Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. Psalms 51:10
Praise the Lord and blessings to you!
As always, I thank God for His goodness and His
mercy. And so even on today, this is
another day that the Lord has made and allowed us to participate in! And because we know His will is good, it is
perfect and it is acceptable, we should rejoice in it!
All throughout the body of Christ, the call to prayer is evident. It is most definitely prayer time!
All throughout the body of Christ, the call to prayer is evident. It is most definitely prayer time!
Today, I would like to focus on our dedication to God. We know that God calls us out and
when He does, we are to be separate and be holy unto Him. We are to present our bodies a living
sacrifice to Him. We don’t do this as a
favor to God or even out of obligation, but out of love with fear (reverence), humbleness and submission. It is the Lord who loves us and has saved us.
This is why we dedicate our all to Him. 2 Corinthians 5:14-17 tells us:
For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again. Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more. Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
Dedicating ourselves to God is a part
of becoming a new creature. We read in
the old testament of the meticulous process that the Levites went through in order
to consecrate Aaron. So we know that dedicating or consecrating ourselves to go is not something to be taken lightly. We want to live a life that is holy,
acceptable and pleasing to God and the only way to do that is to dedicate ourselves to His will and His ways. In order to dedicate ourselves, we have to consecrate, devote, set apart, make holy, and sanctify ourselves; these are all things that
we must do in order to serve God in the manner that He would have us serve
Him.
Apostle Paul tells us in Romans 6:13, 18, 19:
Neither yield ye Your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield Yourselves unto God
. . ., Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.
. . sin shall not have dominion over You: . . ., even
so now yield Your members servants to righteousness unto holiness.
Dedicating ourselves to God is not
something that is just made up, it’s spoken of in the word throughout the
bible. Again in Romans 12:1-2, Apostle Paul
exhorts the roman church when he states:
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. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of Your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
We have to know and
treat our bodies as temples in which our Lord and Savior’s holy spirit
dwells. Apostle Paul, talking to the church at
Corinth, asks a question:
What?
know ye not that Your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in You, which ye have of God, and ye are not Your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in Your body, and in Your spirit, which are God's. 1 Corinthians 6: 19-20
With
those edifying words, let’s pray:
Dear Heavenly Father, it is an honor and privilege
to come before You this morning acknowledging Your sovereignty; giving You all
the honor and glory for keeping us another day; for keeping us in our health
and strength; having the use of our limbs and being in our right faculties, but
most of all, dear Father, we thank You for a right mind; a mind to serve You in
spirit and in truth.
All blessings, honor and glory belong to You; it’s
due You for You are the sovereign one; the Lord of Lord and King of Kings.
We come to You, Heavenly Father, with thanksgiving in our hearts knowing that You and only You are able
to supply our every need; to equip us to run this race, to defeat everything
that comes up against us, everything that is not like You. Lord, we thank You for the provision that You've given.
Dear God, we thank You for Your great, everlasting
faithfulness and unfailing love through Jesus Christ. We thank You for Your goodness and for Your
mercy. Lord, we want to say thank You
for all that You've done and for all that You’re going to do.
Lord we thank You for a
made up mind to serve You, to consecrate ourselves to You. King David asked, what can I offer for all Your
many benefits unto us. Your word tells
us total allegiance to You. Help us Lord
to submit totally to You; our hearts, minds, body and soul – we give it all to You
to use for Your will and Your good pleasure.
Lord because You are the center of our joy, make it our pleasure to
submit to You. We want to be willing
servants, ready to do Your will.
Help us dear Lord to be
able to say, "Today, from henceforth, I will
separate myself from everything not like you to serve You, because You have loved me."
Lord create in me a clean heart, a pure heart so
that no iniquity is present within me.
Touch my ears to be able to hear Your voice, enable my mouth to speak
those things that You would have me say, cleanse my hands so that I can work
for You, strengthen my feet so that I can go where You lead me.
If ever we needed You, it
is now Lord - as we wait on and receive
instruction from You. Open our heart and
ears to hear and receive Your word.
Oh, Lord, we love You
because You first loved us and purchased our pardon way back on Calvary; even
then knowing that You had a work for us to do.
You are our precious
redeemer, and we pray that You bind us closer Lord to You. Every hour of every day, we pray that You endue us with Your power, because we
can’t make it without You. Lord, help
us to be strong and of good courage knowing that You will never leave us nor
forsake us. You’ll be with us, You will
lead us and guide us in the direction that we’re to take.
Lord, we recognize that it is no goodness of our
own, that it is nothing that we did or said; it’s not because of our mother or
our father, we owe it all to the grace, love and mercy that You have for
us. And so dear Lord, it is an honor and
a privilege to come before You.
Dear Heavenly Father, in the name of Jesus, we plead
the blood against everything that is not like You. We ask that You command Your angels to guard
us in all our ways;
Dear God, we thank You for great and everlasting faithfulness! We thank You for Your goodness and for Your
mercy. We know that when we walk in
obedience according to Your word that You will supply every need we have according
to Your riches in glory. We thank You for providing the living water
that flows through us. It is through You that
we live, move and have our being.
We
need You, oh God, in our lives. Remember
all of those who are suffering both physically and mentally. We pray, oh Lord God that You bring peace and
deliverance to those that are troubled, that You bring comfort to those in
sorrow, healing to those who are sick. Lord,
we speak those things that are not as though they were; we are stretching out in
faith in Your name, Jesus! We pray in
the precious name of Jesus that You bind everything that is not like You. Help us O God to keep our minds stayed on You.
Lift us up in Your righteous hand and help us not to
grow weary while doing good, help us not to faint while fighting this fight. Keep us dear Lord; we know that You are able
because all power belongs to You!
Give us increased faith, Lord God, when we call on You,
to know that You will rescue us; that You will protect us and keep our minds in
perfect peace. Help our unbelief. Help us to remain
steadfast in You so that when we call upon You, You will not only hear our cry from
above but You’ll answer us, You’ll be with us and deliver us in our times of
trouble.
Keep the desire in us to always desire to be
available to You; to do Your will, to serve You as humble servants; grateful
that You called us out of a world filled with sin and shame. Help us to walk upright
before You, use us Lord; help us to present ourselves to a dying world as
ambassadors, as beacons on a hill, as shining lights, and servants; all for Your manifested glory; never
forgetting that we are saved to help save and to be a blessing to others.
And now, Lord we pray
that even as You be within us that You be with us, that You lead us and guide
us, give us wisdom and knowledge to speak and act according to Your will; that
we may be laborers in Your field; that Your manifested glory be revealed through us dear God.
We ask all these things
and we thank You for all things, in Jesus' wonderful name
we pray, amen
In closing, I want to
leave this final scripture with You:
But You are the
ones chosen by God, chosen for the high calling of priestly work, chosen to be
a holy people, God's instruments to do his work and speak out for him, to tell
others of the night-and-day difference he made for You – from
nothing to something, from rejected to accepted. Friends, this
world is not Your home, so don't make Yourselves cozy in it. Don't indulge Your
ego at the expense of Your soul. Live
an exemplary life among the natives so that Your actions will refute their
prejudices. Then they'll be won over to God's side and be there to join in the
celebration when he arrives.
I pray that all minds
are clear and that something was said to encourage us to go on in Jesus' name.
God's blessings to you . . .
Elder C. L. Henry
God's blessings to you . . .
Elder C. L. Henry
11/03/14
12/19/19
12/19/19
03/17/22
Amen!!!!!!!!!
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