Devotional Song: … GO TO THIS LINK … Please take the time to take in YouTube images and lyrics from the group Casting Crowns singing … If We Are the Body … poignantly singing of how we, as the body of Christ, need to be doing more to reach out and be His witnesses of love and grace in this world.
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Highlight Verse[s]: 1 Peter 2:9 [NLT] … 9 But you are not like that, for you are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for He called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light.
… Taking a wider perspective on our faith gives us more strength as the “BODY OF CHRIST.”
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Highlight Passage [context]: 1 Peter 2:1-10 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …
… In our faith God shows us, thru Peter, that we’re much more than the faith of one person, … we are a worldwide “holy nation” in Christ.
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Reference Passage : …Acts 1:8 [NLT] … 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be My witnesses, telling people about Me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
… Christ calls us ALL - the Body of Christ - to be His witnesses to the entire world.
Reference Passage : … 1 Corinthians 12:22-27 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …
… Being the “Body of Christ,” we have so much more power to serve God than just being one individual part.
Reference Passage : … Hebrews 10:24-25 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …
… God wants us to come TOGETHER in worship to help us gain strength in our faith to serve and worship Him as His BODY.
Reference Passage : … 2 Peter 1:3-4 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …
… As the body of Christ, we’ve been given all we need, individually and corporately, to take on the world’s problems and be Christ’s witnesses (see Acts 1:8).
My Devotional Journal: Today's ODB author, David C McCasland, uses a mental picture of a much wider perspective on our faith to help us see the entire “Body of Christ.” The ODB author writes … During the television coverage of the inauguration of the first African-American president of the US, the camera showed a panoramic view of the enormous crowd of the nearly two million people who had gathered to witness the historic event. CBS News correspondent Bob Schieffer remarked, “The star of this show is the wide shot.” Nothing else could capture the multitude stretching from the Lincoln Memorial to the Capitol. [see photo]
When we, as individual Christians, go to church on Sundays to worship God, we get a little wider perspective on our faith than we’re trying to tackle life on our own. We come together in corporate worship to see that we are a part of the larger “Body of Christ.” And then we we pan back in our minds to realize that on that one Sunday millions - nay, BILLIONS - of fellow Christians will be coming together to worship the King of kings, … and LORD of lords; … it helps to give us a much wider perspective on our faith.
That’s what the ODB author was trying to show by using the inaugural word picture. We, often, can get a bit narrow in our handling of the day’s problems, being just one Christian taking on the world. But we need to see that we’re just one of a “nation” of faith [see highlight passage]; and we need to just do our part, using what God has given each of us (and that’s a lot!! - see 2 Peter 1:3-4), to come together, as the body of Christ, to take on the world.
So, … let’s all just do our part today and use the gifts and Spirit-given resources we have, as outlined in the Scriptures above, to serve our Lord.
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My THANKFULNESS: … Oh Abba Father, … thank You, Lord, … for Your Spirit, Who gives Your Body all we need to serve, worship, and glorify You.
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My Prayer Today: Oh Abba Father, … King Jesus, … I pray, Lord, that all reading here can, and will, join me today to do all we can to serve You, … our King, Jesus, as one member of Your entire Body. … 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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