FRIDAY FEATURE ~ COME "FAN THE FLAME"

This new Friday feature "FAN the FLAME" comes from Sharon Sharing God, which I explained HERE in detail last week and the reason that I'm choosing to write my response here is simple, I tend to get very wordy in Sharon's comments.

WAITING for the WORD from Sharon...

'This is why I remind you to fan into flames the spiritual gift God        gave you… For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity,  but of power, love, and self-discipline." (2 Timothy 1:6-7)

Today's word: sacrifice  What does the word sacrifice mean to you?  What is the most difficult thing you've had to sacrifice in order to follow Jesus?  Besides His very life, what did Jesus have to sacrifice for you?

JOIN "FAN the FLAME"withSharon Sharing God
Sharon has given me permission to do this as a BLOG HOP, if you would like to write on this on your blog and link up here, sharing your response to this FAN THE FLAME on sacrifice. 
DO NOT READ ANY FURTHER UNTIL YOU HAVE WRITTEN YOUR OWN RESPONSE!
***********************************************************First, let me tell you (Sharon) SACRIFICE was not an easy word for me to do or reflect on, even with the questions to prompt us. I have seen sacrifices from many willingly and not so willingly and this does make a difference. 
Then my first thoughts that came to me were about how appropriate this word is for us having just celebrated MEMORIAL WEEKEND where we honor and salute the many who SACRIFICE for us, for our country and our freedom. Sacrifice is required by each of us and to be living sacrifices to which we are called.  
As I thought about what sacrifice means I really could not come up with a definition until I cheated and looked up the definition. Of course, I had thought of "offering to a deity" from the first definition but I was choosing to look for an all encompassing one for the various sacrifice meanings. I finally decided that the 3rd definition was the best for me: 
"the surrender or destruction of something prized or desirable for the sake of something considered as having a higher or more pressing claim."
Amazingly, God preordained this word because my song for this SUPER SUNDAY goes perfectly with SACRIFICE from a Biblical favorite story of mine. After reading a few sermons on sacrifice and some notes I had from 3 Biblical examples, I concluded that SACRIFICE needs to meet 3 criteria (from the 3 examples):

I. A SACRIFICE MUST BE FREELY GIVEN

II. A SACRIFICE MUST BE COMPLETELY GIVEN

III. A SACRIFICE MUST BE GIVEN AT A COST

The 3 examples are (1) the widow and her mites - Mark 12:41-44 or Luke 21:2

(2) Paul, the apostle - Philippians 3:3-8 and 2 Corinthians 11:23-28 and our OT hero of FAITH: (3) Abram (Abraham) Genesis 22:1-12

A poor person, a preacher and a pilgrim. And then there's my final example this SUNDAY... 

"From these examples we have learned the following lessons regarding

sacrifice

1) It is not sacrifice if we give what we can afford - whether this is money, possessions, time, etc.

2) It is not sacrifice unless it is given with the right purpose and for the right reasons.

3) It is sacrifice when we give to God things that we genuinely NEED.

4) Sacrifice involves the dedication of any and all personal accomplishments to Christ. There is nothing man can accomplish that is too noble to sacrifice for the sake of Christ.

5) It is not a sacrifice when we try to serve God from the comfort of our easy chair. If our life doesn't involve personal loss and personal suffering for the sake of Christ, then we have made no sacrifice.

6) Sacrifice means to obey God regardless of where that leaves our family.

                          7) Sacrifice means that we must put trust in God that He will provide for whatever      it is we need.                         8) Sacrifice involves forfeiture of that which is very near and dear to us.

The 2 questions that Sharon asked also are difficult to honestly answer.  To follow Jesus really requires us to *DIE TO SELF; deny our natural tendencies. We come to a place in our lives that we have decided that we must surrender our will to HIS! To follow Him calls us to OBEY Him. What caused me to stumble in this was thinking that I had accepted Jesus Christ and then realizing that I had not surrendered my will for His. I had not made Him Lord over every aspect. I had this problem with still wanting to do things MY WAY and I had so much to learn about HIM and HIS WAY in HIS WORD. I had read the Bible so many times but not applied what I was reading to my life and living it for Jesus abundantly, bearing fruit.
Most people may think that to serve as a missionary or go to another country that you would be sacrificing. Believe me, it does call for sacrifice. But not just in the lack of physical comforts. The sacrifice goes far beyond being able to wash clothes in a laundry machine or the other modern conveniences of our Western lifestyle. To see the many that daily sacrifice here just to have food for their families teaches you the value of real sacrifice and humility. They seem to go together from my perspective. So when I think of all this, I have not sacrificed enough in comparison ... yes, some... but not nearly what Jesus Christ sacrificed when He came to earth before He gave the final sacrifice of HIS very LIFE. Not even as He called each of His disciples... to leave all behind, everything and FOLLOW HIM. And I wonder if I could obey as Abraham and have that faith...
I would be remiss if I did not share this about me. I sacrificed "my family" twice but not to follow Jesus, although I could say it was. When I wrongly chose to marry my husband, I sacrificed being part of my family. I was usually looked at as being the "black sheep" (sorry if this expression offends you) for not following my families' way and then their religious choice that I was raised in. I left that denomination shortly after I married and made my first step further away from my family. When I married against their advice and wishes, I made the first sacrifice, as my dad told me to go ahead and marry but we're no longer welcomed in his home. 
Then after years of trying to make it right, digging a deeper trench, I finally had to once more choose to sacrifice 'family' for following my own way and my own heart, trying to go back and follow Jesus as I should have long before. My husband, was not a practicing church goer or believer but he never stood in my way. I chose to make my church my new family. They embraced me completely. My final choice was to return to my first call to know, love and serve Jesus and I walked away from all the comforts of HOME to follow that and begin to learn the sacrifice that it takes to fully commit to living for JESUS and following Him. I'm still learning even from a distant shore and another language but Jesus goes with me, keeps me and teaches me as the Holy Spirit guides me. I'm not quite certain what Sharon meant in what else has Jesus sacrificed for me beyond His very life but daily HE changes me with the sacrifice He gives me. 
HERE is a list of some BIBLE VERSES on SACRIFICE:Genesis 22: 21 Sam 15:22Hosea 6:6
Matthew 9:13; Matthew 12:7Hebrews 9:26; 10:10-12; 13:15 and most important Heb 10:10-141 John 2:2; 4:10

Romans12:1

My favorite two:

Psalm 51:16-17, 19

Ephesians 5:2

*Sharon shared the poem "Dying to Self" back in 2006 (that is why I did not share it above) but it's well worth the time to read. It definitely showed me that I still have a ways to go to DIE TO SELF and SACRIFICE to follow Jesus . My heart wants to sacrifice ALL for Jesus, but my spirit and flesh are weak. Not so much my spirit except when in the battle. I remember well when the story of Abraham ready to sacrifice his long awaited son Isaac really hit me when I was teaching a group of Kindergarteners and thought acting it out would make a bigger impact... and I chose my newly adopted daughter (part of the group) to be Isaac. I identified with this pilgrim and realized the comparison between Abraham and his son, with Our Father and the Son to me. And I broke into tears... 

My sacrifice, 

O God, is a broken spirit; 

   a broken and contrite heart 

   You, God, will not despise.

Psalm 51:17 

Blog Hop waiting and open through the weekend