Consume me oh Lord

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. 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. (Romans 12:1-2)

Again we are presented with an exhortation from the Apostle Paul who allegorizes a spiritual truth with a natural exercise.  To the believer the hidden truths of the Old Testament, the commandments, statutes, testimonies, ordinances and rituals have been fulfilled and revealed in Yeshua.  Because Yeshua was obedient to YHWH, took off his robe of glory, embodied himself in flesh like man, lived sinlessly and was obedient even to the death of the cross.  He revealed the mystery of salvation and opened the gates of Heaven to the repentant soul.  Our mission and goal is to accept and obey the finished work of Ha Mashiach and give our life, the life that He redeemed back to him.  “¶ 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)”.  This is the living sacrifice that is required.  In turn YHWH gives us abundant and everlasting life. Yeshua says, “For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother. (Matthew 12:50)”.  A living sacrifice is a willing sacrifice, the Lord is a re-warder of them that diligently seek him.  YHWH required us to be diligent, fervent and zealous about our life for him and he is according to the scripture Jealous for us. We are warned as the Church of Laodicea  is warned,  “So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. (Revelation of John 3:16)”. The way of the believer is  in Yeshua who was fervent in his obedience to the Father.  His only desire was to do the will of YHWH.  We must understand that everything in the earth is temporary.  This is why Paul says “be not conformed to this world”, your investment should not be in this world but in obedience to every command, statue and testimony of the Lord.  Once this becomes your continual effort, the Lord will consume your sacrifice.   

The life of the Israelite (one who has power with YHWH) Priest  seemed to be full of ritual, ordinances and commandments.  The Priests were required to dress a certain way, sanctify (clean)  themselves often and make sacrifices of animals, which was a bloody affair, according to the Word of YHWH.  Once a year the High Priest was required to enter into the Holy of Holies, the inner most room of the tabernacle to sprinkle blood on the mercy seat of the Ark of the Covenant.  The carnal mind sees this as ritual but the spiritual mind must understand the spiritual significance of each piece of clothing and every action taken by the Priest that all points to Yeshua, Heaven and YHWH.  All of the preparation and the sacrifice of animals, the wearing of the clothing did not wipe away the sin of man or appease YHWH but he required their obedience.   Obedience is a fruit of Faith and “without Faith it is impossible to please YHWH”.  When you please the Father  he accepts your sacrifice and consumes you, not in devouring you but he takes you up into his presence.  His eyes and ears are on you and when he sees and hears you his presence is around you and with his presence is  his glory and blessings and his power.  

The carnal mind sees this as a life without pleasure which in fact it is a life without the pleasures of sin  which will all burn away and the carnal mind with it.  It is also a life of the pleasure of not having to sin. Sin is attached to death which will be thrown into the lake of fire,  obedience to the word of YHWH is attached to life that will be consumed by YHWH. .  Sin is full of weights and habits  that are chains that hold you down to the earth and the flesh. Yeshua made us free from the law of sin and death.    It is easy to sin but it is also easy to live saved if you understand and submit to the will of YHWH. Understanding and knowing YHWH is the fruit of submission.   When you are filled with the Holy Spirit you have received the key to eternal bliss.  When you submit to the Holy Spirit, you don’t have the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit has you, that’s submission.  He leads you, guides you, keeps you, comforts you and teaches you the way of holiness.  

A living sacrifice is a fervent  fiery relationship with YHWH.  Honestly examine yourself and measure the intensity of your relationship with him.  Measure your prayer life, is it hot or cold, measure your praise, is it light or heavy.  Measure your study time is it intensive or superficial.  It’s like any other relationship, the more you put into it, the more you will get out of it.  Measure it against TV time, screen time, me time and time you spend worrying.  If the scales are imbalanced to the carnal side  make an adjustment.  Another fruit of faith is trust.  King David in the Spirit says, “Offer the sacrifices of righteousness, and put your trust in the LORD. (Psalms 4:5)”.  David loved YHWH by trusting and obeying YHWH and YHWH in turn loved David, so much so that he many times testified of his love for David.  That’s love, a two lane highway not a one way street. David put his time in. He Prayed, Praised and Meditated on the Word a lot, night and day, and put in the work. Exercise yourself to godliness and exercising your faith with good character, yielding to the fruit of the Spirit and good work, faith is dead without works. Get out of self, me, myself, I and mine.

We are required to present a Holy sacrifice acceptable to YHWH is according to his Word. Not strange fire, false worship, idolatry, tradition superstition.   The fire has to be hot enough to purify. Not just any fire, you need the right substance to sustain a fire. Many will say Lord I did works in your name but is your soul purified?  Naturally speaking a fire need 3 things, a spark, an accelerant and oxygen. You need 3 things to please YHWH enough for him to consume your sacrifice.  A spark, the Holy Spirit is the “spark of YHWH”, you must be born again.  You need an accelerate, faith in the word of YHWH.  Any old faith won’t do, the sects during the time when Yeshua walked thought they believed YHWH but were found wanting.  “For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth. (Romans 10:2-4)”.  When the fire came to them they tried to extinguish it but the true believers saw a great light.  Third you need oxygen, speak the unadulterated Word of YHWH in the form of Praise from the breath of YHWH, praise in the Spirit and the Lord will make his habitation in the midst of your situation and turn the evil away and overshadow it with good. The joy of the Lord will fill the air and take away the sad.  The impossible will disappear, all things are possible with YHWH.  Most of all he will consume you and give you peace. “Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works. (Titus 2:13-14)”.