Tag Archives: sacrifice

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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

7 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. 8 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. 9 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

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What Have You to Give to Christ, After He Gave His Life?

I wonder sometimes what my life would have been like. Just think, all you have is the world, if you don’t know Yeshua, Jesus Christ. 

Turn in your Bibles to 1 John 2:15-18:

15 “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. 17 And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever. 18 Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time.”

If we count on our mindset or the ways of the world, then all that we say and do are but messed up situations. The Bible puts it like this in the book Isaiah 64:6:

6 “But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.”

You might say that what I do, I owe a response. What would you give in exchange for someone saving your life by giving their life to save yours? They would do it unselfishly, because of the love they have for you.

Turn to John 3:16:

16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

Yeshua wants us to give, and in all cases is more concerned about how we give.

Let’s read 2 Corinthians 9:6-10:

6 “But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully. 7 Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver. 8 And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work: 9 (As it is written, He hath dispersed abroad; he hath given to the poor: his righteousness remaineth for ever. 10 Now he that ministereth seed to the sower both minister bread for your food, and multiply your seed sown, and increase the fruits of your righteousness;)”

In my conclusion, Yeshua doesn’t ask for something earthly, or of this world, but all He needs from us is love. Cause to know Him is to love Him, and to love Him, is to serve Him. And it is so.

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What More Can You Do?

Christ came to redeem man of his sin. You may be asking, how did He do that? Well Eve, the wife of Adam had sinned in the Garden of Eden. And when she allowed herself to be beguiled by the serpent at the tree of knowledge of good and evil, God saw that there was no one worthy to redeem man and woman of their disobedience of Him. So, God made the ultimate sacrifice, He gave up Himself in the form of human flesh, the only begotten son of God, Yeshua. 

Let’s turn to 1 John 1:1-14 

1 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 The same was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men. 5 And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. 6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7 The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe. 8 He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. 9 That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. 10 He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. 11 He came unto his own, and his own received him not. 12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: 13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. 14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.“

So, now that God gave His only begotten son so that He could bring us back in order with God as it was from the beginning. God gave His only begotten son and through Him everyone has a way back into God’s will. Now when we look at the life of His son, which is an example for us on how to live on this earth once more, the question I have for you is this, what more can you do? 

If God has laid the foundation for you to come back to Him, you may have said in the past, what more can I do? But now He is asking us what more can we do? 

For men, He’s asking these 5 things:

  1. Can you listen to His voice?
  2. Can you be obedient?
  3. Can you be faithful to His Word?
  4. Can you have more humility?
  5. Will you be obedient?

Now for women, He’s asking these 5 things:

  1. For those who are single, will you obey Yashua and for those married, will you obey your husband?
  2. Will you listen and obey Yashua and His leadership?
  3. Can you stop leaning on your own understanding?
  4. Can you follow without trying to lead?
  5. Will you be more humble and submissive? 

You see men and women in these times tend to want to live a freestyle type of life, where its remnants have its roots from the 1960’s. Where there was a lot of violence, a lot of sexual activities, a lot of free thinking, and a “do what you want to do” attitude. During that era, people began to mix different religious belief systems together to form their own belief system to their own detriment.

In conclusion, listen to these words, but for the people of God, the Bible tells us not to cater to this world, nor follow the things of this world and not to get caught up in this life or the things of this world.

Let’s read 1 John 2:15-23

15 “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. 17 And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever. 18 Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time. 19 They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us. 20 But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things. 21 I have not written unto you because ye know not the truth, but because ye know it, and that no lie is of the truth. 22 Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son. 23 Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also.”

In Yeshua name, It is so!

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What Are You Willing to Sacrifice to Live a Godly Life?

In life we may have a lot of concessions in our life, and some of which, to things or people. These concessions have led to compromise. Most of the time these concessions will lead to making the wrong sacrifices. Now, the word sacrifice means: “to surrender or give up, or permit injury or disadvantage to, for the sake of something else.”

