Seven Sacrifices to Joy

Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power...

Thank YOU so much for stopping by and joining me today for more of our Seven Sacrifices to Joy! I just love knowing we have this time together and that I can share from my heart to yours all that He teaches me and thereafter requires of me. I don’t know about you, but I’ve tied quite a few knots in this second sacrifice! I hope you have, too! Grab your Red Strand of Faith and your coffee, and let’s go finish up with this second sacrifice before March is gone!
So what else is considered a Sacrifice of Righteousness? I found something interesting in Psalm 4:5: “Offer the sacrifices” -- (plural) … “of righteousness, and put your trust in the Lord.” (Emphasis on and added) Hmmm, that got me to thinking – uh-oh -- does trusting the Lord then count as a Sacrifice of Righteousness, or is it at least a part of it anyway?
For many of us, that last part is every bit as hard as the first part! I have to confide in you: the more I offer a sacrifice of righteousness, the easier it is to let go, let God, to trust Him with all my soul hurts, my trials and tribulations, my overall well-being! It’s actually liberating, freeing, like spreading your wings and flying … off of a cliff; scary at first but oh, what a feeling.
Our Father loves us too much to leave us the way that we are, and He does what He needs to do to insure we have learned a lesson well enough to begin putting it into practice. Oftentimes, there is a price tag attached to the lesson!

What is the cost? Well, that will depend upon how much trust we have in Him who is in control       versus ourselves. Various price tags include, but are not limited to: the loss of a promotion, a job, and even a friendship or friendships and the price tag may even include some ridicule and/or mockery for good measure. STOP! Let’s talk about this price tag as it relates to these things that become such big desires that we can sometimes lose focus of their correct priority.

First, there is a verse that keeps rising to the door of my heart bursting to get out: Blessed are those who are persecuted for thy name’s sake for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. The NIV say it like this and this translation really spells it out in a relevant way: "Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me.”

See, no matter how I try to escape the subject of people, we always wind up there!

Friends, these words are from Abba Himself! He’s giving us a heads-up that these things will happen! He knows that people that we come to care about will talk about us negatively, say false things about us and cause great emotional wounds, but here’s the deal: most of the time they don’t realize it’s because of Him in you! That’s when it’s really difficult to offer up a sacrifice of righteousness.

Let me give you some promises for perseverance that will help you to offer up a Sacrifice of Righteousness, no matter who, or what, is attempting to steal your joy:
HE will defend us; He will fight our battles [Exodus 14:14] [Jeremiah 51:36a]; He will vindicate and validate so don’t hesitate! He is a shield to those who take refuge in HIM so don’t hide behind others! [Proverbs 30:5]. It comes down to taking Him at His Word and letting pride die instead of reside … in our heart. This is a sacrifice of righteousness.
Well, that’s almost a wrap … we’ll pick up here next week, but, please, Join us tomorrow for Croley’s Corner @ Chicklit Power and Faith Filled Fridays!
Love,

 Evinda