SOMETHING BETTER – 1
Picking up from MISNOMERS #2 on March 5 – – viewing ourselves as “the temple of the living God” totally redefines how we go about being His people.
It gives us a wonderful new sense of identity and purpose which altogether reshape our relationship with Him and with others. We function so differently as the saints in the Body of Christ when we are set free from the institutional model.
We learn to live out of an intimate relationship with God Himself rather than by the dictates of man. His Spirit becomes our highest and most active source of authority, and our strongest sense of accountability is directly to Him. He is our personal teacher even as there are those among us who are gifted as teachers through whom we sometimes hear Him.
THE BODY OF CHRIST
Even if you promote the Five-Fold Ministry concept, every needed gift and ministry will be available relationally as we partner with others. They don’t need to come from position in an organized church. Ask God to show you those who are gifted and called in such ways, and open yourself to them – or invite their expression as you gather with friends.
Consider Romans 12:4-8, including, “For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, 5) so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. 6) We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us.- -” (Rom. 12:4-6a niv)
And then there’s the wonderful I Cor. 12 description of the Body and it’s various parts.
Truly – – there IS something better. May the beauty of this truth rise up within you and warm your heart. (Writing this blog was much funner than the last three!)
Ken Stoltzfus
Kidron, OH
March 11, 2021
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