Passage of the Day: Ephesians 4: 11 – 12 [see underlined and in bold below with explanation added in parentheses] … 11 It was He [the Holy Spirit] Who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, 12 to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
My Journal for Today: John MacArthur, in his Strength for Today devotional on this date, states truth when he declares that God desires to reach the world with His Church declaring and sending out His Gospel (as we read in today’s passage and also in a verse I hope you have memorized, Acts 1: 8). To do this the Holy Spirit is given to individual believers so that we are energized, edified, enabled, and empowered to become the collective Body of Christ in order that this unified Body may carry out God’s Great Commission (see Matt. 28: 19 – 20).
Therefore, it is ultimately the Church who becomes the unified and equipped representation of Jesus Christ in the world, … ALL of us individually and collectively using our Spirit-given gifts to reach out with God’s mission/ministry of witness to a lost and dying world (see Christ’s mission/ministry in Luke 4: 18).
So, if we try to be “lone ranger” Christians, we deter or impede the effectiveness of God’s outreach, not using our individual gifts within the collective power that is Christ’s Body, the Church. God, the Holy Spirit, imparts His gifts with the purpose that my gifts will be joined with others, like you, in the unified Church to shine a much brighter, Spirit-enabled, light into this darkened and sin-ridden world, thereby glorifying God, The Father and drawing the lost to His Son (see Matt. 5: 16 in the context of The Great Commission).
{BTW, if you want to hear a great sermon on this subject which my own Pastor delivered to his flock on Sunday, Sept. 25th, go to this link. However, when I went to that site as I’m writing this, the sermon had not yet been posted. Be patient, though; I know it will be posted in the next day or so; and it will be well worth your time to listen to our Pastor passionately preach about “the church” being empowered by God’s Spirit to do God’s will in the world.}
I don’t know about you; but I’m convicted that I don’t use my gifts enough, with Spirit-lifted enablement, for God’s Great Commission and/or His mission for my life. And it doesn’t take a theologian or rocket-scientist to see that the Church is not what it could be in this world because of disunity and division and too many lone ranger Christians trying to do their own thing rather than working in well-equipped unity for God’s Glory. I’ll leave it to God’s Spirit to convict any who might read this of whether we, as God’s Body, are doing enough for our Lord or whether we, as individual Christians are doing enough to promote unity and power in the Church.
My Prayer Today: Lord, use my gifts in Your Church to shine Your Light in this dark world. Amen
Showing posts with label church unity. Show all posts
Showing posts with label church unity. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
March 30, 2011 … God-Centered Teamwork
Passage of the Day: 1st Corinthians 3: 8 – 9 - 8 The man who plants and the man who waters have one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor. 9 For we are God's fellow workers; you are God's field, God's building.
My Journal for Today: Here in this country/culture, individuality is valued highly; but measured by our love of team sports, so is “teamwork.” However, even in the venues of team sports, we seem to laud the “superhero” above the team. Our cultural values just seem to want to find the ONE who can win even more than the team. The internet tells me that no one knows the author of the quote: “There’s no ‘I’ in ‘team.’ “ And I think we Christians would find truth in that quote; but we still try to be “Lone Rangers” in the Christian world; and we put TV preachers who become stars up on a pedestal above the Pastors of small churches where there is a tremendously successful teamwork going on to bring Christ to a dying world and to team-disciple those who are growing in the faith.
Really, all worship and ministry as a Christian in God’s kingdom is a team venture; and teamwork, as highlighted in today’s passage, requires humility, sharing, and Kingdom unity. Sometimes, however, the efforts involved in church teamwork may seem uneven or even unfair from a human or worldly point-of-view (see Jesus’ parable of the workers in the vineyard in Matt. 20: 1 – 16 - linked here). However, we all work and share in God’s master plan in HIS garden … for HIS glory.
Certainly it is all too easy to let feelings of unfairness or selfish desire for recognition from the world (i.e., for personal affirmation) get in the way of unity within the Body of Christ. And it is only when we can lay ego aside and COMPLETELY trust God that our work within His Body, His kingdom work, can be magnified in power by His Spirit for the Father’s glory. Yes, some plant the seeds in His field, as today’s verse and Jesus’ parable registers, are planted by a chosen and anointed few;… and others water those seeds; … and yet others may be there to reap the harvest for God in due season. But the harvested crop is the collective result of ALL of God’s humble workers, unified of purpose, to allow God to bring the harvest in His time, for His glory.
