The Privilege of Honoring Him
February 22, 2016
The Privilege of Honoring Him
Ephesians 1:3-14
3Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. 4For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love 5he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— 6to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. 7In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace 8that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding. 9And he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, 10to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment—to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ.
11In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, 12in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory. 13And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.
How blessed and privileged we are when we comprehend that our great and awesome God has chosen you and I out of all humanity. He gave us spiritual eyes to see, ears to hear and a heart to receive such a great and glorious salvation that He has chosen to reveal to us. Far to often we take way too much for granted that God has honored us to know Him, comprehend and receive the great calling He has for our lives. We treat as ordinary and common this special gift of eternal life and the great privileges and honor that go with it. We often see our faith as despised by the world and so sometimes we feel embarrassed by it. You have what the world will covet in the ages to come. We don’t yet see all of the glory and honor that is ours in Christ if we hold fast to our faith. You hold a position with the King of Kings. You are personally known and called out by the Father. Regardless of how you feel about it, you are exceptionally special, a priceless stone and gem of great price.
We must not be dulled and dumbed down to the great and awesome calling we each have in Christ. He has even given us the seal of the Holy Spirit as a guarantee that we are His. We are a blessed people who need to be so constantly appreciative, thankful and aware of our Father who has so loved us and His Son who gave His very life for us. We must refocus our hearts, our goals, our desire and plans to be made conformable to His divine will and purpose in us, for it is glorious beyond measure and we don’t want to miss it. We all get caught up so much in the vanity of this world, but that is a distraction and mask concealing our true identity and purpose. Embrace and comprehend who you are in Christ. When the revelation of this truth fully dawns on us we are so broken and humbled by a God that could love and care so much just about us. Let us not take for granted our salvation and the high calling that we have in Christ Jesus. Let us present ourselves as living sacrifices wholly acceptable and pleasing to the Father; that is our destiny and calling that Christ can have a manifested expression through us. Only we can give ourselves over to His will and purpose in us. Let us not neglect so great a salvation and calling in Christ Jesus.
Blessings,
#kent
A Sweet Smelling Sacrifice
January 22, 2014
Phl 4:18
But I have all, and abound: I am full, having received of Epaphroditus the things [which were sent] from you, an odour of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, well-pleasing to God.
A Sweet Smelling Sacrifice
Is the Lord only interested in our tithes and offerings that we give out of obligation and legalism? Tithes and offerings are a good thing to bring unto the Lord, but what is God looking for? Is it just money and our substance? In Hosea 6:6 God says, “For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.” Often in the law of our traditions, we, like Israel of old are only concerned with carrying out the ceremony and doing our duty. God tells His people your duty has no relevance if you don’t have a revelation of what the significance of the duty is about. God doesn’t need our money. He is the Creator of all things and all things are His possession. The possession that He doesn’t own is that which He gave to us to choose to whom we give it too. That is our soul and will. If we bring our offering, but it is not an expression of our soul and our will then it is not acceptable to God.
We have all had experiences with others where they may have did what we said or expected, but their heart and their will was not in it; especially within our own family. Love gives from the heart, not just out of obligation. The sweet smell of our sacrifice is when it comes from the love of our heart. Song of Solomon 4:10 says, “ How fair is thy love, my sister, [my] spouse! how much better is thy love than wine! and the smell of thine ointments than all spices!” What was it that made, in type, the Lord’s bride better than wine and all spices? It was her love. The Lord so loves us and He proved that by giving Himself for us. Now it is our opportunity and privilege to express back to Him our love for Him in every way. When we offer up the sacrifice of praise from a heart of love, worship and praise then it is like that sweet smelling incense that was burned upon the altar. We are like that altar, made of flesh, but covered in the nature and gold of God’s character and likeness. We are the instrument upon which is offered the sweet smelling sacrifice that is acceptable and well pleasing unto the Lord.
Paul experienced this same type of sacrificial giving from the Philippians in Philippians 4:18. Paul, who had sacrificially given of His life to the church was now experiencing back a sacrifice that he knew came out of a heart of love and caring. I believe his words are expressive of how the Lord sees the sacrifices that we bring Him that comes out of a right attitude of heart and love.
In Exodus 30: 7-8 the Word says, “Aaron must burn fragrant incense on the altar every morning when he tends the lamps. 8 He must burn incense again when he lights the lamps at twilight so incense will burn regularly before the LORD for the generations to come.” God is looking and desiring an incense that will arise continually from that altar of His people. The incense of a broken and contrite heart that functions in the love and fear of God. The incense of continual worship, praise, thanksgiving and adoration of the One who gave it all. Our lives, how they are lived and expressed, have the ability to be that sweet smelling incense that rises up into the nostrils of the Father. It is in the expression of our love that he delights and it is in this expression that our offerings and sacrifices are acceptable unto Him.
tricklesoftruth 