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The Daily Devotions of Greg Laurie
The Daily Devotions of Greg Laurie
“Homily Grits Devotional” http://www.homilygrits.com/
Psalm 133:1… Behold, how good and how pleasant it is For brethren to dwell together in unity! (NKJV)
This opening scripture from my Q/T reading, along with an audio sermon I listened to this morning (2 days ago for you)…are the basis for my thoughts for today… On August 28, 2013, Dr. Charles Stanley’s 20 minute audio sermon was titled…”Partnership in Ministry”…that can be found @ http://www.intouch.org/broadcast/audio-archives More about this later…
David (the young shepherd boy who slayed the 9 foot, 9 inch Goliath – 1 Samuel 17) is the one who wrote the opening scripture… David wrote half of the150 chapters in the Book of Psalms; and because he was a man after God’s own heart (Acts 13:22), we should pay close attention to every word he wrote… Here is an interesting link with why David was considered a man after God’s own heart… http://www.gotquestions.org/man-after-God-heart.html
David uses the word “brethren” in the opening scripture, which is seen in the New Testament in…Hebrews 10:19-25…to represent believers, whose sins have been cleansed by the shed blood of Jesus Christ… (See link for this scripture… http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=heb10:19-25&version=NKJV )
Here is pertinent scripture from this passage, to go along with today’s writing…Hebrews 10:24-25… And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, 25 not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching. (NKJV)
The world is full of people who either don’t bother with church…or they attend church because they are taught that it is a sin if church is missed… But going to God’s church should never be looked upon as a burden or an obligation that has to be fulfilled… And it is also wrong to attend a church to make a spouse happy, if the believer is not being fed spiritually by someone whose preaching and teaching is solely backed up by what God through His inerrant Word, the Bible, teaches us…
For believers, church should be a pleasant, eagerly awaited time to gather with fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, “For brethren to dwell together in unity!“… Finding the right church, that has the right doctrine…and then getting plugged into this church…were written about in previous writing that can be found at www.Godsmanforever.wordpress.com by typing 1/05/2013…1/08/2013…and then 1/19/2013 into the search window…
If someone isn’t going to a church…or they are not going to a church that I believe God would bless, because everything being taught is not based strictly upon God’s Word…finding the right church would be the first step… But once a Christian finds the right church, the next step is what today’s writing is all about…
It is not uncommon…where 20% of the believers in a church, are the ones who are involved in 90% of what makes a church a complete body of Christ… But I am here to tell you that by not getting involved in your church as an active, integral part of what makes your church function…you are missing out on the blessings and the sense of fulfillment that one will feel, if they are actively helping to partnership with their fellow brethren in service to the Lord, to produce a unified body of believers in Christ…
This is what David is speaking about in the opening scripture, and what the apostle Paul writes about in…Ephesians 4:1-16… (Here is the link… http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=eph%204:1-16&version=NKJV )
Here is the key scripture pertinent to today’s writing…Ephesians 4:14-16… that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15 but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— 16 from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love. (NKJV)
If you just go to church…and never get involved in helping the church to grow, as God has called all of His children to do…you’re not only neglecting what God has called you into His church body to accomplish…you are truly missing out on the personal fellowship and your chance “to stir up love and good works“ by “exhorting one another“, as the writer of Hebrews pens in the scripture above…
Why don’t we all get involved in the working body of our church, you ask ?? Dr. Charles Stanley does an excellent job of explaining this, in the audio sermon I have directed you to listen at the link posted above… Please spend the time learning how to unlock the potential God has given to each and every believer to serve Him, by using their God given spiritual gift to help knit their church body into a partnership devoted to spreading the gospel of Christ and growing God’s church…
When we find ourselves getting involved in the partnership of spreading the gospel of Christ, we will find personal encouragement through fellowship…our personal desires to be involved will be heightened…and our convictions to live a Spirit filled life for Christ will become stronger…
Heavenly Father, I pray that eyes would be opened to the truth found in Your Word, and spoken by Your faithful servant Dr. Stanley… Help all of us Lord, through the power and the conviction of the Holy Spirit…to truly understand how to find power in partnership with our church… I pray for this biblical need to become part of a unified church body for Christ, in Jesus’ most precious name and for His sake…Amen…
Blessings in Christ, bruce r mills
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