Sacrifice
By Ro Lashua
What does the word sacrifice mean to us? When we hear that word, what do we think of?
Many “religious” people may think of the Old Covenant, the Old Testament, when the Israelites made sacrfices to the Lord. These sacrifices were still being done when Jesus arrived on the scene.
When Jesus died on the cross the curtain to the Holy of Holies, which was about 8 inches thick, just ripped in two pieces. God did that. It was a sign that now, Jesus was our High Priest and we could go to Him and not have to go to a physical High Priest. The Holy of Holies, the throne of God is now available to us through prayer and relationship with the Lord.
That is AWESOME! But what about the sacrifices?
Since the veil has been ripped in two, does God still want sacrifice?
The sacrifices God wants now are spiritual sacrifices, not the sacrifice of animals on an alter.
1 Peter 2:5 Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ (KJV).
Psalm 51:16-18 - For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering. 17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise. 18 Do good in thy good pleasure unto Zion: build thou the walls of Jerusalem (KJV).
Psalm 27:6 And now shall mine head be lifted up above mine enemies round about me: therefore will I offer in his tabernacle sacrifices of joy; I will sing, yea, I will sing praises unto the LORD (KJV).
God is more concerned about our spiritual sacrifice because that has lasting value. We sacrifice by having a broken and contrite spirit. We sacrifice by choosing to have joy when we do not feel joyful.
When we have a broken spirit we have broken the fleshly spirit and we allow the Holy Spirit more power in our lives. We need to be broken so God can put us together his way. We need to let go of self and let God have his way in us. That is sacrificing our own agenda and our own will to the will of God.
Often times when we have joy we are offering a sacrifice. When we lift up our head that implies it was down. That means when we are feeling down and we choose to look up to the Lord and be joyful we are giving God a sacrifice.
Let’s look at another sacrifice.
Psalms 4:5 Offer the sacrifices of righteousness, and put your trust in the LORD (KJV).
Our righteous life is a sacrifice to God. Now, some may say we are not righteous (no one is righteous no not one - ) but we are righteous as we follow Christ. As a believer in Jesus as our Lord and Savior we are covered in the righteousness of God. This is, however, something we choose to accept. Otherwise, why would we see believers falling away? That is because they stop making right choices. They turn from the right way and follow the lust of the flesh.
So we have a sacrifice of righteousness that we offer up to God. Perhaps it might be easier to make more right choices and not compromise the truth that we understand if we realized it is a sacrifice we are giving to God. It is fully within our power, with the support and direction of the Holy Spirit, to make the right choices. We will not always make the right choices, that is why we have mercy and forgiveness from God but the more right choices we make the easier it is to stay on the right path. The more wrong choices we make the more we begin to turn from the Lord and eventually we are heading the opposite direction and turning from the way the Lord has set before us.
God wants our spiritual sacrifices. These are far more valuable to him than the sacrifices of animals. He wants us to be devoted and committed to him. He wants us to love him with all our heart, mind, soul and being. That is a sacrifice.
It is a sacrifice when we do not feel like doing what is right but we do it anyway.
That makes God very pleased with us when we crucify the flesh, which is that broken spirit he refers to and instead we follow what his will is for us at any given moment.
It is not easy but it is far more rewarding. It is actually painful because the flesh screams when it is dying. We are to crucify our flesh and allow to grow within us the Holy Spirit.
Oh, yes, and we are to love our neighbor as our self. That is the hard part, especially if our neighbor has been a difficult person or if they have persecuted us. Then it is a real sacrifice.
Mark 12:33 And to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbour as himself, is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices (KJV).
When we are kind to our enemies, it heaps coals of fire on them. Give to them and be kind. They do not know what to do with it. It convicts them of their evil. It can even change them.
Romans 12:19-21 Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord. 20Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. 21Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good (KJV).
So sacrificing is not easy but it is doable. And we can see from scripture that the spiritual sacrifice is actually presenting our body as a living sacrifice. We might feel like we are dying when we are kind to our enemies, or when we are joyful when we do not fee like it but we will not die. Our carnal spirit will be broken and that is painful. The carnal spirit will resist and scream out in pain as we make our sacrifices to the Lord.
Romans 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 (KJV).
When we do this we are walking in love. This is a sacrifice to God. It pleases the Lord greatly.
Ephesians 5:2
And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour (KJV).
One of the most powerful sacrifices we can offer up to the Lord is the sacrifice of praise. You might think this is easy to do but it is not. It is difficult to praise God when we do not see a reason, however, God wants our praise in spite of our conditions. He is worthy of our praise, at all times.
Hebrews 13:15
By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.
So let’s give the Lord our spiritual sacrifices and enjoy the relationship we have with him and the joy and peace that comes from a broken and contrite spirit. We will see more of Jesus in us and less of us in us.
The more we sacrifice the more we are like Jesus.
