Memorise: And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man
according as his work shall be. Revelation 22:12
Read: Revelation 22:11-14, 11 He
that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let
him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous
still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still.
12 And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.
13 I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.
14 Blessed
are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree
of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.
Bible in one year: 2nd Kings 10:18-12:21, Proverbs 22:29-23:13
MESSAGE
At the beginning of his ministry, Paul took a ride in a basket as he escaped for his life in Damascus (2nd
Corinthians 11:32-33). But the God who delivered him from the garrison
at Damascus, allowed him to end up in jail at Philippi (Act 16). Because
God answered a particular prayer yesterday does not mean that He would
repeat another in exactly the same manner.
In
Acts 16:25, Paul conducted a worship service in prison right in the
midst of chains and bonds. He never complained. Paul learnt to praise
God in whatever circumstance he found himself. Not many people can
praise God when thrown into prison for the sake of the Gospel. He was
prepared to undertake the worst of sufferings for the Kingdom of God
(Philippians 1:20-21). He was not ashamed. Are you ashamed to suffer
minor ridicule, persecutions,
denials, beatings for His Name today? Paul could say we should become a living sacrifice to God because he was one.
In
African traditional religion, when a bird or animal is brought as a
sacrifice to an idol, the giver forfeits his right to that animal; it
becomes the property of the idol for the rest of its life. Whether it
lives or dies or is given to someone is at the discretion of the idol.
That living sacrifice may be fed so well in one moment and killed the
next minute. This explains the term living sacrifice. You should be so
yielded to God to the extent of delivering to Him the greatest pleasure
in whatever you do. If dying for the Gospel will give Him the height of
pleasure, you should be prepared to die like Stephen. The preparedness
of Daniel to go into the lion’s den demonstrates that he was a living
sacrifice. But in the end, instead of death, his faith compelled a
decree for the whole world to fear Daniel’s God. If my death can produce
a United Nations decree compelling all nations of the world to worship
no other god other than my God – the true and living God, I will gladly
be on my way to Heaven. Are you a living sacrifice? And to what extent?
Prayer Point
Father, please give me the grace to always look unto You for everything I need in life.
