Rom. 12:9-14, 20-21 (KJV) "Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good. Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another; Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord; Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer; Distributing to the necessity of saints; given to hospitality. Bless them which persecute you: bless, and curse not. Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good."
The context of this passage is in reference to the body of Christ. Therefore it describes the type of love we should have for our brothers and sisters in Christ.
Brotherly love like God expects from us is the same kind of love the Son of God revealed when He came to die for us. God trusted Adam and Eve, he gave them Paradise, and they betrayed Him. The world has rebelled against God. We are so undeserving of the reckless forgiveness God has freely provided for us. Because of Gods compassion for us we should have the same kind of reckless love for our brethren. God was not narrow minded and turned off by our filthy condition. Anyone else would have taken one look at our planet and said, "those people down there are just gross, we need to just stay away from them." But God decided not to leave us in our filth to rot. God was broad minded enough to see potential for our restoration. When anyone else would have said, "They made their choices, now they will have to suffer the consequences." God said, there is no sacrifice too great I am not willing to make in order to save them.
Dan's paraphrase of Rom. 12:9-14, 20-21
Brotherly love is to be sincere and without hypocrisy. Don't just say that you love the people you fellowship with, but let your actions prove it. Definitely don't let your actions differ from your words. God knows the motives behind everything you do. So let your true motive always be for doing good. Having an evil motive should be far from you.
If you want to show your brothers and sisters in Christ that you really care for them then you need to learn ways to express your affection to them. This may include, small gifts of appreciation, greeting them with a hug, thoughtful notes and cards, remembering their birthdays and anniversaries, just look for anything that meets their everyday needs. Reach out to them socially, emotionally and spiritually. Be like a mentor, the goal is to demonstrate brotherly love. The key to making a relationship is starting with getting to know one another, so open up and learn about one another.
Build trust, if you tell them you are going to do a favor for them, get to it right away, procrastination shows your disinterest in them and tells them that you really don't care. If they want you to pray for them, don't just offer to pray for them later, why not pray with them right now about it. Together the two of you can pray fervently in the spirit with one another.
As brothers and sisters in the family of God you should be active in ministry together, and as you serve God, share the hopes and dreams you have for following Christ and then rejoice with one another as you see your dreams come true. When times get tough don't be a fly by night friend, but be there for them, be a hand to hold or a shoulder to cry on. Be available for prayer in the spur of the moment, hard times are good times to be instant in prayer.
Give freely of what you have if your brothers or sisters need it more than you. If there is a need, open up your home and say my door is open to you, my refrigerator is your refrigerator.
There may be people in the church that have not treated you right. They may have talked about you behind your back or slandered your name. When this happens make sure you return their evil with kindness. Don't do to them as they did to you, but rather go pout of your way to seek to do extra special things for them. Difficult time happen to everyone, so be sure you are the first to come to their rescue. If something bad happens to them, don't give in to the temptation to rejoice in their suffering, rather weep with them in their pain.
Describe how you have been shown love like this by someone you have fellowshiped with? Have you show reckless love toward a brother or sister in Christ before, explain what you did?
Showing posts with label Body of Christ. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Body of Christ. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Thursday, August 13, 2009
II Corinthians 12:15-17
1 Cor 12:15-17 (NIV) “If the foot should say, "Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. And if the ear should say, "Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be?”
Why does the hand tell the foot “I don’t need you”?
Well, it might be because the foot just stomped all over those fragile fingers. It’s been said that Christians are the only people who shoot their own wounded – and sometimes there might be some truth to that statement.
I have been thinking about how some people shoot at members of their own body who don't eat the right way, or who don't dress to the right standards, or sing music from outside of the authorized Hymnal.
It is easier for them to point their finger in judgement rather than show love and nurture, encouraging spiritual health, rather than causing spiritual hurt.
