Day: October 5, 2022

“Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship”

Romans 12:1

As we all know that we, human beings, are created by God almighty to worship Him. “This people have I formed for myself; they shall shew forth my praise.” Isaiah 43:21. How can we worship our creator, the maker of the heaven and the earth? Through offering ourselves- our body, soul and spirit- holy and pleasing to God.

How can we be holy?

It’s a continual process of surrendering ourselves to the Holy Spirit and cleansing all our thoughts with Philippians 4:8, casting down all imaginations and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God (2 Corinthians 10:5) reminding ourselves continually 1 Corinthians 6:20 that we are bought at a price; therefore, we need to glorify God in our body and in our spirit, which are God’s. By grace we have been saved through faith in Lord Jesus Christ and there cannot remain anything worldly in us. We need to guard our mind and heart from all evil talks that goes on around us, forgiving everyone, binding and destroying all the evil altars and raising the altar of the blood of Lord Jesus Christ within us.

How can our lives be pleasing to God?

Paul lays down the basic principle of Christian living which pleases God. Living a life of Faith, love, endurance and hope (1 Thessalonians 1:3), joy in your suffering (1 Thessalonians 1:6) turning from all idols of our lives and patiently waiting for Jesus’ second coming (1 Thessalonians 1:9-10) He says in 1 Thessalonians 4:1 “As for other matters, brothers and sisters, we instructed you how to live in order to please God, as in fact you are living. Now we ask you and urge you in the Lord Jesus to do this more and more.”

The best example of life pleasing to God is of Jesus. He says with confidence, “The one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what pleases him” (John 8:29).

We always strive to please some or the other person in life, be it in our family, friends, in our workplace and even in the ministry that we are a part of. We also worship our money, position, designation, business, job, home, and all other materialistic things. We need to be honest with ourselves every moment with the help of The Holy Spirit that are we a man-pleaser or solely focused to please God and do all that He wants us to do.

Worship is not merely the offering of elaborate earthly wisdom prayers to God, singing soulful melodious songs of praise pleasing to one’s ears but its living a sacrificial life of repentance, taking a U turn from sin, thanking God for everything, surrendering completely and wholeheartedly to God because Jesus said,

“But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. “

John 4:23

Prayer:

Father God, we offer ourselves, our heart, mind and soul to you. Have your way Lord and help us not to sin with our speech, action and deed but worship you with all that we do in Spirit and Truth.  

Sol. Neha

…But we do not want to make these men who take the tax angry. So go to the lake and throw out a line to catch fish. Pull up the first fish that you catch on your line. Open the mouth of the fish and you will find a coin inside it. Take the coin and give it to those who receive taxes for God’s Great House. This will be enough money for both my tax and yours.” Matthew 17:27

Just a few days ago, as I was sitting in prayer, the Lord spoke to me through above verse of this chapter. The Lord explained it to me very beautifully and I was very happy when I understood what these verses meant. The Lord had revealed to me the secret of what I want to tell you all today. I was upset for the last few days because of some thing, and today you too maybe like me. The Lord has solution to all our problems. All we need to do today is, that in His presence, we need to tell out every need of today. He provides us all kinds of provisions according to the time of our need, whether it is a spiritual need or a physical need, any financial need or an emotional need, healing, or peace that we want in our restless minds. I was waiting for a divine instruction. Then the Lord revealed to me these mysteries. Peter had to face the people of society of that time and similarly we too have to prove every time that we are Christians in this society. Here the people interrupted Peter and asked him “Doesn’t your teacher pay the Temple tax?” “Yes, He does,” he replied. When Peter came into the house, Jesus was the first to speak. “What do you think, Simon? “He asked. “From whom do the kings of the earth collect duty and taxes—from their own children or from others?” “From others,” Peter answered. “Then the children are exempt, “Jesus said to him. “But so that we may not cause offense, go to the lake and throw out your line. Take the first fish you catch; open it’s mouth and you will find a four-drachma coin. Take it and give it to them for my tax and yours.” The Holy Spirit explained to me what it means in my life. Here, the lake shows the depth of God’s word, and casting in a fishhook in the lake means spending time in prayers and setting your eyes on heaven. When you do this, you will receive an answer to your prayer from God. Well, then you’ll get a fish. Fish means, there is a solution to all your problems. And the most surprising thing is that when you open it’s mouth, you will get a coin by which you can fulfill your needs and at the same time, you can also serve God. Pay attention to the last line of the verse that says “This will be enough for both my tax and yours”. God will reveal his will in your life and will anoint you, so that, you can make your full contribution to the service of His kingdom with strength. Amen

Sol.Binesh Kumar