The Body Makes It Bearable - 5/9/23

The Body Makes It Bearable

Hey Family, during the last few days I have seen the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living and His faithfulness abounds in the life and love of Christ's body, the Church. A close friend of mine has recently experienced the deep and untimely loss of His dad and I couldn't help but deduce that being a part of a divinely root community of people coupled with having a deep relationship with Christ is KEY and CRUCIAL to surviving and thriving in life's many storms. I have heard many Christians proclaim that they don't "need" the Church, all they "need" is a Bible and their relationship with Jesus. However, Christ has explicitly called us to live in unity and community not primarily for the parties and joyful, easy times, but rather for the times of dark and confusing transition, for when we need accountability and outside perspective, and for when life breaks our hearts and crushes our spirits. That's a few from the long list of when and why the body of Christ is needed in our faith walk.

Scripture

1 Corinthians 12:12‭-‬27 

"Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. Even so, the body is not made up of one part but of many. Now if the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact, God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body. The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the unpresentable parts are treated with special modesty, while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it. Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it."

Today's Prayer

"Dear Heavenly Father, You have blessed the world and even more pointedly, Your children, with the deep and abundant blessing of having a Church body to regularly abide in and live life with one another. And Father, for those who have experienced deep hurt from the Church, I hope and pray that You would supernaturally work in them to understand it within their mind and know it within their soul, that the hurt that they have experienced has not come from Christ Jesus himself, but through broken and imperfect people, who also need Jesus and His saving grace. Help us, Lord, in this very hour of need to fix our gaze unflinchingly at Your love and beauty that is beyond compare and let it unite us despite our inconsequential differences and hardships. May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in Your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer, Amen."

Quote of the Day

"In our culture, it is seen as a sign of weakness to seek help from someone else. And yet, as Christians, God designed us to need each other - He designed us to lean upon the body of Christ for support, prayer, wisdom, and even practical help."

-Leslie Ludy

Have a blessed day! 🙂

THE POSSIBLE PLACE