In this sermon, the speaker begins by explaining their purpose in sharing the message. They express a deep concern for women who are not walking in the way God intended or who are struggling to find answers in the Bible. The speaker shares that their calling to speak comes from a love and care for women and a desire to see them go deeper in their relationship with God. They mention two concepts that have greatly impacted their life: the fear of God, which is an awe and reverence that keeps one from sinning, and pleasing God, which provides answers to many questions.

This morning, it's so good to be back together again, and as I was thinking about you praying about the class and thinking about God's magnificence and wonder and His presence with us and all, I was thinking of how He knows all the stars by name and He slung them out in space and I thought, He doesn't even, it isn't only that He knows the name of every star, but He knows the name of every woman in this room this morning. And, you know, that in itself is just mind-boggling to me. Can you imagine any one of us in this room knowing the name of everyone in the room? You know, Chuck is marvelous with names. All of you that know Chuck, he's just phenomenal. I mean, you know, you walk up to him 10 years later and he goes, oh, you know. Well, my son, Chuck, went with a girl for two years named Terry, and of course everybody's always patting Chuck on the back for remembering names. And one night in church we hadn't seen Terry for a long time and she walked up to Chuck and she said, I bet you don't even remember me. And he said, how could I ever forget you, Janine? She said, Terry! Janine was another girlfriend of Chuck's. Chuck Jr.'s. I am bound to get myself in trouble one way or another, it seems these days. But God knows each one of you by name. He knows why you're here. He knows your circumstances. He knows your heartaches. He knows your problems. He knows your needs today. And every one of us in this room have needs today. And God is here to minister to each one of you by His Holy Spirit and meet that need. He's here to solve the problems. He's here to be right there with you in every crisis of your life. He is so faithful and so good and so wonderful. I can't praise Him enough. I've been talking to a lady for several months who almost lost her faith. She had something happen that was so destructive to her spiritually, she just about didn't last. And she said to me one day, she said, you know, I know God is punishing me. And I just woke up and I said, oh, no, He's not. He's not. And I said, I know He isn't. And she said, how do you know He isn't punishing me? And, you know, the one thing I could say is I know my God. I knew it. And I knew the conviction was so strong that it had to reach across by the Holy Spirit and touch your heart. My God does not operate that way. He chastens. But you know what chastening does? It draws you to Him. It causes remorse and repentance and sorrow for what you've done. Punishing drives you away from Him. Chastening. And, you know, the punishment is for the rejecting people. It's not for the children who love Him and fail and falter along the path and stumble. Do you punish your child when it stumbles and falls? What do you usually do if you're a good mommy and a loving mommy? You pick up your little one and say, I get hurt when I see a child fall. And inside, you know, that feeling that you just, oh, my, in fact, I almost get angry. When one of our little grandkids was playing hide-and-go-seek under the kitchen table the other night and the inevitable happened, they got so excited they stood straight up and hit, you know, hit the, oh, ouch. And I was like, why, you know, inside, why did they go under the table? Why are they playing hide-and-go-seek? And what does it come from? It comes from that awful feeling that they got hurt. Oh, you know, you don't want them hurt. And I see our God not getting angry when we stumble or fall or bump our head, but He reaches down. So this morning, whatever you're going through, don't see our God is up there punishing you and hating you and pushing you away. He's calling you into Him. He knows you by name. Let Him minister to you this morning. Let Him minister comfort and blessing and healing and putting things in right perspective in your life. And you minister to Him while we're sitting here. You just tell Him you love Him. He's your bridegroom. And you know how you're treated, your bridegroom, you that are married. In those first few marvelous months of marriage, and I hope the next 35, 40, 50 years, it's the same. But just minister to Him this morning while you're sitting there. You can say, Lord, I just love you. You're so special and you're so sweet and so kind and so good to me. Let's just close our eyes and thank Him that He knows us by name and then tell Him we love Him. Just pray to Him quietly. Sundown today begins the most important day in the Jewish, religious Jewish person's life. It's called what? Yom Kippur. Yom Kippur. That's the right way to. I was in Israel nine. No, I know nothing. That's all the Hebrew I know. I've said it. But it means a day of atonement. It begins today at sundown and it lasts till tomorrow evening at sundown. And the word Kippur has two meanings to it. One is atonement. And the Jewish people believe that to mean an expiation for their sin or expiation for sin on the part of the sinner. And the other part of Kippur means pardon for their sin. Now, think of this in light of the Jewish faith, because our faith has its roots in Judaism. I want to share just a few things quickly with you this morning on Yom Kippur. And as I do, you relate it to what you believe in Jesus Christ. And you're going to see some things that are very special. I think they take this day of atonement from the Torah, which is made up of comprised of the first five books of the Bible. And they take it from Leviticus 16 30 to 31. Don't open to it now, please. Just listen. But you might want to read the 16th chapter when you go home today. It tells about Aaron who was the high priest taking the scapegoat and what he did and how one was slain and how one was taken out into the wilderness. How a bullock was slain and a scapegoat out into the wilderness and how they took the blood of the bullock and another goat. And when Aaron went into the Holy of Holies, he sprinkled it on the altar and he lit incense in the Holy of Holies. Now, this day is continuing to be a day of atonement. And the Jewish people feel that although there is no blood sacrifice anymore that because in Leviticus 16 30 and 31, it says this is an ordinance forever there to keep this day forever and ever and ever that the expiation for their sins that went on when there was blood atonement is still going on. Now, it's not true. We know that, but that is what they believe. And so they believe that they do have atonement and pardon. The word atonement in Hebrew does not mean the same thing that the word for atonement means in Greek. The word for atonement in Hebrew means covering. Atonement by the sacrifice of these animals only gave a covering for sin. It did not give a putting away of their sin in Greek. The word means we are made one with God at one month. Chuck was sharing this with me the other day again, and it really blessed my heart. The reconciliation was made through Christ atonement on the cross. The bridge was banned and we have a relationship and fellowship with God and we have a high priest in Jesus who intercedes for us all the time. But the Jewish people without the sacrifice of Jesus Christ do not have an expiation for their sin. And this is why we're so burdened for the Jewish people because as Isaiah said, they are blind. There is blindness. There's still till this day, but someday God is going to remove the blindness from their eyes. They say the Jewish people say and I took this from two marvelous Jewish books that I have what they say. We make atonement for ourselves through our fasting our prayer and the great confession that we recite in the name of all Israel blindness on atonement. They said we have pardoned for our sins because