Commitment - March 23/2014 TEXT: 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. - Romans 12:1 KJV Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of Gods mercy, holy and pleasing to God - which is your spiritual worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what Gods will is - his good, pleasing and perfect will. - Romans 12:1, 2. NIV MESSAGE: As a pastor and missionary, I feel that this is perhaps the most important post that I have shared. I have prayed earnestly that the blessed Holy Spirit would anoint and bless todays message. I have shared thoughts for those who have missed out on Gods plan for their lives; this will thrill you and give you abundant hope and joy unspeakable! On the 14th of March, 1872 David Livingstone a medical missionary, having said farewell to Mr. Stanley a news reporter from England. Many of the general public were anxious to know why David had not been heard for several years. A London Newspaper made a decision to send Mr. Stanley to Central Africa in an effort to located him. He spent several months and eventually located him. Stanley spent several weeks with Livingstone persuading him to return, for he was elderly and not well and had already spent 35 years in Africa serving His Lord; turning from the prospect of comfort, popularity and ease at home, to face again the fevers of central Africa, while his would-be rescuer set out for the coast. March the 19th was Livingstones fifty-ninth birthday and we read in his diary these words: My Jesus, my King, my Life, my All; I again dedicate my whole self to Thee signed David Livingstone. A year later he was found dead on his knees by his bedside, a candle burning, and his Bible open, himself in the presence of the King. Where are those who will make this kind of commitment? There are multitudes of young men and woman who are capable of giving their lives to serve our lovely Lord! Our Lord Jesus gave his all, are you ready to give your all? 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 - Romans 12:1. Having spent nearly 60 years of ministry, I have seen and heard so many heart broken stories and experiences, who set out to serve God on the mission field and got sidetracked. Many got married and then children came and then many got into careers, etc. and missed Gods plan for their lives. I have often told the story of the prairie farmer, who went out on the plains attempting to kill the coyotes, who were killing his flock of sheep. The farmer would have his dogs in the back of his pickup and when he saw a coyote he released the dogs to catch the coyote, but often just then as the dogs were about catch the coyote; a bunny rabbit would hop from the bush and the dogs would forget the coyote and chase the bunny rabbit. Well you no doubt already get the point. Watch out for those bunny rabbits, for the enemy is subtle and can make your future look so attractive and yet miss the will of God for your life! So many had good intentions and yet missed the target of Gods best for their life! However my dear friend do not despair. The Word of God has encouragement and hope for you, And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm, and the caterpillar, and the palmerworm, my great army which I sent among you. And ye shall eat in plenty, and be satisfied, and praise the name of your God, that hath done wondrously with you: and my people shall never be ashamed. - Joel 2:25, 26. Some, will no doubt, be familiar with the story of how the hermit had taken with him, into the forest, an old second rate violin to help him while away the lonely hours, and of the stranger who had lost his way and came to the hermit’s hut to spend the night. And when his host had done his best at,“Home sweet Home” and some other tunes, the stranger ask if he might try, and you will recall how he took the instrument and made it respond to his touch until you could hear in the strings the music of a cataract, the voice of a nightingale, the laugh of a child and the sob of a broken-hearted man. And the old hermit sat entranced. The stranger was Ole Bull! The music after all is not so much in the instrument as it is in the master, and if you would make an absolute surrender of your will to Him this day and let Him have His way with the instrument even though broken and disappointing as it may be: I wonder if the thing you have prayed for and longed for, would not take place in your life today! Arise, my soul, arise; Shake off thy guilty fears; The Bleeding Sacrifice In my behalf appears: Before the throne my surety stands, My name is written on His hands. My God is reconciled; His pardoning voice I hear: He owns me for His child; I can no longer fear: With confidence I now draw nigh, And “Father, Abba, Father,” cry. - Charles Wesley This experience can be the entrance into years of fruitfulness! God is the Lord, which has showed us light: bind the sacrifice with cords, even unto the horns of the altar. - Psalms 118:27. Why not right now drop on your knees and bind those cords to the altar and begin life a new! Thank you my dear Brother for all this effort - Duane
Posted on: Tue, 25 Mar 2014 21:37:13 +0000
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