November 21,2023
The Hidden Mystery Behind a Sacrifice
By Pastor Derrick D’souza
By Pastor Derrick D’souza
I want to draw your attention to a detail in Abraham’s story. When God was wanting to cut a covenant with Abraham and asked him to get a few animals and birds for sacrifice, Abraham did not just put his sacrifice down on the altar and but he also drove the vultures away who came down on the carcasses. (Gen 15:11).
It was not just one vulture, but ‘vultures’ that came, because a sacrifice always attracts hell to investigate the spirit you carry.
What is God looking for?
The word says, (Psalm 51:16)“You (God) do not desire sacrifices, or else I would give it. You do not delight in burnt offering.
So if God does not desire sacrifices or delights in burnt offerings then what is He really looking for?
Vs 17 says, The sacrifices of God are a ‘broken spirit’: A broken and a contrite heart, these oh God You will not despise”.
Abraham’s spirit would not yield to the enemy (vultures) who came to distract him, make him doubt, feel discouraged, or try to defeat or make him feel that the promises God gave him were delayed.
What is a broken spirit?
A broken spirit refers to a spirit that is ‘fully surrendered to God’. A spirit that will not live life on its own terms but pants for the living waters and hungers for the Living bread of God. It knows no other dependency, it seeks no human intervention, or praise on earth, its only goal in life is to seek honour that comes from God alone (John 5:44).
Sadly many can offer the sacrifice but DO NOT CARRY THE broken spirit and heart to protect their sacrifice from the vultures. They can’t keep the enemy from swooping down on their sacrifice and defiling it.
Child of God, don’t let the enemy defile your sacrifice, drive him away. Submit to God, Resist the enemy and he will flee (James 4:7).
The Bible says, (Gen 15:12) Now when the Sun went down….God came to Abraham in a dream and cut a covenant with him.
A lot of time after Abraham drove the vultures from his sacrifice is when God came to bless his sacrifice.
Don’t be discouraged
Don’t be discouraged if God does not show up immediately when you bring a sacrifice. God is watching the spirit that carried the sacrifice on the altar. God delights in the spirit that is connected to the sacrifice and not just the sacrifice. So keep fighting the good fight of faith.
So if God has led you to sacrifice this season, remember to carry a broken spirit while you bring him the sacrifice. That will cause the delight of God to overflow in the sacrifice you have taken time to offer.
What is the SECRET to what caused the fire to fall on the sacrifice offered by Elijah, Solomon and David?
It was not just the sacrifice but the Spirit that carried the sacrifice. Elijah, David and Solomon, all carried a broken spirit before God who showed respect to them and sent fire on their sacrifices.
Work on your spirit this season, and the fire will fall.
Spirit that was tied to the sacrifice
It’s the same reason God showed respect to Abel’s sacrifice and not to Cains. In Gen 4:7, Gods word to Cain was “If you do well, will you NOT be accepted?.
He spoke of HIM being accepted in addition to his offering.
The same can be said of Abel, The word of God in Gen 4:4 says, “The Lord respected Abel and His offering. God did not just get excited with the offering of Abel but connected it to the spirit of the one who offered it!
Hebrews 11:4, confirms this and says, “By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts(sacrifice);…….Abel was using faith along with his sacrifice, and that is what differentiated him from Cain. Both offered their first fruits to God from their livelihood (i.e., First fruits), but the spirit that was tied to their sacrifice is what differentiated them from each other.
Abel and his sacrifice was respected in heaven while Cain’s sacrifice was not accepted because of a lack of faith in his spirit that he offered God with.
Trust God this season and DRIVE away the vultures coming down on your offering! That’s an indicator that you are expecting an encounter and so you ensure that the sacrifice is NOT DEFILED.
PS: The term ‘spirit’ here in the text above means, spirit of the man
Don’t be discouraged if God does not show up immediately when you bring a sacrifice.
