Seeds of the Kingdom 2 May 2023 Daily Devotional || By Ellel Ministries International. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
Keeping the Body Safe And Effective
by David Cross
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Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. – 1 Corinthians 12:27, NIV
Seeds of the Kingdom 2 May 2023 Devotional MESSAGE:
Paul tells the church in Corinth that they are the body of Christ. He doesn’t say they are like a body, but rather they are His body. Under Christ’s headship and directed by the Holy Spirit, the believers were then, and we are now, corporately His active body on earth, formed to bring about the continuing purposes of God.
The safety and effectiveness of a human body depends on the interdependence of every part of that body, each part being allowed to fulfil the purpose for which it was designed. My hand is not a decision-maker but, when I get into the bath, it performs a vital task of checking the temperature of the water and sending that information to the part of my body that does make decisions. My head has no desire to replace or disparage this jurisdiction of my hand.
God’s spiritual covering and the fulfilling of His purposes on earth can only be effective when the members of Christ’s body are walking in rightful submission to the God-given gifting and ministry of each member of that body, whether it be in administration, in leadership, in teaching, or in the many other important areas of service. Of course, we need to graciously challenge one another to use our gifting wisely and to grow in maturity, but the enemy gains huge opportunity when there is undermining of the value and the spiritual authority that God has placed on each member of His precious body.
PRAYER: Father God, I choose to honour and to be in rightful submission to all the parts of the body of Christ that You have created and enabled. I recognise that we are all imperfect members of that body but made effective by our daily surrender to Jesus Christ the Head, in whom all things hold together. Amen.
ABOUT TODAY’S AUTHOR: David Cross is a member of the Elders Fellowship of Ellel Ministries having served on the Executive Leadership for many years. He graduated from Nottingham University in 1969 and qualified as a chartered civil engineer, leading to a varied working career, which included building roads and bridges in the Highlands of Scotland and, in the early 1980’s, overseeing the construction of new town development in the New Territories area of Hong Kong. It was here that a huge personal change of direction occurred when he gave his life to Jesus.
READ MORE TOPICS: OPEN HEAVENS, OUR DAILY BREAD, IN TOUCH, SEEDS OF DESTINY, STREAMS OF JOY, JOEL OSTEEN, MOUNTAIN TOP LIFE, DCLM DAILY MANNA, UCB WORD FOR TODAY