of the high priest. We have pardoned for our sins because of a high priest who went into the Holy of Holies back then and it still continues to now. Okay, what sins does God forgive us on this day? They say and this is interesting. They feel that God only forgives those sins committed by man against God. They do not feel there's any forgiveness of sins of man against man. If you aren't forgiving your brother or your brother isn't forgiving you on this day of atonement. There is no forgiving of these sins you do that on another day. But on this day, this is just the sins that you've committed against God a good place to think about this is how Jesus tried to break down some of these things that some of these ideas that they had remember he said when you go to the altar to give your gift if your brother has ought against you and another place if you have ought against your brother you go first and be reconciled to your brother. Is that interesting but he's trying to show the Jewish people that you cannot have ought against your brother and come into the presence of God and have this full atonement Jesus said that you know in the Lord's Prayer he taught us to pray that we be forgiven as we forgive others. Okay, pardon is asked on this day for all of Israel. They believe that God only forgives sins of the Jews on this day. He doesn't forgive sins of the whole world just sins of the Jews and one reason they believe this is that many of the sins listed in the I don't know how you pronounce this. I'll say but do it's the ID DUI or I which lists the sins can only be committed by the Jewish people. So thus they're the only ones that need forgiveness of these particular sins for instance a violation of their dietary laws that they've eaten meat and drunk milk at the same meal. They need forgiveness for that they feel okay. It is called the Sabbath of Sabbath and they are to afflict their souls. That means they are too fast and all the laws that apply to the Sabbath concerning work apply to Yom Kippur and the afflicting of their souls is to heighten repentance ordinarily. It is forbidden to fast on a Sabbath in the Jewish law, but on Yom Kippur this is the one exception and if it lands on the Sabbath if Yom Kippur lands on the Sabbath as it is tomorrow starting this evening at sundown the laws of the Sabbath do not apply. They fast to say now some of the rules and prohibitions and I really enjoyed reading this the fastest 24 hours long. It is not a sign of morning, but it's but for purifying of thoughts and increasing their intensity of purpose. They cannot put any ointment or perfume on at all. Remember what Jesus said when you fast wash your face and anoint yourself so you don't appear to men to be on to fasting but listen, they can't even brush their teeth now. I don't want to go to synagogue tomorrow. I don't know about you. I hope I'm not offending anyone but they cannot bathe the day during that day. They cannot eat or drink anything including water. They can't even wash their mouth out much less brush their teeth. They can't bathe they can wash their hands and face before the morning prayer all Sabbath prohibitions in effect except a child under 9 is not allowed to fast a child from 9 to 12 may fast the whole 24 hours are picked just a portion of time to fast no dangerously ill or pregnant woman or if she's in that space of 30 days after childbirth, she may not fast and a pregnant woman may have any food. She craves during Yom Kippur even if it means violating the Sabbath by handling money and even if she craves pork. I read that and I read it about eight times, you know, and I thought oh my goodness. How could she crave pork if she's never had pork? I wonder I don't know. But I think that is if the person simply cannot fast if they become faint or dizzy or anything like that. They may have food till they recover the Jewish law of life always supersedes all other laws. If there is a danger of your dying or getting very ill or anything on the Sabbath or any other day, they can violate any of the laws other pre prohibitions. They may not have marital relations and I told you they can't wear perfume or ointment and this was really interesting to me. They cannot wear shoes or other clothing made of leather. I did not know that. How many of you here already knew that? Did anyone? I did not know that and there are two reasons and they say that the Jewish people usually wear tennis shoes on this day unless it will subject them to ridicule then they wear leather to synagogue and they take their leather shoes off there and put on cloth shoes. The reasons are twofold. They don't want to be reminded of their forefathers sin of worshipping the golden calf and Chuck said well do they have to take all the gold off too? He's such a smart mind and I know they don't and the other reason is they do not wish to utilize any material for which it was necessary to kill an animal. Isn't that interesting? I did not know this and it really is interesting to me. Okay, in the synagogue it is not a day of gloom but of solemnity and of optimism because their sins are about to be put away from them they believe. When they go home the first thing that they're supposed to do is put a nail in the sukkah. That's the booth they're going to build because in five days they're going to be celebrating the harvest. I can't think of you call it sukkah. What's Nancy? Say it again, sukkah, feast of booths, but what's that? In gathering of harvest, in gathering of harvest is what they call it. Bringing in the fruits of harvest and they used to do that at harvest time. They used to take them to the temple. They do not take them to the temple anymore. So that's your history lesson for this morning and I hope you can remember it and I hope you'll share it with your husband, with your children. If you're not married, share it with your friends, whomever the Lord lays on your heart. These are interesting and it shows again the deception that the Jewish people have concerning forgiveness of sins. I said to Chuck this morning, oh, I can see why God allowed the temple to be destroyed. He didn't want any place that the Jews could go and offer sacrifice anymore. You know how they always have this remembrance of the temple? In the Wailing Wall, do you know they still grieve over the temple's destruction? That is one of the reasons for going to the Western Wall in Israel, is to grieve over the destruction of the temple. And yet we know that God had to have that temple destroyed and another one not rebuilt yet or they would still think they had this expiation of sin through sacrificing animals. When the Day of Atonement occurred on Mount Calvary almost 2,000 years ago, and aren't we blessed to recognize our Day of Atonement? I think of communion and how our hearts are drawn back into that remembrance constantly of our Day of Atonement and this will have bearing on the lesson this morning, so kind of keep it in mind as we go through. It might be good for us to observe, starting at sundown tonight, just a time of remembrance of our Day of Atonement for the next 24 hours, just kind of a special time of thanking God for giving Jesus Christ for our sins, that through Him we have this life, we have forgiveness of sins, we have justification, we have reconciliation, we have redemption, we have everything through our Day of Atonement, eternal life. As we remember the awful price paid for our sins, how can we do less than want to bring joy to the heart of God who gave so much for us? I was reading this the other day, to please Him should be our highest aim. The fact that we do please Him, our highest reward, our highest aim and our highest reward. I'm going on in the study of pleasing God. But I have never had a study, myself personally, that I have enjoyed more doing or getting into or sharing with others. And there's just, it's answered so many questions for me. I think two of the concepts that I've really gone into the last two years that have changed my life the most have been the fear of God, which has nothing to do with being afraid of God, it's an awe of God, a reverence of God that keeps you from sinning, and