Ye are not your own

1Co 6:19 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? 1Co 6:20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.

Hello friends and good morning. What a day yesterday, one of our church members fixed my lawnmower saving me a ton of money, and then wouldn't you know it as I finished the front yard and started to make the first pass on the back yard..POP the belt broke. Well glory to God I finished the front and it doesn't look raggedy. I mention this because that dear brother gave of himself, he didn't ask for payment and he didn't do it with another motive of taking advantage of me. You see yesterday we spoke about voluntarily giving up our will for the will of God, that He may be glorified. So today I wanted to finish with the third point of the volunteer Christian soldier. I remember when I went to basic training, and when I went there I now fell under the command of another, I gave up not only my will, but myself. We see that you must give up your time, your will, and lastly yourself. I mean wholly forsaking all to be used of the master, the Bible says that there are vessels unto honor, and vessels unto dishonor. All this depends on how you give yourself to be used. You must remember as our verses say for today..ye are bought with a price, ye are not your own. Gal 2:20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. To voluntarily give up yourself would help you to live by faith, it will enable you to meet the masters call and find Gods perfect will for your life. To give yourself means that it encompasses your entire being and your sole focus is on the Lord Jesus Christ and His honor and His glory. To give yourself wholly means that your ambitions and direction are changed, your heart, your mind and everything you have is submitted to God. I remember during my training as a soldier in the military that I either got into line to accomplish the mission, or the other soldiers would advance and leave me in the dirt. It wasn't until I figured out that its not the direction I want to go, but the direction that I was ordered to go in. When I was able to grasp the idea that its about the mission and not myself then I found it very easy to sacrifice myself. We must go the extra mile, take the extra time, give when it hurts, and endure until it makes us weep. All this being done and the manifold grace of God will carry us through the battle and keep us until the next. I know its hard to give yourself, there are many distractions and temptations that allure us to not be what we could be for the Lord. The Bible however says in 2Ti 2:21 If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master's use, and prepared unto every good work. Every good work that impacts the overall mission, you must put aside every weight that would deter you from making an impact on the mission. Another fact I learned in the military is this, when I wasn't willing to give of myself, that didn't stop the mission, there was always somebody the commander could find that would. The same goes in the Lords army, when you back down or when others shy away God is always preparing a man to do His work, and if you don't step up to the plate and give of yourself, then you better believe that God will give that work to someone else. Giving of yourself says I will follow, being therefore a servant and a leader by example. This world teaches you to be a leader by force and coercion, the Bible says to serve, and by serving people will follow. You will have to give yourself though in order to see this come true, you will have to give yourself to be blessed of God. Friend to give yourself is a lifetime commitment, one that requires much more than a simple 8-5 job. To give yourself is a 24 hr, 365 day commitment for the Lord! Friends I pray this was an encouragement to give a little more in your life to see the work of the Lord accomplished, and to see the Lord to use you. I know from experience that all this is not a cakewalk, and as that old song says...He's still working on me! Lets do it together for the glory of GOD! Also I would like to mention that our website for the church is finally up, come and visit us http://www.cbclawrenceburg.org/