I've often read on the Internet, "We are not a body with a soul; we are soul with a body". Really? Then why do we act like we are a body? Why do we conform to all the rules of this physical world, thinking our God is also limited by them? If we are supernatural creatures why do we act like caged animals? Worse, we act like caged animals who don't have a clue what our life is about.
Our goal is not to collect the most amount of "toys", to have the biggest houses, to have a healthy retirement fund. Our purpose here is the salvation of the world and our personal goal is spiritual maturity. We live as if physical, mental, and emotional maturity is what we are moving toward but these things must follow behind the greater goal of spiritual maturity. It is with this spiritual maturity that we are able to attain to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
We know we are failing at pursuing the things of the Kingdom, one of which is the fullness of Christ, when we act like spiritual infants. When we have the whole measure of the fullness of Christ there is a great change in us:
Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. (Ephesians 4:14)
When we have the whole measure of the fullness of Christ we have a spiritual maturity that recognizes fact from fiction, truth from fantasy. We gain a maturity that keeps us anchored to Jesus, preventing us from being blown around by every "new" teaching that comes along. It protects us from the schemes of men. It keeps our focus on Jesus alone and our hands busy with his purpose.
No matter where we are in our walk with Jesus we need discipleship. We need the trainers of the Body of Christ to be part of our lives, training us in every aspect of Christ but especially in the Spirit. We are in great need of discipleship in the Word but that amounts to nothing if we are not also being discipled in the Spirit. Remember the steps according to the Word of God, found here in Ephesians 4:
1. Submit to the trainers of the Church
2. Be trained in works of service (spiritual service)
3. Build up the Body of Christ
4. Reach unity in faith and knowledge of Jesus
5. Become mature
4. Attain to the whole measure of the fullness of Jesus
We need this so we will live as a soul with a body instead of a body with a soul. We need this to escape the traps and pitfalls of a physical world. We need this so we are not distracted by fine sounding arguments, the logic of man. We need this as the world gets more and more hostile toward us, attacking the minds and hearts of our children and wanting to throw off the influence of the Bride of Jesus. We need this to stay the course, to keep true to our purpose and to serve Jesus with all the power he works through us. We need to live the supernatural lives we were reborn to. Let's pray in those trainers that we can begin this journey in earnest.
Showing posts with label fullness of Christ. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fullness of Christ. Show all posts
Friday, October 12, 2012
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
Church - We Need A Greater Revelation
It's frustrating. The church you know is not the Church that is suppose to be. Our attitude toward leadership sucks. Sorry for the lack of vocabulary but I can't think of a more appropriate word. We have criticized the Roman Catholic church with it's system of priests but then turned around and set up our own. Oh, I know we call them pastors but we treat them like priests.
And why are there only pastors? The Word of God tells me there is a whole team of trainers that are suppose to be at work in the Body of Christ.
Yes, I called them trainers because that is what is suppose to be in place, not a priesthood. We are the royal priesthood, everyone of us according to the Word of God. We need trainers not priests. Look at this:
It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service. (Ephesians 4:11-12)
Some people refer to this group as the five-fold ministers. To me they are the trainers and they are more than pastors. People say that the age of the apostles is over and that there are no such things as prophets any more. These are either people who don't know the word, or want to shape the Church into their own idea, or just follow the crowd.. Nowhere in the Word does it say there is an end to the age of the apostles. There are apostles who are referred to in the Word who never met Jesus in the flesh. Apostles are not a group that met a certain criteria; they are chosen and appointed by the grace of God, just like the rest of us. We need to stop shaping the Church by man's design and allow the Spirit the freedom to teach and lead us.
These trainers are given to the Body to prepare God's people for works of service. This is training us how to operate in the Spirit, in the gifts of the Spirit, so we can grow and mature in our service. Look how it continues:
... to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 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. (v. 12-13)
The trainers act as catalyst if you would. As they train us something begins to happen, like a chain reaction:
1. prepare in works of service
2. so the Body may be built up
3. until we reach unity in faith and in knowledge of Jesus
4. we become mature
5. attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ
There is so much more to our Christian walk than we allow ourselves to believe. And we will not discover those things until we allow ourselves to become what our Father has re-birthed us to be. We have to learn how to operate in the Spirit of God so that the Body may be built up, so there can be unity in our faith and knowledge of Jesus, so we can become mature and in becoming mature, attain to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. I know I am repeating myself but I want this to sink in.
We need more than pastors. We need the complete five-fold ministers. We need to do more than worship. We need to serve. We need to do more than give a cup of cold water. We need to learn to operate in the Spirit. We need to learn how to use the gifts of the Spirit. We need go beyond our flesh and operate in the supernatural. We need the whole measure of the fullness of Christ and it starts with submitting ourselves to the training of the five-fold.
Read the Word. Really read the Word and not just the stuff that fits into a humanistic agenda. It is more than just feeding the hungry and clothing the naked. That is part of it, but we need the whole thing. We need to operate in all the gifts of the Spirit. We need to see the power of God flowing through the Body of Christ again.
And why are there only pastors? The Word of God tells me there is a whole team of trainers that are suppose to be at work in the Body of Christ.
Yes, I called them trainers because that is what is suppose to be in place, not a priesthood. We are the royal priesthood, everyone of us according to the Word of God. We need trainers not priests. Look at this:
It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service. (Ephesians 4:11-12)
Some people refer to this group as the five-fold ministers. To me they are the trainers and they are more than pastors. People say that the age of the apostles is over and that there are no such things as prophets any more. These are either people who don't know the word, or want to shape the Church into their own idea, or just follow the crowd.. Nowhere in the Word does it say there is an end to the age of the apostles. There are apostles who are referred to in the Word who never met Jesus in the flesh. Apostles are not a group that met a certain criteria; they are chosen and appointed by the grace of God, just like the rest of us. We need to stop shaping the Church by man's design and allow the Spirit the freedom to teach and lead us.
These trainers are given to the Body to prepare God's people for works of service. This is training us how to operate in the Spirit, in the gifts of the Spirit, so we can grow and mature in our service. Look how it continues:
... to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 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. (v. 12-13)
The trainers act as catalyst if you would. As they train us something begins to happen, like a chain reaction:
1. prepare in works of service
2. so the Body may be built up
3. until we reach unity in faith and in knowledge of Jesus
4. we become mature
5. attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ
There is so much more to our Christian walk than we allow ourselves to believe. And we will not discover those things until we allow ourselves to become what our Father has re-birthed us to be. We have to learn how to operate in the Spirit of God so that the Body may be built up, so there can be unity in our faith and knowledge of Jesus, so we can become mature and in becoming mature, attain to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. I know I am repeating myself but I want this to sink in.
We need more than pastors. We need the complete five-fold ministers. We need to do more than worship. We need to serve. We need to do more than give a cup of cold water. We need to learn to operate in the Spirit. We need to learn how to use the gifts of the Spirit. We need go beyond our flesh and operate in the supernatural. We need the whole measure of the fullness of Christ and it starts with submitting ourselves to the training of the five-fold.
Read the Word. Really read the Word and not just the stuff that fits into a humanistic agenda. It is more than just feeding the hungry and clothing the naked. That is part of it, but we need the whole thing. We need to operate in all the gifts of the Spirit. We need to see the power of God flowing through the Body of Christ again.
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