"LIVING SACRIFICE, LIVING STONES"

 

Romans 12:1-2

 

I appeal to you therefore, brethren, and beg of you in view of [all] the mercies of God, to make a decisive dedication of your bodies [presenting all your members and faculties] as a living sacrifice, holy (devoted, consecrated) and well pleasing to God, which is your reasonable (rational, intelligent) service and spiritual worship.

 

 

² Do not be conformed to this world (this age), [fashioned after and adapted to its external, superficial customs], but be transformed (changed) by the [entire] renewal of your mind [by its new ideals and its new attitude], so that you may prove [for yourselves] what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God, even the thing which is good and acceptable and perfect [in His sight for you].

 

 

1 Peter 2:4-6

⁴ Come to Him [then, to that] Living Stone which men ^[a]tried and threw away, but which is chosen [and] precious in God’s sight.

 

⁵ [Come] and, like living stones, be yourselves built [into] a spiritual house, for a holy (dedicated, consecrated) priesthood, to offer up [those] spiritual sacrifices [that are] acceptable and pleasing to God through Jesus Christ.

 

⁶ For thus it stands in Scripture: Behold, I am laying in Zion a chosen (^[b]honored), precious chief Cornerstone, and he who believes in Him [who adheres to, trusts in, and relies on Him] shall never be ^[c]disappointed or put to shame.

 

 

DEAR PRECIOUS BELIEVER; BEFORE YOU YOU SEE THE THE FACE OF A MAN TODAY; "SEEK THE FACE OF GOD."  PRESENT YOURSELVES BEFORE THE LIVING HOLY CHIEF CORNER STONE, AS LIVING STONES. WILL YOU DO THIS BEFORE YOU SET IN STONE YOUR OWN PLANS TODAY ? PLANS FROM HOUSEHOLD CHORES TO, BUSINESS RESPONSIBILITIES AND MINISTRY. "ALL THAT YOU DO, IS IT FOR THE GLORY OF THE LORD? THEN FROM HIM, YOUR CHIEF, YOU WILL HEAR; "WELL DONE GOOD AND FAITHFUL SERVANT." ALL ELSE IS LIKE THE WIND.

 

 

THE PRESENTING YOUR LIFE AS A LIVING SACRIFICE THEN IS THE PRIORITY, ABOVE ALL THINGS; TWO 2 CLEAR CHOICES. ONE "TRANSFORM", WHICH PROMISES THE ENTIRE RENEWAL OF YOUR MIND. SECOND IS "CONFORM," WHICH PROMISE TO BE FASHIONED ONLY TOO THE SUPERFICIAL CUSTOMS OF THE WORLD.

 

BROTHERS THE HOUR IS LATE, THE TIME FOR SLOTHFUL MAN OF GOD MUST END. OUR BROTHERS IN OTHER LANDS SUFFER TO THE DEATH THEIR CONFESSION OF CHRIST, EVEN AS THIS WRITER PENS THIS CRY TO YOU .

 

DO YOU REALLY WANT "THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT,?"  THEN BEFORE YOU GO OUT TO THE EXTERNAL WORLD, OFFER YOURSELVES "LIVING SACRIFICES." IF YOU MAKE YOUR HOME IN A MUD HUT, OR IN THE PALACES OF KINGS AND CO'S, THE MESSAGE IS THE SAME. THEN AND ONLY THEN, CAN THE CHIEF CORNER STONE PLACE YOU AS LIVING STONES, IN ORDER TO TURN THE WORLD UPSIDE DOWN, RIGHT WHERE YOU LIVE...PRAISE HIS HOLY NAME!!!!

 

 

 

 

 

"THE FINAL BATTLE"

Zechariah 14

 

 Behold, a day of the Lord is coming when the spoil [taken from you] shall be divided [among the victors] in the midst of you.

² For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the city shall be taken and the houses rifled and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go into exile, but the rest of the people shall not be cut off from the city.

³ Then shall the Lord go forth and fight against those nations, as when He fought in the day of battle.

⁴ And His feet shall stand in that day upon the Mount of Olives, which lies before Jerusalem on the east, and the Mount of Olives shall be split in two from the east to the west by a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north and half of it toward the south.

