(A study by Richard P. Duffield)
I beseech you therefore brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service! (The Apostle Paul, Romans 12:1)
What exactly is it that God wants from me you might ask yourself?
How can I be of service to Him?
Why would He, God Almighty, choose such a one as I and what can I possibly do that He cannot do Himself?
Questions that at one time or another has flashed across virtually every Believer’s mind
Have you ever felt that way? If you have, read on!
God’s cry remains the same today as it’s been since the Apostle Paul, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit of God penned the above scripture text. All God wants is for us to submit ourselves as a “living sacrifice” so that He can work through us to do His good pleasure and accomplish His perfect purpose.
That’s all, that’s what God requires of us as believers. Yielded vessels for Him to work through!
Isn’t it almost unbelievable that a Perfect, All Powerful God who created all that was ever created can and chooses to use sinful, fallen man such as us to spread His “good news” or Gospel to a lost and fallen world?
Allow me to begin by saying, “Dependence upon is a pre-requisite to use by God.”
If I may, I’ll expand on that by saying; “The more dependent we are on Him to accomplish the tasks He’s entrusted to us, the less we stand in His way to bring those tasks to fruition in a way much larger than ourselves.” As cried John the Baptist, “He must increase, but I must decrease.” (John 3:30) and as Jesus replied to the Apostle Paul’s pleas, “My strength is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Cor. 12:9)
Does it appear that I’ve sidetracked the questions above? I really haven’t, what I’m trying to do is make a case and it should all come together before long. Forgive me anyway and let’s see what the bible has to say about it.
The Apostle Paul in his epistle to the church at Corinth wrote, “For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things that are mighty; and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence. (1 Cor. 1:26 29)
I’m sorry if you don’t feel worthy of the attributes listed in the aforementioned passages (foolish, weak, base) but if you were in fact called of God it would appear that you are described therein. Having said that, let’s continue on and see what the next verses say and I’ll expand thereafter on this whole subject
“But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God – and righteousness and sanctification and redemption – that, as it is written, “He who glories, let him glory in the Lord.”(1 Corinthians 1: 30-31)
God chose to do things as described above because the very sin which caused Satan’s rebellion was and is now very much in control of man on this fallen creation, Earth. Adam, while beguiled in the Garden of Eden, by choice rebelled against God and in so doing injected into man’s bloodline from that time on the sin of pride. (And lust & others we can easily surmise. See 1 John 2:16 ) Each of us in some small degree or the other has the sin of pride working in our fleshly bodies. When we are born again our spirit is regenerated and God’s Spirit indwells us but the flesh we live in contains the powerful remnants of Adam’s sinful nature. It’s another study in itself the way in which to “exchange” our old Adamic sinful nature for Christ’s new and sinless nature, (and believe me, knowing how to and actually doing it can be 2 entirely different matters) but suffice to say that pride is very much at work to some degree or another in the life of every believer while still in our flesh bodies. (Authors note: Read “Handbook to Happiness”, a wonderful book on living the “exchanged life”!)
Does this sin which is part of our fleshly make-up disqualify us from God’s service?
Read the text below, starting with 1 Cor. 1:17 and through to the 25th verse:
For Christ did not send me to baptize, (the Apostle Paul here speaking) but to preach the gospel not with words of human wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power. For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written: “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.” Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know Him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength.
Forgive me again if it appears that I am trying to call you (the reader) foolish or unwise or anything less than what in truth you are! Read your bible, the truth is that you are: The apple of God’s eye (Zech. 2:8), Fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:14), Accepted of God (Eph. 1:6) , Redeemed & Forgiven (Eph. 1:7) , Justified & Glorified (Rom. 8:30) , More than Conquerors (2 Cor. 5:17) , Joint heirs with Christ (Rom. 8:17),
Sons (& daughters) of the Most High God (Gal. 4:7) , Kings & Priests (Rev. 5:10) , Saints of God (tens of times throughout the bible) (Please see attached sheet on “Who you are in Christ”!)
Being the “bottom line” type of guy I tend to be, allow me to cut to the chase: You must be pretty important for God to step down from His riches in Heaven and take on the form of a mere bondservant (Phil. 2:7) just to die on your behalf! I’m talking to you! If He loved you enough to do that, you must be somebody pretty important! Think about that for a while, that’s what this all boils down to.
Stay with me please, I’m going some place with all this!
