A dear brother in Maine, Kevan Fortier, has written this post, any comments made can be posted here, or I will be happy to forward encouragement on to him. Kevan attends a church in Damariscotta, Maine. Kevan works for the Maine state marshal service. Ministry involvement includes local church youth ministry, jail ministry, and he also does discipleship work with men who have recently been released from jails in Maine. His heart is full of the love of God and I value his input here.
Kevan graciously asked me to share at their monthly men's breakfast. It was a great time talking about this very subject of "one anothering" in the body of Christ. This breakfast represented 6 or 7 local churches working together as the united body of Christ to edify one another and reach out to the communities around them. It was a great blessing to share with them. Now, on with Kevan's post. Thank you for reading.
If we are the Body why aren’t His arms reaching, why aren’t His hands healing, why aren’t His words teaching? And if we are the Body why aren’t His feet going? Why is His love not showing them there is a way? There is a way. Jesus is the Way.-Casting Crowns
Why aren’t we showing the love of Jesus Christ to this world if we are truly the Body? Jesus says this in John15:12-13; “This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.”
What does Jesus mean that we should love as He loved? What is He saying when He says that we should lay down our lives for our friends? Does He want us to die for our friends; our wife or husband? Jesus tells us plainly that we are to love as He first loved us. In Romans 5:8, the Word of the living God says it this way; ‘But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.’ Did He wait until I was lovable? No. I am not lovable now, but my wife lays herself aside daily, not for me but for the cause and the purpose of lifting up the Lord Jesus Christ that I may see Him living in and through her love for me, and others. Jesus wants us to lay ourselves down, set ourselves aside and be set apart for Him; daily.
Then He said to them all, “if anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.” Luke 9:23 NKJ
Jesus didn’t just say that for the sake of His disciples or the crowds that regularly followed Him; He said to them all, He is still saying it to you today in the stillness of your heart; take up your cross and follow Me. When we take up our cross to follow our Lord, we are saying that we will follow Him; we will lay down our lives for our friends just like He did for us. Is this easy? No. But as we draw near to Him, we are strengthened and renewed in His grace (which is always sufficient for us / 2 Corinthians 12:9).
Jesus is our perfect example of how to love one another, and how to lay down our life for our friends; but what about those who are against the Lord? They are not against us, they are against the One who sanctified us and called us into a right relationship with Him? What about our enemies?
“But I say to you who hear: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, and pray for those who spitefully use you.” Luke 6:27-28 NKJ
When Jesus was led away to be crucified; a death that you and I rightfully deserve, He still loved those who were putting Him to death, He still prayed for his enemies (“Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.” Luke 23:34 NKJ), Jesus gave Himself up for all who would ever call upon His Holy name by faith as the only One who can save us from our sins. He alone is the perfect example of how to ‘one another’.
Knowing this, how do we walk daily with Jesus? How do we love those who spitefully use us? How can we show love and lay down our lives for our friends, and love our enemies? We are the Body of the living Christ! I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me!!! (Philippians 4:13) We have an amazing Savior who shows us daily the depths of His heart for those who will call upon Him. He has called us into all the nations to show the world who He is (Matthew 28:18-20).
If we are the Body; why aren’t we? Jesus paid much too high a price for us to pick and choose who should come (Casting Crowns / If we are the Body). Do I have the right to say whom I will show His love to? No. Jesus died for all, ‘The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.’ (2 Peter 3:9 NKJ). I do not have the right to choose. If I am the Body, even if I am a fingernail within the Body (1 Corinthians 12:12-31) I have a clear function and purpose that Christ set me apart for, and not for my glory but all to His!!! Amen.
‘Therefore be imitators of God as dear children. And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling aroma.’ (Ephesians 5:1-2 NKJ)
If this is how the Father shows His love for us by giving His only begotten Son (John 3:16) while we were still sinners; if this is how He first showed His love to this world by showing us how to be reconciled to Himself, what are we waiting for? If we are set apart and saved through His blood, we shouldn’t be able to contain this great love that God the Father has lavished upon us, we shouldn’t be able to walk by someone and keep silent about His love, the sweetest love I know.
I am trying to die to myself daily and show the love of Jesus Christ to my wife, my co-workers, family and friends. I am seeking Him for the strength that only He can provide, and the peace that surpasses all of my understanding. Jesus laid down His life for us not so that we can do what we want, but that we can show His love to this world. If we pick and choose who we think would be willing to listen, what have we done with this great love Christ has for us (read James 2:1-13)?
Jesus touched the untouchable (Luke 5:12-13), He raised the dead (Luke 8:52-56), Jesus ate with sinful people (Luke 5:29-32). Jesus did not care about what He would look like to others, He showed great love, compassion and mercy to all who ever called upon Him by faith. We must show this love to the world, we must be the Body of Christ to a world who will certainly perish without Him and apart from Him.
I challenge you this day to go forward, and pray to the Lord asking Him to give you courage and strength for His purpose in your life to be accomplished. Go out and show His great love for someone. We all know someone; a family member perhaps who is not saved that needs to hear that they are loved by Jesus Christ.
Pray for this daily, walk as He walked, love as He loved and loves you. Be the Body of Christ; show one another the depths of His love, grace and mercy. Don’t let another day go by you without sharing that love that has saved you from your sin to one another.