Maybe you have had the privilege and the joy of being the God-designated harvester who was there, at the right time of brokenness in someone’s life; and you helped lead that lost soul into God’s family of believers. I have had that privilege a few times; but it certainly has not happened for me as it has for a Billy Graham, who has led thousands, yea millions, into the kingdom of God. But for every Billy Graham, or other high profile evangelist, preaching the Gospel at Christian crusades and calling out many “to come” in faith, there have been mega-thousands of silent field workers on God’s team who shared testimonies with those lost souls; and probably even more mega-thousands who prayed for those lost ones before that decision was made at that crusade which led that lost soul down an isle into the family of God. But in all of that, God was the agent of that lost one’s salvation; and it took a team of field workers to plant the seed, to care for the soil, to water the growing faith of that lost seedling, and then someone on God’s team was used to bring in the harvest of that soul for the eternal kingdom of God.
And when the harvest is in … the angels celebrate and God smiles … and His smiles are not just because of the harvest workers … but because of all those who planted the seeds, patiently watered or nourished the field, and then for the ones He had there to bring in the harvest. Prayerfully, we are all planting seeds, tending the fields, and are available to bring in the harvest if that be God’s plan!
Yes it’s true; in doing God’s field work, there is no “I” on God’s “team” of field workers.
My Prayer Today: I play on Your team, Lord! Thank You for choosing me. Amen
Saturday, January 29, 2011
January 29, 2011 … Oneness in Christ
Passage of the Day: Ephesians 4: 4 – 6 – 4 There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to one hope when you were called — 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
My Journal for Today: As we did in my last devotional entry [for 1/28/11], we focus on the “oneness” of Christ, … in the Church, and from the Gospel. And the two verses below, one from Peter, the other from Paul, clearly declare, as does today’s passage, that we give allegiance and serve One God in Christ Jesus.
SCRIPTURE: Acts 4:12 [Peter] “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved."
SCRIPTURE: Rom. 10: 12 [Paul] For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile — the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on Him, …
Really, both explicitly and implicitly, CHRIST is the single unifying theme throughout the Bible, Old Testament and New. Denominational, demographic, or dogmatic differences within Christianity cannot detract from this unifying reality. There is only one CHRISTIAN faith.
Actually, unity (of the church) from diversity (of believers) is the theme of Ephesians 4; and it should be a strength of God’s Church. However, we live in a world which is fallen and fallible and which has led to fallacious and far reaching interpretations of God’s word and all too much diversity of feelings in Christ’s body. And any time we let feelings dominate a unified search for God’s truth, we fall prey to our enemy, Satan, who would pour his evil spiritual gas upon the flames of our distraction and disunity.
We must beware and not hold so tightly to our own provincial and protected “brand” of corporate Christianity so that we can come together to fulfill Christ’s prayer for His Body (see John 17), holding only to the reality that we have our unity in Christ Himself. [again see Eph. 4: 4 above]
My Prayer Today: We are one … I am one in You, Lord. Amen
My Journal for Today: As we did in my last devotional entry [for 1/28/11], we focus on the “oneness” of Christ, … in the Church, and from the Gospel. And the two verses below, one from Peter, the other from Paul, clearly declare, as does today’s passage, that we give allegiance and serve One God in Christ Jesus.
SCRIPTURE: Acts 4:12 [Peter] “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved."
SCRIPTURE: Rom. 10: 12 [Paul] For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile — the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on Him, …
Really, both explicitly and implicitly, CHRIST is the single unifying theme throughout the Bible, Old Testament and New. Denominational, demographic, or dogmatic differences within Christianity cannot detract from this unifying reality. There is only one CHRISTIAN faith.
Actually, unity (of the church) from diversity (of believers) is the theme of Ephesians 4; and it should be a strength of God’s Church. However, we live in a world which is fallen and fallible and which has led to fallacious and far reaching interpretations of God’s word and all too much diversity of feelings in Christ’s body. And any time we let feelings dominate a unified search for God’s truth, we fall prey to our enemy, Satan, who would pour his evil spiritual gas upon the flames of our distraction and disunity.
We must beware and not hold so tightly to our own provincial and protected “brand” of corporate Christianity so that we can come together to fulfill Christ’s prayer for His Body (see John 17), holding only to the reality that we have our unity in Christ Himself. [again see Eph. 4: 4 above]
My Prayer Today: We are one … I am one in You, Lord. Amen
Friday, January 28, 2011
January 28, 2011 … Our Unity In The Spirit
Passage of the Day [NIV]: Ephesians 4: 4 – 6 [emphasis noted by capitalization/underlined words] – 4 There is ONE body and ONE Spirit—just as you were called to ONE hope when you were called— 5 ONE Lord, ONE faith, ONE baptism; 6 ONE God and [ONE] Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
My Journal for Today: Well, in case you didn’t notice ;) , the operant word in this passage is the word “ONE;” and the Apostle Paul is almost shouting that we, of the Body of Christ, are ONE body in Christ … sealed by ONE Spirit … with ONE eternal calling from God, the Father. He is clearly stating that we are not many bodies, … but ONE … The Church Universal … all ONE in Christ Jesus (see Gal. 3: 28) …
>>> SCRIPTURE: Gal. 3: 28 … There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all ONE in Christ Jesus.
