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Magnifying the Lord ~ A Study in the Word
September 1, 2007
This week’s word study contributed by:
Kevin Sparkman
 Looking
at Romans 12:1-2
Romans 12:1-2:
Dearly beloved of the Lord,
Rom 12:1 - I beseech you therefore, brethren, by
the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a
living sacrifice, holy, acceptable
unto God, which is your reasonable service.
Rom 12:2 - And be not conformed
to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind,
that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect,
will of God.
Beseech ~ Greek: parakaleo (par-ak-al-eh-o):
to call near, that is invite or invoke (by imploration, hortation
or consolation), call for, desire, exhort, intreat, pray.
Present ~ Greek: parietemi, pariatano (par-is-tay-mee,
par-is-tan-o): to stand beside, to be at hand or ready, bring before,
command, commend, give, present, prove, provide, yield.
Holy ~ Greek: hagioa (hag-ee-os): (an awful
thing) sacred (physically pure, morally blameless, and religious consecrated.
Acceptable ~ Greek: euarestos (yoo-ar-es-tos):
fully agreeable and well pleasing.
Reasonable ~ Greek: logikos (log-ik-os):
rational, logical, and reasonable.
Service ~ Greek: latreia (lat-ri-ah): ministration
of God that is worship: (divine) service.
Not ~ Greek: me (may): negation (whereas
expresses an absolute denial, God forbid.
Conformed ~ euechematizo (soos-khay-mat-id-zo):
to fashion alike, that is to conform to the same pattern, fashion self according to.
Will ~ Greek: thelema (thel-ay-mah): determination,
choice, purpose, decree, desire, pleasure, will.
Thought to consider:
If you have been a follower of Jesus Christ long you know
how the world, the flesh, and the devil is waging war against us to
conform us to this world.
God’s word gives us a strategy to win this war against the world,
the flesh, and the devil.
First, this is serious business with the Lord; He is calling, inviting,
and invoking us to present our whole spirit, soul, and body as a living
sacrifice. It is interesting that He sees this as our reasonable service,
not some great sacrifice. As viewed from the point of being His beloved
children, being raised up in that love, to be as He desires us to
be, how can we not?
Secondly, we are to absolutely deny the things of this world and be
transformed by the renewing of our mind by the word of God. We are
to believe God's word above anything and anyone, including ourselves.
I must confess that this is one of my biggest battles, because I have
allowed words from others, and from myself - as well as the enemy
of my soul - to so often frame me within the patterns of this world.
I believe that I am not alone in this battle. Let us decide today
to be encouraged, as we seek to allow our lives to line up with God's
word, letting His power fill us, building up the Kingdom within and
no longer the tearing down.
If you would
like to comment on this study, please send an email to:
comments@vine3.org
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