CHRIST-DAILY
DEVOTIONS
 January 11th

GENUINE WORSHIP SERVICE

"I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service" (Rom. 12:1).

What is genuine worship service to our Heavenly Father?  Paul just got through declaring, "For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever.  Amen" (Rom. 11:36).  On that basis, Paul therefore exhorts us that we should be a part of the through Him and to Him things.  Our Heavenly Father chose us to be in Christ before the foundation of the world (Eph. 1:4), because He wanted to have sons. Our Father sent His Son to pay our sin price in full with His shed blood on the cross.  Our Father was satisfied with Christ's propitiation for our sins (I John 2:2).  So our Father raised Christ from the dead to declare His satisfaction and acceptance of His perfect sacrifice (Rom. 4:24-25).  Our heavenly Father then sent the Holy Spirit to lead us to salvation.  Through the Spirit birthing by the Holy Spirit we receive the incorruptible Seed, the living Son and Lord of glory to live in us (I Pet. 1:23; I John 5:11-12).  The Son is  now in us, so that we will live a shared life through Him and we will live unto Him.

Since God with such love and great grace has provided such a merciful salvation for us, Paul says that we should present our bodies as a living sacrifice unto Him.  Are you looking for holiness?  Paul clearly states that this is the holy thing to do.  Are you looking for what is acceptable to God?  Again, Paul says this is the acceptable thing to do.  Paul says this is "your reasonable service" (Rom. 12:2).  The Greek confirms and clearly amplifies this.  The Greek word for reasonable is the word logikos, which means the logical, rational, reasonable application of the truth of the word that God has given us. The Greek word for service is the word latreian, which means to render worship, to offer sacrifices.  As our Heavenly Father's Spirit-birthed sons, we now have an eternal relationship with Him.  Our fellowship with our Father now comes, by our loving fellowship with His Son and His Son's self-for-others Spirit of sacrificial living through us as us.  We become a living sacrifice, only and when we let Christ truly live in and through us to and for the Father!

Our Father has planned to conform us to the image of His Son (Rom. 8:29).  Our Father uses all of the circumstances and situations of life that come our way, and works them together for good to do this very thing (Rom. 8:28).  We make the choices or decisions. Christ is the power and love source to flow in and through us (Eph. 3:19-20).  We are the earthen vessel (II Cor. 4:7).  We are a living sacrifice, so that the life of Christ can be manifested in and through us (II Cor. 4:10). This is genuine worship service!  V

Written by Dwight Davis
Christ-Ministries
 

                                               

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