⁵ And you shall flee by the valley of My mountains, for the valley of the mountains shall reach to Azal, and you shall flee as you fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah; and the Lord my [Zechariah’s] ^[a]God shall come, and all the holy ones [saints and angels] with Him.

⁶ And it shall come to pass in that day that there shall not be light; the glorious and bright ones [the heavenly bodies] shall be darkened.

⁷ But it shall be one continuous day, known to the Lord—not day and not night, but at evening time there shall be light.

⁸ And it shall be in that day that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem, half of them to the eastern [Dead] Sea and half of them to the western [Mediterranean] Sea; in summer and in winter shall it be.

⁹ And the Lord shall be King over all the earth; in that day the Lord shall be one [in the recognition and worship of men] and His name one.

¹⁰ All the land shall be turned into a plain from Geba to Rimmon, [the Rimmon that is] south of Jerusalem. But Jerusalem shall remain lifted up on its site and dwell in its place, from Benjamin’s gate to the place of the First Gate, to the Corner Gate, and from the Tower of Hananel to the king’s winepresses.

¹¹ And it shall be inhabited, for there shall be no more curse or ban of utter destruction, but Jerusalem shall dwell securely.

¹² And this shall be the plague wherewith the Lord will smite all the peoples that have warred against Jerusalem: their flesh shall rot away while they stand upon their feet and their eyes shall corrode away in their sockets and their tongue shall decay away in their mouth.

¹³ And in that day there shall be a great confusion, discomfiture, and panic among them from the Lord; and they shall seize each his neighbor’s hand, and the hand of the one shall be raised against the hand of the other.

¹⁴ And Judah also shall fight at Jerusalem, and the wealth of all the nations round about shall be gathered together—gold and silver and apparel in great abundance.

¹⁵ And as that plague on men, so shall be the plague on the horse, on the mule, on the camel, on the donkey, and on all the livestock and beasts that may be in those camps.

¹⁶ And everyone who is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles or Booths.

¹⁷ And it shall be that whoso of the families of the earth shall not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, upon them there shall be no rain.

¹⁸ And if the family of Egypt does not go up to Jerusalem and present themselves, upon them there shall be no rain, but there shall be the plague with which the Lord will smite the nations that go not up to keep the Feast of Tabernacles.

¹⁹ This shall be the consequent punishment of the sin of Egypt and the consequent punishment of the sin of all the nations that do not go up to keep the Feast of Tabernacles.

²⁰ In that day there shall be [written] upon the [little] bells on the horses, holy to the lord, and the pots in the Lord’s house shall be holy to the Lord like the bowls before the altar.

²¹ Yes, every pot in all the houses of Jerusalem and in Judah shall be dedicated and holy to the Lord of hosts, and all who sacrifice may come and take of them and boil their sacrifices in them [and traders in such wares will no longer be seen at the temple]. And in that day there shall be no more a Canaanite [that is, any godless or unclean person, whether Jew or Gentile] in the house of the Lord of hosts.

 

 

Luke 21

 

 Looking up, [Jesus] saw the rich people putting their gifts into the treasury.

² And He saw also a poor widow putting in two mites (copper coins).

³ And He said, Truly I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them;

⁴ For they all gave out of their abundance (their surplus); but she has contributed out of her lack and her want, putting in all that she had on which to live.

⁵ And as some were saying of the temple that it was decorated with handsome (shapely and magnificent) stones and consecrated offerings [^[a]laid up to be kept], He said,

⁶ As for all this that you [thoughtfully] look at, the time will come when there shall not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.

⁷ And they asked Him, Teacher, when will this happen? And what sign will there be when this is about to occur?

⁸ And He said, Be on your guard and be careful that you are not led astray; for many will come in My name [^[b]appropriating to themselves the name Messiah which belongs to Me], saying, I am He! and, The time is at hand! Do not go out after them.

⁹ And when you hear of wars and insurrections (disturbances, disorder, and confusion), do not become alarmed and panic-stricken and terrified; for all this must take place first, but the end will not [come] immediately.