Sometimes we tend to forget when someone makes a sacrifice for us. We begin to take them for granted to the point we begin to expect sacrifices are a part of their obligation to you particularly. Most of the time some begin to expect it, as though their act of superiority it is warranted. But in the act of sacrificing, it consists of a selfless act of devotion, humility, love, and selflessness.

In the Bible read in John 3:16-20:

16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. 18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20 For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.

In this day and age, lots of people are disenchanted about being devoted, humble, loving, and selfless. But more inclined to be selfish, self-centered, indirect haters of the Word of God, and not dedicated to anything but what they feel or understand.

Let’s turn in your Bible to 2 Timothy 3:1-5:

1 This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. 2 For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3 Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, 4 Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; 5 Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.

Some of the time, the thing we try to get an understanding about in life will most often lead you down the wrong road of understanding, pulling you away from the truth. That type of understanding is called, “desert knowledge,” because it leads you into wilderness, to an oasis of concession, and the truth becomes a mere mirage in the distance, escaping all approaches.

In the Word of God it says in Proverbs 3:5-7:

5Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. 6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. 7 Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the Lord, and depart from evil.

In my conclusion take this with you, read Romans 12:1-8

1 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. 2 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. 3 For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith. 4 For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office: 5 So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another. 6 Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith; 7 Or ministry, let us wait on our ministering: or he that teacheth, on teaching; 8 Or he that exhorteth, on exhortation: he that giveth, let him do it with simplicity; he that ruleth, with diligence; he that sheweth mercy, with cheerfulness.”

Also read: 1 Corinthians 5:4-8

4 In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, 5 To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. 6 Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump? 7 Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us: 8 Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.”

Also read: Hebrews 10, Mark 9:44, John 1:1

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As Oxygen Is to the Blood, so Is the Holy Ghost to Your Soul

What is the unique relationship between oxygen and blood? Oxygen is necessary for cell growth and energy. It enters a persons bloodstream through the lungs. The blood carries oxygen to the cells of the body. In the cells, oxygen combines with the chemicals obtained from food to produce energy needed for each cell to preform its function in the body.

In the book “The Blood Covenant,” it talks of a blood covenant or an agreement for life between two individuals that can not be broken by death. One can only reflect back over the Biblical past of how God required a sacrifice. It was always a blood sacrifice. In all of the atonement sacrifices or offering God requires, its one of blood. However, there was only one human by the name Jesus Christ who was sacrificed for all the sins of this world committed by humans. God would only accept a blood sacrifice, because there is life in the blood. You must remember we serve a God who is alive, not dead.

Recall when Cain slew Able, and how Able’s blood cried unto the Lord. Genesis 4:9-11 says, 9 And the Lord said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: Am I my brother’s keeper? 10 And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother’s blood crieth unto me from the ground. 11 And now art thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother’s blood from thy hand;

As you can see there is life in the blood. Even in the dark world you never hear those involved with Satanic and Demonic practices say things like, “Let’s make a corpse sacrifice.” You can’t get anything from nothing, and you don’t go to sport arenas to see your favorite corpse running track or your favorite baseball player trying to strike someone out when all the players are out. You do realize Christ died for the living, not Timmy and the Grave Yard Crew. The God of god’s is not dead. How can He be when He created death to our understanding the concept of what death is. Realize this: God gave His only Son as a blood sacrifice for all of humanity.

Romans 3:23-25 reads, 23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; 24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: 25 Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;

Leviticus 17:13-14 says, 13 And whatsoever man there be of the children of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn among you, which hunteth and catcheth any beast or fowl that may be eaten; he shall even pour out the blood thereof, and cover it with dust. 14 For it is the life of all flesh; the blood of it is for the life thereof: therefore I said unto the children of Israel, Ye shall eat the blood of no manner of flesh: for the life of all flesh is the blood thereof: whosoever eateth it shall be cut off.