Living Sacrifice

Romans 12:1 "And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him."

Sacrifice: the act of giving up something that you want to keep 

Being a living sacrifice involves choosing daily to loose our lives for Christ.  Luke 9:24 "If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it." 

Loosing our lives involves daily choosing to die to our flesh. Choosing to following the leading of the Holy Spirit and not indulging our sin nature. When we come to Christ our flesh is crucified with him.  Galatians 2:20 "My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me."  

Our old man (our flesh) doesn't want to stay dead. It will raise its ugly head at every opportunity. It will try to convince us that it is alive and well. It is our job to daily surrender our lives again to Christ. To yield to his control and leading. If we make allowances (provision) for our flesh it will rise up and take control. 

Romans 13:14 (ESV) "But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires."

We crucify the flesh through the strength of Christ. He did not allow himself to yield to his desires as he walked in this earth. He made it possible for us to do likewise. However, we need to remember that we can't fight alone. Often when we feel the flesh rise up we try to put it in its place in our our strength. The Word tells us, Zechariah 4:6 (NIV) "‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the Lord Almighty."

When we put our total dependence in Christ and trust him to care for us, he gives us the strength to resist the enemy when he comes to call; the power to crucify our flesh and die daily. James 4:7 "So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you."

Humble here means: to destroy the power, independence, or prestige of. We choose to destroy our own independence in order to become totally dependent on Christ. Only then can we truly be free from our old man and become the living sacrifice God desires. 

I love this song. I pray it speaks to your spirit!!  

Crucified with Christ by Phillips,Craig, and Dean. 

http://youtu.be/PmB0u5BQ8BM