A foundation/giving away pieces of who we are
Greetings in the name of Jesus:
I have taught on the subject before, but I have also found the things that are true and things that are important need to be repeated from time to time. We have been talking about building upon the foundations that Christ is already given us within the church. As I get into this short series of teachings I find that the things we are going to be discussing very much fall in to the category of foundational teachings for us as individuals.
Each one of us is called into the service of Christ in different ways as we are called to be parts of the body of Christ, but I want for you to think of the body of Christ in slightly different ways and terms today if you will. It seems like we have become rather loose with what we call the body of Christ or the church today, and that is confusing to many people. In fact it may be a factor in why people who are seeking after relationship with God today don't know where to turn next. There are a lot of different bodies of believers out there who are saying that they are the body of Christ, or that they are the church,... And yet they may not be who they claim to be. Let me explain; the Scriptures tell us that there are indeed many parts of the body of Christ just like there are many different parts of our own bodies, and not only in a few circumstances but very often these parts function in the same way as our bodies yet spiritually they should all be one common mind and purpose.
Christ has told us that if we are all to fit together in the right way we will have a common bond and a common goal as a body, but what would happen if a part of our body begin to try to take control over the rest of the body? Picture with me for a moment what would happen to your ability to function if your arm or your hand would make a decision to take control over the whole body? Today we have many people who are laying claim to being the body of Christ, but who in truth are only a part of that body. They function and operate as a single body outside of the rest of the parts of the body as though they were the only part that mattered. For many years in this culture we have grown accustomed to seeing churches spring up all around us with their own individual autonomy for worship in an effort to be what they claim is right and beautiful, however, it has become rather dangerous as well. The question is whether we are functioning today is the body of Christ should or are we merely different body parts who were trying to become a whole body on our own? Today we will be looking at what Christ intended for his church to be and if we are functioning together as he has intended for us to. If we are not, then what can we as Christians do about it?
While we have all been created to have the pieces necessary for us to grow properly physically as men and women it is much different in the process for us to grow spiritually. Each piece of the body grows differently, but always in proportion to the body as a whole, but when one part grows too quickly or another part is undernourished the body can become out of whack. The same thing can happen to the church on a spiritual basis. The difference is that our physical growth shows on the outside and our spiritual growth shows up on the inside. The other part of the equation is that the parts must be connected to each other in order to have either proper growth or proper function. It is that issue that we need to address. It would seem that we have a tremendous amount of body parts scattered all over the world who want nothing to do with each other, and who would rather declare themselves to be a whole body of their own. According to the directives of the Holy Spirit from Christ we may well find a lot of body parts left behind when Christ returns for his bride unless we are willing to become a body of Christ once again
The Scripture tells us to become transformed by the renewing of our mind and heart toward Jesus Christ, but are we listening with deaf ears to this message of unity in the body? Much like the disciples who walked and talked with Christ we need to are blinded by our own desire to gain recognition and station within the church, but to what end? We read that all we need is to become Christlike through the process of dying to this world, and yet we don't understand the process of death to a place that we are still alive in. I believe that we had have missed a great deal of the point that Christ has been trying to make to us just as the disciples did by simply interjecting what we think we know into the process of growth. While it may not please many people to think in these terms we do not have individual bodies of believers out there who are the body of Christ, but rather body parts who need desperately to become United in Christ if they are ever to be considered to be the bride of Christ. The answer to the problem is simple if we will do what Christ has asked us to do in the first place. Christ asked us to become like little children in our trust and belief in God's promises to us. Christ also ask us to give away pieces of ourselves to the rule of God's Spirit until there was nothing left of us here except for the power of Christ, which lived and breathed walked and talked where we once were. It is a process, which is the same for both individuals as well as churches. It is done by allowing ourselves to die to this world sold an influence on us until there is nothing left for us for this world to hold onto or to tempt us with. The information that I just gave you is enough to chew on and contemplate for quite a while, and yet there is much more to say. I want to continue with the slots in the next block, but for now... Made you richly bless God through your life in him.
