Happy Birthday India

Hey everybody,

I did my own remix of the traditional birthday song for my best friend, India. Acapella! Take a listen! Feel free to Comment, Like, Subscribe to my youtube channel, and tell a friend too!!

Here it is! Hope you enjoy it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1kXyOFHrrAo

A Sacrifice Is Nothing, If It Doesn't Cost You Something

2 Samuel 24:24

And the king said unto Araunah, Nay; but I will surely buy it of thee at a price: neither will I offer burnt offerings unto the Lord my God of that which doth cost me nothing. So David bought the threshingfloor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver.

Here, David was commanded to build an altar to God in the threshingfloor of Araunah, a Jebusite. When David was talking to him, Araunah offered the animals, tools, and materials to David. Then, David tells him no, he will buy it from him, because he will not make a sacrifice that costs him nothing.

So many times, us as believers offer what we think is a sacrifice to God, costing us very little or nothing, and expect God to be pleased. But one thing is missing from the sacrifice...the SACRIFICE! The concept of the word itself means that we are giving up something that is prized, something we value, knowing that it will be worth giving up for something deeper, something better, and more valuable. If you give your "sacrifice", without actually sacrificing something, then the sacrifice is of no effect. We can't fool God into thinking that it's something we greatly desire that we are giving up for Him, because He knows our heart, and the things that are truly important to us.

If I walk by a homeless man, and I'm moved to give him my favorite shirt, straight off my back, because I see him struggling, that gives a completely different feel than when I take some old dirty shirt or jeans that I have no value or care for, and dump it at his feet. That almost gives a feeling as if I'm just throwing it away, and the man happened to be laying there. Now in this instance, the homeless man might be happy for it either way, because he has need of it, but God is not needy for ANYTHING, especially anything that we can "give" Him! In fact, we have it in the first place because He first gave it to us! Giving a worthless sacrifice is just that...worthless, and not sacrificial in nature.

If we are going to sacrifice, let's actually sacrifice. But first, let's do our best to obey, because obedience is better to begin with...

If God tells you to do something, DO IT!

Just a little reinforcement for you.

1 Kings 13. Entire Chapter

There was a man from Judah that came to king Jeroboam in Bethel, and told him God's warning to him about something that would happen, due to his disobedience. Right after he gave Jeroboam the warning, the same thing he said would happen, happened before their eyes. Jeroboam told his men to hold on to the Judean man, and as he stretched his hand out while he was speaking, his hand dried up, and he couldn't pull it back. He asked the Judean man to pray and ask God for his hand to be restored. The man did, and his hand was restored, as it was before. Jeroboam then asked the man to come back to his house to refresh himself, and be rewarded. The man said even if Jeroboam offered him half his house, he would not go, because the word of the Lord to the man was to not eat bread nor drink water in that place, and to not even return to his city using the same path he used to get there!

On his way back, an old prophet in Bethel met up with him and asked him to come back to his house and eat with him. The man said no, again, for the same reason he said no to Jeroboam. The old prophet then told him that an angel spoke to him and said to bring the man back to eat bread and drink water. The man went back with him. After they ate, a word from the Lord came to the old prophet, and he told the man that for his disobedience, his body wouldn't even make it back to his fathers' grave, which was significant back then, because many men were buried in the grave of their fathers. On the way back, the man, riding a donkey, was killed by a lion. The lion did not eat the man's body, and didn't even touch the donkey he rode on.

This is a tragic story, but it shows us something very simple, but very significant. When God tells you to do something, DO IT! Do it when and how He tells you. If someone tells you the complete opposite of what you know God said to you, then you should know something ain't right. God is no liar, nor is he the author of confusion. Obedience is key in this walk of faith...

I worked hard to do a cover of Chris Brown's "Don't Judge Me". The link is directly below! Check it out! Comment, Like, Subscribe, and tell a friend!

Cover of Chris Brown's "Don't Judge Me"