Romans 12: 1-2

(Romans 12: 1-2)

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.  And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

 

This passage will be one of the passages recited in the church. However, before discerning God's will, there is a phrase that reads, "be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind." You cannot discern the will of the Lord without being changed. No matter how much you memorize the phrase, it doesn't mean that you can. The Bible says. "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.
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On the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came as if the tongue of fire was split. They became one, their fears disappeared, and they preached the gospel boldly. New believers want to receive the Holy Spirit and receive tongues. The reason why the Holy Spirit comes strongly in the Bible is because of the spread of the gospel. By the way, no one said anything, but they put all their property at the apostle's feet. It is because God's holy Spirit came upon us. It was because the Saints wanted each other's needs to be met. Today, however, we find that this is seen almost as heresy, and most of us are bound by capitalist thinking. Reading and paying attention to the Bible is a reality that interests me, but does not pay attention to areas I am not interested in.

 

David said that he meditated on the word of the Lord every day. How many people pray every day and read the Bible every day, saying that God is the Father? And how many people understand the will of the Lord? The Lord is looking for people. The Lord is looking for those who understand the will of the Lord. When the Lord finds that person, He will accomplish His will through that person. At the end of the period of Judges, there was a woman named 『Hannah』 who suffered from home. Every day she went through a painful day and went to the temple to pray. At that time, there was a priest named Eli. In the history of Judea, it was probably no other than Eli that God directly struck and killed a priest.

 

Eli told Hannah not to pray that way, because Hannah's prayer seemed like a drunken man. Nevertheless, Hannah prayed in the midst of it. That is why praying in the temple itself became a misunderstood life. Hannah could not produce children. But concubine Buninna had children. The Lord's will is to keep Hannah seeking will. In the Bible, Hannah says, "She poured out her soul." So Hannah produced a child named Samuel. That was God's will.

 

God appears to those who present his body as a living, holy sacrifice to which God is pleased. Jesus said in the Lord's Prayer, “After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. I said. Then say “Give us this day our daily bread”. We must seek the will of the Lord before praying for daily bread. Before we pray for the provision of our wealth and health, we must first ask for the will of the Lord. If we pray for daily food, the will of the Lord cannot be revealed.

 

The Lord wants what is done in heaven to be done on earth as well. However, before this, the name of the Lord is consecrated. To do that, you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God. At the time of the Exodus of the Old Testament, Israel was a small country. So, the will of the Lord was to rely on the Lord, to enter Canaan to drive out the Canaanites, and to create the Lord's kingdom. However, they were protected under a pillar of cloud and fire every day, and they ate Mana every day, but in front of the land of Canaan, they were divided. All those who followed the twelve tribes did not enter Canaan. New people born in the wilderness entered Canaan. After entering Canaan, many tribes were unable to drive out the Canaanites during the period. The Lord's will was to drive out and destroy the Canaanites.

 

Some tribes say, "The Canaanites had iron chariots and could not be driven out." Today, the word of the Bible can disappear as soon as we see an iron chariot that cannot be overcome with my own strength. Only those who desire to have the Lord's name sanctified will fulfill that promise. Those who fulfill that promise offer their bodies as living, holy sacrifices that please God. Sacrifice means to die. But the Bible says: Although the saints are alive, they are to be sacrificed. The flesh is alive, but it denies itself and becomes a bearer of its own cross, bringing the lost soul back to the Lord. The Lord is the one who leaves the ninety-nine sheep and goes to the one lost.

 

In the Old Testament era, the Lord's will is to destroy the Canaanites, but in the New Testament era, it is the Lord's will to save lost souls. When you go to find the lost Lamb, the Holy Spirit is with you. The Holy Spirit empowers and makes us testify. In the Old Testament, God's will was to destroy Satan. He made him do it as David killed Goliath. Israel destroyed Amalek. But in the New Testament, he not only wants to destroy Satan, but also wants people's names to be recorded in the book of life. In Acts 1:8, 『But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. 』

 

There is only one reason we live in this world. It is to seize the opportunity to do the will of the Lord. It is to seize the opportunity for the will of the Lord to be done through me. Physical death means the end of this opportunity. No one knows where we will end our lives. Until the end, we must seize the opportunity to fulfill the will of the Lord. It is to lead the lost soul. The apostle Paul expressed that the spiritual sacrifice to God was evangelism. True worship cannot be achieved without preaching the gospel to lost souls. In our lives we come to realize that we can discern what the will of the Lord is, but we cannot.

 

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