ONE; … no matter how many creeds we believe and utter; … no many how many races are represented in our congregations; … no matter how many languages we may speak; … no matter how many worship styles we represent; … our individual souls and our singular houses of God are collectively ONE Temple, guided by ONE Spirit [1st Cor. 6: 19], Who builds The Body in the likeness of our ONE Lord, … Jesus Christ [Eph. 2: 22].
>>> SCRIPTURE: 1st Cor. 6: 19 … Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God?
>>> SCRIPTURE: Eph. 2: 22 … And in Him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.
And finally, it is that ONE Spirit, Who has sealed (or guaranteed) us into the ONE hope of our ONE calling, which is our inheritance in eternity [Eph. 1: 13-14] from our ONE Lord …
>>> SCRIPTURE: Eph. 3: 13-14 … And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in Him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is a deposit, guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession — to the praise of His glory.
You’ll never get a better guarantee than that in this world! Therefore, we must do all we can as THE ONE Body of Christ to maximize the unity unto which we are called and sealed. Therefore, we, as born-again Christians, need to recognize from the context of the passage Dr. MacArthur has been using all this month (i.e., see Eph. 4: 1-3) that our worthiness as His bride, the Church, is dependent on our faith in the ONE Lord and our belief in and surrender to the ONE Spirit, Who ministers to our spirit in the Name of the ONE Father in Heaven.
My Prayer Today: Precious Lord, I am ONE in You for eternity. Hallelujah! Amen
My Journal for Today: Well, in case you didn’t notice ;) , the operant word in this passage is the word “ONE;” and the Apostle Paul is almost shouting that we, of the Body of Christ, are ONE body in Christ … sealed by ONE Spirit … with ONE eternal calling from God, the Father. He is clearly stating that we are not many bodies, … but ONE … The Church Universal … all ONE in Christ Jesus (see Gal. 3: 28) …
>>> SCRIPTURE: Gal. 3: 28 … There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all ONE in Christ Jesus.
ONE; … no matter how many creeds we believe and utter; … no many how many races are represented in our congregations; … no matter how many languages we may speak; … no matter how many worship styles we represent; … our individual souls and our singular houses of God are collectively ONE Temple, guided by ONE Spirit [1st Cor. 6: 19], Who builds The Body in the likeness of our ONE Lord, … Jesus Christ [Eph. 2: 22].
>>> SCRIPTURE: 1st Cor. 6: 19 … Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God?
>>> SCRIPTURE: Eph. 2: 22 … And in Him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.
And finally, it is that ONE Spirit, Who has sealed (or guaranteed) us into the ONE hope of our ONE calling, which is our inheritance in eternity [Eph. 1: 13-14] from our ONE Lord …
>>> SCRIPTURE: Eph. 3: 13-14 … And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in Him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is a deposit, guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession — to the praise of His glory.
You’ll never get a better guarantee than that in this world! Therefore, we must do all we can as THE ONE Body of Christ to maximize the unity unto which we are called and sealed. Therefore, we, as born-again Christians, need to recognize from the context of the passage Dr. MacArthur has been using all this month (i.e., see Eph. 4: 1-3) that our worthiness as His bride, the Church, is dependent on our faith in the ONE Lord and our belief in and surrender to the ONE Spirit, Who ministers to our spirit in the Name of the ONE Father in Heaven.
My Prayer Today: Precious Lord, I am ONE in You for eternity. Hallelujah! Amen
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
January 26, 2011 … The Bond of Peace
Passage of the Day: Ephesians 4: 3 – NIV 3 Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.
Ephesians 4: 3 – NASB … being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
My Journal for Today: Continuing in the theme of Christian unity necessary for believers and the church to have individual and/or collective impact on the world, we read the phrase, “… through the bond of peace.” So, in today’s verse, Paul used the Greek word picture involving the term “sundesmos,” which literally refers to a belt or strap which ties packages together. And this is an apt picture of what occurs when a bunch of individual packages (i.e., believers) are tied together by the strapping of the Holy Spirit, Who unites the body together with a “bond of peace.” But, as Paul is exhorting Christians, … this only happens when they are willing to surrender to His cohesive influence so as to exhibit God’s love to the world. And this will only happen when Christians come together in selfless “agape,” … the pouring forth which occurs from the actions of Christians who are unified in humility, meekness, patience, and forebearing love … all of those concepts we’ve already looked at this month which were brought out from the Eph. 4: 1 – 3 passage.
I can’t get the ode to love from the 60s out of my brain as I write this; “… What the world needs now, is love, sweet love …;” and it’s true. The world desperately needs the unified love that evolves from unified believers, living lives of Christlikeness, from the bonding of agape that shines like a beacon into the darkness that is today’s world of greed and selfishness. And when the lost see a Light like this, emanating form the Church in the unified bond of peace, they will either run from it in fear or be drawn to it like moths to a flame.