the other one is pleasing God. And pleasing God answers so many questions. I chose this, I feel that the Holy Spirit really laid it on my heart. If you were here before, don't turn off your ears, listen, it might be something you've forgotten, hopefully not, but we're human, we do forget. We had a girl speak for us at a leadership meeting here, her name was Ramona Jensen, and I know you've heard this story if you've heard me very often, but I love this story and I'm going to repeat it again. She was called to Darmstadt, Germany to speak for the Evangelical Sisters of Mary in Germany. When she got there, Ramona was 28 at the time she told the story, a lady about 60 years old, one of the sisters in this Lutheran fellowship, met her at the gate and said, may I carry your luggage? And Ramona said, no, no, no, no, and the lady said, oh, it would give me great pleasure to carry it. She carried it into the registration place. It took a little time registering. While they were walking from the gate to the registration room, the lady said to Ramona, what is your favorite color? What is your favorite flower? What is your favorite drink? And what is your favorite scripture verse? And I know she did it in a much more subtle way than that, but we're pushing against time this morning. And when Ramona got to her room, she found out why. Her favorite drink was there, a cup of steaming hot tea. Her favorite color was carried out in the towels. Her favorite flowers were in a vase in the room, and her favorite scripture was handwritten and put in a frame on the wall. When she went to dinner that night, she said she had no trouble finding out where she was to sit. There was a plate there around it where her favorite flowers and chocolates and chocolates were. And she said that when she sat down, that the women all sat up and began to sing to her, the Lord bless you, Ramona, the Lord keep you, the Lord, you know, on and on and on. And she was so touched. When she prepared to leave, they handed her a little booklet, and as she got on the plane, she began to read this, and she realized why they had done this. They had done it not because Ramona was a special person or a special guest or so great or so anything. They did it for one reason. To show love to one of God's children pleases the heart of God. And that's the way I want us to live, to please the heart of God. This just kept going around and around in my mind, and I couldn't get away from it. And I opened my Bible one day, I was in prayer, and I was praying about pleasing the heart of God, and the Lord directed me right to Hebrews 11, verses 5 and 6, don't turn to it because this is just by way of review, but it was about Enoch. And it talked about Enoch being translated that he should not see death. And when he was translated, he had this testimony that he pleased God. This summer we were in Hawaii, and my greatest delight when we go any place is walking with Chuck and going to a Christian bookstore. Well, we didn't get to walk very much together, but I did get to a Christian bookstore. And while I was in the Christian bookstore, I found this book. I'm not recommending it. I mean, it's a good book, but it's not anything that I don't know if you'd want. Forget it. I found something in the book I really liked, and I wanted to share for just a moment. The book is by A.B. Simpson, who was the founder of the Prairie Bible Institute in Canada. And he talks about Enoch being a type of the church. And it blessed me so much because remember Enoch was what we might say raptured. God took him. Now, A.B. Simpson brings out that if we don't die a premature death or from sickness or whatever, accident or barring any of those things, if Jesus comes back, we will be raptured. And he said Enoch is a type of that. And he's talking about Enoch. He said, undoubtedly, it is meant for us as a figure of the translation which awaits the faithful children of God. Enoch's translation represents the glory that awaits the watching ones. Ones who shall be found walking with God at the beginning of this time of tribulation. And he quotes the scripture, then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And he goes on to say, it would seem that this blessed hope is especially linked with a life of holiness and a fearless testimony. Both of which we see exemplified in holy and faithful Enoch. Remember in Jude, it tells about Enoch who preached righteousness. He lived a life of holiness and he preached the Lord's coming. So God put upon his life and his testimony this glorious seal. So let us watch and keep our garments for that day. When the marriage comes, they that are ready shall go in and they that love is appearing shall receive the crown of righteousness. That blessed me so much because I thought of the weeks of sharing on pleasing God as Enoch did and being raptured, being translated, being caught up together with the Lord. So that we would not have to go through the tribulation, which we believe is the wrath of God poured out upon the unbelieving, rejecting people. Okay, so these are the things that moved me into wanting to share with you on pleasing God. My heart's desire for all of us in these last days is to live beyond obedience in a place of pleasing him. I want you to turn to 1 Thessalonians 4.1 this morning. This is not our lesson. This is all introduction. I want you, if you're taking notes this morning, to write this at the top of your notes because this is my purpose in sharing. I want to share this at the beginning of the year again. 1 Thessalonians 4.1. I don't speak. I want you to listen now. If you haven't found it, don't look. Look up here a minute. I don't speak because I think I'm some kind of a speaker. I don't. It's very difficult for me. I'm enjoying it more and more because I'm seeing more and more results and more fruit and that blesses me. But my reason for speaking is that I see so many, many women not walking the way God intended them to walk. Or I see so many women who just don't know how to find the answers in the word. Or I see so many women in pain going through such hard circumstances. Or I see women who really long to go deeper and deeper and deeper with him. And that is the thing that propels me. Chuck is the speaker in the family. He was called and chosen of God to speak before he was ever born. God's calling on my heart is just out of a deep need. I see in the body and a deep love for women and caring what happens to you. So this morning, that's where I am. And I want you to know that that is why I do it. It's out of a love and a concern. And I said one time to the Lord. I was praying Lord, you know, I get scared. I don't want to do it. He's taking that awful fear away. I used to worry a month in advance. And then it got done to a week and then three nights and last night. I slept like a baby and he's giving me a sense of peace in doing it. But this scripture says what I want to say to you the next five weeks in this study furthermore. Then we beg you sisters. I beseech you. I call upon you. I plead with you and I exert you or I request I beseech you by the Lord Jesus. I don't do this in my own strength, but I beg you by the Lord Jesus that as you have received of us, how you ought to walk and to what please God as you have received of us, how you ought to walk and how you ought to please God. So you would have bound more and more. I don't want you to have stopped pleasing God in June because there were normal no more lessons on him. I want each one of us in this room to go on pleasing him this summer. I found in so many things. I would first of all when I got to Hawaii, I would I didn't feel well. I was really exhausted and this strep infection that I had apparently has still been with me and I just felt terrible and Chuck had scheduled a whole bunch of speaking engagements and we didn't get to walk but once or twice and I was all grumped out as the kids caught and you know, I thought I don't want to do this. I don't want to do this actually because you know, you don't feel good. Everything just seems hmm and I wanted to be alone with Chuck and blah blah blah and the Lord didn't choose it