We all have taken a winding road on our Christian journey. Sometimes our walk with God has been up, sometimes it has been down. When it is down we need our brothers and sisters to build us back up spiritually not criticise us and knock us down. Sometimes we could learn more patients with other's faults in order to love them enough to take the necessary time to understand them and heal them. To really help them work through their struggles and return them back into favor with God. It is a process that takes earnest prayer, much time and heartfelt tenderness.
So say our members get spiritually weak, what do we do about it? Say they commit adultery and murder, like David did. They publicly and verbally deny being a follower of Jesus and swear against it with an oath, like Peter did. When times get tough they quit their commitment to serve God in the ministry, like Mark did. When under stress and their lives are threatened, they run away from their problems, like Elijah did. Or to avoid the possibility of a life threatening situation they lie about being married allowing another man to make sexual advances toward his wife, like Abraham did. Say you are a deceiver and crafty and you steal the birthright and the blessing from your own brother, like Jacob did. Or you are jealous of your spoiled younger brother so you sell him as a slave and lie to your father about what actually happened to him, like Joseph's 10 brothers did. Or you move in, and start living with a prostitute and fall in love with her, like Sampson did. Do we tell them that their influence brings an unhealthy atmosphere to the body, and tell them to straighten up or be amputated as members of the body?
These are people who fell, who knew they messed up, repented and returned to God. It should be our purpose like it was with the Prophet Nathan to bring the the straying King David to repentance and renew a right spirit between David and with God again.
But if we shoot our wounded, we do not have anyone to write the book of Psalms or the Gospel of Mark. When we shoot our wounded, like the brothers of Joseph, we have no Judah in the Church and therefore no lineage of Christ. When will we learn to have the patient, gentle, compassion with others and not give up on people who need Christ the most. God has not given up on them, God never gives up on any of us, He always holds out His hand for forgiveness. Praise God that He has not given up on me, because I know I keep failing but He is still working on me and I am not yet what He wants me to be.
However, if the church is filled with wounded and spiritually sick members of the body, the body resembles a spiritually dead body; like a valley of dry bones filling up the pews. It takes time for the spiritually wounded to become healed. Then because the members of the body are normal sinful people this - Why His arms aren't reaching; Why His hands aren't healing; Why His words aren't teaching; And why His feet aren't going.
Describe the kinds of spiritual wounds you may have experienced, or you have seen in other people? Share specific ways you think you could be a support for other people who have had the kind of wounds that need healed?
* contributing statements by Shari Willis
** Lyrics by Casting Crowns
Why does the hand tell the foot “I don’t need you”?
Well, it might be because the foot just stomped all over those fragile fingers. It’s been said that Christians are the only people who shoot their own wounded – and sometimes there might be some truth to that statement.
I have been thinking about how some people shoot at members of their own body who don't eat the right way, or who don't dress to the right standards, or sing music from outside of the authorized Hymnal.
It is easier for them to point their finger in judgement rather than show love and nurture, encouraging spiritual health, rather than causing spiritual hurt.
We all have taken a winding road on our Christian journey. Sometimes our walk with God has been up, sometimes it has been down. When it is down we need our brothers and sisters to build us back up spiritually not criticise us and knock us down. Sometimes we could learn more patients with other's faults in order to love them enough to take the necessary time to understand them and heal them. To really help them work through their struggles and return them back into favor with God. It is a process that takes earnest prayer, much time and heartfelt tenderness.
So say our members get spiritually weak, what do we do about it? Say they commit adultery and murder, like David did. They publicly and verbally deny being a follower of Jesus and swear against it with an oath, like Peter did. When times get tough they quit their commitment to serve God in the ministry, like Mark did. When under stress and their lives are threatened, they run away from their problems, like Elijah did. Or to avoid the possibility of a life threatening situation they lie about being married allowing another man to make sexual advances toward his wife, like Abraham did. Say you are a deceiver and crafty and you steal the birthright and the blessing from your own brother, like Jacob did. Or you are jealous of your spoiled younger brother so you sell him as a slave and lie to your father about what actually happened to him, like Joseph's 10 brothers did. Or you move in, and start living with a prostitute and fall in love with her, like Sampson did. Do we tell them that their influence brings an unhealthy atmosphere to the body, and tell them to straighten up or be amputated as members of the body?