¹⁰ Then He told them, Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.

¹¹ There will be mighty and violent earthquakes, and in various places famines and pestilences (plagues: ^[c]malignant and contagious or infectious epidemic diseases which are deadly and devastating); and there will be sights of terror and great signs from heaven.

¹² But previous to all this, they will lay their hands on you and persecute you, turning you over to the synagogues and prisons, and you will be led away before kings and governors for My name’s sake.

¹³ This will be a time (an opportunity) for you to bear testimony.

¹⁴ Resolve and settle it in your minds not to meditate and prepare beforehand how you are to make your defense and how you will answer.

¹⁵ For I [Myself] will give you a mouth and such utterance and wisdom that all of your foes combined will be unable to stand against or refute.

¹⁶ You will be delivered up and betrayed even by parents and brothers and relatives and friends, and [some] of you they will put to death.

¹⁷ And you will be hated (despised) by everyone because [you bear] My name and for its sake.

¹⁸ But not a hair of your head shall perish.

¹⁹ By your steadfastness and patient endurance you ^[d]shall win the ^[e]true life of your souls.

²⁰ But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know and understand that its desolation has come near.

²¹ Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, and let those who are inside [the city] get out of it, and let not those who are out in the country come into it;

²² For those are days of vengeance [of rendering full justice or satisfaction], that all things that are written may be fulfilled.

²³ Alas for those who are pregnant and for those who have babies which they are nursing in those days! For great misery and anguish and distress shall be upon the land and indignation and punishment and retribution upon this people.

²⁴ They will fall by ^[f]the mouth and the edge of the sword and will be led away as captives to and among all nations; and Jerusalem will be trodden down by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled (completed).

²⁵ And there will be signs in the sun and moon and stars; and upon the earth [there will be] distress (trouble and anguish) of nations in bewilderment and perplexity [^[g]without resources, left wanting, embarrassed, in doubt, not knowing which way to turn] at the roaring (^[h]the echo) of the tossing of the sea,

²⁶ Men swooning away or expiring with fear and dread and apprehension and expectation of the things that are coming on the world; for the [very] powers of the heavens will be shaken and ^[i]caused to totter.

²⁷ And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with great (transcendent and overwhelming) power and [all His kingly] glory (majesty and splendor).

²⁸ Now when these things begin to occur, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption (deliverance) is drawing near.

²⁹ And He told them a parable: Look at the fig tree and all the trees;

³⁰ When they put forth their buds and come out in leaf, you see for yourselves and perceive and know that summer is already near.

³¹ Even so, when you see these things taking place, understand and know that the kingdom of God is at hand.

³² Truly I tell you, this generation (^[j]those living at that definite period of time) will not perish and pass away until all has taken place.

³³ The ^[k]sky and the earth (^[l]the universe, the world) will pass away, but My words will not pass away.

³⁴ But take heed to yourselves and be on your guard, lest your hearts be overburdened and depressed (weighed down) with the ^[m]giddiness and headache and ^[n]nausea of self-indulgence, drunkenness, and worldly worries and cares pertaining to [the ^[o]business of] this life, and [lest] that day come upon you suddenly like a trap or a noose;

³⁵ For it will come upon all who live upon the face of the entire earth.

³⁶ Keep awake then and watch at all times [be discreet, attentive, and ready], praying that you may have the full strength and ability and be accounted worthy to escape all these things [taken together] that will take place, and to stand in the presence of the Son of Man.

³⁷ Now in the daytime Jesus was teaching in [^[p]the porches and courts of] the temple, but at night He would go out and stay on the mount called Olivet.

³⁸ And early in the morning all the people came to Him in the temple [^[q]porches or courts] to listen to Him.

 

 

"KINGDOM OF GOD; TAKEN BY FORCE"

 

 

Matthew 11

 

 

 

 When Jesus had finished His charge to His twelve disciples, He left there to teach and to preach in their [Galilean] cities.

 

² Now when John in prison heard about the activities of Christ, he sent a message by his disciples

 

³ And asked Him, Are You the One Who was to come, or should we keep on expecting a different one?