What I am in fact saying is that in spite of our sinful ways, even because of them God not only can but delights in using us to bring others to Him. Why? Maybe we could classify that as part of the “foolishness” spoken about above in 1 Corinthians. He warned us that just as the heavens are higher than the earth that His ways were higher than our ways, His thoughts higher than our thoughts (Isaiah 55:9)
Let us also look at this principle of God using strictly our common sense:
- Who better to touch a sinner than another sinner saved by His grace?
- If you want to truly reach someone you must be able to think like they think, have common interests, etc
- What testimony would be better than someone saying they’ve been there, they’ve done that, but by the grace of God they were delivered from what was sending them to their death and hell?
- We can all read books or watch films about things and how they can help or affect us but seeing the real thing adds so much more credibility! It could even stimulate us into feeling that if he or she can do that then why can’t we?
- Doesn’t countless law enforcement agencies send people “undercover” to infiltrate organizations only to “get close” to the criminals? Without “becoming” a co-criminal the police could never get close enough to the real criminals to catch them. Isn’t that kind of what God is doing here???
- And finally what better way to snub His nose at Satan than to regenerate fallen sinners into born again saints of God who not only renounce their old ways but are busy showing others by example that God loves us so much that He’ll accept you JUST THE WAY YOU ARE!
You’d have to agree that if you stand back from a neutral perspective and ponder the 6 issues/queries listed above (and there are countless others I could have made mention of) it appears that the plan God has chosen does make sense after all! Actually you’d have to agree that it seems like the best possible way to reach sinners.
Again, the Apostle Paul said something very relevant to this particular teaching in Phil. 3:3. He said, “For we are the circumcision, who worship God in Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh. (He didn’t trust himself, he was totally dependent upon God! What a concept!)
The very fact that we are sinners, saved by His grace alone qualifies us to have little or no confidence in our own deeds! Having little or no confidence in what we are able to accomplish returns us to the rightful position of depending on Him to accomplish through us what He wants to accomplish.
Remember that it is God alone who directs the footsteps of His children, (Proverbs 16:9, Psalms 37:23) and it is God who works in and through you for His good purpose! (Phil. 2:13)
No confidence in ourselves, dependence upon Him and Him alone! God can work with that!
That’s exactly what He needs and is looking for
Empty, willing vessels for Him to work through!
Remember, “Dependence upon is a pre-requisite to use by God.”
At this point I’m guessing there might be a question in your minds. Surely one or even two, something like your study is nice but where is all this going and maybe something like what makes the writer such an expert on these issues?
Allow me to illustrate:
I woke up this day and the pressure of another early Sunday morning already began to exert itself, the kids were not cooperating and the Sunday School lesson was less prepared than I felt it could or should have been. The real threat of our arriving late steadily ticked nearer and nearer and yet there was the sweet lady without a car that we give a ride to church to pick up. Pressure, already a short fuse with the kids and my loving wife as immediately we entered the vehicle the kids began arguing. The baby’s pacifier had been left behind, the drivers in front of us were obviously not almost late for church (like us) and were certainly driving slow enough to prove it. All the things that remind you that but for the grace of God and the blood of Jesus we’re nothing more than sinners like the rest of the lost world. Not exactly the one who you’d think would be teaching Sunday school at a dynamic Spirit filled Christian Church. Not the spirit you look for in your Deacons Pretty much everything leveled off and the peace of God overpowered the pressure of the flesh and Satan once we arrived at church. Bless His Name, thank You Jesus. The lesson went well, worship as well as Sunday service was very sweet and dearly cherished. Upon preparing to depart for home after the service ended, the head Deacon asked if I would serve communion to a sweet sister who was at the moment hospitalized. Certainly I agreed and actually looked forward to being able to bless a sister in her time of need. (I had volunteered months earlier but this was my first opportunity to serve communion.)
I attempted to contact another Deacon to accompany me on this communion mission but was unfruitful and asked my wife if she’d accompany me, of course she agreed. We waited for the better part of the day for things to settle down at the hospital with her family visiting and evening finally came and she called.
We got the kids straight and we were off and actually the last ones to enter the hospital, the guard so naturally instructed us how to get to the room where our lovely sister awaited as well as mentioned that visiting hours had ended more than 5 minutes earlier. We arrived and loved on her, fellowshipped with her, recapped the service of earlier in the day and finally served communion. After praying and saying our good byes we departed and our sister rested for her next day’s trial. (She was about to undergo major open heart surgery.) All the way home we spoke about how blessed we left the hospital feeling, that just possibly we had received the bigger blessing than the sister, or at least that’s the way I personally felt and expressed to my sweet wife.
