Increase
If there is one thing I am certain of regarding the coming 12 months, it is that the intensity of life is going to increase. Whether you are a believer or not, I can just about guarantee we are all going to feel a great increase in intensity. For believers, the light is going to increase dramatically, but so are the attempts of darkness to re-take ground it is losing.
This is not a time to be out on your own. Many people have given up on "church," but Jesus has not given up on the church. If you aren't in a local fellowship of believers right now, it should be priority number one for you to get re-attached.
Jesus is coming back for the Church...His bride. The Bride has some wrinkles to iron and some spots to clean up...but for those that put in the hard work of staying together and overcoming the intensity together, the rewards are going to be more than you can imagine.
Paul said that the Church is like a human body. The eye needs the hand and the foot needs the elbow. We all need each other:
I Corinthians 12:12-18 For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body— whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and have all been made to drink into one Spirit. For in fact the body is not one member but many. If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I am not of the body,” is it therefore not of the body? And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I am not of the body,” is it therefore not of the body? If the whole body were an eye, where would be the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where would be the smelling? But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased.
So, the Bible says that God is the one that hand-selected the believers in my town to dwell together. He has gifted them and fashioned their hearts with different dreams and desires, given them different measures of "wealth" to offer to the rest of the Body. God has placed vision in each member of the Body, as well as in each group of members.
The Body of Jesus is fractal, meaning each whole reflects the traits of its parts, and vice versa. I picture the the fingers on the hand, the hand and wrist on the arm, the arms attached to the torso....the Church is totally fractal. Each family looks like its members, each church looks something like its people, and Jesus' Body in each city or region looks like its churches. Each local expression was formed to "do something" For the whole regional Body. The rest of the regional Body NEEDS the other expressions to do their thing, otherwise the whole region falls short. Each expression needs its families to do their thing, and each family needs each person to do their thing. This is how a healthy body functions.
We need each other's gifts and vision. This morning I was thinking about a good friend in the Body. We have similar giftings and similar assignments. She sees things in my life that I don't see. Good and bad. I see things in her life that she doesn't see...good and bad. I need her to reveal what she sees to me, as well as contend..pray... for me in the areas she sees that I don't "get" and she needs me to do the same. I need help with some things I don't even realize I need help with...and so does she...in fact we all do.
The enemy wants to divide relationships like these. I could easily find myself wishing I had someone else's assignment, and I am certain there are things about the way I fall short in handling my assignment that irritate many people. This is what opportunity looks like. It is all in what we do with it!
It is easy to see something negative in someone you are getting to know and divest from them...decide it just isn't worth it to get too close, or even worse, to see something positive in someone and give in to a spirit of competition with them and secretly and not so secretly hinder and resist them.
I picture it like discovering some sort of lump on a spot of my body where my eyes can't see. Maybe I am rubbing the back of my neck and I feel something I didn't realize was there. I need my hand to feel the spot. Then I need my hand to grab a mirror and hold it so my eyes can see it. Then, my eyes and hand working together can move forward in figuring out what to do about it.
If my hand felt a spot and I got annoyed about the spot, maybe I would think "I am just not going to run my hand over that area anymore." That would be silly, right? Something really wrong could be happening there and letting it go could be really bad. If my hand feels something and I never did anything to care for it...to help my eyes see it... I could let something really bad like cancer grow right on my own body. But, If my hand feels something out of the ordinary and the rest of the body goes into action like it is supposed to, then I can take care of whatever it is quickly and easily. This is how Paul said the Church is supposed to operate:
1 Corinthians 12:19-25 And if they were all one member, where would the body be? But now indeed there are many members, yet one body. And the eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you”; nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” No, much rather, those members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary. And those members of the body which we think to be less honorable, on these we bestow greater honor; and our unpresentable parts have greater modesty, but our presentable parts have no need. But God composed the body, having given greater honor to that part which lacks it, that there should be no schism in the body, but that the members should have the same care for one another.
The intensity that is coming is going to do a couple of things to Jesus' Body as it is expressed in every region:
1. It is going to draw them closer together. For those that put their trust in Jesus, the coming time is going to draw your family closer than before, your local congregation closer than before, and your regional expression of Jesus' Body closer than before. Close sounds good, but when close is a bunch of living, breathing, less than perfect people knowing each other better, it can be troublesome.
2. The intensity is going to accentuate our gifts AND our weaknesses. We need to know how to rightly identify, pray into, and communicate (encourage or discourage) both. There is a reason 1 Corinthians 12 is followed by 1 Corinthians 13! 12 talks about how we all need each other, and 13 talks about how love is what holds us together!