By Ro Lashua
What does the word sacrifice mean to us? When we hear that word, what do we think of?
Many “religious” people may think of the Old Covenant, the Old Testament, when the Israelites made sacrfices to the Lord. These sacrifices were still being done when Jesus arrived on the scene.
When Jesus died on the cross the curtain to the Holy of Holies, which was about 8 inches thick, just ripped in two pieces. God did that. It was a sign that now, Jesus was our High Priest and we could go to Him and not have to go to a physical High Priest. The Holy of Holies, the throne of God is now available to us through prayer and relationship with the Lord.
That is AWESOME! But what about the sacrifices?
Since the veil has been ripped in two, does God still want sacrifice?
The sacrifices God wants now are spiritual sacrifices, not the sacrifice of animals on an alter.
1 Peter 2:5 Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ (KJV).
Psalm 51:16-18 - For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering. 17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise. 18 Do good in thy good pleasure unto Zion: build thou the walls of Jerusalem (KJV).
Psalm 27:6 And now shall mine head be lifted up above mine enemies round about me: therefore will I offer in his tabernacle sacrifices of joy; I will sing, yea, I will sing praises unto the LORD (KJV).
God is more concerned about our spiritual sacrifice because that has lasting value. We sacrifice by having a broken and contrite spirit. We sacrifice by choosing to have joy when we do not feel joyful.
When we have a broken spirit we have broken the fleshly spirit and we allow the Holy Spirit more power in our lives. We need to be broken so God can put us together his way. We need to let go of self and let God have his way in us. That is sacrificing our own agenda and our own will to the will of God.
Often times when we have joy we are offering a sacrifice. When we lift up our head that implies it was down. That means when we are feeling down and we choose to look up to the Lord and be joyful we are giving God a sacrifice.
Let’s look at another sacrifice.
Psalms 4:5 Offer the sacrifices of righteousness, and put your trust in the LORD (KJV).
Our righteous life is a sacrifice to God. Now, some may say we are not righteous (no one is righteous no not one - ) but we are righteous as we follow Christ. As a believer in Jesus as our Lord and Savior we are covered in the righteousness of God. This is, however, something we choose to accept. Otherwise, why would we see believers falling away? That is because they stop making right choices. They turn from the right way and follow the lust of the flesh.
So we have a sacrifice of righteousness that we offer up to God. Perhaps it might be easier to make more right choices and not compromise the truth that we understand if we realized it is a sacrifice we are giving to God. It is fully within our power, with the support and direction of the Holy Spirit, to make the right choices. We will not always make the right choices, that is why we have mercy and forgiveness from God but the more right choices we make the easier it is to stay on the right path. The more wrong choices we make the more we begin to turn from the Lord and eventually we are heading the opposite direction and turning from the way the Lord has set before us.
God wants our spiritual sacrifices. These are far more valuable to him than the sacrifices of animals. He wants us to be devoted and committed to him. He wants us to love him with all our heart, mind, soul and being. That is a sacrifice.
It is a sacrifice when we do not feel like doing what is right but we do it anyway.
That makes God very pleased with us when we crucify the flesh, which is that broken spirit he refers to and instead we follow what his will is for us at any given moment.
It is not easy but it is far more rewarding. It is actually painful because the flesh screams when it is dying. We are to crucify our flesh and allow to grow within us the Holy Spirit.
Oh, yes, and we are to love our neighbor as our self. That is the hard part, especially if our neighbor has been a difficult person or if they have persecuted us. Then it is a real sacrifice.
Mark 12:33 And to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbour as himself, is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices (KJV).
When we are kind to our enemies, it heaps coals of fire on them. Give to them and be kind. They do not know what to do with it. It convicts them of their evil. It can even change them.
Romans 12:19-21 Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord. 20Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. 21Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good (KJV).
So sacrificing is not easy but it is doable. And we can see from scripture that the spiritual sacrifice is actually presenting our body as a living sacrifice. We might feel like we are dying when we are kind to our enemies, or when we are joyful when we do not fee like it but we will not die. Our carnal spirit will be broken and that is painful. The carnal spirit will resist and scream out in pain as we make our sacrifices to the Lord.
Romans 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 (KJV).
When we do this we are walking in love. This is a sacrifice to God. It pleases the Lord greatly.
Ephesians 5:2
And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour (KJV).
One of the most powerful sacrifices we can offer up to the Lord is the sacrifice of praise. You might think this is easy to do but it is not. It is difficult to praise God when we do not see a reason, however, God wants our praise in spite of our conditions. He is worthy of our praise, at all times.
Hebrews 13:15
By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.
So let’s give the Lord our spiritual sacrifices and enjoy the relationship we have with him and the joy and peace that comes from a broken and contrite spirit. We will see more of Jesus in us and less of us in us.
The more we sacrifice the more we are like Jesus.
copyright © 2008 Ro Lashua. All rights reserved.