Be One With The Church
READ EZEKIEL 37:1-14
MEDITATION: The picture portrayed here was that of the nation of Israel in their Eastern captivity and Diaspora. The nation was virtually dead. It was lifeless, scattered, and bleached just as this conquered army’s corpses, which were strewn across a battleground. There was no way humanly possible that they would ever arise from this defeat. It would be impossible!
If ever there was a time that we need a breakthrough. If ever there was a time that we need a word from the Lord now is that time. It don’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that we are living in some perilous times. We are living in a land that is full of dry bones that desperately need a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Our communities have become a wasteland that is filled with dry bones. Bones that feel as though all is lost. Bones that are caught in a situation that seems to be hopeless. Things don’t look too good. In fact, The situation looks mighty bad. So much is dried up in the Church today. Many in Church no longer know what they believe; many don’t read the word of God; many have grown cold and dry.
There’s nothing like finding where you should be. Many people are in places where they do not belong; they are totally disconnected from their family, from loved ones, and from God. God set the bones in the body where they should be. The Church is one body which God has placed in a cohesiveness so we can function appropriately. But see, in Ezekiel 37, the bones were all disconnected.
But we have the tendency to want to be with people who are like us. If the body was all heart alone, how could it function? You need to be connected with people who are different than you because they complement you. And very often, God will take you to a place where you are different so that you may build connections. And the blessings of God will fall on you through those connections. BELIEVERS NEED TO BUILD CONNECTIONS! Too many believers are not open to building connections.
Just because someone doesn’t look like you or come from the same place as you do, doesn’t mean he or she isn’t on a spiritual journey! Have the faith and courage it takes to accept people for who and where they are. Don’t look down on people; don’t criticize, and don’t complain about them to other people. Just keep building those spiritual connections.
My wrist is different from my arm but they complement each other. God makes those connections and brings us together to create a cohesive body. Enjoy the differences; embrace the dissimilarities; they lead to deep spiritual connections. You will never learn to become what God wants you to be because you are disconnected from those with whom you are meant to become a cohesive force of power.
Too many believers are disconnected from their complementing bones. When your arm is disconnected it swells. But make no mistake about it, that swelling is not growth, it is abnormal.
There is so much disconnection in the church today. We are so absorbed in looking for relationships with people who are just like us, and that very soon brings about boredom. But as you find your fellowship in the midst of the differences, and as you begin to build connections with other believers, you find that all of a sudden you begin to lose all those distinctions in the wonderful blending of the Spirit of God and the common eternal life that we all possess.
Are you building connections with other believers or are you flying solo? Are you embracing the differences and dissimilarities in the Church? Are you connected to your complementing parts in the Body of Christ? Do you even recognize who your complementing parts are in Christ? How can you work for the cohesiveness that will make the Church a modern day marvel?
ACTION: This week let’s set aside a Prayer bowl in which we will place all the things in the Church that trouble our minds; all the things that you don’t like; that you are having problems accepting.
