Scripture: Hebrews 9 v 24 - 28; Hebrews 10 v 10; Romans
12 v 1-2.
The word CONSECRATION means to dedicate or sanctify; to
set apart as sacred. Jesus was consecrated in Heaven to become a man to
experience everything suffered by humans so He could take it on Himself and
break the power of sin over us.
When we become born again we are likewise consecrated to
walk the walk of Jesus, to follow Him through the Garden of Getsemane,
Golgotha, the Tomb and the Resurrection to being seated with Him in Heavenly places.
We have united with Him and become one with Him. Our
purpose on Earth is now to be like Him, think like Him, act like Him, do all
the things He did plus even more things because the Holy Spirit is freely
given.
Any obstacles to our performance or understanding are
within ourselves and must be changed to conform to His likeness as soon as
possible. We need to grow spiritually through reading the Bible intelligently
and doing what it says. Faith grows when you practice it. When you trust God
without fear and doubting for a certain outcome it sometimes happens that the
first person you pray for dies. That is God's will and does not mean you stop
praying or believing.
The function of life includes death and grief. Life continues and we must move forward to
conquer the challenges each day brings. In Romans 12 Paul beseeches us to
present your bodies as a living sacrifice - holy (consecrated), acceptable to
God, which is your reasonable service.
A living sacrifice is a person who lives for Jesus
without taking thought for him/herself. As Jesus came to serve and lay down His
life, the ultimate expression of a believer's life would be to follow His
example. We should allow God to have complete authority over every decision of
every aspect of our lives so that we would conform perfectly to His will.
In Romans 12 v 2 we must not be conformed to this world
ie stop thinking and behaving the way the world does; BUT be transformed by the
renewing of your mind. How do we renew our minds? By emptying out all the religion,
philosophy, lies, drugs, gossip, porn, doctrines of men, false teachings of
occult origins, lyrics of songs that demean God and man; and filling it with
the pure, unadulterated Word of Almighty God.
If you want to live the life of abundance that Jesus
wrought for you, you do it through consecration of yourself to God. There are
no half measures, no excuses, no second guessing. Jesus made no half measures
or excuses when He went the Cross. That was His ultimate consecration.
We need the Cross to do a work in our lives too. We must
allow the Holy Spirit to breathe death on everything within us that does not
conform to God's will for us, and to breathe life into everything God has for
us and accept it with joy.
Prayer: Father God I put my all on the altar in complete
surrender to You and whatever comes upon or through me I have committed myself
into Your hands. You are the Living God Who made me so kill anything within me
that does not glorify You and stir up in me those gifts and talents that can be
used to make You known to the lost. In Jesus' name. Amen.