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Beautiful Offering |Worship #7|

Updated: Jul 5, 2022


Driving home, I reflected on the last week.. There were so many times I wanted to open that forbidden website, so many times that I wanted to divulge all my sexual drives. And yet and yet. How in each moment the Lord reminded me off His great love. Previously I have failed so many times.😔. Yet why was this time different?🤔


There was no thunder roaring telling me to stop my sexual sin. It was not coerced in anyway. Yet the Lord gently reminded me off His providential love towards me. There once was a biblical story off Hosea and Gomer, in which the Lord asked Hosea the prophet to marry Gomer the prostitute:

When the LORD first spoke through Hosea, the LORD said to Hosea, "Go, take to yourself a wife of whoredom and have children of whoredom, for the land commits great whoredom by forsaking the LORD." Hosea 1:2 💃

Why did the Lord ask for such a thing?😰


"

Through His command to Hosea, God brings to life a consistent picture used throughout the Old Testament. In this picture, the LORD is the husband of Israel, and their passionate, chronic attraction for idols was like the lust of an adulterer. His people were as unfaithful as a prostitute was.
In this vivid picture, we see how our idolatry and rejection of the LORD feels to God.
When we put anything in front of the LORD, it hurts Him like unfaithfulness hurts the victim of an adulterous marriage. By commanding Hosea to take… a wife of harlotry, God will put Hosea in the place where he feels what God feels – and it won’t feel good.

"



This idea stuck with me this week. How when I sin how it must feel to my Lord.😔. I believe that God is much stronger and more patient than anyone else. Yet when I really think about it, if my significant other would so far as to speak to another guy it would really hurt. How much more pain will it be if our married spouse would continuously commit adultery and find other lovers just like Gomer did? And that is exactly what our Lord is trying to inform the readers of Hosea. How we have crossed the line.😱. Thinking that our sins has no consequences..


And so why was this time any different? It is because all those times I fell under sexual sin, every time I indulged in gluttony, in lust, in anger, in hatred, in pride, in ALL my sins, I always tried to think off my perspective. What I can do. What I can plan to change...

I..

I...

I....

and yet what if the answer isn't in me?😵

When I faced my temptation this time, the Lord reminded me:

No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it. 1 Corinthians 10:13 🚫👑🏃

And it's true. No temptation or trial has ever happened without the approval off our God. What we face, others before us has also faced as well... Let's not forget that Jesus has endured all our sins on the Cross.✝️. As our Lord knows our limits. And in His way He also gives a way out. The question is—have we trusted Him?


From this whole week, by His grace I was able to trust in Him. Not because off my strength, but because He reminded me to look back at His providence and love.🛐. To reflect all those moments how He loved me unconditionally.💗. And that IF I fall in the sin—there is something at stake. I stopped thinking of what I can do, but to think off— What will happen to my relationship with the Lord? What will my Lord feel?😞 What would He think off all this? When will His abounding mercy end?


I finally understood why Jesus said to love,❤️, the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind. To love God with all our essence is what propels us.. And when we love someone we stop thinking off ourselves and more towards our loved one.


I realized how my sins has hurt my Lord. My God who have loved me unconditionally who believed in me when all else fails. To my God who I have failed constantly... I am sorry O'Lord. I am truly very sorry for neglecting Your feelings all this time.😭😭😭


I can finally understood more now that the fear off the Lord isn't me being scared off going to hell. No. The fear of the Lord is a much deeper fear— it is a fear off losing my relationship with my Lord.💔. To lose that intimacy. To lose a deep deep love that has enveloped the darkest depths off my soul. My very essence of joy. To lose my place off solace, my rest and fortitude through all things... And that is indeed fearful.😱.

Anyways, today I was listening to this song "Beautiful Offering" and the lyrics just resonated ever so deeply😭.


 

"Beautiful Offering"

performed by Big Daddy Weave

 

The song starts with:


Through the fire,

And through the rain,

Through the heartache

And deepest pain


When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. Isaiah 43:2 🌊🔥👨‍👦

O Lord, thank You for being with me from all those times off waters, times when I have faced insurmountable challenges. When I was at that tiny apartment writhing in pain. When I was alone and had nothing. Thank You for believing in me when everyone else didn't.😭. Thank You for those times of fire, moments when I was so close to death. When in my foolishness, You have guarded me from all dangers. Moments off trouble and destitute. Thank You for delivering me by Your grace... 🕊️


Take this broken life I bring, make it a beautiful offering


Lord, these lyrics are what made me cry so much😭. I can imagine off that final day before I see You once more. Help me O Lord to give ALL I have to You. Because O Lord... what can I truly give You? I am broken. You know me. How I have wasted my life, my body, my opportunities. I am in tatters and lost and yet.. And yet. You have rescued me. I finally realized Lord, that the greatest offering I can give is:

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Romans 12:1 🛐

Lord, please make my whole life as my living sacrifice. Not just through offering but through my body, time, all off me. To know that my life is not my own anymore. To live a holy and acceptable life.. As I recently can uphold my holiness have I truly realized how precious it is. As Your are holy O Lord, help us be the same.


ALL I am laid at your feet


To be holy is important, yet please Lord please give us Your wisdom to also give what is acceptable:

For if the readiness is there, it is acceptable according to what a person has, not according to what he does not have. 2 Corinthians 8:12 🤲

What can I give my Lord who has all the earth? What can I praise to my Lord who is worthy off all praise? Yet all I can give is what I have right now. All off it. To stop making excuses off not having enough this or that. All I have is enough and more. As Jesus once described a poor widow who put in two small copper coins, which makes a penny. Who gave with ALL her heart. To which Jesus commended her saying:

And he called his disciples to him and said to them, “Truly, I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box. For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.” Mark 12:43-44 🥺👵❤️

Lord, thank You for reminding me off this short pericope that is so amazing. Just like the poor widow, Lord, please change me. To lay ALL I am at Your feet. I remember O Lord all those nights. When I first became a Christian. I did not understand anything. How I struggled reading the Bible for hours on end. How I gave my all struggling and finally overcoming myself. It was truly beautiful. Please Lord help me to give You ALL I am once more. From my money, my time, my possessions, my ego and ALL I have for Your glory...! 🙌

 

Reflection

Dear Lord, thank You for giving me the capacity to write again. How I have missed this. Sharing Your Word in it's entirety. And I would like to end with the last set off lyrics:


Your love changes everything

Make me a beautiful offering


Lord thank You for loving me,.. How amazing is Your love:

I will rejoice and be glad in your steadfast love, because you have seen my affliction; you have known the distress of my soul, Psalm 31:7 🤗💗🤗

And it's true. That Your love truly changes everything. How it is steadfast, loyal, and unwavering ceases to amaze me. How precious is Your love O Lord that changes my heart. You have heard the cries off my soul, the turmoil within me.😰. And through it all You have molded my spirit:

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. Psalm 51:17 😭😔😭

Thank You Lord for my broken and contrite heart today.😭. I repent in dust and ashes off how I have mistreated Your grace all this time. And in Your mercy today to be able to stand in Your presence in worship... is truly amazing. Lord. All I will achieve and do, please never let me forget this moment.🥺. To which I want to continually make my life to be Your beautiful offering.🤲. As I know You can use anyone or anything else just as easily. But please Lord,...use me. And if one day others around me notice a change, help me to redirect all the glory back to You...🎺.

But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. 2 Corinthians 4:7 🏺

Thank You Lord Jesus for hearing my prayers.🤗. Please renew and mold me as Your beautiful offering again,🤲, day by day... In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.



Posted on: October 15, 2021


Credits: 📷Amir Arefi

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