Tuesday, March 24, 2015

March 25, 2015

“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.  Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”  Romans 12:1-2

Home plate is where you connect with God. Everything begins and ends at home plate.

First base is where God connects with you! First base is the personal character base.

The home plate connection is about commitment and the first base connection involves consecration.

The Apostle Paul describes that first base connection with the Christians in the Roman church. Character connection begins with several decisions or in the original language “a decisive dedication”.

This verse highlights three levels of consecration that develops His character in you:

Consecrate your body!

Consecration happens at an altar where a sacrifice is laid there as a worship offering to the Lord. This is the image Paul portrays in this admonition.

Here’s the literal rendering of this thought:

“I appeal to you therefore, brethren, and beg of you in view of [all] the mercies of God, to make a decisive dedication of your bodies [presenting all your members and faculties] as a living sacrifice, holy (devoted, consecrated) and well pleasing to God, which is your reasonable (rational, intelligent) service and spiritual worship.

Have you done that? Have you consecrated yourself to Him?

Consecrate your will!

Once a sacrifice was offered on the altar, whether it be a lamb or a heifer or a dove, it stayed there lifeless until it burned up in the fire on the altar.

But your consecration is a “living sacrifice”. The problem with living sacrifices is it can get up off the altar.

So, a consecrated “living sacrifice” must make a willful decisive decision to remain on the altar. A living sacrifice consecrates his will to the Lord daily, refuses to follow the pattern of the world and chooses to follow the pattern of God.

Have you done that? Have you consecrated your will to God?

Consecrate your mind!

“But be transformed (changed) by the [entire] renewal of your mind [by its new ideals and its new attitude], so that you may prove [for yourselves] what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God,

God doesn’t demand an educated mind or a shrewd mind or a creative mind or a brilliant mind, He demands a transformed mind! A transformed mind is a mind that has been cleansed by the blood of Jesus and fundamentally changed at the deepest level by the power of Christ.
When God transforms your mind, you will think differently than you did before! When God transforms your mind His Word will become clearer to you each time you read it. When God transforms your mind you will think more about God and less about yourself!

First base is the character base and that character is developed by a consecration of your body, will and mind to God – EVERY DAY!

Have you done that? Will you?

CHARACTER – don’t leave first without it!