 

⁴ And Jesus replied to them, Go and report to John what you hear and see:

 

⁵ The blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed (by healing) and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up and the poor have good news (the Gospel) preached to them.

 

⁶ And blessed (happy, fortunate, and ^[a]to be envied) is he who takes no offense at Me and finds no cause for stumbling in or through Me and is not hindered from seeing the Truth.

 

⁷ Then as these men went their way, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John: What did you go out in the wilderness (desert) to see? A reed swayed by the wind?

 

⁸ What did you go out to see then? A man clothed in soft garments? Behold, those who wear soft clothing are in the houses of kings.

 

⁹ But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and one [^[b]out of the common, more eminent, more remarkable, and] ^[c]superior to a prophet.

 

¹⁰ This is the one of whom it is written, Behold, I send My messenger ahead of You, who shall make ready Your way before You.

 

¹¹ Truly I tell you, among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.

 

¹² And from the days of John the Baptist until the present time, the kingdom of heaven has endured violent assault, and violent men seize it by force [as a precious prize—a ^[d]share in the heavenly kingdom is sought with most ardent zeal and intense exertion].

 

¹³ For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied up until John.

 

¹⁴ And if you are willing to receive and accept it, John himself is Elijah who was to come [before the kingdom].

 

¹⁵ He who has ears to hear, let him be listening and let him consider and ^[e]perceive and comprehend by hearing.

 

¹⁶ But to what shall I liken this generation? It is like little children sitting in the marketplaces who call to their playmates,

 

¹⁷ We piped to you [playing wedding], and you did not dance; we wailed dirges [playing funeral], and you did not mourn and beat your breasts and weep aloud.

 

¹⁸ For John came neither eating nor drinking [with others], and they say, He has a demon!

 

¹⁹ The Son of Man came eating and drinking [with others], and they say, Behold, a glutton and a wine drinker, a friend of tax collectors and [^[f]especially wicked] sinners! Yet wisdom is justified and vindicated by what she does (her deeds) and by ^[g]her children.

 

²⁰ Then He began to censure and reproach the cities in which most of His mighty works had been performed, because they did not repent [and their hearts were not changed].

 

²¹ Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would long ago have repented in sackcloth and ashes [and their hearts would have been changed].

 

²² I tell you [further], it shall be more endurable for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment then for you.

 

²³ And you, Capernaum, are you to be lifted up to heaven? You shall be brought down to Hades [the region of the dead]! For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have continued until today.

 

²⁴ But I tell you, it shall be more endurable for the land of Sodom on the day of judgment than for you.

 

²⁵ At that time Jesus began to say, I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth [and ^[h]I acknowledge openly and joyfully to Your honor], that You have hidden these things from the wise and clever and learned, and revealed them to babies [to the ^[i]childish, untaught, and unskilled].

 

²⁶ Yes, Father, [I praise You that] such was Your gracious will and good pleasure.

 

²⁷ All things have been entrusted and delivered to Me by My Father; and no one ^[j]fully knows and ^[k]accurately understands the Son except the Father, and no one ^[l]fully knows and ^[m]accurately understands the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son ^[n]deliberately wills to make Him known.

 

²⁸ Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy-laden and overburdened, and I will cause you to rest. [I will ^[o]ease and relieve and ^[p]refresh ^[q]your souls.]

 

²⁹ Take My yoke upon you and learn of Me, for I am gentle (meek) and humble (lowly) in heart, and you will find rest (^[r]relief and ease and refreshment and ^[s]recreation and blessed quiet) for your souls.

 

³⁰ For My yoke is wholesome (useful, ^[t]good—not harsh, hard, sharp, or pressing, but comfortable, gracious, and pleasant), and My burden is light and easy to be borne.

"SPIRITUAL FORCES"

Matthew 16:18         

And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail again it.


Ephesians 6:12         
For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.st it.


Matthew 16:19          
I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”

1 Corinthians 15:24-28         

Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. For “God has put all things in subjection under his feet.” But when it says, “all things are put in subjection,” it is plain that he is excepted who put all things in subjection under him. When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things in subjection under him, that God may be all in all.

