{"id":19997,"date":"2014-06-03T00:20:51","date_gmt":"2014-06-03T04:20:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/?p=19997"},"modified":"2014-06-03T06:30:43","modified_gmt":"2014-06-03T10:30:43","slug":"19997","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/2014\/06\/03\/19997\/","title":{"rendered":"Sacrifices and Joy"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"SeekingHimLogo\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

Let them give thanks to the Lord for His unfailing love
\nand His wonderful deeds for mankind.
\nLet them sacrifice thank offerings
\nand tell of His works with songs of joy.
\nPsalms 107:21-22<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

When one reads the Bible and thinks of sacrifice, they probably think about animal sacrifices to God. \u00a0However, most cultures do not do animal sacrifices anymore. \u00a0It is, in today\u2019s modern world, an outdated practice in most cultures. Yet there are other ways to make sacrifices for God\u2019s glory.<\/p>\n

As parents, we sacrifice our time to raise Godly children. \u00a0We sacrifice our time to ensure that our children know who God is when we could be doing something else. \u00a0We sacrifice our own wants and wants of the flesh to bring glory to God through serving at church or in other capacities, working in various ministries, etc. \u00a0These are\u00a0 just some ways we do \u201csacrifice thank offerings\u201d\u2014by giving up our own time to serve Him in some capacity.<\/p>\n

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing,
\nso that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.
\nRomans 15:13<\/p>\n

When we accept Christ or witness others accept Christ, we are filled with joy. \u00a0We are joyful that one of the lost has found their way back into God\u2019s arms again. \u00a0We take that same joy and tell of God\u2019s great works and miracles through song and praise. \u00a0We tell of His wondrous life and works with joy to anybody who is yearning to hear His story of peace and redemption. \u00a0We become filled with the hope that the Holy Spirit brings us. \u00a0We spread this hope and joy and peace through sacrificing our time and selfish human desires to serve and worship God.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy son,\u201d the father said, \u201cyou are always with me, and everything I have is yours.
\nBut we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead
\nand is alive again; he was lost and is found.\u201d
\nLuke 15:31-32<\/p>\n

As in this parable about the prodigal son, the father had made great sacrifices to provide for his family. \u00a0He gave the one son his inheritance who then squandered it. \u00a0But, when that son returned home, the father was overjoyed. \u00a0In this parable, we can see God as making sacrifices for us, those who choose to ignore Him and refuse to follow Him. \u00a0However, when we come back to Him and accept Christ, He is overjoyed. \u00a0We are alive again, and we can tell of the great joy and miracles that God brings us through voice and song.<\/p>\n

*<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0~ \u00a0 \u2665 \u00a0 ~\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u271e\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0~ \u00a0\u2665 \u00a0 ~ \u00a0 *<\/span><\/p>\n

Dear Heavenly Father, we are overjoyed that You love us. \u00a0We sing with joy of the wonderful blessings You give us and of the miracles You perform. \u00a0May we be strong witnesses of Your love and grace. \u00a0In Jesus\u2019 name, Amen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Let them give thanks to the Lord for His unfailing love and His wonderful deeds for mankind. Let them sacrifice thank offerings and tell of His works with songs of joy. Psalms 107:21-22 When one reads the Bible and thinks of sacrifice, they probably think about animal sacrifices to God. \u00a0However, most cultures do not […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":90,"featured_media":13840,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3020],"tags":[3367,1287,425,3211,6444,6445,1801,6446,3174],"class_list":["post-19997","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-devotions","tag-daily-devotions-2","tag-gch","tag-girlfriends-coffee-hour","tag-laura-pattillo","tag-luke-1531-32","tag-psalms-19721-22","tag-romans-1513","tag-sacrifices-and-joy","tag-seeking-him-devotional","entry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/SeekingHimLogo.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/s39pHp-19997","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19997","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/90"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19997"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19997\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20001,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19997\/revisions\/20001"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13840"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19997"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19997"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19997"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}