Feb. 6, 2004

[Kidan]

Quote[/b] ]I am already being poured out as a drink offering . . .
—2 Timothy 4:6

Quote[/b] ]Are you ready to be poured out as an offering? It is an act of your will, not your emotions. Tell God you are ready to be offered as a sacrifice for Him. Then accept the consequences as they come, without any complaints, in spite of what God may send your way. God sends you through a crisis in private, where no other person can help you. From the outside your life may appear to be the same, but the difference is taking place in your will. Once you have experienced the crisis in your will, you will take no thought of the cost when it begins to affect you externally. If you don’t deal with God on the level of your will first, the result will be only to arouse sympathy for yourself.

"Bind the sacrifice with cords to the horns of the altar" ( Psalm 118:27 ). You must be willing to be placed on the altar and go through the fire; willing to experience what the altar represents-burning, purification, and separation for only one purpose-the elimination of every desire and affection not grounded in or directed toward God. But you don’t eliminate it, God does. You "bind the sacrifice . . . to the horns of the altar" and see to it that you don’t wallow in self-pity once the fire begins. After you have gone through the fire, there will be nothing that will be able to trouble or depress you. When another crisis arises, you will realize that things cannot touch you as they used to do. What fire lies ahead in your life?

Tell God you are ready to be poured out as an offering, and God will prove Himself to be all you ever dreamed He would be.

 

[Kidan]

Scripture in Context:

Quote[/b] ] But you, be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.  For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come.  I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith;in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing.
1 Tim 4:5-8

Sacrifice, fighting, perserverance, hardship, suffering. These are not often words people use when they describe Christianity, but they are very important concepts within Christianity. Being a Christian is not all fun and games. We're not constantly bubbling over with happy joyful thoughts and feelings.

We have to make sacrifices, we give things to others, to God, things that we want, we give them away. We have to endure suffering, for our faith, by just being alive, suffering is a part of life, and is used by God to draw us closer to Him. We have to perserver. We have to keep trying, constantly seeking Him, even through any hardship and suffering. Finally we must fight. Not physically, for ours is not a physical battle, but rather we must fight against principalities and powers. Thoughts, ideas, ideals, sin.

But today's devotion talks about sacrifice. Drink sacrifice to be exact. Now a drink sacrifice is an unique thing. It's not burnt. It's not blood. It was a symbol of suffering.

Jesus uses this term in the Garden prior to His death in praying "My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; yet not what I want but what you want."

A drink sacrifice, is a sacrifice made of the suffering that we go through for God and God's will. And go through suffering we do. Whether it's mockery for what we believe or being fired for standing up for our ethics. we will suffer. As stated earlier, God uses suffering to help us draw closer to Him.

So as you suffer today and tomorrow, don't feel sorry or sad, but rather rejoice. Be glad that you have this drink offering to give to God. Be joyful in the knowledge that God will never lead you to something (including suffering) that He can't lead you through.


God bless.