Tag: BodyofChrist

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Only One Spirit & One Lord

Now you may think that I get up each morning and do a word search so I can find verses in the Bible with the words follow or lead in them, but I don’t. I do pick up my Bible and say, “Father, show me where you want me to read”. This is where I ended up this morning.

“ My friends, you asked me about spiritual gifts. 2 I want you to remember that before you became followers of the Lord, you were led in all the wrong ways by idols that cannot even talk. 3 Now I want you to know that if you are led by God’s Spirit, you will say that Jesus is Lord, and you will never curse Jesus. 4  There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but they all come from the same Spirit. 5 There are different ways to serve the same Lord, 6 and we can each do different things. Yet the same God works in all of us and helps us in everything we do. 7 The Spirit has given each of us a special way of serving others.” I Corinthians 12:1-7 CEV

Do you remember the story of Winnie the Pooh?

Frankly I remember it more from the cartoons I watched with my children then from reading it or having it read to me but Winnie the Pooh is one of my favorites.

As I became older, I developed a philosophy that every person can be identified as one of the characters in that story, maybe you’ve even heard me say that. Christopher Robin, Pooh, Piglet, Eeyore, Tigger, Owl, Rabbit, Kanga & Roo. All very different personalities yet they all work together to bring love & understanding to their world and to accomplish their tasks.

God the Father has written our story with purpose and design, Jesus came to show love to all of us and the Holy Spirit is here to lead us each day.

While some of us act like owl with the gift of administration, others have hospitality like Tigger. Pooh is always encouraging, and Rabbit makes sure everyone has a task to do. Piglet and Roo are there to remind us that we should always reassure those who are younger and inexperienced while Kanga provides the nurturing and love that we all need. And Eeyore reminds us that everyone has fears and self-doubts that we need our friends to help us through.

Instead of looking at those around us and either being jealous of their gifts or critical of them it’s important for us to remember that it is God who gives the gifts, and they are not for our benefit but the benefit of others.

“A body is made up of many parts, and each of them has its own use. 5 That’s how it is with us. There are many of us, but we each are part of the body of Christ, as well as part of one another.

6  God has also given each of us different gifts to use. If we can prophesy, we should do it according to the amount of faith we have. 7 If we can serve others, we should serve. If we can teach, we should teach. 8 If we can encourage others, we should encourage them. If we can give, we should be generous. If we are leaders, we should do our best. If we are good to others, we should do it cheerfully.” Romans 12:4-8 CEV

Who will come across our paths today? Some are there to help us grow and others need our help.

Let the Spirit lead!

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Without A Limp

A few days ago, while working outside, I tripped and fell. When Dave helped me up, I could see and feel that my right knee took the brunt of the impact.

For the last week and a half we have been working outside in the cool of the morning. We were almost done and in the process of some clean up. We had laid a ladder down on the patio, it needed to be washed and put away.

I had walked around it several times but this time I forgot it was there. Distracted with something else, it caught the toe of my shoe, I lost my balance and fell forward. I landed hard with my knee hitting the ladder and then the concrete. I was less than graceful.

My knee began swelling immediately – the body’s way of providing protection to the injured part. I pushed myself to finish a couple of small chores and then came in to ice and elevate it. My body was sore and so was my ego. How could I have been so unaware?

Each step the last couple of days, my body has reminded me that I needed to go slow and not overdo. I have done so and this morning when I woke 95% of the pain and stiffness is gone and only a little bruising is left.

It was nice to walk around without a limp and feel back to normal. God has designed our bodies with the amazing ability to heal and regenerate itself.

But it’s not just this physical body, the ability to heal also applies to the spiritual body, the Body of Christ.

“Our own body has many parts. When all these many parts are put together, they are only one body. The body of Christ is like this…14 The body is not one part, but many parts. 15 If the foot should say, ‘I am not a part of the body because I am not a hand,’ that would not stop it from being a part of the body. 16 If the ear should say, ‘I am not a part of the body because I am not an eye,’ that would not stop it from being a part of the body…18 But God has put all the parts into the body just as He wants to have them. 19 If all the parts were the same, it could not be a body. 20 But now there are many parts, but one body…24 The parts that can be seen do not need as much care. God has made the body so more care is given to the parts that need it most. 25 This is so the body will not be divided into parts. All the parts care for each other. 26 If one part of the body suffers, all the other parts suffer with it. If one part is given special care, the other parts are happy. 27 You are all a part of the body of Christ.” I Corinthians 12:13-17 NLV

If one part of the body hurts the other parts hurt with it.