that way and Chuck didn't choose it that way and that's enough to make any wife furious, isn't it? And you know right in the middle of the whole thing, you know what the Lord said to me? Okay, you're simply just not pleasing me in your attitude. But Lord look at you, I mean, you know, we're over here. It's kind of supposed to be like a honeymoon and we're supposed to be alone and all the people back home thinking we're having a vacation and here we are just going lickety-cut and seeing all these people blah blah blah blah. Okay, it doesn't matter. You're just not pleasing me but Lord, you know, and then he said what do you really want to do? And I said Lord, I really want to please you. Okay, okay, shape up and I did and I had a beautiful time and the night of my birthday, Chuck had a Last Times meeting and he spoke and about 250 people came to Jesus and that's the zingiest birthday present anybody could ever have. I mean, you know, I saw the people flooding down to accept Christ. Wow, it was beautiful and I praise the Lord for it. So in pleasing him, it refines our lives so much. Sure, you're in a marriage and your husband's impossible at times. Sure, your children are impossible and disobedient. There's hardly, you know, we had a couple that came to Hawaii who I think have the absolutely perfect marriage. Not that mine isn't perfect, you understand. I really think mine is super. But, you know, you meet people that are so well-matched. They even, as Chuck talked Sunday night, looked alike. And, you know, every day Sunday night was turning around. How many of you were here and you heard Chuck tell about all the people in marriages that grow to look alike? And people in front of me and around me were going, no, you don't look alike. And it was fun. But these people look alike and they are just so tuned into each other and they love Jesus with all their heart. And their paths, they walk the same direction. They're both interested in the same thing. It is an absolute beautiful marriage. Now, I think I see those one out of a thousand if I'm lucky. Most marriages are not that perfect. I mean, you just usually two extremely opposite temperaments come together. And here's that whole, you know, it completes us and it's exactly what we needed, right? You know, like I needed a slap in the face. That really and truly it is what we need. And we rebel and we fight against the very things that would cause us to grow in Jesus. The solution to these awful, awful times when you just think I cannot stand it any longer is to look unto Jesus and say, how, Lord, may I please you in this situation? And believe me, it works. All of a sudden, it isn't his fault. It isn't the children's fault. It doesn't matter whose fault it is. What matters is pleasing him. Do you see it this morning? Let it just really become a part of you. And so I want first Thessalonians at the top of your page, because I don't want you to just walk and please God. I want you to abound in walking and pleasing him. I want pleasing him to become such a habit of your life. You will grow so fast spiritually if you will allow the Holy Spirit to put this principle in operation in your life. I think it is probably the quickest way I know to grow outside of suffering. You grow fast in suffering, don't you? You either grow or you die, one or the other. And this is probably the quickest way of growth I know. Just look unto him and say, how may I please you in this? When I was a little girl, I was raised in a Christian home at least the first few years of my life. And we used to have an expression that we learned from some carnal Christian. And it was if we didn't like somebody, we used to say, I love him just enough to get into heaven. Ever heard people say that? Or have you ever lived like that? There are a lot of Christians that live that way. They want to walk with God just enough to get into heaven and that's it. There is no life, there is no power, there is no real light in their life. Their witness is dull and poor. And they really are kind of lukewarm. And the Lord has a lot to say or something to say about lukewarm Christians. And you know, I don't want us to live like that. I believe that God calls every one of us to a deeper walk. And we each have the capacity to know and to experience real life in him. And live a life that brings great pleasure to him. So often people say, well what is the deeper life? What are you talking about Kay? What do you mean the deeper life? You that are walking in this deeper life know what I'm talking about. And for those who have never really begun to step into this life with Jesus, this morning we want to talk about the way to get into the deeper life. What is the deeper life and where do I begin? One of your homework questions this week is, what is the deeper life? And the second one will be, where do I begin? Because when you get home during the week, I want you to write it out in your own words. What is the deeper life and where do I begin? When we talk about the deeper life, we naturally assume that you're already born again. There's no way you can go in the ocean deeper unless you're out on a ship. All analogies break down somewhere, don't they? But you start on the shoreline if you're walking. You start on the shoreline and to get deeper you go out until the water is deeper and deeper. But you start on the shoreline. And the deeper life in Christ, you start on the shoreline of coming to Jesus Christ and accepting him as your Savior. The lesson this morning assumes that you are born again. If you are not born again, please let today become the day of your acknowledging the day of atonement. Okay, I didn't really write out a long definition of the deeper life. I just simply said this and I would like to write out other definitions and much more inclusive. But this is a very simple one that is easy for us all. The deeper life in its simplest terms is the life that acknowledges the Lordship of Jesus Christ. You're ruled, you're controlled. Jesus is Lord. God is King. He is your ruler. You are a bond slave of Jesus Christ. You are committed to him. Okay, if that's true, where does it begin? Let's turn to Romans 12.1. Some of you that have walked with the Lord a long time are going to go, Romans 12.1. I've heard that scripture. I've heard 500 sermons on it. I've memorized it backwards and forwards. And there's not one thing that Kay Smith can share this morning that will be new to me. That scripture, oh, I know it. Listen, I want you to read it and look at it and listen to it this morning as though you had never heard it before. As I sat down to study this particular scripture, I said, Lord, I know it so well. I just want you to make it brand new to me. Would you? Would you just by your Holy Spirit just bring out some things I've never seen and just enrich it to my heart in a special, special way? Now, I started preparing for this lesson in my mind after the last lesson finished. And I just kept saying, God, what do you want? What do you want? What would please you? What lesson do you want? And this scripture kept coming back to me. And I was like, Lord, they know that scripture. And I have prepared three other lessons on pleasing the heart of God that God said no. Monday of this week, again, he said, OK, it is to be Romans 12 one. Now, not audibly, but it was in my heart very strongly in my mind. So listen, because God shows this for you this morning. This is not my choice for you. This is God's choice. And he wants to speak to you very strongly through it. It's not going to be a long lesson. So I want you to really absorb. I beseech you, therefore, sisters, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. I beseech you. I implore. I appeal. I beg. I plead that you will give your life over completely to Jesus Christ. Our plunge into the deeper life must begin here. As long as you are controlling your life, not surrendering to his lordship, you can not grow. You just can't. It's like a plant refusing sun and air and rain and nutrients, saying, I can do it myself. I can do it myself. The plant has to be surrendered to the sunshine, to the atmosphere, to the water