Devotional Song: … GO TO THIS LINK … Please take the time to take in a video of the group 4HIM singing The Basics of Life… declaring the reality of the Church today … to return to the basics of the faith … TOGETHER!!
Highlight Passage: Ephesians 4:16 [NKJV] …
15 … but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— 16 from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.
… All Christians need to “grow up” in the faith, … but we need to do it TOGETHER, exhorting and encouraging one another …
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Highlight Context – Ephesians 4:1-16 [NKJV] … USE THIS LINK …
… Coming TOGETHER in Christ and growing in the faith as His body.
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Reference Passage #1 - Romans 12:1-13 [NKJV] … USE THIS LINK …
… Christians, coming TOGETHER, in the unity of the Body of Christ to edify one another and grow in the faith.
Reference Passage #2 - 1st Corinthians, Chapter 12 [NKJV] … USE THIS LINK …
… In Christ we are ONE BODY, using our gifts TOGETHER to be Christ’s Body on earth.
Reference Passage #3 - Hebrews 10: 24-25 [NKJV] … USE THIS LINK …
… Coming TOGETHER as the body of Christ, especially in these troubled times, to get back to the basics of the faith and grow in Christlikeness.
My Journal for Today: Today’s Our Daily Bread author, Tim Gustafson, related a personal story to illustrate his teaching about the Church growing TOGETHER in Christlikeness. He wrote: Watching my young grandson and his friends play T-Ball is entertaining [see attached photo]. In this version of baseball, young players often run to the wrong base or don’t know what to do with the ball if they happen to catch it. If we were watching a professional baseball game, these mistakes would not be so funny. … It’s all a matter of maturity.
In my estimation, T-ball is a good word picture for the Church. When we’re newbies in Christ, we’re ushered into a new team game called “the body of Christ,” … the Church; and we really need coaching and the encouragement of more mature “coaches and players” (i.e. Disciples of Christ) to grow in the skills, given to us by God, to contribute (one day) to the “team.” And in the beginning, we need to learn and practice the basics and then apply those skills, as a team, to become a more effective and unified body, coming TOGETHER to glorify God.
I hope you’ve taken the time to hear that linked song above and to mediate on the Scriptures provided. The Apostle Paul (and the author of Hebrews), really wrote a lot, inspired by God’s Spirit, to exhort Christians to come together in His Body, developing our gifts and talents (i.e., on “God’s team”), … to edify one another and grow in the basics of the faith.
And as 4HIM sings above, we need to get back to the basics in the game of life, don’t we? It’s Sunday as I write this, and as the author of Hebrews 10:24-25 wrote, I pray that we’re all coming together, wherever we are in the Body of Christ today, to encourage one another and to help one another grow in Christlikeness.
My Prayer Today: Heavenly Father, … Oh, Lord, help us, as Your Body, to come together today, … and all days, … helping one another to grow in our faith and to glorify You. … Amen
Blogger Note: Everyday during this year, my daily devotional blogs are influenced by the reading and study of the online devotional blog entitled Our Daily Bread, distributed online via email by RBC Ministries. If you GO TO THIS LINK on the date of my blog, you can read/study the ODB blogs; or you can subscribe to the blog via email at that site.
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