In the Old Testament, God chided His people for not having true and lasting peace … [Jeremiah 8: 11 – 12] …
>>> SCRIPTURE: Jer. 8: 11 …They dress the wound of my people as though it were not serious. "Peace, peace," they say, when there is no peace. 12 Are they ashamed of their loathsome conduct? No, … they have no shame at all; they do not even know how to blush. So they will fall among the fallen; they will be brought down when they are punished, says the LORD.
In the New Testament, Paul rebuked the Corinthian believers for their disunity and their un-Christlike walk in their world (see below) …
>>> SCRIPTURE: 1st Cor 11: 17 - 22 …17 In the following directives I have no praise for you, for your meetings do more harm than good. 18In the first place, I hear that when you come together as a church, there are divisions among you, and to some extent I believe it. 19No doubt there have to be differences among you to show which of you have God's approval. 20When you come together, it is not the Lord's Supper you eat, 21for as you eat, each of you goes ahead without waiting for anybody else. One remains hungry, another gets drunk. 22Don't you have homes to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you for this? Certainly not!
>>> SCRIPTURE: 1st Cor 14: 26 …What then shall we say, brothers? When you come together, everyone has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. All of these must be done for the strengthening of the church.
As individual Christians, melded together in the Church, we simply must be serious about coming together IN PEACE to shine Christ’s light into the world. God’s love light is dampened when we exhibit the divisiveness of denominational or doctrinal differences. How can a lost world see the love of God through the spectacle of hypocrisy and pride when it is all too often the show of the church in today’s world?
I’m convicted; … how about you?
My Prayer Today: Lord, have mercy on your Church; but shine your Light so clearly that we can’t miss it in following You. Amen
Ephesians 4: 3 – NASB … being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
My Journal for Today: Continuing in the theme of Christian unity necessary for believers and the church to have individual and/or collective impact on the world, we read the phrase, “… through the bond of peace.” So, in today’s verse, Paul used the Greek word picture involving the term “sundesmos,” which literally refers to a belt or strap which ties packages together. And this is an apt picture of what occurs when a bunch of individual packages (i.e., believers) are tied together by the strapping of the Holy Spirit, Who unites the body together with a “bond of peace.” But, as Paul is exhorting Christians, … this only happens when they are willing to surrender to His cohesive influence so as to exhibit God’s love to the world. And this will only happen when Christians come together in selfless “agape,” … the pouring forth which occurs from the actions of Christians who are unified in humility, meekness, patience, and forebearing love … all of those concepts we’ve already looked at this month which were brought out from the Eph. 4: 1 – 3 passage.
I can’t get the ode to love from the 60s out of my brain as I write this; “… What the world needs now, is love, sweet love …;” and it’s true. The world desperately needs the unified love that evolves from unified believers, living lives of Christlikeness, from the bonding of agape that shines like a beacon into the darkness that is today’s world of greed and selfishness. And when the lost see a Light like this, emanating form the Church in the unified bond of peace, they will either run from it in fear or be drawn to it like moths to a flame.
In the Old Testament, God chided His people for not having true and lasting peace … [Jeremiah 8: 11 – 12] …
>>> SCRIPTURE: Jer. 8: 11 …They dress the wound of my people as though it were not serious. "Peace, peace," they say, when there is no peace. 12 Are they ashamed of their loathsome conduct? No, … they have no shame at all; they do not even know how to blush. So they will fall among the fallen; they will be brought down when they are punished, says the LORD.
In the New Testament, Paul rebuked the Corinthian believers for their disunity and their un-Christlike walk in their world (see below) …
>>> SCRIPTURE: 1st Cor 11: 17 - 22 …17 In the following directives I have no praise for you, for your meetings do more harm than good. 18In the first place, I hear that when you come together as a church, there are divisions among you, and to some extent I believe it. 19No doubt there have to be differences among you to show which of you have God's approval. 20When you come together, it is not the Lord's Supper you eat, 21for as you eat, each of you goes ahead without waiting for anybody else. One remains hungry, another gets drunk. 22Don't you have homes to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you for this? Certainly not!
>>> SCRIPTURE: 1st Cor 14: 26 …What then shall we say, brothers? When you come together, everyone has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. All of these must be done for the strengthening of the church.
As individual Christians, melded together in the Church, we simply must be serious about coming together IN PEACE to shine Christ’s light into the world. God’s love light is dampened when we exhibit the divisiveness of denominational or doctrinal differences. How can a lost world see the love of God through the spectacle of hypocrisy and pride when it is all too often the show of the church in today’s world?
I’m convicted; … how about you?
My Prayer Today: Lord, have mercy on your Church; but shine your Light so clearly that we can’t miss it in following You. Amen
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