Devotional Song: … GO TO THIS LINK … Please take the time to take in a YouTube video of images and lyrics from the group Casting Crowns singing … If We Are The Body … poignantly singing of our need, as the Body of Christ, to reach out to serve our Lord TOGETHER in harmony.
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Highlight Verse[s]: 1st Corinthians 12:5-6 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …
5 There are different kinds of service, but we serve the same Lord. 6 God works in different ways, but it is the same God who does the work in all of us.
… God, thru the Apostle, calls His body to work TOGETHER in harmony.
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Highlight Passage [context]: 1st Corinthians 12:3-8 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …
… According to Paul’s admonition we, the family of Go, are His Body; and we are to work together in harmony for His glory.
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Reference Passage #1 [NKJV] : … Ephesians 4:11-12 [NLT] …
11 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.
… God’s BODY must work TOGETHER in HARMONY to do His work on earth.
Reference Passage #2 [NKJV] : … 1st Peter 4:10 [NLT] …
10 God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another.
… Peter joins God’s chorus of Apostolic teachers preaching unity within Christ’s Body to use our individual gifts TOGETHER in harmon to serve the Lord.
My Devotional Journal: Today's ODB author, David McCasland, used the word picture of a children’s orchestra to illustrate the need for the Body of Christ to be working TOGETHER for His glory. The ODB author wrote: During our granddaughter’s school band concert [see photo], I was impressed by how well this group of 11- and 12-year-olds played together. If each of them had wanted to be a solo performer, they could not have achieved individually what the band did collectively. The woodwinds, brass, and percussion sections all played their parts and the result was beautiful music!
I really liked one statement the ODB author stated today. He wrote, … “There are no soloists in God’s orchestra.” And the author should be right, according to God’s word above, should he not? The question is … in God’s orchestra, are we, His Body, playing our best, in harmony, for Him?
Yes, all Christians are given individual gifts/talents; but as the Scriptures above attest, we are to use them as ONE BODY, working TOGETHER for God’s glory. Today, writing this journal entry, I’m doing my best to serve my Lord with my gifts of teaching and exhortation. Perhaps you have other gifts/talents, … maybe service, or hospitality, or giving. But whatever our gifts, … whatever our individual talents, … Christ is our orchestra leader; and we are to come together to play in harmony for Him.
So, let’s play our instruments today … TOGETHER … in the harmony of God’s grace to loudly proclaim His glory.
My Prayer Today: Abba Father, … Lord, … May I use my gifts for You in Your Body today, tomorrow, and always. … 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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