This has been a wonderful month; Pastor Lawrence has preached about the blessings of obedience and the blessings we can enjoy when we live under an open heaven. He also spoke about altars. When we see the Old Testament in the Bible, we can observe that the Israelites built altars for God. It is one of the modes where they can access an open heaven and receive blessings. And there were sacrifices that they brought to the altars. We can see that in the temple of God, the altars are always burning with sacrifices, perpetually.
Pastor Lawrence mentioned that the holy God dwells inside of us. We are the altars of God, and we should bring praise, worship, and prayers before God. I have been asking God what He wants me to talk about. Romans 12:1 Living sacrifice.
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.Romans 12:1 (KJV)
Worship is good, prayer is good, but if your heart posture is not there, if your life is not on that altar, you will not see an open heaven. Let’s start learning from the story of King Saul.
The Story of King Saul
1 Samuel 15: 1 – 30
This chapter talks about King Saul, whom God has appointed. God, through the prophet Samuel, has ordered King Saul to destroy the Amalekites. He clearly instructed to destroy everything and not to take anything from them.
Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass.1 Samuel 15:3 (KJV)
God commanded King Saul to do so, however, as shown in verse 10, he didn’t do as God has instructed him to do.
Then came the word of the Lord unto Samuel, saying,It repenteth me that I have set up Saul to be king: for he is turned back from following me, and hath not performed my commandments. And it grieved Samuel; and he cried unto the Lord all night.1 Samuel 15:10 – 11 (KJV)
King Saul had attacked the Amalekites and defeated them. However, he took the Amalekite king hostage and brought back all the good cattle, despite God’s commandment to destroy everything. Not only that, he also built himself a monument. Now let’s go to verse 14 and 15.
And Samuel said, What meaneth then this bleating of the sheep in mine ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?And Saul said, They have brought them from the Amalekites: for the people spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen, to sacrifice unto the Lord thy God; and the rest we have utterly destroyed.1 Samuel 15:14 – 15 (KJV)
Saul found a good excuse to reply to Samuel, putting the blame on the people and making an excuse that the good cattle were to be sacrificed to God. Samuel rebuked King Saul for his action, stating that God had anointed him to be the King of Israel and questioned why Saul did what he did, defying God.
Again, King Saul deflected and put the blame on the people of Israel, and defended himself that he did as what the Lord has commanded, but people’s actions are not his responsibilities. He also denied God by saying “your God,” referring to Samuel’s God, as if it is a different God that has anointed him as king.
God appointed Saul when he was small and nobody. He put him as the king of the Israelites, but look what happened to the man who has been chosen by God. Full of self. Before he was nobody, but once he had power, he glorified himself. And Samuel responded:
And Samuel said, Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, he hath also rejected thee from being king.1 Samuel 15:14 – 15 (KJV)
We can see here that what King Saul is doing is self-deceit. How many times have we done the same thing? We say “yes God, but we did this for YOUR glory.” How many times outside of church we did the thing that the Lord said not to do; however, when we’re in church, we teach, we pray, we sing, and we prophesy. Partial obedience is NOT obedience. God wants your everything. He doesn’t want you to rebel against him. Having unforgiveness, or hatred, for example: I stand close to her, but I won’t speak with her.
In the church, it’s not the “big” sin we have to worry about; it’s our flesh that we need to fight. This message was not easy for me to preach. It may look simple, but my husband (Pastor Lawrence) knows how much I struggled with this message. It’s easy to preach, but it’s not easy to live it. I have to admit, my flesh was coming at me loud, to not preach this message. But God wants us to deny our flesh and crucify it so we can come out as his pure bride. We need to stop the “I, my, me” mindset, stop listening to our ego, our will.
You may have heard this message over and over, but stop for a while and think about it. It is not easy to die to self and deny yourself. Every day, God wants us to be the living sacrifice. He wants your life. He wants you to live for Him. We need to be ready, He is coming. It’s not about what we want; it’s what He wants.
I give you an example, when the Lord told me to apologize to my husband. My friend, I learned at the beginning of my marriage, around the 3 months mark, we had a small argument. Then because God is my first love, I went to pray. And in my prayer, He told me to reconcile and apologize to my husband. I told God “really? I was right and he was wrong” I don’t know why He came to me and not to my husband. Probably because God knew I would obey. I learned that day that every time we have an argument I have to be the one apologizing. It’s a hard situation, killing your ego. But I need God every day, so I have to obey, and put my flesh on the altar.
Many times we want to respond, and I have failed many times. That’s why I said this message is hard for me to preach; it has been breaking me. God reminded me that as His bride, He wants us to put our flesh on the burning altar, and when we do so, we will live under an open heaven.
When Noah got out of the ark after the great flood, the Bible recorded that he sacrificed every kind of the best animal to God. And it was a pleasant aroma before God, and He then said that He will not curse the earth anymore.
Avoiding Saul’s Mistake
We should not be like Saul. God has lifted us from our sin; He has saved us. There’s nothing for us to boast about; everything that we have is from Him. I am nobody, yet He has put me in front of you to preach. It’s better for me to sacrifice myself every day to do what He wants, for me to be with Him as His bride.
Look at what happened to Saul. He had the kingdom, but because of his disobedience, the kingdom was taken from him. God has a wonderful purpose for each one of us; however, He requires your “self” to be put on the altar. He doesn’t want your praise or prayer without your heart. Even if you don’t know how to sing, if you sing with your heart, it is a pleasant aroma to God.
Romans 12:1 says the same thing about self-sacrifice. It is the New Testament, the same instruction as the Old Testament, so it is still relevant today.
For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead:and that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.2 Corinthians 5: 14 – 15 (KJV)
Christ loves us so much that He died for us, and we believers died with Him on that cross. He loved us so much he laid Himself on the altar. He took our place. So today, we live for Him; we belong to Him. He’s gonna speak through us and do wonders through us believers.
Denying Self and Following Christ
Then said Jesus unto his disciples, "If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it."Matthew 16: 24 – 25 (KJV)
This verse clearly talks about death. Death to our flesh, death to our will, death to our desire. But yes to His will, and yes to His desire. This verse is not easy to understand; please meditate on it. It says that if we lose our life, which means our “self,” we will find life! But if we keep glorifying “self,” we will lose our life. But whoever loses life (self) for His sake will find life. Then Jesus says,
The Value of the Soul
"For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?"Matthew 16: 26 (KJV)
You could enjoy life today, pursue your desire, and have lots of money in the bank. You could have cars, houses, and everything this world offers. But what does it mean if you lose your soul? Let that sink in. God is asking for your heart. When you give God your heart, you will gain everything. The joy, peace, and health that you can’t get from money. Love. You could seek love from others, but you will NOT find true love, except from God who DIED for you. In this world, you will not find true love. You will find true love when you give your heart to Jesus.
I’m here to ask you to surrender your heart to God. Not with your strength, but ask God to give you strength to give your heart to Him. God knows you’re not perfect, but HE can make you perfect. We can’t be perfect without Him; we can’t fight our battles without Him. But with Him beside us, we will win everything, and He only asks us for our heart.
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