A group of basketball players came together and were squaring off against another team of five and since this was a “pick – up” game, there were no jerseys and everyone had on their favorite tee shirt. Johnny told Mike to cover the man in red, a simple enough task. The game started and Mike left his defense and double covered the one in orange instead leaving his man open to score. Everybody was annoyed with Mike until he sheepishly admitted that he was color blind and couldn’t tell between the red and orange…
The moral of that story is that within any group of people, practically no two see the same thing in the same way. We see things through the lens of our emotions and or needs as much as the lens of our eyes! (For the man in the desert, doesn’t water take on an unnatural beauty? For the young lover, doesn’t his bride take on a beauty beyond the realm of the flesh? For the jealous spouse, doesn’t every kind glance become something more than it was intended to be?) We all see things differently, even if only slightly!
Some of us are even color blind. (Naturally & or Spiritually)
If you hear our lovely sister retell the story of our communion service you wouldn’t believe that it was the same occasion of which I described. She also felt as though she had received the biggest blessing that evening as God worked through us, He ministered to her, He loved her through us in a way we could never accomplish. God did however need us, (or another set of yielded vessels) to do the work He wished to do in our sister. Did I go to that hospital feeling I’d somehow “arrived”? No! Did I feel “super spiritual”? Not a chance! Was I thinking that God Almighty would work through me in a way that a person about to walk through the valley of the shadow of death (quadruple bypass surgery) would receive His peace, His assurance, His love in a way that caused her to speak of it almost like an angelic visitation? You’ve got to be kidding! Only that morning on the way to church my flesh and Satan had made my very stomach churn at how little control I had over my wicked heart. I may have even asked myself one or more of the questions asked at the beginning of this study!
Not dependent upon how I felt, my sister was expecting and received something that God had planned for her!
You see, it’s not dependent upon how we feel, it is dependent on how yielded we are to Him!
How I personally felt or saw things could not effect the way she was ministered to by God through me!
The only way I could have affected the outcome was to not go at all! (God simply would have raised up others at my loss had I not gone! God always has reserves standing at the ready! 1 Kings 19:18 )
Why would He, Jehovah-Jireh, God Almighty, choose such a one as I and what can I possibly do that He cannot do Himself?
The answer is easy to see, we simply need to forget about “arriving”, we need to accept the fact that as long as we are within these fleshly bodies we’ll disappoint ourselves, no matter how mature we get! Remember that the Holy Spirit within us has standards we can of ourselves never attain, the more maturity we attain in Christ the easier it will be to find faults in our behavior. The standard ever increases and if we’re waiting to gain or attain some level of spiritual maturity to be of service to God we’re wasting His and our time. He doesn’t need or want any of that, what He wants is that we simply present our bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is our reasonable service and for us to get ourselves out of the way and allow Him to work through us!
It’s that simple! (This truth should be liberating somebody!)
You know, after that night with our sister I was almost embarrassed to talk to her knowing how heavily God’s Spirit worked through me. More importantly I was overwhelmed with a spirit of humility that Jehovah God could and would work through me in such a way even with the things He knows about me that others do not!
Hear me brothers and sisters, He sees us in a different way than we see ourselves! Like the color blind basketball player He doesn’t see us the same way we see ourselves! Maybe we’re color blind compared to Him. (For sure!) He looks at us in a different way, He sees us in a different light. (Remember what Pastor’s always told you, God sees you through the blood of His precious Son! Clothed in spotless white of Jesus’ righteousness)
Get up, do what you’ve been feeling that He’s been telling you to do. Don’t wait! Do it now!
Present the foolishness that is within you, allow Him to use you in spite of it! Keep in mind that it really isn’t important how you see yourself when doing God’s business, it’s how He sees you that counts!
The very shortfalls that keep us from ministering more, witnessing more, are the things that help our importance diminish and His presence to take pre-eminence in and through us. By our decreasing He increases and it’s Him that has the power to effect others whom He has us minister to.
You know, it’s not about us at all, it’s all about Him. The more invisible we are, the more visible He becomes in and through us! When we question whether He can or should use us it only stands to show us that our focus is in the wrong place. Of course He can and will use us once we simply realize that without Him we are helpless to do anything, but with Him all things are possible! (Phil. 4:13, Matt. 19:26)
Taking a line from the late Oswald Chambers, “It is Jesus who produces in the commonplace something that is inspiring.” Allow Him to work through you today to bless others as only He can! Remember Paul’s cry:
I beseech you therefore brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service!
(The Apostle Paul, Romans 12:1)
He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit is saying to His church! (Rev. 2:29)
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I hope you enjoyed and that this study helped you as it did me! Be blessed of our precious Lord Jesus Christ.
Your servant in Him,
Richard P. Duffield Jr.