and to all the things that are given to it. And you have to be surrendered to the lordship of Jesus Christ to grow. He can't deal with you as he needs you. You become rebellious and cold and hard if you aren't surrendered to him. And so Paul, realizing this, says, I implore. I appeal. I beg. I plead with you by the mercies of God. This mercies of God there means compassion and pity, which God has. That's part of his character. He has compassion. He is a compassionate God. He has. He had pity on us when he saw us absolutely estranged from him. No way back. Hopeless, helpless, eternally lost. He looked down and he allowed his merciful, compassionate nature to give his son Jesus Christ in our behalf that a bridge might be spanned. A bridge might be made that we could have this entrance in to the holy of holies with him if we desire it by accepting Christ. And Paul said, look at that day of atonement. Look back at the mercies of God. If you read Romans 1 to 11, it is full of what Jesus Christ has done for you. The sixth chapter is probably the greatest chapter in the Bible on our justification by faith through Jesus death. We have everything. And Paul says, I plead with you by what God has done for you. After all, he's done for you. After all, he's provided you through the provided you with through the death of his son, that ye present your bodies present in the amplified. It says, make a decisive dedication of your bodies. Romans 6, 13 says, yield your bodies as instruments of righteousness. That word present there is the very same word that is used in Luke 222 in the Greek. When Jesus was brought into the temple as a baby and dedicated unto the Lord. He was presented unto God. Have you ever presented your body in dedication unto Jesus Christ? Just said, Lord, I am yours. I present all that I am. We're going to talk in a few minutes about the difference. I mean, about consecration. Dedication is giving yourself to God to be used. Consecration is being used by him, giving yourself to be used by him. Dedication is presenting yourself to him to do with whatever he wants. And consecration is giving yourself to be used any way he wants. I hope I can explain a little better on down. OK, present your bodies. Picture every Sunday morning when you see Chuck take a baby in his arms and he presents him to God. Picture yourself as being that baby presented unto God. And you might sit there and say, God, just as Chuck is presenting that baby unto you, dedicating that baby unto you. So this morning, I again dedicate my life unto you. You know, lots of things should be going on while you're in the sanctuary. You don't just go to the sanctuary to sit and to just receive the word of God. There are an awful lot of things that can be happening. And one of them is during dedication of babies. You can dedicate yourself all over again to Jesus Christ to just be used by him. Picture a baby. What can a baby do? Was dedicated. Hmm. It doesn't fight against the dedication. You know, it might cry a little bit up there, have hiccups or something, but but it's presented unto God. Remember, Jesus being presented. Get that picture in your mind. OK, I beseech you, therefore, sisters, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies, present your bodies. That word bodies in Greek means the entire person. When a sacrifice in the Old Testament was put on the altar, it wasn't just the body that was put on. It was all the life processes, the consciousness of that person, everything. So this word in the Greek means the entire person, the body, the body, soul and spirit. It is amazing how many people who claim to be born again believers have never presented or dedicated their physical bodies to God. Instead, all forms of ungodliness take place within what should be the dwelling place of Jesus Christ. We see this, though, often in the body these days. It's a disgrace. Oh, sure. I'm born again. I go to church. Well, let me see. I go Sunday morning, Sunday night. I go Monday. I go Wednesday. I go Friday. I go. Well, sure, I'm born again. And they go out and they sleep with a guy. Bodies never presented to Jesus Christ. What a sad, grieving thing. No pleasure brought to the heart of God. Bodies never dedicated unto him. Or there are bodies that indulge themselves in all kinds of stuff that they shouldn't be. Lots of other things. In working, whatever they're doing. Not doing the will of God. Oh, I beseech you by the mercies of God this morning to present, to dedicate the physical body to Jesus Christ. Don't do anything in that physical body that would not bring pleasure to him. In the way you dress. In the way you behave. Bring pleasure unto him. 1 Corinthians 3.16. Don't turn to these. Just listen. Know ye not your body is the temple of God? This is where God dwells. Why? Why? Why did God ever choose to dwell in these bodies? As unrighteous and regenerate. Disobedient. As so many of us are. And yet he puts his treasure in earthen vessels. And somehow. As we present our bodies to him. That treasure shows forth out of these clay vessels. And it brings pleasure to his name. I beseech you this morning. To present your physical bodies to him. In 1 Corinthians 6.20 it says. Therefore glorify God in your body. Glorify God in your body. Allow everything you do. That outward manifestation of you. This physical body. To glorify God. I pray that people looking at you can tell you're a Christian. There's a glow about Christians. There really is. I know. I've spoken to groups where they aren't all Christians. And I can look in a congregation. It shows. And yet the light of Jesus Christ shines upon the face of a Christian. I say Lord be the health of my countenance. I want to have that shine on my face. I want people to know. I want them when they look at me physically. To know that there's a child of God there. Brian has said about Cheryl. When he first saw her. He knew there was a purity about her. He said it was one of the things that really attracted him to share. There's a purity. It shows. And I have seen girls who have walked in the most sinful paths. When they come to Jesus Christ their countenance changes. Have you seen it? I've seen alcoholic men who are alcoholic 40 years. All of a sudden they began to change. And a few months, a few weeks, a few years down the path you see there's a whole new countenance. Glorify God in your body. Present your physical body. Then present your soul. I'm doing a study on soul in the Word of God. And I am so blessed. Now if you get into a commentary and you look for a definition of soul. There are as many definitions as there are souls I think. Not quite. That's a bit of an exaggeration. And the Lord's not pleased. And I have the fear of God in my heart so I dare not exaggerate. So there are lots of definitions of the word soul. But for our understanding for me it's easier to define it as mind, emotions and will. I think of it as the conscious part of me. Mind, emotions and will. And for the study this morning we're going to use this. Have you presented your soul to him? The mind, the emotions and will. There are so many provisions for the soul in the Bible. When I went to Hawaii this summer and I was so tired. The Lord spoke to me over and over again. He would restore my soul. He would restore it. My mind, emotions and will were tired. They were just weary. And he said, oh, okay, I'll restore your soul. And then he tells us he'll deliver our soul. All kinds of scriptures. I have page after page of scriptures on the soul. And I don't get them from the concordance. I let the Lord minister to them. And the word soul leaps off the page now. Soul in the Bible can also mean my life. Or it's synonymous with other things. But you can tell when it's referring to the mind, emotions and will. Remember when David was depressed? And he said, why art thou cast down, O my soul? It was his soul. Our emotions get so cast down. Our minds get so cast down. Okay. First of all, have you presented your mind to Jesus Christ? Have you dedicated your mind to him? What are you reading? What are you watching? What are you indulging in in your thoughts? Is your mind presented, dedicated