Welcome to "Fan the Flame" Friday.
This is a weekly post that will be "short and sweet" (kinda like me...)
Just a word and a phrase, a sentence or a question...just a little something to "fan the flame" of your creativity!
Today's word: sacrifice
What does the word sacrifice mean to you?
What is the most difficult thing you've had to sacrifice in order to follow Jesus?
Besides His very life, what did Jesus have to sacrifice for you?
Let me know what you think!!
"This is why I remind you to fan into flames the spiritual gift God gave you…For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline." (2 Timothy 1:6-7)
(On Fridays, I will be linking with Peggy here - please visit her blog for more fanning the flame!)
BLOG = "Blessedly Leaning On God!"
Dear Sharon,
ReplyDeleteSacrifice is such an important word! It is good you chose this word for your Fan the Flame post.
Jesus was the eternal and ultimate sacrifice that God the Father offered as the propitiation for our sins... that anyone who comes under the finished work of the cross receives the full benefit of eternal salvation...
We are called to be a living sacrifice...yet God says that He does not desire sacrifice, but mercy (loyalty, obedience). If it is sacrifice in a legalistic sense, then it is not acceptable to God...
For the sacrifices of God are a broken spirit... a broken and a contrite heart He will not despise!
Blessings on your weekend, dear Sharon.
Love
Lidj
He had to sacrifice the face of the Father in the very moment that he needed it the most. The thought of that keeps me so near the cross and makes me ashamed whenever I willfully and sinfully step a millimeter from His fellowship.
ReplyDeleteAs to the first part, sacrifice is giving something that costs you something. God asked me to lay down my materialism and the whole "plan" that I had for our two career family living in the dream house with our two "perfect" kids.
OK, the kids are still perfect. (I'm really just kidding about that part, but don't tell your two available sons until after the betrothal, OK?)
A good fan the flame today.
Blessings Sharon... Once again a well chosen WORD.
ReplyDeleteI have so much to share on this that...well, you know, I had to blog about it and thus created the BLOG HOP so others that may be so compelled to write more can join in...
But as I thought about all I wrote, I returned to the derivative of the word "sacrifice" which comes to being "to make holy". Back to the refining, of burning out the impurities and making us more into His image. The character of Jesus humbly shows us that to GIVE OUR ALL for the purpose of another's benefit even unto your own life is a complete sacrifice. To surrender your very own wants and desires to better the life of another. We are called to be LIVING SACRIFICES which means denying ourselves or "dying to self". (You shared a poem on this back in 2006 and I linked to it on my blog post).
So how do we BE LIVING SACRIFICES? By LIVING our lives each day to be more like Jesus and that takes following Him and His way (not mine) which takes knowing Him and His Way through His Word and DOING what HE says (obeying even when it's not pleasant or easy to understand or do). Hmpf.
I guess that even means giving up my way and wants for a greater purpose. I'm sure God does not want us to physically sacrifice lives on an altar... but it does call for us to sacrifice physically, which means taking all that yuck stuff that doesn't belong, laying it on the "altar" to burn it out of our system for good (yep letting go of it all completely). This requires much strength and the Grace of God.
If you can believe it, I have more... so
For more... see Friday Feature
Thanks Sharon for fanning the flame!
Peace, love and JOY,
Peggy
The word sacrifice makes me think of giving up what my natural instincts would like to cling to. When I consider the great sacrifice God made for everything and anything He'd ask for me to give up pales in comparison.
ReplyDeleteJesus made the ultimate sacrifice. Our sacrifices seem so small. God Bless You!
ReplyDeleteanother good word Sharon! Sacrifice, giving your all, giving of yourself with your all; Jesus definitely gave his all in his life, but also he gave up being in heaven, surrounded by angels praising him, that intimate fellowship he had with his Father to come here to earth and then to be rejected, etc by us.
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad he did sacrifice his all for us!
betty
Sacrifice is giving when you don't want to.
ReplyDeleteDear friends,
ReplyDeleteI just love what you had to say this Friday! Sacrifice is a good word to ponder. I think that's because sacrifice isn't a word that's thought about in our world today. We aren't really taught that sacrifice is a good thing. It's a *get all, give nothing* culture, isn't it?
Jesus gave His life - but He also sacrificed His power - He willingly humbled Himself for our sakes. He felt what it felt like to be a human. It's like me becoming an ant...
And He did it for us - for our benefit, for our good.
We should follow His example of sacrificial love and give ourselves fully to Him (present our lives as living sacrifices) - and learn to sacrifice for others (love others as we love ourselves).
GOD BLESS!
(Debbie - I'll wait for the betrothal...)