Romans 12:1-2

Rom 12:1-2  21^st Century  KJV

 1 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.

 2 And be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God

Beseech – Call near , invite, ask, call you to, intreat, call for, pray, beg, implore urgently

            Rom 15:30,

                       

·         Paul invites us to think about, by begging (he must think what he is saying is important) us in an urgent manner and tells us to listen to his message.

Therefore – so, hence, then

Bretheren –

 1) a brother, whether born of the same two parents or only of the same father or mother

2) having the same national ancestor, belonging to the same people, or countryman

3) any fellow or man

4) a fellow believer, united to another by the bond of affection

5) an associate in employment or office

6) brethren in Christ

a) his brothers by blood

b) all men  - don’t forget “God would that all men be saved”   1Ti 2:4 Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.

c) apostles

d) Christians, as those who are exalted to the same heavenly place

Mercies  –  God’s mercy / save sinners by re-establishing His Kingdom. Gal 2:8-9

1.	compassionate or kindly forbearance shown toward an offender, an enemy, or other person in one's power; compassion, pity, or benevolence: Have mercy on the poor sinner.

2.	the disposition to be compassionate or forbearing: an adversary wholly without mercy.

3.	the discretionary power of a judge to pardon someone or to mitigate punishment, esp. to send to prison rather than invoke the death penalty.

4.	an act of kindness, compassion, or favor: She has performed countless small mercies for her friends and neighbors.

5.	something that gives evidence of divine favor; blessing: It was just a mercy we had our seat belts on when it happened.

6.

at the mercy of, entirely in the power of; subject to: They were at the mercy of their captors.   Also, at one's mercy.  Present        1. to furnish or endow with a gift - esp. with a formal act        2. to represent, impersonate or act         3. a thing presented as a gift        4. to hand over or submit

 Lets take a look at Old Testament sacrifices and it will become clear the sacrifice is   a gift. 

•  Leviticus 16:7New International Version (NIV)    ⁷ Then he is to take the two goats and present  them before the Lord at the entrance to the tent of meeting

·         The idea here is to make a gift of something, to give something, a gift is always free – or at least it is supposed to be. In this case a sacrifice to the Living God, a gift from a man.

·          What do we call gifts (Christmas, birthday presents – spelled the same way). Remember God’s free Gift in salvation (undeserved) He – presented or gave  to us?

·         We can never out give God, in the old test. He put in place a series of animal sacrifices because He had not sent His Son yet to be a perm. Sac for us. Think of that he sent His Son not only to re-establish His Kingdom here on earth but through His Son, a permanent sacrifice or gift was given to each on of us

your body -  a temple -  1 Cor. 6:19 – A temple is where sacs were made

a living sacrifice – your reasonable service  - acceptable to God

Rom 15:16, Gal 2:20, – after what He has done for us it’s the least we can do for Him.

We are Crucified with Him – if we are joint heirs with Him Rom 8:17

Like any father all God wants for us is the best for us (His Children)

1.   He thru Paul, tells us to give ourselves over to Him and His way of thinking, His service (by working for Him, in our church, by helping and building each other up, etc. what ever He wants you to do specifically) He speaks to us most of time thru His Word, Pray – listen/spend time being quiet specifically to listen to God.  

2.   He tells us not to be like the unbelieving world but transform or change your thinking to the way He thinks. (He says that the least we can do) – when we do that (the more we think like Him. Or our thoughts line up with His, then it’s easier to discern His voice)

3.   We learn what is the good, acceptable, and perfect will of God the more we meditate on His Word. It’s a circle of Gods Love toward us: The more we meditate on His Word the more He reveals to us and the more He reveals to us, the more we meditate on His Word.

Consider this in-light of understanding through daily meditation of               God’s Word:

Luke 8:18New International Version (NIV)   ¹⁸ Therefore consider carefully how you listen. Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what they think they have will be taken from them.”

4.   . The more we learn about Him the more we will want to learn - for who can resist then The God of the universe?

(read)  Isaiah 28: 9&10 “line upon line, precept upon precept”

5.   Paul telling us to meditate (think about, mull over, kick around) The Word

6.   When we do this, our view of situations – good or bad, begins to change to the way God see them. This is what He wants for us and tells us to meditate on His Word in many places in the Bible.

Pslam 1 / Meditation On The Word - Agreement With God

Righteous / Wicked Contrasted

Psalms - The psalms are the production of various authors. "Only a portion of the Book of Psalms claims David as its author. Other inspired poets in successive generations added now one now another contribution to the sacred collection, and thus in the wisdom of Providence it more completely reflects every phase of human emotion and circumstances than it otherwise could." But it is especially to David and his contemporaries that we owe this precious book. In the "titles" of the psalms, the genuineness of which there is no sufficient reason to doubt, 73 are ascribed to David. Peter and John (Acts 4:25) ascribe to him also the second psalm, which is one of the 48 that are anonymous. About two-thirds of the whole collection have been ascribed to David.

