Tag Archives: devotion

What Kind of Sacrifice are You Offering?

Oftentimes as we experience different situations in life, we sometimes ask ourselves, “why is that like that, or how come this happened? “What caused this problem to be that way?”

For instance, have you ever went to a bakery and you tasted one of the pastries and that pastry tasted kind of funny, like it was missing something, or you were thinking that if they had a little bit of ‘this’ type of an ingredient the pastry might taste a little better than it does now. So it stands to reason that you’ve noticed there was something that spoiled the taste of that pastry.

Well, I liken this to some of the things in our life, you know we partly do things these days. We have to do our jobs and then we wonder towards the latter part of our employment at a particular job, why didn’t I get a bonus? or why didn’t I get promoted, or things along that line. But the thing you have to ask yourself is, what have I sacrificed for this particular company to earn that promotion or to earn that raise? What have I done? If I haven’t done anything, or if I didn’t do my job properly then as the old saying goes, “you get what you deserve.” But in the House of Lord, it’s a little different. The Lord asks of us to have a pure heart, and when we make sacrifice to him, your sacrifice has to be incorruptible to him; not corruptible. Because we love him, we don’t want to give him something that is imperfect and corruptible. We want to give him something pure from our heart as possible, to be as perfect for us as human.

But as human nature will have it, we can’t do any shortcuts to God or give him not our best. Sometimes we give God a sanitized version of sacrifice, but not a true sacrifice. I guess the question remains, what type of sacrifice have you been giving God lately?

In these times, we are so quick to want everything so quick and fast just to get it out of the way, that we don’t give a pure sacrifice to the Lord – a sacrifice of our time, of our abilities, a sacrifice of our capabilities for Him. He has given us all these things for His glory, so why not return it back to him without any strings attached?

Read Malachi 1:7-14

Ye offer polluted bread upon mine altar; and ye say, Wherein have we polluted thee? In that ye say, The table of the Lord is contemptible. And if ye offer the blind for sacrifice, is it not evil? and if ye offer the lame and sick, is it not evil? offer it now unto thy governor; will he be pleased with thee, or accept thy person? saith the Lord of hosts. And now, I pray you, beseech God that he will be gracious unto us: this hath been by your means: will he regard your persons? saith the Lord of hosts. 10 Who is there even among you that would shut the doors for nought? neither do ye kindle fire on mine altar for nought. I have no pleasure in you, saith the Lord of hosts, neither will I accept an offering at your hand.11 For from the rising of the sun even unto the going down of the same my name shall be great among the Gentiles; and in every place incense shall be offered unto my name, and a pure offering: for my name shall be great among the heathen, saith the Lord of hosts.12 But ye have profaned it, in that ye say, The table of the Lord is polluted; and the fruit thereof, even his meat, is contemptible.13 Ye said also, Behold, what a weariness is it! and ye have snuffed at it, saith the Lord of hosts; and ye brought that which was torn, and the lame, and the sick; thus ye brought an offering: should I accept this of your hand? saith the Lord.14 But cursed be the deceiver, which hath in his flock a male, and voweth, and sacrificeth unto the Lord a corrupt thing: for I am a great King, saith the Lord of hosts, and my name is dreadful among the heathen.”

Let these words of God rest with you. When you make a sacrifice to the Lord, what is your mindset? In my conclusion, make sure sacrifice doesn’t come with strings attached. Strings can be attitude, jealousy, envy, hatred, selfishness, and anger.

In Yeshua’s name, it is so.

Sermon by Pastor Tony Catron

Are You Ready to Walk this Walk Out Together?

I am reminded of the words of Amos 3:3, “can two walk together, except they be agreed?” These words conjure up thoughts of individuals not able to work out a problem. Or someone who’s not ready to do a thing when the other person is. Or maybe someone who is part of a team is ready to commit to the team and the other is not. Maybe they have many personal problems, or they’re not ready to let go of the life they’re living. Yet, still their heart says yes, but their mind is saying no, not yet.

That brings to mind a very familiar chapter in the book of Hebrews:

6 But Christ as a son over his own house; whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end. 7 Wherefore (as the Holy Ghost saith, To day if ye will hear his voice, 8 Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness: 9 When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my works forty years. 10 Wherefore I was grieved with that generation, and said, They do alway err in their heart; and they have not known my ways. 11 So I sware in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest.) 12 Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God. 13 But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. 14 For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end; 15 While it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation.

Hebrews 3:6-15

Look at your neighbor and say “Are you ready to walk this walk out together?” Some of us might be thinking of that old Winans song, in which the lyrics go like this: “ Tomorrow, I’ll give my life Tomorrow…Tomorrow might be to late.”

Even the Bible in the book of James says: 13 Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: 14 Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.

James 4:13-14

You know what? We are helpers one to another. If you or I stumble, we can helper each get back on our feet again, not just stand there and make fun of our stumbles or falls. In this life, I’ve learned one thing about people: They always have an excuse for everything in life, no matter what it may be. Here at Ark of Covenant Ministries (AOCM) we have a motto: Never give up and never surrender, no matter what comes. How many times have you ever had to stand alone to face a situation or failures in your life? Well, if you don’t know or have become some what disconnected from Him, it’s never to late to get reconnected to Him. We all started out saying, “Lord I’ll follow You where ever it may lead,” but some how things got twisted.

We started to sound like the individual in the book of Luke: 57 And it came to pass, that, as they went in the way, a certain man said unto him, Lord, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest. 58 And Jesus said unto him, Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head. 59 And he said unto another, Follow me. But he said, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father. 60 Jesus said unto him, Let the dead bury their dead: but go thou and preach the kingdom of God. 61 And another also said, Lord, I will follow thee; but let me first go bid them farewell, which are at home at my house. 62 And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.

Luke 9:57-62

In my conclusion, I’ll leave you with this: 1 Corinthians 1:10 10 Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. Remember this: Proverbs 24:1-3 1 Be not thou envious against evil men, neither desire to be with them. 2 For their heart studieth destruction, and their lips talk of mischief. 3 Through wisdom is an house builded; and by understanding it is established:

1 Corinthians 1:10 & Proverbs 24:1-3

Let this word be accepted by all who read it, and it is so. In Jesus name.