to Jesus Christ? I sort of visualize myself just taking my brain. Nobody really knows what the mind is. Nobody. Scientists cannot tell. They do not know what the mind is. Very hard to define. But have you ever taken that part of you and just said, My mind is yours. Now, I'm not going to watch anything on TV that wouldn't please you. I don't want any thoughts in my mind that aren't pleasing and don't bring joy to your heart. Now, listen. I don't want to make this an idealistic class. I want to make it realistic. We are in the process of growth. And we do think the wrong things. And we do watch the wrong things. And we do allow the mind to partake of things it shouldn't. But it's that place where that nudge of the Holy Spirit hits you. Says, Hey, no. This isn't my will for your mind. I don't want you to sow this in your mind. Because you're going to reap what you've sown in today. And I don't want you to do this. So, would you please me, my little child, and just present your mind to me right now. Would you turn off the TV? Or would you put down that book? Or would you not think those bitter, mean, critical thoughts? Dedicate your mind to Him. Oh, just say, Lord, I present my mind to you. Okay, your emotions. Are your emotions under the control of the Holy Spirit? Have you ever just presented your emotions unto the Lord? If you're Irish, you have to. Or someplace down the line, you'd have never made it this far. You'd have had a stroke or high blood pressure or something. But, you know, I have had. I am, well, I hate to say it. Because they always say this about women. We're emotional. And I am. And Chuck is more stoical, as you probably already know. And it's a good combination. Because when the kids were little, they brought the papers home from school. And Daddy was, Yeah, that's fine. And Mom was, Oh, this is the greatest thing that I've ever seen in my whole life. A flower, you say. You know, it looks like a turtle to me. But to them, it's a flower. Okay. And I always was the reactor. But with every strength and reaction, there's also a weakness. Oh, you know, are you the kind that's disaster? I mean, you know, the milk on the table and all over the floor. I do better when somebody dies than I do when a glass of milk is spilled. It's awful. This is awful. That, too, is an exaggeration. When Joy Dawson preaches on the fear of God, she has a way of getting through to you. And I pray that we have a way of getting through. By the Holy Spirit, I'm pleasing God. But have you dedicated your emotions to the Lord? I got to a place where I said, Lord, I just cannot handle my emotions. He said, Well, I've been waiting for this day. You know, why don't you just present them unto me? You mean, Lord, that you can take charge of my outbursts and my impatience and somehow you can work by your Holy Spirit to give me that divine control that I need? Yes, I can. I can do it. If you'll just present them unto me. You've just really never asked me to take charge of your emotions before, Kate. And I realized I'd walked a long time and I hadn't done it. And you know what? I still have to continue to dedicate, to present, to yield my emotions unto Him. In all this, there's a crisis experience and there's a progressive experience. There's a one time where we say, Hey, Lord, I'm all yours. I just give myself completely. And then it begins to be worked out in our lives. And, you know, we fail and we falter and we stumble. Oh, Lord, back there, I presented my emotions to you. And today I just present them all over again because, boy, I have really not done well. And He says, Oh, you know, I love this day when you just present yourself all over again to me. Give your emotions to Jesus. Let Him control the passions of your heart. I see so many single girls. And I'm always bringing this up because I think if I bring it up every time and one single girl is spared, it will be worth it. And I hope that you will pray as I bring it up. I see so many single girls whose passions are not under the control of the Holy Spirit. So many. And they are just messing up their life. They're getting physically attracted to the wrong guy. They're going into a relationship that God never intended for them to go into because their emotions are not under the control of the Holy Spirit. Before I married Chuck, I was very much in love with him, very deeply in love with him. I didn't know about presenting my emotions this way. But I did say to the Lord, God, if Chuck Smith is not the person for me, I surrender all my emotional responses to him and to you. And it was very, very difficult because I was very, very deeply in love. But I knew if he was the wrong man, it would be disastrous. Surrender your emotions. Do you know what God is saying when Paul says here, I plead with you on the mercies of God to present your body? Do you know what God is doing? He's doing the very best thing possible for you. He created you and He knows what you need. He knows that you need Him to control your emotions. As Chuck has been going through Job, a couple weeks ago on Sunday night when he was in chapter 5, I was reading Job 5.2 in the Amplified. Now don't look, just listen. It says, For vexation and rage kill the foolish man. Jealousy and indignation slay the simple. This describes emotions not under control. Not under control of the Holy Spirit. Not under control of anybody. There's a footnote in the Amplified. This was written many centuries ago. But physicians and psychiatrists are continually emphasizing the importance today of recognizing the principle it lays down. If one would avoid being among the constantly increasing number of the mentally ill and those killed by avoidable illnesses, you should realize that vexation and rage kill the foolish man. Jealousy and indignation slay the simple. We walk around with bitterness and hatred and malice and all kinds of ugliness of spirit inside of us, which is killing us because we refuse to present our emotions to Jesus Christ. We don't want to give them up to His control. And yet, it's the healthiest thing you can do. It is physically the healthiest thing. You know, every time you're angry or bitter, your blood vessels contract, and the blood can't get through your body as it should? Oh, listen, that's reason enough to present your body to Jesus Christ, to present your emotions to Him. Just to keep the blood vessels broadened out, you know. I'm going to an exercise class again. And, oh boy, you know, it works. Running with me, and we're just having a great time seeing all the good things that are happening to us. And when we get too tired and we think, I don't want to run anymore, and I wish that guy would say it's all over, go home, we start sharing with each other all the good things it's doing for us. It's clearing out the vessels in the arteries and all this stuff, and hopefully it's going to make us a little thinner, and, you know, all this stuff that we need. But the emotions under the control, visualize. Use your imagination. God gave you imagination. And remember, in Noah's time, what he didn't like was that the imagination of their heart was wickedness all the time. Imagine the good things that are happening to you when you present your emotions to Jesus Christ for Him to control. And if you have to do it 50 times a day, do it 50 times a day, till this presentation to Him becomes such a habit pattern in your life that you wouldn't think of not having your emotions under the control of the Holy Spirit. Don't dedicate your emotions to fleshly pleasure. Dedicate your emotions to Jesus Christ, whether it's inordinate affection, unbridled passion, anger, wrath, whatever it is. Okay, the will. The will. Presenting our will to Him. Some people are so strong-willed. You know my little grandson, William? His daddy said they named him right, Will.I.Am. And he is a strong-willed little guy. He really is. And I watch all six grandchildren, and of the six, William is the strongest-willed. And God will use that for Himself if William presents it to Jesus Christ. How many of you have ever really presented your will specifically unto the Lord? Who makes the choices