God's plan for humanity is as orderly and detailed as the planets in their orbit around the sun. He arranged the planets to sit at just the right angle and spacing, especially the earth. Our world tilts at the exact slant it needs to support life. Its composition consists of the perfect combination of chemical elements and matter to ensure our existence.
It is God’s plan to send Jesus to the earth a second time, this time with His Bride, to physically abide with everyone who is humble enough to accept His call on their life. He incorporates us into His Body of Believers throughout all generations and nations from the beginning of time to its end.
God designed His Body, and when one member suffers, we all suffer; and when one member rejoices, we all rejoice (1 Corinthians 12:26). Unfortunately, Satan makes sure that his character attributes of jealousy, covetousness, and pride steal these ideal circumstances from us.
This causes the individual members of God's Body to operate dysfunctionally, to think more of our self than anyone else, to keep our own priorities as our focus, and to lack any concern for those around us who, by their own choices (John 3:18), are lost and destined to spend eternity in hell.
Many people often reject one church Body for another, divorcing their former church family without one regret. They disfigure God's Body - like a single eye rolling down the path of life, leaving one church with only one eye and their next church with more than the two eyes it needs (1 Corinthians 12:14-22).
At times, certain people in our church Body may hurt our feelings, exasperate us, or who are irritating and hard to live with, but Christ is patient with us (Romans 5:8); and similarly, we can allow the fruit of God's Spirit to help us to be patient with our fellow members of His Body (Galatians 5:22-23).
Prayer:
Father God, remind us that when we determine to put our self first, to divorce Your Bride, or to stir up trouble with gossip and dissention, this says more about our character than the shortcomings within Your Body. Help us to attain spiritual maturity through Christ in us, so that we can love Your Bride unconditionally and to serve with tireless devotion in the church where You plant us (Luke 6:32).
As we all constantly abide in Your presence and seek You with our whole heart, You are our Great Physician, our skilled surgeon who continually operates on the heart of each of us, to give us new life in You in order to resolve life's most complex issues, to bring peace in tumultuous circumstances, and to draw us to the truth of Your Word (Proverbs 3:5-6). We want to love and serve You with each moment of our days.
Thought for the Day:
By stepping up and serving Jesus’ Bride where God shows us the areas of need in which He wants us to minister, we can be part of the solution in our church family, rather than part of the problem; God’s grace enables us to love others as Christ loves us, sacrificially and patiently and selflessly, and He does not require us to "like" anyone else, but to love them with the love of Christ within us.
