Post by solitarysoul on Mar 6, 2007 10:29:17 GMT -5
"Protect Your Church" - Devotion for March 6th, 2007
Today's Scripture
"You are joined together with peace through the Spirit, so make every effort to continue together in this way. " - Ephesians 4:3
Today's Word
One of the few things that Jesus talked about more than Heaven or Hell was the church, the unity of fellowship among believers. Unlike many ancient religions which suggest that you become wise and experience harmony by being isolated from society, the Bible teaches that God desires very deeply for us to be unified as one in love and harmony.
Many people today don't go to church because they say they don't get anything out of it, or they had a bad experience. But what we need to understand is that church is not for us. If you go to church just to get something out of it, you are going for the wrong reason. Of course we do need to hopefully learn from the sermon and grow closer to God, but this is not the main purpose. That is just typical study that we are suppose to continue throughout the rest of the week. The purpose of church is to grow as a community of believers, a unity in fellowship. The Bible teaches that this unity is the heart of Christ. If you don't go to church because of a personal situation or experience, you are basically saying that experience to you is valued higher than God's very own heart. Even God Himself consists of a unity, the unity of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit as one. They are not three seperate gods, but one God represented in three seperate ways. Similarly, we are different people, seperate by body and individual, but our souls should be united as one in fellowship.
One of Jesus' last prayers before being arrested was for the church. That is how important it is to Him, that the last thing He prayed to the Father about before being taken was for our unity. People say that nothing is more valuable to God than you and me, but that is not true. The most valuable thing to God is the unity between you and me and all believers. Christ did not die so that you and me could live a happy life or not worry about sin. Christ died for our salvation and our unity in fellowship.
If we truly desire to honor God, we must protect our church. Some people leave a church and find another one as soon as they run across something they disagree with or don't like. But doing this would just rip the heart out of Christ, because people can be so self centered when doing things like this. We don't go to church for ourselves, we go for Christ, for the unity He wishes for and to grow closer to Him. Every church has its flaws. If you hop around from church to church looking for one you are completely happy with, you will never find it. And if you do find it, then that suggests that something else about your lifestyle is not biblical, because there is no such thing as a perfect church on earth.
The Bible tells us to focus on what we have in common, the good things between us, rather than the bad. Focus on what is good about your church, and what you can do to make it better. Protect the unity of your church and work to keep it together, rather than aiding in its destruction by running away from a problem.
Copyright © 2007 T. Scott Morgan | www.the-daily-blessing.com
Please feel free to forward this message on as much as you like, as long as this copyright stays intact and the devotion is not altered.
This devotion may NOT be redistrubuted for profit.
Today's Scripture
"You are joined together with peace through the Spirit, so make every effort to continue together in this way. " - Ephesians 4:3
Today's Word
One of the few things that Jesus talked about more than Heaven or Hell was the church, the unity of fellowship among believers. Unlike many ancient religions which suggest that you become wise and experience harmony by being isolated from society, the Bible teaches that God desires very deeply for us to be unified as one in love and harmony.
Many people today don't go to church because they say they don't get anything out of it, or they had a bad experience. But what we need to understand is that church is not for us. If you go to church just to get something out of it, you are going for the wrong reason. Of course we do need to hopefully learn from the sermon and grow closer to God, but this is not the main purpose. That is just typical study that we are suppose to continue throughout the rest of the week. The purpose of church is to grow as a community of believers, a unity in fellowship. The Bible teaches that this unity is the heart of Christ. If you don't go to church because of a personal situation or experience, you are basically saying that experience to you is valued higher than God's very own heart. Even God Himself consists of a unity, the unity of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit as one. They are not three seperate gods, but one God represented in three seperate ways. Similarly, we are different people, seperate by body and individual, but our souls should be united as one in fellowship.
One of Jesus' last prayers before being arrested was for the church. That is how important it is to Him, that the last thing He prayed to the Father about before being taken was for our unity. People say that nothing is more valuable to God than you and me, but that is not true. The most valuable thing to God is the unity between you and me and all believers. Christ did not die so that you and me could live a happy life or not worry about sin. Christ died for our salvation and our unity in fellowship.
If we truly desire to honor God, we must protect our church. Some people leave a church and find another one as soon as they run across something they disagree with or don't like. But doing this would just rip the heart out of Christ, because people can be so self centered when doing things like this. We don't go to church for ourselves, we go for Christ, for the unity He wishes for and to grow closer to Him. Every church has its flaws. If you hop around from church to church looking for one you are completely happy with, you will never find it. And if you do find it, then that suggests that something else about your lifestyle is not biblical, because there is no such thing as a perfect church on earth.
The Bible tells us to focus on what we have in common, the good things between us, rather than the bad. Focus on what is good about your church, and what you can do to make it better. Protect the unity of your church and work to keep it together, rather than aiding in its destruction by running away from a problem.
Copyright © 2007 T. Scott Morgan | www.the-daily-blessing.com
Please feel free to forward this message on as much as you like, as long as this copyright stays intact and the devotion is not altered.
This devotion may NOT be redistrubuted for profit.
