Prepare for Worship | The Delight of Sacrifice
Last Sunday, Pastor Will Jackson preached from Acts 20:25-38 encouraged us to answer the call.
Read: Acts 21:1-36
This Sunday, Ryan Heard will preach from Acts 21:1-36 and will remind us that the Lord Jesus is worthy of our all. As you prepare for our Sunday gathering, let this devotion from Oswald Chambers encourage you toward greater fellowship and unity with the Lord Jesus Christ and His will for your life.
Reflect: “The Delight of Sacrifice”
“I will very gladly spend and be spent for your souls…” —2 Corinthians 12:15
Once “the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit,” we deliberately begin to identify ourselves with Jesus Christ’s interests and purposes in others’ lives (Romans 5:5). And Jesus has an interest in every individual person. We have no right in Christian service to be guided by our own interests and desires. In fact, this is one of the greatest tests of our relationship with Jesus Christ. The delight of sacrifice is that I lay down my life for my Friend, Jesus (see John 15:13). I don’t throw my life away, but I willingly and deliberately lay it down for Him and His interests in other people. And I do this for no cause or purpose of my own. Paul spent his life for only one purpose— that he might win people to Jesus Christ. Paul always attracted people to his Lord, but never to himself. He said, “I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some” (1 Corinthians 9:22).
When someone thinks that to develop a holy life he must always be alone with God, he is no longer of any use to others. This is like putting himself on a pedestal and isolating himself from the rest of society. Paul was a holy person, but wherever he went Jesus Christ was always allowed to help Himself to his life. Many of us are interested only in our own goals, and Jesus cannot help Himself to our lives. But if we are totally surrendered to Him, we have no goals of our own to serve. Paul said that he knew how to be a “doormat” without resenting it, because the motivation of his life was devotion to Jesus. We tend to be devoted, not to Jesus Christ, but to the things which allow us more spiritual freedom than total surrender to Him would allow. Freedom was not Paul’s motive at all. In fact, he stated, “I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren…” (Romans 9:3). Had Paul lost his ability to reason? Not at all! For someone who is in love, this is not an overstatement. And Paul was in love with Jesus Christ.
“The Delight of Sacrifice,” February 24th Devotional from My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers.
Sing: Song List for Sunday
1. “My God Is All I Need (My God Is So Big),” by CityAlight
2. “The Cup Was Not Removed,” Arr. Shane and Shane
3. “Every Knee Shall Bow,” by Crosspoint Music
4. “Your Will Be Done,” by CityAlight