This is what it is going to take in order to flourish as a Body of believers in the increasing intensity. This is how we handle the closeness well:
I Corinthians 13:4-7 Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
We are not in competition with each other. The dream God placed in one teacher's heart is different than the dream in another's. Fully expressed, they won't collide with each other, they will build each other up! Because God is the one who made the mixture, you can rest assured that helping, encouraging, or drawing positive attention to someone else won't hinder you.
The gifting of one worship leader is intentionally different than another's. David, one of the most prophetic people of his time, still needed the prophets Nathan and Gad to hear certain things from God. Everyone is necessary, and everyone has a place of specialty and leadership. If I try to build others up, I am going to find that my dream actually depends on that other person's dream advancing! That is the way a body works...it all advances together. Competition divides if you see your opponent as your own team member. We have one opponent, he wants us all to miss our dreams. Period.
There is way too much talk of "leaders" and "everyone else" in Jesus' Body. This is generally not the way the Bible describes the Church, and this not healthy for people. Heaping any identity on another person is actually detrimental and unloving towards them. We are supposed to be siblings:
Matthew 23:8-11 But you, do not be called ‘Rabbi’; for One is your Teacher, the Christ, and you are all brethren. Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven. And do not be called teachers; for One is your Teacher, the Christ. But he who is greatest among you shall be your servant.
The foot is a leader in forward motion, the hand is a leader in picking stuff up, the hair is a leader in covering, and the kidney is the leader in cleaning the blood....if the Bible is true, then we are all leaders. Period. We just need to identify what we are supposed to be leading in and stop wishing we were hands or eyes. If the kidney stops working, there is no hand or eye.
We need each other's help to find our right spot, and to excel at it. We need each other's vision to see the things we can't, and we need longsuffering, believing-the-best-about-each-other love to keep the whole thing together. Right now is NOT a time to separate from the Body. Right now is a time to find your spot and do the hard work of love so we are ready to meet the intensity with a plan and design for victory. This happens now in handling the things we see, both positive and negative, correctly.
God knows what He is doing. He hasn't put you in a mix of people to be overlooked and under appreciated. No! He has put you in a mix of people to love, and in doing so, find your own heart dreams fulfilled.
I Corinthians 12:26 And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; or if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it.
This is not a time to be out on your own. Many people have given up on "church," but Jesus has not given up on the church. If you aren't in a local fellowship of believers right now, it should be priority number one for you to get re-attached.
Jesus is coming back for the Church...His bride. The Bride has some wrinkles to iron and some spots to clean up...but for those that put in the hard work of staying together and overcoming the intensity together, the rewards are going to be more than you can imagine.
Paul said that the Church is like a human body. The eye needs the hand and the foot needs the elbow. We all need each other:
I Corinthians 12:12-18 For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body— whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and have all been made to drink into one Spirit. For in fact the body is not one member but many. If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I am not of the body,” is it therefore not of the body? And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I am not of the body,” is it therefore not of the body? If the whole body were an eye, where would be the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where would be the smelling? But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased.
So, the Bible says that God is the one that hand-selected the believers in my town to dwell together. He has gifted them and fashioned their hearts with different dreams and desires, given them different measures of "wealth" to offer to the rest of the Body. God has placed vision in each member of the Body, as well as in each group of members.
The Body of Jesus is fractal, meaning each whole reflects the traits of its parts, and vice versa. I picture the the fingers on the hand, the hand and wrist on the arm, the arms attached to the torso....the Church is totally fractal. Each family looks like its members, each church looks something like its people, and Jesus' Body in each city or region looks like its churches. Each local expression was formed to "do something" For the whole regional Body. The rest of the regional Body NEEDS the other expressions to do their thing, otherwise the whole region falls short. Each expression needs its families to do their thing, and each family needs each person to do their thing. This is how a healthy body functions.
We need each other's gifts and vision. This morning I was thinking about a good friend in the Body. We have similar giftings and similar assignments. She sees things in my life that I don't see. Good and bad. I see things in her life that she doesn't see...good and bad. I need her to reveal what she sees to me, as well as contend..pray... for me in the areas she sees that I don't "get" and she needs me to do the same. I need help with some things I don't even realize I need help with...and so does she...in fact we all do.
