Giving
Welcome to Refinery Life Australia.
Today we continue our series titled The Spiritual Struggle for the Renewal of the Church.
We need to cooperate with the Father God, who would prune out those branches, attitudes, ambitions, and actions that are counter productive, so that the church might bear much fruit.
Today we are talking about The Secret to Renewal.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, thank you for being the giver of everygood and perfect gift.
Thank you for the gift of Your Son.
Thank you for the gift of your precious Holy Spirit as a permanent presence in our hearts.
Thank you for giving us the privilege of cooperating with you to the end that Your kingdom might come upon earth, even as Your will is done by the angels in heaven.
Accept these gifts as tokens of our desire to be totally involved in Your service.
In Jesus name we pray.
Amen.
Text
Romans 12:2 AMP
Dedicated Service
2 And do not be conformed to this world [any longer with its superficial values and customs], but be transformed and progressively changed [as you mature spiritually] by the renewing of your mind [focusing on godly values and ethical attitudes], so that you may prove [for yourselves] what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect [in His plan and purpose for you].
Romans 6:13 AMP
13 Do not go on offering members of your body to sin as instruments of wickedness. But offer yourselves to God [in a decisive act] as those alive [raised] from the dead [to a new life], and your members [all of your abilities—sanctified, set apart] as instruments of righteousness [yielded] to God.
Scripture Reading
Romans 12:1-2 AMP
Dedicated Service
12 Therefore I urge you, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies [dedicating all of yourselves, set apart] as a living sacrifice, holy and well-pleasing to God, which is your rational (logical, intelligent) act of worship.
2 And do not be conformed to this world [any longer with its superficial values and customs], but be transformed and progressively changed [as you mature spiritually] by the renewing of your mind [focusing on godly values and ethical attitudes], so that you may prove [for yourselves] what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect [in His plan and purpose for you].
Romans 6:6-13 AMP
6 We know that our old self [our human nature without the Holy Spirit] was nailed to the cross with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin.
7 For the person who has died [with Christ] has been freed from [the power of] sin.
8 Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live [together] with Him,
9 because we know [the self-evident truth] that Christ, having been raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has power over Him.
10 For the death that He died, He died to sin [ending its power and paying the sinner’s debt] once and for all; and the life that He lives, He lives to [glorify] God [in unbroken fellowship with Him].
11 Even so, consider yourselves to be dead to sin [and your relationship to it broken], but alive to God [in unbroken fellowship with Him] in Christ Jesus.
12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts and passions.
13 Do not go on offering members of your body to sin as instruments of wickedness. But offer yourselves to God [in a decisive act] as those alive [raised] from the dead [to a new life], and your members [all of your abilities—sanctified, set apart] as instruments of righteousness [yielded] to God.
Introduction
Spiritual renewal is the answer for the church today.
It is God’s will for the church to be renewed and transformed, it is not God’s will for the church to be shaped by the world.
It is God’s will that the church be renewed to ministry, renewed in faith and a disciplined life.
It is also His will that the church be renewed to witnessing, and this happens only as it experiences the renewing of the Holy Spirit.
There is a secret to reveal, and it involves two steps.
- Yield yourselves to God.
The key word to spiritual renewal in the Christian life’s “yield.”
It is the same word translated “present” in Romans 12:1.
It is also the word that is used to describe presenting of an offering I the sacrificial system in the temple.
The worshipper presented or yielded his sacrifice to the priest to be offered.
It is an act of worship whereby we personally acknowledge that we belong to God.
This act is the secret of renewal of life.
Notice three things about this act.
- It is a realistic act.
In the Christian life it is just as real as the decision to accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour.
- It is a definite act.
In Romans 6:13 the verse may read, “Do not go on yielding your members at sin’s disposal, but once for all decisively yield yourselves to God.”
There must be a time in your life when you present yourself to God and from then on consider your whole life to belong to Him.
2. It is a transfer of your life to God.
Your life is no longer your own, but His!
3. It is an act of the will as well as an act of obedience.
B. It is a reasonable act.
This is what Romans 12:1 indicates, “Present your bodies as a living sacrifice… which is your reasonable service.:
It is reasonable if we want to have victory.
Th believer in Christ has a dual nature, while the lost person has only one nature, “the old man.”
Something happens when a person is born again.
New life comes in, divine life, Christ’s life, in the person of the Holy Spirit.
The new believer now has a new nature.
The old nature, the self life, is dealt with by Christ’s death, but it’s not evicted from our lives.
As believer we now have a dual nature, an old life and a new life, the flesh and the Spirit, the self life and the Christ life.
These are enemies, and they struggle for full control of our lives.
Believers have the choice as to which to yield themselves to.
How we choose is the secret to victory.
C. It is a resisted act.
The flesh resists the Holy Spirit, (Galatians 5:16-26).
The resistance masses itself at some point in your life that surrender becomes the key to victory.
What is it that stands between you and renewal?
Must some cherished idol in your life be yielded to God if victory is to come?
Nothing will substitute for the act of yielding yourself to God.
This is the secret to spiritual power in our lives.
Jesus must be Lord of our lives!
2. Yield your members to God.
The word members refers to the parts of someones body, thus the areas of our lives.
These members are weapons either for righteousness or sin, for God or satan.
We are to yield ourselves and our members to God.
This makes Romans 12:1 clearer when it says, “Present your bodies.”
Your body is important.
Present it to God!
- Yield your eyes to God.
Your eyes control what you see and what you read.
Make a covenant regarding your eyes.
B. Yield your ears to God.
Your ears control what you hear.
Be discerning about what you hear.
C. Yield your mouth to God.
What you say and how you say it are important.
Colossians 4:6 says, Let your speech at all times be gracious and pleasant, seasoned with salt, so that you will know how to answer each one [who questions you].
D. Yield your mind to God.
Let your thoughts and attitudes be formed by God’s Word.
E. Yield your hands to God.
Let Him govern what you do and how you work, your actions and your service to others.
F. Yield your feet to God.
Go to the places God would have you go, but walk away from the places that would be detrimental to your spiritual or physical life.
G. Yield your knees to God.
Kneel in prayer before God regularly.
H. Yield your lungs to God.
Yielding your lungs to God means offering every breath to God.
- Yield your stomach to God.
Gluttony is displeasing to God.
J. Yield your face to God.
Your face should reflect the light of Christ who lives within you.
You can look at a person’s face and determine his or her character qualities.
Do you smile or frown?
Are you serving others, or are you expecting others to serve you?
Conclusion.
This is the secret then.
Field yourself and your members to God.
Build an alter and place yourself and the areas of your life to God.
He promises you victory and renewal as you do!
Until next time
Stay in the Blessings
Giving
I really want to encourage you to be diligent with your Bible study time, because God has so much more for us than we can get from just going to church once or twice a week and hearing someone else talk about the Word.
When you spend time with God, your life will change in amazing ways, because God is a Redeemer.
Theres nothing thats too hard for Him, and He can make you whole, spirit, soul and body!
You’re important to God, and you’re important to us at www.refinerylife.org
When it comes to prayer, we believe that God wants to meet your needs and reveal His promises to you.
So whatever you’re concerned about and need prayer for we want to be here for you! Or even if you just want to say Hi, you can contact us
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