Good morning everyone! This morning I was reading in Ephesians chapter 4 and I was reading about the fivefold ministry. Where Paul was talking about the Apostle, Prophet, Evangelist, Pastor and Teacher. Paul says that their calling is to nurture and prepare the believers to do their own works of ministry. As they grow then they are the ones that will enlarge the body of Christ.
That’s what we’re here for, we are here to enlarge the body of Christ! That fivefold ministry is there to prepare you. That ministry of the fivefold is to nurture and prepare you as a believer, to do your own works that God has called you to. So we’ve got to have these people, these ones that are called in these different fivefold ministry‘s, speaking into our lives. They are there to help us grow into strong believers to build up the body of Christ.
It is not your Pastor’s job to single handedly grow the body of Christ. He is there to help you, to equip you, to grow the body. It doesn’t just sit on your Pastor’s shoulders, it is the teachers, the evangelist, the other parts of the fivefold ministry, they work together to help you grow. God puts these people in our lives, to help us grow deeper in our relationship with Him. If you are not connected to the body, then how are they able to do this?
Paul continues on in verse 13 about the grace ministries. It says that they will function until we have oneness. It says it will continue until we experience the fullness of what it means to know Christ. Until the final part, he says that we have got to become one. We have got to mature spiritually as individuals. That is what the body is there for, is to help us grow. We help one another grow. The Scripture says in Proverbs “iron sharpens iron”. We need to be there for one another to build one another up to make one another sharper.
We have got a job to do, to grow the body of Christ. Without one another we cannot do that. Have you ever seen a finger living off of the body? No! That finger has got to be connected to the body. If it does not have connection, blood flow, nerves attached, muscles attached, that finger is not going to be an effective finger. It has got to be connected to the body to be full of life! It has got to be connected to the body to do the job that it was called to do.
He goes on to talk in verse 14 about not being easily shaken by trouble or lead astray by false doctrines and teachings that are easy to listen to or those that are trying to deceive the body. The way that you avoid all of that is to be connected and remain strong in the body. If you’re not connected to the body then you’re not connected to the head which is Christ. You cannot know what the Head is saying to the body to do if you are not connected.
He goes on to talk in verse 14 about not being easily shaken by trouble or lead astray by false doctrines and teachings that are easy to listen to or those that are trying to deceive the body. The way that you avoid all of that is to be connected and remain strong in the body. Because if you’re not connected to the body then you’re not connected to the head which is Christ. You cannot know with the head is saying to the body to do if you are not connected.
I know I am in a different season of my life now. I am trying to find where I fit into a new body. But while I am waiting for Rob to get here, we are both renewing our relationship with the Head of the church and we are going deeper and Him. We are finding that even though it’s a new season, we can still be connected! We still grow stronger.
Just because it’s a new season does not give us an excuse to sit on the sidelines. We have got to be connected to the body so that we can continue to do what we are called to do.
What we are called to do is to grow the church, His body. We are to have oneness in the faith. We are to know and experience the fullness of what it means to know the Son of God. We are to grow into spiritual maturity. And we are to know the fully developed abundance of Christ.
So today, reflect I will reflect where I am supposed to be in the body. If we are in the right place of the body, then it’s going to be easier to reach those that we are called to reach. Those that no other person is going to be able to reach but us. Let’s make up our minds to be in the body, to be the body part, that we are called to be. We need to be there where we are called to be so His body can be effective upon this earth.
Blessings to you today!
Finally Home in 'Bama 