The enemy wants to divide relationships like these. I could easily find myself wishing I had someone else's assignment, and I am certain there are things about the way I fall short in handling my assignment that irritate many people. This is what opportunity looks like. It is all in what we do with it!
It is easy to see something negative in someone you are getting to know and divest from them...decide it just isn't worth it to get too close, or even worse, to see something positive in someone and give in to a spirit of competition with them and secretly and not so secretly hinder and resist them.
I picture it like discovering some sort of lump on a spot of my body where my eyes can't see. Maybe I am rubbing the back of my neck and I feel something I didn't realize was there. I need my hand to feel the spot. Then I need my hand to grab a mirror and hold it so my eyes can see it. Then, my eyes and hand working together can move forward in figuring out what to do about it.
If my hand felt a spot and I got annoyed about the spot, maybe I would think "I am just not going to run my hand over that area anymore." That would be silly, right? Something really wrong could be happening there and letting it go could be really bad. If my hand feels something and I never did anything to care for it...to help my eyes see it... I could let something really bad like cancer grow right on my own body. But, If my hand feels something out of the ordinary and the rest of the body goes into action like it is supposed to, then I can take care of whatever it is quickly and easily. This is how Paul said the Church is supposed to operate:
1 Corinthians 12:19-25 And if they were all one member, where would the body be? But now indeed there are many members, yet one body. And the eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you”; nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” No, much rather, those members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary. And those members of the body which we think to be less honorable, on these we bestow greater honor; and our unpresentable parts have greater modesty, but our presentable parts have no need. But God composed the body, having given greater honor to that part which lacks it, that there should be no schism in the body, but that the members should have the same care for one another.
The intensity that is coming is going to do a couple of things to Jesus' Body as it is expressed in every region:
1. It is going to draw them closer together. For those that put their trust in Jesus, the coming time is going to draw your family closer than before, your local congregation closer than before, and your regional expression of Jesus' Body closer than before. Close sounds good, but when close is a bunch of living, breathing, less than perfect people knowing each other better, it can be troublesome.
2. The intensity is going to accentuate our gifts AND our weaknesses. We need to know how to rightly identify, pray into, and communicate (encourage or discourage) both. There is a reason 1 Corinthians 12 is followed by 1 Corinthians 13! 12 talks about how we all need each other, and 13 talks about how love is what holds us together!
This is what it is going to take in order to flourish as a Body of believers in the increasing intensity. This is how we handle the closeness well:
I Corinthians 13:4-7 Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
We are not in competition with each other. The dream God placed in one teacher's heart is different than the dream in another's. Fully expressed, they won't collide with each other, they will build each other up! Because God is the one who made the mixture, you can rest assured that helping, encouraging, or drawing positive attention to someone else won't hinder you.
The gifting of one worship leader is intentionally different than another's. David, one of the most prophetic people of his time, still needed the prophets Nathan and Gad to hear certain things from God. Everyone is necessary, and everyone has a place of specialty and leadership. If I try to build others up, I am going to find that my dream actually depends on that other person's dream advancing! That is the way a body works...it all advances together. Competition divides if you see your opponent as your own team member. We have one opponent, he wants us all to miss our dreams. Period.
There is way too much talk of "leaders" and "everyone else" in Jesus' Body. This is generally not the way the Bible describes the Church, and this not healthy for people. Heaping any identity on another person is actually detrimental and unloving towards them. We are supposed to be siblings:
Matthew 23:8-11 But you, do not be called ‘Rabbi’; for One is your Teacher, the Christ, and you are all brethren. Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven. And do not be called teachers; for One is your Teacher, the Christ. But he who is greatest among you shall be your servant.
The foot is a leader in forward motion, the hand is a leader in picking stuff up, the hair is a leader in covering, and the kidney is the leader in cleaning the blood....if the Bible is true, then we are all leaders. Period. We just need to identify what we are supposed to be leading in and stop wishing we were hands or eyes. If the kidney stops working, there is no hand or eye.
We need each other's help to find our right spot, and to excel at it. We need each other's vision to see the things we can't, and we need longsuffering, believing-the-best-about-each-other love to keep the whole thing together. Right now is NOT a time to separate from the Body. Right now is a time to find your spot and do the hard work of love so we are ready to meet the intensity with a plan and design for victory. This happens now in handling the things we see, both positive and negative, correctly.
God knows what He is doing. He hasn't put you in a mix of people to be overlooked and under appreciated. No! He has put you in a mix of people to love, and in doing so, find your own heart dreams fulfilled.
I Corinthians 12:26 And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; or if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it.
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