In View Of God’s Mercy Series

Would you like to trade jobs with him? I wouldn’t and yet, he told me that he likes going to work every day. He likes his work. Of course, he now works from 7:30 in the morning to 3:30 p.m., five days a week. Sounds good for now, but it wasn’t pleasant in Iraq.

Ken did tell me that if it wasn’t for his faith in the Lord he would never have survived the war in Iraq. It was his faith in the Lord that kept him going. Because of his faith in Christ, Ken is being a living sacrifice for Christ whether he realizes it or not. WE ALL ARE or should be.

What are you living for? What is your ultimate goal in life? Are you living for you, for yourself, for your own pleasures in life or are you living to please the Lord? That’s what a living sacrifice does for Christ.

Philippians 1:21 “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.”

I Corinthians 10:31 “So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.”

Matthew 6:33 “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness....”

Ephesians 5:8 “For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light.”

Ephesians 5:15-18 “Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit.”

These scriptures and many more tell us how to give our bodies to God as living sacrifices. Basically, it means that we live for Him in all ways and not for ourselves.

When we are faced with decisions in life where we have to chose His way or our own selfish way, WE CHOOSE HIS WAY! That’s the only way that will bring Him glory instead of glory to ourselves. This means that we choose purposely to obey His Word. But blessings always come to those obey Him but even when we feel we’re not blessed, we still choose His will and way over our own way.

II. DON’T GIVE IN TO THE WORLD

2 Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world

ILL.- There are thermostats and there are thermometers. What’s the difference? One registers the temperature and the other regulates the temperature. We are supposed to be regulators of the world’s temperature. We are supposed to thermostats in this world of evil.

The way of the world is opposed to God and Christ. This should be obvious to us. That is, it’s the thinking of the world. It’s carnal, it’s sinful, it’s the way of sin and pleasure.

ILL.- James Engel summarized the belief system and the presuppositions that commonly prevail among what he calls modern man: “God, if He exists at all, is just an impersonal moral force. Man basically has the capacity within himself to improve morally and make the right choices. Happiness consists of unlimited material acquisition. There really is no objective basis for right and wrong. The supernatural is just a figment of someone's imagination. If a person lives a "good life", the eternal destiny is assured. The Bible is nothing other than a book written by man.”