These are people who fell, who knew they messed up, repented and returned to God. It should be our purpose like it was with the Prophet Nathan to bring the the straying King David to repentance and renew a right spirit between David and with God again.
But if we shoot our wounded, we do not have anyone to write the book of Psalms or the Gospel of Mark. When we shoot our wounded, like the brothers of Joseph, we have no Judah in the Church and therefore no lineage of Christ. When will we learn to have the patient, gentle, compassion with others and not give up on people who need Christ the most. God has not given up on them, God never gives up on any of us, He always holds out His hand for forgiveness. Praise God that He has not given up on me, because I know I keep failing but He is still working on me and I am not yet what He wants me to be.
However, if the church is filled with wounded and spiritually sick members of the body, the body resembles a spiritually dead body; like a valley of dry bones filling up the pews. It takes time for the spiritually wounded to become healed. Then because the members of the body are normal sinful people this - Why His arms aren't reaching; Why His hands aren't healing; Why His words aren't teaching; And why His feet aren't going.
Describe the kinds of spiritual wounds you may have experienced, or you have seen in other people? Share specific ways you think you could be a support for other people who have had the kind of wounds that need healed?
* contributing statements by Shari Willis
** Lyrics by Casting Crowns
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Ezekiel 37:1-3
Ezek 37:1-3 (NIV) The hand of the Lord was upon me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord and set me in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. He led me back and forth among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry. He asked me, "Son of man, can these bones live?" I said, "O Sovereign Lord, you alone know."
"If We Are The Body"
It's crowded in worship today
As she slips in
Trying to fade into the faces
The girls' teasing laughter is carrying farther than they know
Farther than they know
CHORUS
But if we are the Body
Why aren't His arms reaching
Why aren't His hands healing
Why aren't His words teaching
And if we are the Body
Why aren't His feet going
Why is His love not showing them there is a way
There is a way
A traveler is far away from home
He sheds his coat
And quietly sinks into the back row
The weight of their judgmental glances tells him that his chances
Are better out on the road
CHORUS
But if we are the Body
Why aren't His arms reaching
Why aren't His hands healing
Why aren't His words teaching
And if we are the Body
Why aren't His feet goingWhy is
His love not showing them there is a wayJesus paid much too high a price
For us to pick and choose who should come
And we are the Body of Christ Chorus (2x)
If we are the body
Why aren't His arms reaching
Why aren't His hands healing
Why aren't His words teaching
And if we are the body
Why aren't His feet going
Why is His love not showing them there is a way
Jesus is the way
(lyrics/song by Casting Crowns)
How can it be that the body of Christ is sometimes just like that song? What a message in that song, so often the Body has wounded itself, tortured itself, amputated itself. It is crazy, the body of Christ should be doing what Christ did when he was here, reaching out, caring, helping, serving. So why is His body sometimes so clickish, sometimes so negative and faithless, often time so hurtful and destructive?
In a way God’s church today is like the valley of dry bones. A useless dead army, when we should be the best equipped, best organized, most elite army ever. To look at the condition of the Body of Christ today, and know where we should be can be depressing. We may say, the Christian Church is dead and hopeless. But I love the conversation Ezekiel had here with God. God showed Ezekiel this valley full of dry bones and said, can these bones live? Ezekiel was skeptical, he did not say, they could or couldn’t live again. So then God made Ezekiel prophesy in verses 5-6, “I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life. I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life.” Clearly, God is saying that He can take His Church, acting like a dry dead body, and make it alive again.
