This week’s devotions are based on Sunday’s Message: I Love my church…Love in Service (WATCH HERE).
1 Corinthians 12: 18 But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. 19 If they were all one part, where would the body be? 20 As it is, there are many parts, but one body.
These few verses of Scripture pack a lot of truth to reflect on as it comes to realizing how important we are to God first and foremost and then to the rest of the body of Christ.
The amazing design of the human body is a wonder that no architect other than God could create. Scientists study it. Engineers try to replicate it. God created it. Not only is everything so fearfully and wonderfully made, everything is precisely and wonderfully positioned. Every part…the feet…the knee…the bone marrow…the lungs…the heart…and every part is just where it needs to be to carry out its function for the benefit of the body.
Do you see yourself in the same way as a member of the body of Christ and perhaps more specifically as a member a local church, a subset of the larger body of Christ?
God has given you the gifts you have and placed you in the place you are to be part of his body ministry in that place.
Too often we look at church as a consumer. We look for a church that “meets our needs”…that “serves our family.” While one of the blessings of being part of a local church is that through His Word, God does meet our spiritual needs, another blessing to realize is that God puts us in a community, in a place, in a church because he needs and wants your gifts to be contributed to that body of Christ.
As a small church at Crosspoint, perhaps we see and notice this more often. Visitors come and go and the right programs are not their for their kids or for themselves. But could it be possible that God is leading you to a church to BE the part of the body that is missing there? Could it be your young family is being guided to be part of building the ministry to children at that church? Could it be that your administration gift is needed to organize an area of ministry that needs attention? Could it be that your heart of generosity is needed to give that church a bit of financial breathing room? Could it be that God is moving you to a place in his body ministry that he wants YOU to contribute to the effort of his body in that location?
I believe God does that when we see that we are not just a consumer of his blessings, but that he positions us in his body ministry JUST AS HE determined.
As Paul said, “There are many parts, but one body.” Begin to realize that when the Spirit of God brought you to faith, he also is placing you in a group of believers because HE wants your set of gifts and abilities to be part of THAT part of the body ministry.
Imagine what happens when we shift from seeing ourselves as a consumer of the ministry of the body of Christ and much more as a contributor. I begin to marvel, that just like the parts of my human body are positioned so well, that God has put me in just the right place where HE wants ME to function with the gifts that HE has given to me.
If you are attending Crosspoint, we have the confidence and the vision that God has brought each of you to our fellowship to be part of the work that God has given us to do. Let us help you discover God’s place for you through our Gifts in Action program. Email pastorgeiger@gmail.com to have that conversation. If you are reading this outside of Georgetown, TX I bet your pastor or leader in your church would love to discover another “body part” that God has placed to be a blessing to them.
Remember, God has you “just where he wants you to be.”
Apply: Make a commitment today to renew or initiate your gifts in your local church to add your Spirit given gifts to the ministry effort there!
Prayer: Lord God, thank you for placing me in life where I am. Forgive me for being a bystander to your work. Lead me to see that you have put me in my location to be part of YOUR work for the growth of your kingdom! AMEN.