and decisions in your life? Do you, under the guidance of the Spirit, so you can do God's will, or do you do your own will? The scripture in Romans 6.13, please, just listen, 6.16. Do you not know that if you continually surrender yourselves to anyone to do His will, you are the slaves of Him whom you obey? Whether that be to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness, right doing and right standing with God. And you know that pictures us as yielding our will either to God or to Satan. Now it's true in whatever we do, we are either pleasing God's heart or we're pleasing Satan. If we're pleasing ourselves against God's will, we're pleasing Satan. That's what he wants us to do. And it isn't always some great big monstrous thing, it can be a very little thing. But you have the choice by surrendering your will to please God. Read that scripture in Amplified again at home, Romans 6.16, if you have an Amplified Bible. Have you ever really surrendered your will completely to Him? Have you dedicated your will? Lord, it is yours. I give my will to you. Next, I beseech you therefore, sisters, by the mercy of God, that you dedicate your entire being, a living sacrifice. Oh, what an unpopular word that is. I grew up in the wrong age. When I was a little girl, everything was sacrifice. Now that I'm an adult, everything is me, me, me. I wish it had been reversed so when I was a little kid, everything was me, me, me, and everything now is sacrifice. Because now that I've grown this far along the path, it's easier in many ways, as I know God better, to learn this life of sacrifice. A living sacrifice. Sacrifice always indicates love to the sacrificer. Or otherwise, it's not sacrifice. If there's no loss, it's not a sacrifice. If you give out of the abundance, it's not a sacrifice. It's when you give out of your poverty. There was a woman in the Bible who one day went to Jesus and she took the costliest thing she had and she broke it and poured it over his head and it was ointment and it flowed all over him. And Jesus loved her so much that he said, as long as the world continues, what this woman did will be spoken of. And it's true. We still remember it today. Because of her sacrifice, she gave the costliest thing she had. That's what God wants you to do today, is give the costliest thing you have. This summer I read a book by Riona Peterson, called Tomorrow You Die. And I don't know if they're going to be able to get the book or not, do you Carolyn? They're checking with the publisher. Anyhow, Riona is going to be our speaker at the retreat in September and October this year. And in the book, she goes to Albania, she's a youth with a mission, and she goes to Albania to leave Bibles. It was the first declared atheistic country in the world. They came out with a pronouncement that there would be absolutely no religion in their country whatsoever. They were atheists. God did not exist and they did not believe. And she got this marvelous, wonderful, glorious burden on her heart to go in with a tour group and a friend and leave Bibles wherever they could throughout this country. Well, one day a maid came in the room, or a cleaning lady came in the room, and Riona gave her a Bible. I don't know if the room was tapped or what, wiretapped or what. But anyhow, Riona was found out for doing what she is, and I don't want to give the whole story away. But they took her before this group of men and the men said something to the effect that she felt that by 9 o'clock the next morning she would have to stand before a firing squad or she would be put to death. In this country, they took priests who would not renounce Christ and put them in barrels alive and rolled them into the ocean. That's how used of Satan they were in Albania. So you see how dangerous it was for her. Well, that night when she went back to her room, she said she walked around the room and she said, If this was to be my last day of life, how should I spend it? And she said the second question that came to her is, What is it that you will find difficult to leave behind? And when we talk about sacrifice today, I want this to be your third homework question. What do you find difficult to sacrifice in your life? I'm not talking about husbands and children or another person's life. I'm talking about you and your life and what you find difficult to sacrifice. A person who offers sacrifice releases all claim or right to it and leaves it to be disposed of for the honor of God. When they took a sacrifice into the tabernacle in the wilderness, when it was put upon the altar, the person who gave the sacrifice could never take that sacrifice back off the altar. It was devoted to God for his use exclusively forever. And that's what happens when you present your body to Jesus Christ, a living sacrifice. It is no more yours. It is his. This is the narcissistic generation. I was reading an excerpt from a book the other day by a lady named Maggie Sharp. And this is not a Christian book, so I'm not recommending it. But the name of the book is called Unfinished Business, Pressure Points in the Life of Women. And she says today, Selfishness is glorified and we call it independence. Isn't that quite a quote? Selfishness is glorified and we call it independence. I watched a little bit of the women's room Sunday night after I got home from church. I did it on purpose. I knew what I was doing because I wanted to know what they're saying to women today. I felt that my mind was protected by the Holy Spirit and my thoughts and all. And, you know, one part of it got through to me so badly that the next morning I awake and thinking, Boo! You know, I was apart. They overstated the case and I saw how wrong they were in the things that they were saying. And yet, one little rotten part of that program got through to me on the injustice of life. And I said, Lord, this is not of you. This doesn't please you that I'm thinking this way. I surrender this unto you and the Lord took care of it. But I thought, if I know the Lord as well as I do, and my mind could be moved by that program, how about all these women who don't even know Jesus Christ? It scared me. It is frightening, the stuff that they presented. It's horrible. And yet, on TV, day after day after day, it is getting worse and worse and worse. And do you know that women are the prime people that they are trying to reach today? Once you are destroyed and pick up on their stupid humanistic propaganda, our country is down the tube, lickety-cut and lickety-split. Our nation is doomed when the homes are broken up. And I don't see how you could watch that program and be just even a beginning Christian and not be bummed out with men. It was so slanted against men. Every man was a creep. Everyone on the program was a creep. And when the star's husband finally left her, you know what the big solution was? Have an affair. That will solve all your problems. So she becomes involved in an affair with a man, and she's 40 and he's 30 and she doesn't want his child, so he walks off and leaves her. Now that's what they're feeding women today through TV. And it is rotten. They are telling them, hey, look out for number one. That's the one you've got to be concerned about. And listen, lady, if your kids are in the way, get rid of the kids. If your husband's in the way, get rid of the husband. And they're coming pretty close to coming right out and saying it. In fact, I read the other day, if you're staying in a marriage out of obligation, get out of it. It has no dignity. What do you think of that? That's the propaganda that's going out. But what is the Holy Spirit saying unto us? It says, present your bodies a living sacrifice. What does sacrifice mean to you today? Maybe it means staying in a marriage that is difficult. Maybe he is a lot of things that are hard to live with. And maybe your heart is broken today. But you know what? If you stay in that marriage with the thought of pleasing God, and you're willing to sacrifice your body, mind, emotions, and will, the complete person, to be obedient to God and to bring joy to his heart, do you know he will bless you beyond anything you could