THE UNWORTHY SERVANT
I have taught on the subject before, but I have also found the things that are true and things that are important need to be repeated from time to time. We have been talking about building upon the foundations that Christ is already given us within the church. As I get into this short series of teachings I find that the things we are going to be discussing very much fall in to the category of foundational teachings for us as individuals.
Each one of us is called into the service of Christ in different ways as we are called to be parts of the body of Christ, but I want for you to think of the body of Christ in slightly different ways and terms today if you will. It seems like we have become rather loose with what we call the body of Christ or the church today, and that is confusing to many people. In fact it may be a factor in why people who are seeking after relationship with God today don't know where to turn next. There are a lot of different bodies of believers out there who are saying that they are the body of Christ, or that they are the church,... And yet they may not be who they claim to be. Let me explain; the Scriptures tell us that there are indeed many parts of the body of Christ just like there are many different parts of our own bodies, and not only in a few circumstances but very often these parts function in the same way as our bodies yet spiritually they should all be one common mind and purpose.
Christ has told us that if we are all to fit together in the right way we will have a common bond and a common goal as a body, but what would happen if a part of our body begin to try to take control over the rest of the body? Picture with me for a moment what would happen to your ability to function if your arm or your hand would make a decision to take control over the whole body? Today we have many people who are laying claim to being the body of Christ, but who in truth are only a part of that body. They function and operate as a single body outside of the rest of the parts of the body as though they were the only part that mattered. For many years in this culture we have grown accustomed to seeing churches spring up all around us with their own individual autonomy for worship in an effort to be what they claim is right and beautiful, however, it has become rather dangerous as well. The question is whether we are functioning today is the body of Christ should or are we merely different body parts who were trying to become a whole body on our own? Today we will be looking at what Christ intended for his church to be and if we are functioning together as he has intended for us to. If we are not, then what can we as Christians do about it?
While we have all been created to have the pieces necessary for us to grow properly physically as men and women it is much different in the process for us to grow spiritually. Each piece of the body grows differently, but always in proportion to the body as a whole, but when one part grows too quickly or another part is undernourished the body can become out of whack. The same thing can happen to the church on a spiritual basis. The difference is that our physical growth shows on the outside and our spiritual growth shows up on the inside. The other part of the equation is that the parts must be connected to each other in order to have either proper growth or proper function. It is that issue that we need to address. It would seem that we have a tremendous amount of body parts scattered all over the world who want nothing to do with each other, and who would rather declare themselves to be a whole body of their own. According to the directives of the Holy Spirit from Christ we may well find a lot of body parts left behind when Christ returns for his bride unless we are willing to become a body of Christ once again
The Scripture tells us to become transformed by the renewing of our mind and heart toward Jesus Christ, but are we listening with deaf ears to this message of unity in the body? Much like the disciples who walked and talked with Christ we need to are blinded by our own desire to gain recognition and station within the church, but to what end? We read that all we need is to become Christlike through the process of dying to this world, and yet we don't understand the process of death to a place that we are still alive in. I believe that we had have missed a great deal of the point that Christ has been trying to make to us just as the disciples did by simply interjecting what we think we know into the process of growth. While it may not please many people to think in these terms we do not have individual bodies of believers out there who are the body of Christ, but rather body parts who need desperately to become United in Christ if they are ever to be considered to be the bride of Christ. The answer to the problem is simple if we will do what Christ has asked us to do in the first place. Christ asked us to become like little children in our trust and belief in God's promises to us. Christ also ask us to give away pieces of ourselves to the rule of God's Spirit until there was nothing left of us here except for the power of Christ, which lived and breathed walked and talked where we once were. It is a process, which is the same for both individuals as well as churches. It is done by allowing ourselves to die to this world sold an influence on us until there is nothing left for us for this world to hold onto or to tempt us with. The information that I just gave you is enough to chew on and contemplate for quite a while, and yet there is much more to say. I want to continue with the slots in the next block, but for now... Made you richly bless God through your life in him.
THE UNWORTHY SERVANT
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