A Daily Devotional with Pastor Doug Crouse February 1, 2018   

Good, Better, Best   Scripture Reading – Romans 12:1 - 2 (NLT)

“And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice – the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.”  

Immediately when we were born again by the Spirit of God, we were translated out of the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom light, love and life. Now my sister and brother we are heaven bound. However, we must still live in this world, while not being influenced, but rather influencing the world for Jesus by sharing His grace. 

Someone once said concerning our Christian witness that, ‘What you are doing is speaking so loudly, I cannot hear what you are saying’, or – ‘Your walk needs to match your talk’, which is so true for each one of us who name the name of Jesus. If this is the case, we need to heed this pleading of Paul under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. 

That we would love our God, spirit, soul, mind and offer our bodies as a living, holy and acceptable sacrifice unto the Lord. Not being squeezed into the mold of the world, but rather allowing God to transform us in every area of our being. 

Through the Word of God and our daily living - allowing our minds to be washed by the water of the Word, a daily transformation that influences how we think and how we live. 

God’s plans for us are always good, but it is only when we press into Him in this way that we will know, grow and show that indeed His plans and purposes are, ‘Good, Better, Best’, and others will be able both to hear and see a clear witness from our lives that Jesus Christ is alive and find life in His name too!   

Prayer Father forgive me I pray when my life has been shaped in the ways of this world instead of the ways of Your living Word. Holy Spirit open my eyes and fill me I pray that I may offer all that I am as a living sacrifice bringing glory to Your name, walking in Your good, pleasing and perfect will and encouraging others to do the same. I pray these mercies in Jesus holy name.   

Memory Verse:  1 John 5:14 NLT “And we are _________ that he ______ us ___________we ask for ___________ that pleases him.”