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LET’S TALK ABOUT THE SOVEREIGN WILL OF GOD

The phrase “the sovereign will of God” is often misused to justify spiritual fatalism—leaving things to fate—or worse, to excuse spiritual laziness and ignorance of God’s Word, His ways, and His covenant. But Scripture never endorses passivity. It reveals something far more intimate and demanding: a covenant relationship.

Many look at the Law of Moses and recoil. “It’s too strict,” they say. But it came at a time when decentralised priesthoods governed by whim left the people uncertain of God’s will—trapped under superstition, myth, and anecdotal theology. Heresy, folklore, and incoherent opinion were all they had.

It was in this chaos that God introduced something revolutionary: a faith based on covenant, not guesswork. The Mosaic covenant made it clear—what God required, and what He would give in return.

SERVICE IS NOT SYMBOLIC—IT IS SACRIFICIAL

Most believers misunderstand the word “serve.” In Scripture, it is not an abstract or mystical concept. It is practical, physical, and sacrificial. To serve God is to present your body—in obedience, in prayer, in discipline, and in devotion.

Paul captures this in Romans 12:1:

“In view of God’s mercies, present your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and acceptable to God—this is your reasonable act of worship.”

That word “holy” (Greek hagios) does not mean prudish. It means set apart, consecrated, marked off for divine intimacy. Its Hebrew root (khôg) means to encircle, to draw into the sacred space of covenant—the inner circle.

But what draws us in? Not emotion. Not affiliation. Sacrifice.

WHY THE FLESH DETESTS SACRIFICE

We live in an age obsessed with “me”. My convenience. My comfort. My platform. My time. Me. Me. Me. What I want! But that’s not Christianity. That’s ego—a false self, constructed by experiences and subjective interpretations of the world.

The flesh doesn’t just dislike sacrifice—it fears it. To the body, sacrifice is nonsense—literally non-sense, because it exists outside the realm of the five senses. It feels like death, because it is: the death of self-will. This is the ancient war. The yetzer hara—the evil inclination—still wants to be god, even if it only rules over chaos and ashes.

And unless your Christianity begins at the altar, it isn’t Christianity at all. It’s a comforting philosophy, agreeable to the flesh but powerless to save.

SACRIFICE IS THE START OF TRANSFORMATION

• There is no fire without offering.
• No transformation without altar.
• No glory without surrender.

Christianity only truly begins where sacrifice begins. And that sacrifice is your body—your will, your time, your energy—laid down as a living offering.

Paul wasn’t being poetic when he said, “Present your body.” He also wasn’t saying, “Present your opinion,” or “your theology”, for that matter. He was invoking the Hebrew concept of —korban—the offering brought near to the fire. And the fire? That is God’s presence. The transforming, burning, refining presence of the Holy One. But without sacrifice, the fire does not fall.

THE TRACKS SET THE TRAIN FREE

Some say, “A train is constrained by its tracks.” But in truth, the tracks are what set it free. Without them, the train cannot move. It becomes a monument of potential without motion.

So it is with God’s covenant principles. The rails of righteousness are not chains—they are invitations to mobilisation. Freedom is not the absence of structure—it is movement within divine order. Ignoring the covenant is why so many believers remain stuck, heavy, powerless, and going nowhere.

You cannot claim the mercies of God while rejecting His methods.

THE BODY MUST BE BOUND TO THE ALTAR

Psalm 118:27 says:

“Bind the sacrifice with cords to the horns of the altar.”

Why? Because the body will never go willingly. It must be bound. Sacrifice is always uncomfortable. It’s meant to be.

We say, “Feed me, Lord—feed me healing, provision, deliverance…” And He does. But covenant is mutual. In a wedding, the sharing of cake symbolises something deeper than romance: a vow to feed one another for life.

So the question is: Are we feeding God?
Are we feeding Him faith? Obedience? Time? Honour? Or are we simply consuming?

Covenant isn’t sustained by consumption. It is sustained by exchange. And God is not seeking another opinion—He is seeking an offering.

The altar is the spiritual track to fire, presence and glory!

WHY THE CHURCH IS POWERLESS

The Western Church is not suffering from a lack of theology. It is suffering from a lack of sacrifice. It offers opinions, not offerings. It builds platforms, not altars.

And the result? No fire. No transformation. No glory!

Which version of Christianity best describes the Church today—the one of fire or the one of comfort? The one of consecration or of convenience? You need only look around to see the answer.

EVERYONE WILL SACRIFICE—THE QUESTION IS TO WHOM

Sacrifice is inevitable. The only question is, to whom will you offer it?

Those who do not lay their lives on the altar of God will eventually offer them up to something else: the culture, the grind, the algorithm, the idol of success. And the joke is this: the world will take your sacrifice—and give you nothing in return.

But God? He receives your sacrifice, consumes it with holy fire, and transforms your ashes into glory.

IF THE ALTAR IS EMPTY, SO IS THE CITY

“Unless the LORD builds the house, the builders labour in vain.”
“Unless the LORD guards the city, the watchmen keep watch in vain.”
— Psalm 127:1

How will God build, guard, and preserve a society that no longer sacrifices to Him?

He won’t, because He can’t!

And we are already seeing the result: cities burning, towers falling, and foundations cracking beneath our feet.

Because without sacrifice, there is no fire. Without fire, there is no glory. Without glory, there is no presence. And without presence… there is no life.

DEVOTIONAL PRAYER

Lord,
Teach me what it truly means to serve You.
Break the lie that comfort is king.
Burn away the illusion that I can receive without giving.
I bind myself to the altar—not just in word, but in abiding prayer.
Let Your fire fall again.
Transform me by Your presence.
Receive my body, my time, and my love-obedience as my offering.
I want to live for You, not just talk about You.
Make me faithful. Make me wholehearted. Make me Yours.

Help me to you what you have asked for.
Amen.

MEMORY VERSE

“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.”
(Romans 12:1, NKJV)

FIVE QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION

1. Have I been asking God to feed me while withholding my offering to Him?
2. Where in my life am I avoiding the discomfort of sacrifice—and calling it balance?
3. What tracks has God already laid for me that I’ve ignored?
4. What part of me resists the altar—and why?
5. If God examined my life today, would He find an altar or just opinion?

CALL TO ACTION: BUILD THE ALTAR AGAIN

If this stirred something in you—don’t just walk away. Build. Lay your body, your calendar, your will before God. Start small. Start today. But start with sacrifice.

👉 Subscribe at HungryHeartsCollective.com for more resources, audio devotionals, and altar-building encouragement. Let the fire fall again. Let your life become the offering. Join the community and do your part!

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