The whole collection extends over a period of about 1,000 years. There are in the New Testament 116 direct quotations from the Psalms.

The Psalms are divided, after the analogy of the Pentateuch, into five books, each closing with a doxology or benediction:

·         The word Psalms for all practical purposes means praise song.

·         This is first psalm and it points out the reward of the righteous and the wicked.

·         The word righteous literally means right standing with God. – How do we get to have right standing with God? (HIS SON, Invite to be saved)

·         The Word Of God is called by the Psalmist David (73), a lamp unto my feet – it is our road map

Psalm 1

 1 Blessed is the man
       who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked
       or stand in the way of sinners
       or sit in the seat of mockers.

God always tells us what is good for us but at the same time, gives us the choice what to do, whether to follow His direction or not. In this verse, He uses the word “blessed” to imply what is good for us – but this verse also implies we have a choice.
Duet 6 : 7-9 - read
Josh 24:15 – read
 2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD,
       and on his law he meditates day and night.

His Love for us is unconditional – His blessings depend on us fulfilling a condition. Nothing but being obedient. - how? (meditate on His Word – all the time) – My Dad used to say to me all the time that “I love you, I just don’t like the things you do”
Josh 1:8 – read

Exodus 1:18-20
¹⁸ Then the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and asked them, “Why have you done this? Why have you let the boys live?” ¹⁹ The midwives answered Pharaoh, “Hebrew women are not like Egyptian women; they are vigorous and give birth before the midwives arrive.”
²⁰ So God was kind to the midwives and the people increased and became even more numerous. ²¹ And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families of their own

Interesting to note that for God to further His Master Purpose – restoring His Kingdom on earth HIS end does justify the means. However, when looked at in the context of love (for humanity, His children – us, nothing is more important than His “kids”) it is consistent with his command of being under authority (civil, familial, workplace, etc).  He only does what is best for us.

Ex 2:23 & 24
23 Years passed, and the king of Egypt died. But the Israelites still groaned beneath their burden of slavery. They cried out for help, and their pleas for deliverance rose up to God. 24 God heard their cries and remembered his covenant promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 25 He looked down on the Israelites and felt deep concern for their welfare.
Also – GOD Always keeps His promises – in this case His covenant to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob
3 He is like a tree planted by streams of water,
       which yields its fruit in season
       and whose leaf does not wither.
       Whatever he does prospers. 

·          God's children are so saturated with his grace, that whatever comes to them, tends to their salvation

·          He want His kids to “yield fruit” – work for The Kingdom

·          To be successful so as not be discouraged

 4 Not so the wicked!
       They are like chaff
       that the wind blows away.   

4 &5 dealt with equally here :  (read)Isaiah & 17Mat 3:12

5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,  nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous                    

            The idea here is that people who do not have right standing with God through His Son Jesus, will be discarded like the waste of harvesting wheat. 
Many times in the Word is the Kingdom and It’s principles liked to a harvest. – Mat 9:37 -38                                                                   
                                                                       
 6 For the LORD watches over the way of the righteous,
       but the way of the wicked will perish.

2 Tim 2:19

·          We can know the lord by being / staying in HIS WORD everyday. Find a verse first thing every morning – learn it, write it down if you need to, lay the ground work to meditate on that verse 4 – 5 times in that day.

·          Do right! Plain and simple. Always keep your word, even if not convenient, always do what you say you are going to do – if not let that person know.

Proverbs  14:12

·          God’s Word is the roadmap

·          Lean not to your own understanding – God is saying “ trust Me” – over and over again in HIS WORD – that is His Plea to us – “trust Me”

Rom 6:21

·          God says to you and me, quit doing things your way,  know  Me, trust me even though My Ways don’t make sense to you or the world sometimes. Your ways only screw things up. Rely on me and I will give you  the /  My wisdom to make the right decisions,

And what happen then?  Josh 1:8 says we will be prosperous and successful.

It will not always be easy  – when things are going good, car break down etc. pressure on marriage. In the long run though, I’ve read the book and we / you win.

  

• Meditate on The Word - as you start to look at situations the way God does, you see things differently - different worldview - different outlook.

• Keep company with people who know God – when you ask advice get it from Godly people –

Meditate on the Word every day – get close to & know God – He longs to have fellowship with us. He is mindful of us -                  

 Psalm 8  says :            

 3 When I consider your heavens,  the work of your fingers                          

 the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, 4 what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?

·        

 When you meditate on the Word you get to know God  (remember, He says that when we draw near to Him He will draw near to us) – He never changes, it is always up to us

Maps Of Interest

Holy Land as settled by The Children Of Israel

Holy Land As The Gospel spread

.                                                                                                                                          

Christianity and features in Israel