Romans 12:1-2 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.At some point in your Christian walk, you can be sure that you will be put through the test where it will be revealed what kind of values you truly hold onto. The devil will also put temptation in our path to sway us from God.
Unfortunately, some Christians choose not to be committed to the Lord nor consecrate their lives to Him because they want to be able to operate in business just like the world without the hindrance of Christian values, but then when they encounter difficult situations, they expect the Lord to bail them out.
Holding a high office often causes people to fall away from the Lord, because pride makes them think they can do it alone without God. When we put our identities in our job titles and seek only the affirmation from men, we will disassociate from God, church and fellow believers because we are pursuing the world, and we won’t be steadfast under persecution.
There are indeed people who attain success using the world’s ways, but that is because the god of this age is still the devil. He told Jesus he would give Jesus all that’s in the world if only Jesus would bow down to him. However, if we choose this path, we will have lost our testimony to the world, our example to our children and grieved the Holy Spirit. There are many miserable Christians who have lost all their passion for God due to the lure of the world.
If we don’t make up our mind and heart early on, we will easily compromise when the pressure is on, and when we don’t decide to be separated from the world, we will sow to please the flesh and reap destruction.
Scripture says we are to present our bodies as living sacrifices, which means placing ourselves on the altar willingly to serve and live for the Lord. We need to have faith that God has a good, acceptable and perfect will for our lives, then we will be able to make it through the different trials in our lives.
Sermon Series: The Daniels of Today (Part 1)
不属于这个世界
罗马书 12:1-2 所以，弟兄们，我以 神的慈悲劝你们，将身体献上当作活祭，是圣洁的，是 神所喜悦的，你们如此事奉乃是理所当然的。不要效法这个世界，只要心意更新而变化，叫你们察验何为 神的善良、纯全、可喜悦的旨意。
当您成为基督徒后的某些阶段，可以确定您会受到试炼，而且从试炼中可以揭示出您真正持有的价值观。魔鬼还会引诱我们，希望我们远离上帝。
很可惜，有些基督徒选择不委身于主，也不愿意将他们的生命分别为圣献给祂，因为他们想按照世人的价值观来处理事情，而不希望被基督教的价值观所约束。但当他们遭遇困难境地的时候，又希望主来搭救他们。
身居高位往往使人远离主，因为骄傲使人觉得凭自己的能力就可以把事情做得很好，并不需要上帝。当我们靠职称来定义我们的身份并只寻找世人的肯定时，我们会远离上帝、教会、和弟兄姊妹，因为我们想追求世界，遇到逼迫的时候，不想持守真道。
的确有人会利用属世的手段来获取成功，但这是因为这个世代还是魔鬼当道。魔鬼曾经引诱主耶稣向牠下拜，牠就会把世界上所有的荣华富贵“赐”给主耶稣。如果我们选择这条道路，我们就会失去对世界的见证、给我们孩子的榜样、而且让圣灵忧伤。因为世界上的诱惑，很多可怜的基督徒因此失去了对上帝的热情。
如果我们不早早立定心意跟随上帝，当压力临到时我们就很容易向世界妥协，当我们决定不从世界中分别出来，我们就撒下情欲的种子，最后所收的却是毁灭。
圣经的经文中提到我们要把自己的身体献上当作活祭，意思是说我们要把自己献在祭坛上，愿意服侍并为主而活。我们需要对上帝有信心，知道上帝在我们的生命中，有一个善良、纯全、可喜悦的旨意，然后在各样的试炼当中，我们仍然可以站立得稳。
讲章系列：现今时代的但以理 （第一部分）