ever know? I have seen some women in the most disastrous circumstances with the most joyful heart. I've seen them reaching up and praising Jesus and thanking him because they learned the secret of pleasing God. I was told the story recently of a man who was in the service, I think, whatever it was. He was in circumstances that were absolutely horrible. He hated what he had to do. He disliked everybody around him. They were very vile men. He was a Christian. It became so unbearable that he chapped constantly under it. And one day as he was lying on his cot in this room surrounded by all this, he said the Lord spoke to him and he said, Would you be willing to live right where you are and suffer right where you are for me? And the man said he couldn't get the words out of his mind. For me, for me, for me, for me. And all of a sudden he changed it to for you, for you. And he said he began to every time things became impossible to say, For you, Lord, for you, for you. And the whole rest of his life, he lived it for Jesus Christ. And he said in everything he did, he just looked up and said, For you. And it changed it all. Because you see, he wasn't trying to please people then. He was trying to please the heart of God. And I know myself that sometimes we are in circumstances that there's no reason. The other person's wrong. They are so wrong. I'm not talking about husbands. I'm talking about other people. They are so wrong. And you are so right. You have all the right on your side. But this is where sacrifice comes in. I will stay, Lord, because it pleases you. I heard Shirley Glatley speak at the retreat last year. And she said in your personal relationships on forgiveness, She said you go to the person and you say, It doesn't matter whether you're right or wrong. You go to the person and you say, If I have offended you, will you please forgive me? Well, you know, it always happens in something like that. That one person that you really don't want to think about comes, you know, like on a six-foot screen right in front of your face. And there was a person. She doesn't go to Calvary. She's far away. But I knew I was going to be seeing her. And her face came before me. And I said, But, Lord, she's been wrong. She did the wrong thing. Yeah, she did the wrong thing. Do you want me to go to her and say, If I have offended you, and really, Lord, she's wrong. No, you don't have to. Well, boy, Lord, I can pray for everybody else now. Oh, Lord, if she's offended anybody, you know. And I felt a peace. I really did. I felt this peace and quietness of spirit and everything was okay. Well, about a week before I was to see this person and be with her for several days, I began to pray very desperately. And I said, Lord, there's tension there. And I don't like this tension. All right, Kay. Okay, I'm going to take care of it. Oh, praise the Lord. And I prayed some more and I got lots of scriptures and all this kind of stuff. And then I began to pray, Lord, no matter what in this circumstance, I really want to please you. The main thing I want to do is please you. And it was as though the Lord said, You really want to please me? Yes, I really want to please you. All right, just wait on me. I'll show you what to do. And I waited on him and it was glorious. Oh, it was a beautiful experience. The whole week I was floating because of all God was going to do. And I came face to face with the lady. And I said, You know, I feel there's some tension between us. Yes, there's tension. And we're going to be together for the next few days. And I can't go on with tension. I said, No. No, she agreed. And out of my mouth came these words, If I have offended you, you know, where did those words come from? And, you know, I wasn't with this bouncy joy. And she said, Well, as a matter of fact, you have. I have. But, you know, my natural reaction in the flesh would have been to defend myself. I would have gone, Now, wait a minute. But what about? And, No, she said, As a matter of fact, you have. And I just kind of stood there and I went, Well, I'm really sorry. I'm really sorry. She said, Well, it really wasn't you. It was your friends that offended me. And I thought, Oh, that hurt worse. That's strange, but it hurt worse. I think I could have handled it better in the flesh if I had offended her. Nevertheless, this is the way God chose. It turned out to be a precious, beautiful time. And, you know, I went back to the place I was staying. And the Lord said to me, Kay, you have pleased my heart. Now, what the point of that is, is that it takes sacrifice on your part. But don't try to do it before God's timing. God gave me a choice. And he always gives you a choice. Sacrifice is always a choice. You don't have to do it. I did not have to say, If I have offended you, will you please forgive me? It was a choice. But you know what? I wanted to please the heart of God more than anything else. And so the words came out because he knew the deepest desire of my heart was to please him. It mended a relationship just in time. Someday I may be able to share the whole story, but just in time. It was beautiful. And I praised the Lord over and over again. Now, he has dealt with the other person. And, you know, one day we were talking about something and she came to me. We were praying over a situation in her family that was very painful to her. And we're talking about grudges. And I said, you know, I am just not a grudge holder. And she said, I know that and I appreciate it. Something of Jesus came through because I wanted to please the heart of God. We're just about through. I have more, but I'm not going to share it today. Remember, this is the narcissistic generation. Selfishness is the opposite of love. We think of hate as being the opposite of love. It is not. Selfishness is the opposite of love. And selfishness breaks up more relationships than any single thing that I know of. It's wanting my way to do what I want to do. Selfishness. And selfishness is also the opposite of sacrifice. And this week, I want you to really think a lot about sacrifice, about presenting your bodies, about dedicating your bodies to Jesus Christ. I had a pizazz ending this morning, but time is running out and I don't want to keep you any longer. I see a lot of people having to leave to pick up babies, schools out. And so let's just bow our hearts before him. In these few moments left, Lord, I pray that you, by the Holy Spirit, will move into each one of our hearts and show us those places that we have not presented unto you. Lord, so often we want to keep little rooms of our own hidden away in our lives and our hearts. Little places where we can indulge self. But God, this morning, collectively, corporately, as a body, we present ourselves to you. A living sacrifice. When we think of your mercies and your greatness and your goodness in giving your son Jesus for our sins, how can we do less than give back all that we are to you? And it's such a meager puny gift, Lord, and yet it's the most that we have. I pray that you'll deal with each one of us in this next week on really presenting our bodies, our entire being, our physical body, our mind, our emotions, our will, bringing them under the control and lordship of our Jesus Christ. God, I am praying and asking largely this morning that every woman in this room will be steered to the very depth of her being to want to be pleasing unto you by presenting herself a living sacrifice unto Jesus Christ. May the seed have fallen on good ground this morning, Lord. Don't let the cares of life come and sow surrounded as weeds in a field that they choke out fruitfulness. But, oh God, let every woman in this room share with someone else on what it means in her life to live pleasing unto you. And, Lord, empower as she shares it that the person listening might receive. May it be as a spark that starts a fire and the fire just goes and burns and burns and burns. Till it's as though a million candles were lit with the one desire of pleasing you, Father. This we ask in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. God bless you and keep you in his love and do your homework. Please.