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
Commenting on this verse, the daily devotional, “Turning Point” says:

Imagine this Old Testament conversation: “John, I am headed to the temple to offer a sacrifice for something I did earlier this week. Could you give me one of your blemish-free lambs to offer? I only have one and need to keep him for breeding.” Or consider this modern-day conversation: “Mary, I made a commitment to donate blood at the blood drive. Could you go in my place and donate a pint of blood for me?”

What’s wrong with these questions? It’s obvious — the person who has an obligation or commitment doesn’t want to make a sacrifice to fulfill his duty. And yet that negates the very notion of sacrifice. A personal sacrifice costs something; “sacrifice” means we have less than before. That is consistent with Paul’s words in Romans 12:1 where he urges us to make ourselves a “living sacrifice.” Imagine asking someone, “Could you give your life to Christ in my place? I’d like the benefits but am not crazy about the cost involved.”

Worshiping God involves many sacrifices: time, money, energy, our will, and our decisions. We should count the cost before making the commitment (Luke 14:28-33).

Consecration is resolution that is not afraid of sacrifice.

He who values God above all will never feel short-changed when he suffers the loss of all. When we love God for who He is, rather than what He gives, our faith will remain rock-solid when all else is gone. The key is giving God the place He deserves. J. Gresham Machen said it well when he wrote:

“If we have regarded religion merely as a means of getting things — even lofty and unselfish things — then when the things that have been gotten are destroyed, our faith will fail. When loved ones are taken away, when disappointment comes and failure, when noble ambitions are set at naught, then we turn away from God. We have tried religion, we say, we have tried prayer, and it has failed. Of course it has failed! God is not content to be an instrument in our hand or a servant at our beck and call.

Has it never dawned on us that God is valuable for His own sake, that just as personal communion is the highest thing that we know on earth, so personal communion with God is the sublimest height of all? If we value God for His own sake, then the loss of other things will draw us all the closer to Him; we shall then have recourse to Him in time of trouble as to the shadow of a great rock in a weary land. If here and now we have the one inestimable gift of God’s presence and favour, then all the rest can wait till God’s good time.”

“—Their prayer came up to His holy dwelling place, even unto heaven.”—2 Chronicles 30:27
Prayer is the never-failing resort of the Christian in any case, in every plight. When you cannot use your sword you may take to the weapon of all-prayer. Your powder may be damp, your bow-string may be relaxed, but the weapon of all-prayer need never be out of order. Leviathan laughs at the javelin, but he trembles at prayer. Sword and spear need furbishing, but prayer never rusts, and when we think it most blunt it cuts the best. Prayer is an open door which none can shut. Devils may surround you on all sides, but the way upward is always open, and as long as that road is unobstructed, you will not fall into the enemy’s hand. We can never be taken by blockade, escalade, mine, or storm, so long as heavenly succours can come down to us by Jacob’s ladder to relieve us in the time of our necessities. Prayer is never out of season: in summer and in winter its merchandise is precious. Prayer gains audience with heaven in the dead of night, in the midst of business, in the heat of noonday, in the shades of evening. In every condition, whether of poverty, or sickness, or obscurity, or slander, or doubt, your covenant God will welcome your prayer and answer it from His holy place. Nor is prayer ever futile. True prayer is evermore true power. You may not always get what you ask, but you shall always have your real wants supplied. When God does not answer His children according to the letter, He does so according to the spirit. If thou askest for coarse meal, wilt thou be angered because He gives thee the finest flour? If thou seekest bodily health, shouldst thou complain if instead thereof He makes thy sickness turn to the healing of spiritual maladies? Is it not better to have the cross sanctified than removed?—- forget not to offer thy petition and request, for the Lord is ready to grant thee thy desires. –C. H. Spurgeon

I am the Lord, I change not—-Mal. 3:6
In this ever-changing, corrupt, and confused world, we need to keep our focus on God’s amazing attributes if we are to survive. Spurgeon left us with this good reminder:

It is well for us that, amidst all the variableness of life, there is One whom change cannot affect; One whose heart can never alter, and on whose brow mutability can make no furrows. All things else have changed-all things are changing. The sun itself grows dim with age; the world is waxing old; the folding up of the worn-out vesture has commenced; the heavens and earth must soon pass away; they shall perish, they shall wax old as doth a garment; but there is One who only hath immortality, of whose years there is no end, and in whose person there is no change. The delight which the mariner feels, when, after having been tossed about for many a day, he steps again upon the solid shore, is the satisfaction of a Christian when, amidst all the changes of this troublous life, he rests the foot of his faith upon this truth-“I am the Lord, I change not.” The stability which the anchor gives the ship when it has at last obtained a hold-fast, is like that which the Christian’s hope affords him when it fixes itself upon this glorious truth. With God “is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.” What ever His attributes were of old, they are now; His power, His wisdom, His justice, His truth, are alike unchanged. He has ever been the refuge of His people, their stronghold in the day of trouble, and He is their sure Helper still. He is unchanged in His love. He has loved His people with “an everlasting love”; He loves them now as much as ever He did, and when all earthly things shall have melted in the last conflagration, His love will still wear the dew of its youth. Precious is the assurance that He changes not! The wheel of providence revolves, but its axle is eternal love.

For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office: So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another.—Romans 12:4-5

A churchgoer wrote a letter to the editor of a newspaper and complained that it made no sense to go to church every Sunday. The letter read as follows:

“I’ve gone to church for 30 years now. In that time I have heard something like 3,000 sermons. But for the life of me, I can’t remember a single one of them. So, I think I’m wasting my time, and the pastors are wasting their time.”

This started a real controversy in the Letters to the Editor column. It went on for weeks until someone wrote the following clincher:

“I’ve been married for 30 years now. In that time, my wife has cooked some 32,000 meals. But, for the life of me, I cannot recall the entire menu for a single one of those meals. But I do know this: They all nourished me and gave me the strength I needed to do my work. If my wife had not given me these meals, I would be physically dead today. Likewise, if I had not gone to church for nourishment, I would be spiritually dead today!”

Quite often, people downplay the importance of church attendance simply because it doesn’t give them the “spiritual high” they’re looking for each and every week. But church doesn’t exist to make you feel good. It exists to glorify God!

Stay in church; learn and grow with other believers. While you might not remember everything, you can be sure that if you have a willing heart, you’re being transformed into Christ’s likeness!- – – –

Pray that God would give you the resolve to remain connected with other believers when you’re tempted to do life alone.— Senior Living