As Christians we are all a part of the body of Christ and when you hurt, I should feel your pain and come to your aide. That’s what it means to be part of His body. We all share in the process of healing.

If you hurt and hide it, I can’t come to your assistance. If I am self-centered I may be judgmental and unwilling to help. Neither condition is of Christ’s choosing.

Let’s all take an active part in seeing that the Body of Christ stays healthy and whole!

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Strong and Healthy

Today I want to share a few more thoughts with you on being a part of the body of Christ…

Although, we are all the body of Christ, we do not all have the same function. Some are fingers, toes, arms, and legs but we are all necessary for the proper functioning of the body. We are all needed to make the body complete. By working in harmony, we bring glory to the One who has placed His name on this body.

“A body is made up of many parts, and each of them has its own use. 5 That’s how it is with us. There are many of us, but we each are part of the body of Christ, as well as part of one another.” Romans 12:4-5 CEV

“All of you together are Christ’s body, and each of you is a part of it.” I Corinthians 12:27 NLT

If our little finger gets smashed or our arm gets broken the rest of our body works together to protect the part that’s hurting. When disease strikes, the blood cells work overtime to produce what it needs and then fights to remove the infection. In the physical body strife and stress weaken our immunity and make us susceptible to physical illness.

Sad to say, but the same thing happens in the body of Christ. Criticism, gossip, selfishness, greed, and pride are germs that infect the body of Christ and weaken our effectiveness. We need to protect and nurture the parts of this body, not amputate them, so that the message of Christ doesn’t lose its effectiveness.

We are mutually dependent on one another. I need you and you need me. We might not agree on everything but without each other neither of us will operate fully and the whole body will suffer.

“Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. 12 Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ. 13 This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ. Then we will no longer be immature like children. We won’t be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth. Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church. 16 He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.” Ephesians 4:11-16 NLT

If we pull away from each other, criticizing and condemning one another, we’ll be tossed around like a cork in the ocean. But when we receive good teaching we will grow to be more like Christ with each passing day. We’ll take on a maturity that brings glory to Him.

Let’s all work together to help the broken and hurting parts “so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.” Christ wants us all functioning together in love!

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New Identity

Have you ever wished you could go somewhere and start over? Go someplace where no one knows your past and its failures? A new identity offers a new start…

Let me tell you a story.

Years ago, I had the opportunity to help some friends prepare for a horse sale. The animals were delivered on a Sunday afternoon and were to be sold the following Saturday at an auction. Forty-three horses arrived but one in particular caught my eye. They were all frightened and unsettled from the fifteen-hundred-mile trip. Most were unfamiliar with human contact.

Up to this time, I had very little experience working with unbroke animals; in fact, I had none. On Tuesday morning, we began by bringing the yearlings out of their pens. This was the first time most of them had ever been on lead ropes or tied to a hitching rail. This one little colt was standing there shaking as I approached him; he was so scared.

I was a little nervous myself, so I began praying for him and myself. My prayers brought peace to both of us. I asked the Lord to help him understand that I wasn’t going to hurt him. As I brushed his coat and combed his mane and tail, he began to relax and his fear diminished.

Over the next few days, I worked with him and the other horses daily. There were six of us working those forty-three beauties but this one was my favorite. By the time sale day came he looked elegant. He was bathed and groomed that morning and ended up being the high price yearling of the sale.

He had a new identity and value.

As I watched him change and develop the Lord reminded me of the change that takes place in the life of a believer as we grow in Him. He’s ever changing us into His likeness. He wants us to look like Him, after all, we are called the Body of Christ.

Only God could take a sinful creature and completely birth us into someone new who becomes a part of the body of Christ. We are new, old things are dead.

“Anyone who belongs to Christ is a new person. The past is forgotten, and everything is new.” II Corinthians 5:17 CEV

When we become new creatures in Christ God takes one sinful person, covers our sins with the blood of Jesus and we begin a whole new life.

A new identity.

Jesus is the head and we are His body. When believers first started going out in the world and telling the Good News of Jesus, they were called Christians because they were behaving like “little Christ-like ones”. They were acting in the same way they had seen Christ act. They had a new identity.

“And because you belong to Christ you are complete, having everything you need. Christ is ruler over every other power and authority.” Colossians 2:10 ERV

When we come to Christ our past is removed, we become part of the body of Christ and our new identity is in Him. Don’t let your past rule your life – in Him everything is new!

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