- Sahara Desert is more than 3½ million sq miles
- Almost as large as USA
- It is the world's hottest desert, and the largest outside th poles
- During experiments aboard the space shuttle “Columbia,” scientists discovered that there are twenty-six lakes under the Sahara desert.
- Experts estimate it holds over 93,000 cubic miles of water
-30 times more than the entire world uses today.
- It’s tragic to think of the people who are starving and dying of thirst because these hidden resources have not yet been tapped.
- The old way of living has to be replaced with this new discovery
- Don’t get stuck in a rut and stay there
- "A Rut is a Coffin With the Ends Kicked Out."
- Is your mold of a new day "Here I go again,"
- It is as though you were putting on a cold, wet boot.
I Beseech You
- Like “ATTINTION EVERYONE” or EXTRA, EXTRA READ ALL ….
- Urgency here - Appeal, Beg, Urge, Plead
- 1 Thessalonians 4:10 (AV)
… we beseech you, brethren, that ye increase more and more;
Therefore Brethren
When we see “therefore” we need to ask “What is it there for?”
- We review the previous facts & truths
- ROMANS – My need of salvation & Christ my Savior
- Ro 11:33-36 – Sums it all up
The Living Bible | Ro 11:33
Oh, what a wonderful God we have! How great are his wisdom and knowledge and riches! How impossible it is for us to understand his decisions and his methods! 34 For who among us can know the mind of the Lord? Who knows enough to be his counselor and guide? 35 And who could ever offer to the Lord enough to induce him to act? 36 For everything comes from God alone. Everything lives by his power, and everything is for his glory. To him be glory evermore.
By The Mercies Of God
- Compare Ro 11:30-32 Mercy - 4x-
- Mercy means undeserved kindness, compassion, tenderness
- We are blessed – Ephesians 1:3 (AV)
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:
- Ps 1:1-3 – Blessed is the man ….
Present Your Bodies
- To place at one’s disposal
- Nothing held back – Total surrender
1 Corinthians 6:19–20 (AV)
19 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?
20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.
- Anninasis & Sapheria - Acts 5:1-3
- OT sacrifice was to die, our sacrifice is to live!
- This sacrifice is costly, painful, difficult, personal & necessary
- Think of giving a book to someone but not letting go
- They can’t use it
Philippians 1:20–21 (AV)
20 According to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death.
21 For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.
A “Living Sacrifice”
- To consecrate oneself
- As a slave owned by another - No longer my own self
- Being freely available to God
“Will you please tell me in a word,” said a Christian woman to a minister, “what your idea of consecration is?”
Holding out a blank sheet of paper the pastor replied, “It is to sign your name at the bottom of this blank sheet, and to let God fill it in as He will.”
- Problem with a living sacrifice, is that it tends to crawl off of the altar
A “Holy Sacrifice”
- Holy = An awesome sacrifice
- As a bride and groom commit themselves to each other once and for all on their wedding day.
- The bride does not turn to the groom and say, “I give you my cooking ability.”
- Nor does the groom say to her, “I give you my bank account.”
- No, in a marriage ceremony they vow, “I give you myself.”
- An awesome sacrifice
- In fellowship with God
- Sacrificing our desires to God
- Setting ourselves apart from sin
An “Acceptable Sacrifice”
- One desired by God
- To take pleasure in ( As in Cane & Able- Ge.4)
- Cain wanted sacrifice his way
- Laying down our own ambitions and desires to God’s biding
- A life that honors Christ
- Shows in obedience & faithfulness
Described As A "Reasonable Service".
- To be genuine spiritually in how you think, speak, act
- Shown through intense love, adoration
- Giving up my right to myself
Tattered Umbrella OUR DAILY BREAD had an article about Queen Mary, who made it her practice to visit Scotland every year. She was so loved by the people there that she often mingled with them freely without a protective escort. One afternoon while walking with some children, she went out farther than she’d planned. Dark clouds came up unexpectedly, so she stopped at a nearby house to borrow an umbrella. “If you will lend me one,” she said to the lady who answered the door, “I will send it back to you tomorrow.” The woman didn’t recognize the Queen and was reluctant to give this stranger her best umbrella. So she handed her one that she intended to throw away. The fabric was torn in several places and one of the ribs was broken.
The next day another knock was heard at the door. When the lady opened it, she was greeted by a royal guard, who was holding in her hand her old, tattered umbrella. “The Queen sent me,” he said. “She asked me to thank you for loaning her this.” For a moment the woman was stunned, then, she burst into tears. “Oh, what an opportunity I missed,” she cried. “I didn’t give the Queen my very best!”
- Break the Mold – Live Only For Him
