Living Sacrifice

Good Morning ladies!

I wanted to start today's blog off with a PRAISE REPORT!!! I have been looking for a job for quite some time now and I have been praying for God to direct my path in this area. I have also been praying for the specifics in the next job that he sends me to. Of course my first prayer was like, Lord, please help me find a job. My prayers stayed like that until I started to think about all the things that would be important to me in my next opportunity. God says that nothing is too small for him, so I decided to pray for exactly what I wanted and felt I needed in my next job. I prayed for it to be close to my home, (even though I live in a smaller city so the jobs in my local area normally don’t pay as much as my previous jobs) I prayed that I would make enough for me to help support my family, that the company would be filled with loving people that loved him, (God J) and I prayed that the company would be somewhere that I can grow and use my attributes to help the company grow. Of course I jokingly prayed that my next job just fall from the sky so I could stop looking! Lol! Well ladies, God did all that and MORE!

My mom has a friend that works for her church and she reached out to her about a month ago and told her that I was looking for work. Her friend was nice enough to send me every email she received about job opportunities and job fairs. I received an email on Friday about a job Fair in Fort Worth and posted on my Facebook page so that all others looking could attend. I get a FB IM from one of my friends saying that one of her clients is looking for an Assistant in the Arlington area. I was like WHAT!!! Where? What for? Long story short, I faxed my resume over and received a call from the company that day!! I had a good feeling from the very beginning when I spoke with her, but I didn’t want the job unless that’s what God wanted for me. Believe me, I’ve moved before God told me to and regretted it more than anything, so I wasn’t going to do that again. My interview was scheduled yesterday and I prayed all weekend, all day Monday and all morning before my interview. After a 2 and a half hour interview/talking session I got the JOB!!!! It’s 10 minutes from my house, I’m working with people that love and believe in Jesus, and the pay is just what I need and so much more! God is AWESOME and I just had to share that with all of you. If you’re waiting on him to answer one of your prayers just keep trusting his plan. Every time I started to question God’s plan for me or if I was ever going to find a job he kept saying “I’m preparing something just for you! I’m working on all the details right now Nisia, just keep trusting me!” And I did! I finally LET GO and LET GOD lead me and it was all worth it! I start today! J

This morning I woke up with so many things on my mind, one of them being how am I going to make time to do this blog every morning before work. I was praying about that and also praying for God to give me a word for you ladies. All I kept thinking in my head was sacrifices. My husband told me and continues to tell me that you have to make sacrifices to get where you want to be in life. He sacrifices his sleep by getting up to go to the gym almost every morning. He sacrifices his time by studying for class instead of playing video games (he’s still working on this one! Lol) My point is, if you want something bad enough you’re going to sacrifice whatever you need to in order to get where you want to be. Are we doing this for God? Are we sacrificing our time or any other part of our lives to please him?

During biblical times, almost everyone was sacrificing animals to God, and some like Abraham, were willing to sacrifice something that they could never get back, his only son. God told Abraham to go and sacrifice his son and Abraham didn’t even flinch! He was like Oh okay Lord, whatever you say. Isaac get your stuff so we can go. And then think about the ULTIMATE sacrifice that Jesus made for all of us! He died on the cross for all of our SINS, nothing he did. It was all for us. How hard would it be for you to sacrifice some of your time today to get in God’s word or to reach out to someone in need? That’s nothing compared to what Jesus did for all of us.

Putting God first in your life is not the easiest thing in the world to do and God understands that. We get so used to live for “us” and pleasing ourselves that it’s hard to kick that habit. God knows that you are going to have to take baby steps to get where you want to be and he’s okay with that. Just start working on that today. Start allowing God to be first before you make a decision, or before you call and ask your friend what you should do, seek guidance from God. Let him know that he trust him! He can move mountains ladies. Nothing is too big or hard for God. Once you start trusting and believing that you will walk by Faith and not even worry about sight!


Here are some AWESOME scriptures I found on the importance of Sacrifice:

*Hosea 6:6 “For I desire LOYALTY and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.”

      As many of you know and like I stated above, during biblical times people were sacrificing animals to God. I believe this passage is saying that our loyalty and understanding of God is more meaningful to him than any sacrifice you could ever imagine. The thing is, you have to sacrifice something in order for you to be loyal to him and to know him.

*Romans 12:1 “Therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your spiritual worship.”

      Use your whole body!! That means your mind, your words, your actions, basically EVERY fiber of your being to please God!

*Hebrews 13:12-16 “In the same way, Jesus suffered and bled outside the city walls of Jerusalem to sanctify the people. Let’s then go out to Him and resolve to bear the insult and abuse that He endured. For as long as we are here, we do not live in any permanent city, but are looking for the city that is to come. (Heaven!!) Through Jesus, then, let us keep offering to God our own sacrifice, the praise of lips that confess His name WITHOUT CEASING. Let’s not neglect what is good and share what we have, for these sacrifices also please God.

      Ladies, confess his name WITHOUT CEASING!! That’s what I’m talking about when I say share God’s goodness with someone else! Tell them your “praise report.” We all have one! You woke up this morning, made it where you were going safely, your child is healthy, you’re healthy, you have a job to go to, ect. All of those are things that you can say thank you to God for!

My mom kept stressing to me the importance of thanking God during my ‘storm’ and I finally started to get it. Thank God for this storm and for getting you out of it. Thank him for the lessons that you learned while you were in your storm and thank him that he allowed the lesson you learned to help someone else. It's not easy to do this, but it will get easiser with time! :)

God is doing some awesome things in all of our lives! Please feel free to share your praise report with all of us!!

Of course I have to leave you with a song that’s been in my head all morning! J ‘What a Savior’ by Laura Story http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vSXpFsjSc-4


Don’t forget about our first mingle meeting on Sunday March 25^th! 3pm at Uncle Julio’s in Grapevine Texas! Everyone come ready to share your praise report, request prayer, or just to share what’s on your heart!
 

Hope to see a lot of beautiful faces there that day!! J

Stay encouraged, inspired and motivated today and help someone else do the same! J

Raynisia Nagel
A Woman After God’s Own Heart