity and honour ~ Luke 1:26-38
- Abraham gave up his beloved son ~ Genesis 22
- Paul gave up his credentials and reputation ~ Philippians 3:3-8
- The disciples gave up all ~ Luke 18:28, Mark 10:28
- Jesus gave up His glory ~ Philippians 2:5-8
·
What have I given up in my personal
consecration to the Lord’s labour?
·
What is the Lord asking me to give up as a sign
of my consecration to Him?