So then the question is why would God let his Body get in such awful condition, dead, and nothing but a pile of dry bones before He promised to bring us back to life again? Wouldn’t it have been easier if He had healed His church when we began to show signs of getting sick? Then we would have been so much more productive over all these years. But Like Martha when she told Jesus, after Lazarus died, "if you had been here, my brother would not have died. John 11:21 (NIV) The story is told that Jesus intentionally did not come and heal Lazarus when he got sick. After He had heard that Lazarus was sick and near death he stayed where he was for two more days. When He finally arrived at Lazarus’ home Lazarus had been dead and in the grave for four days. Why did Jesus come so late? According to what God told Ezekiel, the reason He brought life to the dead bones was the same reason He let Lazarus die. In order for all to know that the LORD has done it.
When the church is restored and all the body of Christ is filled with strength and power no one person can say “Look what I have done.” Everyone will be forced to say that this great thing must be from the LORD.
Compare the body of Christ the way it is now with the way it should be? What are some steps you can take in order to make a difference and move your Church closer to God’s ideal?
"If We Are The Body"
It's crowded in worship today
As she slips in
Trying to fade into the faces
The girls' teasing laughter is carrying farther than they know
Farther than they know
CHORUS
But if we are the Body
Why aren't His arms reaching
Why aren't His hands healing
Why aren't His words teaching
And if we are the Body
Why aren't His feet going
Why is His love not showing them there is a way
There is a way
A traveler is far away from home
He sheds his coat
And quietly sinks into the back row
The weight of their judgmental glances tells him that his chances
Are better out on the road
CHORUS
But if we are the Body
Why aren't His arms reaching
Why aren't His hands healing
Why aren't His words teaching
And if we are the Body
Why aren't His feet goingWhy is
His love not showing them there is a wayJesus paid much too high a price
For us to pick and choose who should come
And we are the Body of Christ Chorus (2x)
If we are the body
Why aren't His arms reaching
Why aren't His hands healing
Why aren't His words teaching
And if we are the body
Why aren't His feet going
Why is His love not showing them there is a way
Jesus is the way
(lyrics/song by Casting Crowns)
How can it be that the body of Christ is sometimes just like that song? What a message in that song, so often the Body has wounded itself, tortured itself, amputated itself. It is crazy, the body of Christ should be doing what Christ did when he was here, reaching out, caring, helping, serving. So why is His body sometimes so clickish, sometimes so negative and faithless, often time so hurtful and destructive?
In a way God’s church today is like the valley of dry bones. A useless dead army, when we should be the best equipped, best organized, most elite army ever. To look at the condition of the Body of Christ today, and know where we should be can be depressing. We may say, the Christian Church is dead and hopeless. But I love the conversation Ezekiel had here with God. God showed Ezekiel this valley full of dry bones and said, can these bones live? Ezekiel was skeptical, he did not say, they could or couldn’t live again. So then God made Ezekiel prophesy in verses 5-6, “I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life. I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life.” Clearly, God is saying that He can take His Church, acting like a dry dead body, and make it alive again.
So then the question is why would God let his Body get in such awful condition, dead, and nothing but a pile of dry bones before He promised to bring us back to life again? Wouldn’t it have been easier if He had healed His church when we began to show signs of getting sick? Then we would have been so much more productive over all these years. But Like Martha when she told Jesus, after Lazarus died, "if you had been here, my brother would not have died. John 11:21 (NIV) The story is told that Jesus intentionally did not come and heal Lazarus when he got sick. After He had heard that Lazarus was sick and near death he stayed where he was for two more days. When He finally arrived at Lazarus’ home Lazarus had been dead and in the grave for four days. Why did Jesus come so late? According to what God told Ezekiel, the reason He brought life to the dead bones was the same reason He let Lazarus die. In order for all to know that the LORD has done it.
When the church is restored and all the body of Christ is filled with strength and power no one person can say “Look what I have done.” Everyone will be forced to say that this great thing must be from the LORD.
Compare the body of Christ the way it is now with the way it should be? What are some steps you can take in order to make a difference and move your Church closer to God’s ideal?
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