We were blessed this week at Acts II Ministries, my home church, by the ministry of Bro. & Sis. Ricardo Gonzalez. I’d like to share the message of a couple sermons that ministered to me. The first message was that whenever and whatever God wants us to sacrifice, we need to put it on an altar and give it up to Him. The second was about human nature: when God asks for one offering and we disagree with Him and want to give another offering, we get mad at Him foolishly when that offering is not acceptable.

You probably know the Bible story of Cain and Abel (read about it in Genesis 4:1-12): Cain the tiller of the ground and Abel the shepherd gave offerings of their increase. Cain gave fruits and vegetables and Abel gave the “firstlings of his flock”, or the lambs of his flock. God rejected Cain’s offering but accepted Abel’s, because Abel offered what was required. We must put what He wants on the altar, without reservations and without holding anything back.

Another concept given to me by an individual of late regards times when we come to the altar and give almost everything to God, but hold back one thing we think we can handle. We leave wondering why Jesus doesn’t have complete control in our lives, yet we have only ourselves to blame. At other times we come and give everything, then take it back to ourselves when we leave. No wonder He can’t work on it if we keep pulling away from Him! Every day — or maybe every hour, minute, or second — we have to recommit it to Jesus. I’ll be the first to admit that that’s a whole lot easier said than done sometimes. Giving our all takes work. It comes down to commitment and consistency.

Relationship with God is a prerequisite to an abundant life, and relationships require commitment. God asks us to consistently give Him our all; every prayer time is a visit to the altar remind ourselves what we’re living for and to give ourselves again without any reservations. I’m striving to get better at this, and I pray you will, too. Thank you to all who dare to make their personal altars and offer everything to God as a sacrifice unrestrained and unrestricted.