"HOMESICK"

Psalm 84

 

¹ How lovely are Your tabernacles, O Lord of hosts!

 

² My soul yearns, yes, even pines and is homesick for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh cry out and sing for joy to the living God.

 

³ Yes, the sparrow has found a house, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young—even Your altars, O Lord of hosts, my King and my God.

 

⁴ Blessed (happy, fortunate, to be envied) are those who dwell in Your house and Your presence; they will be singing Your praises all the day long. Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]!

 

⁵ Blessed (happy, fortunate, to be envied) is the man whose strength is in You, in whose heart are the highways to Zion.

 

⁶ Passing through the Valley of Weeping (Baca), they make it a place of springs; the early rain also fills [the pools] with blessings.

 

⁷ They go from strength to strength [increasing in victorious power]; each of them appears before God in Zion.

 

⁸ O Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer; give ear, O God of Jacob! Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]!

 

⁹ Behold our shield [the king as Your agent], O God, and look upon the face of Your anointed!

 

¹⁰ For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand [anywhere else]; I would rather be a doorkeeper and stand at the threshold in the house of my God than to dwell [at ease] in the tents of wickedness.

 

¹¹ For the Lord God is a Sun and Shield; the Lord bestows [present] grace and favor and [future] glory (honor, splendor, and heavenly bliss)! No good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly.

 

¹² O Lord of hosts, blessed (happy, fortunate, to be envied) is the man who trusts in You [leaning and believing on You, committing all and confidently looking to You, and that without fear or misgiving]!

Psalm 139

"GOD'S OMNIPRESENCE AND OMNIPOTENCE"

 

 

¹ O Lord, you have searched me [thoroughly] and have known me.

 

² You know my down sitting and my uprising; You understand my thought afar off.

 

³ You sift and search out my path and my lying down, and You are acquainted with all my ways.

 

⁴ For there is not a word in my tongue [still uttered], but, behold, O Lord, You know it altogether.

 

⁵ You have beset me and shut me in—behind and before, and You have laid Your hand upon me.

 

⁶ Your [infinite] knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high above me, I cannot reach it.

 

⁷ Where could I go from Your Spirit? Or where could I flee from Your presence?

 

⁸ If I ascend up into heaven, You are there; if I make my bed in Sheol (the place of the dead), behold, You are there.

 

⁹ If I take the wings of the morning or dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,

 

¹⁰ Even there shall Your hand lead me, and Your right hand shall hold me.

 

¹¹ If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me and the night shall be [the only] light about me,

 

¹² Even the darkness hides nothing from You, but the night shines as the day; the darkness and the light are both alike to You.

 

¹³ For You did form my inward parts; You did knit me together in my mother’s womb.

 

¹⁴ I will confess and praise You for You are fearful and wonderful and for the awful wonder of my birth! Wonderful are Your works, and that my inner self knows right well.

 

¹⁵ My frame was not hidden from You when I was being formed in secret [and] intricately and curiously wrought [as if embroidered with various colors] in the depths of the earth [a region of darkness and mystery].

 

¹⁶ Your eyes saw my unformed substance, and in Your book all the days [of my life] were written before ever they took shape, when as yet there was none of them.

 

¹⁷ How precious and weighty also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How vast is the sum of them!

 

¹⁸ If I could count them, they would be more in number than the sand. When I awoke, [could I count to the end] I would still be with You.

 

¹⁹ If You would [only] slay the wicked, O God, and the men of blood depart from me—

 

²⁰ Who speak against You wickedly, Your enemies who take Your name in vain!

 

²¹ Do I not hate them, O Lord, who hate You? And am I not grieved and do I not loathe those who rise up against You?

 

²² I hate them with perfect hatred; they have become my enemies.

 

²³ Search me [thoroughly], O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts!

 

²⁴ And see if there is any wicked or hurtful way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

"PLANS"



Proverbs 21:5         
The plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance, but everyone who is hasty comes only to poverty.


Proverbs 16:9     
The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.


Proverbs 19:21
Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand.


Proverbs 15:22     
Without counsel plans fail, but with many advisers they succeed.

James 4:13-16         

Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil

Jeremiah 29:11         

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.