Kevan Fortier
Waldoboro, Maine
Showing posts with label brother. Show all posts
Showing posts with label brother. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Thursday, September 3, 2009
***MINI CHALLENGE*** of the week
This week, we have been pondering some of the ideas brought out by Elijah Hall in his message "Am I my brother's keeper?" I know that in my own life, I never want to neglect how God has spoken through His Word to us via gifted teachers and preachers. I know sometimes in my own life, I find that I have forgotten what was said be Wednesday. We strive to continue to talk about Sunday sermons, and incorporate the lessons into our daily lives. This challenge is the direct result of one of those times of musing.
Sara and I have listened to the message 2 times, plus I have listened and taken notes, clips, etc 2 more times. We listen as we ride from place to place, and rather than watch TV, we listen to audio lessons, sermons, conferences, etc. We have found this time to be very profitable for our family and would encourage others to seriously consider this point: Teachers take many hours in prayer and pouring over God's Word and then speak for the purpose of edifying the body of Christ through preaching. I think we should do more than just listen on Sunday morning, and then forget what was said.
On with the challenge. One of the points in the message was that we should not be jealous of our brothers and sisters in the Lord, but rather to find Godly characteristics in their lives and see how we can learn from them. We all have strengths and weaknesses. Too often, we would rather pity our fellow believers for how they don't measure up to our standards, but we should instead look for the good things and try to learn from them as we follow the Lord together. If we all did this honestly, those areas that others have problems with would look to good examples and assess where they need to grow.
I know I would much more often look back and see someone else's faults rather than seriously consider my own life to see what must be changed. We need role models for Godly living, and can look to the Bible and Jesus specifically. Yet, it is sometimes easier to see Christlike examples lived out before our eyes. Some of us are visual learners and need to experience something firsthand to put it into practice. It is with all this in mind that we wanted to challenge you all. Sara had a wonderful idea and we have started, but it will take some time, dedication, and a true desire to see God's people through the filter of "what can I learn from them?"
Rather than issue demands, I will tell you what we did, and would welcome a better way. Implement this one your own way and see how God leads.
We made a list of some folks we know(this list will be LONG by the time we are done) and gave each person a page in a notebook. We started with a few we will see before we leave Maine. We wrote down (only) spiritual characteristics that we see lived out in their lives. We then agreed that we would pray for a person, and write them an encouraging note to let them know that we see God at work in their lives, and how specifically that inspires us to follow the Lord more closely. This keeps the positive in focus and helps us to appreciate our brothers and sisters. It also reminds us to pray for them, and will encourage them when they receive a note from someone who loves them and wants to edify them.
We will pick a few families a week, maybe one per day to pray for, consider, and write to. I also considered that this type of thing could become a way of life, to consider others higher than ourselves and stop looking for ways to fix people and be critical, but instead to try to live a Godly example and lift up our Lord while also seeking to learn from them.
One minor flaw in our system has been noticed. It isn't a flaw in the system, but rather in our lives in general. You can not write spiritual encouragement or learn from people you don't really know. We have to be proactive in learning more about those we are in fellowship with. So, we must continue to get to know one another, to see one another for the purpose of encouragement, to learn from each other, and to build up the body of Christ by working together with the other members of His body to adequately fulfill our jobs in His body, the church, that marvelous collective of all sinners saved by His grace and being ever conformed more into the image of Jesus Christ.
Please let me know if you have improvements, variations, or have put this into practice in your lives. I understand writing cards or letters may not work for everyone, but I would encourage you to try it. Seeing other believers as someone to learn from and be encouraged by is much better than the trap I have sometimes fallen into of tearing one another down to try to get myself higher. Listen to the message by Elijah , he says it better than me.
Sara and I have listened to the message 2 times, plus I have listened and taken notes, clips, etc 2 more times. We listen as we ride from place to place, and rather than watch TV, we listen to audio lessons, sermons, conferences, etc. We have found this time to be very profitable for our family and would encourage others to seriously consider this point: Teachers take many hours in prayer and pouring over God's Word and then speak for the purpose of edifying the body of Christ through preaching. I think we should do more than just listen on Sunday morning, and then forget what was said.
On with the challenge. One of the points in the message was that we should not be jealous of our brothers and sisters in the Lord, but rather to find Godly characteristics in their lives and see how we can learn from them. We all have strengths and weaknesses. Too often, we would rather pity our fellow believers for how they don't measure up to our standards, but we should instead look for the good things and try to learn from them as we follow the Lord together. If we all did this honestly, those areas that others have problems with would look to good examples and assess where they need to grow.
I know I would much more often look back and see someone else's faults rather than seriously consider my own life to see what must be changed. We need role models for Godly living, and can look to the Bible and Jesus specifically. Yet, it is sometimes easier to see Christlike examples lived out before our eyes. Some of us are visual learners and need to experience something firsthand to put it into practice. It is with all this in mind that we wanted to challenge you all. Sara had a wonderful idea and we have started, but it will take some time, dedication, and a true desire to see God's people through the filter of "what can I learn from them?"
Rather than issue demands, I will tell you what we did, and would welcome a better way. Implement this one your own way and see how God leads.
We made a list of some folks we know(this list will be LONG by the time we are done) and gave each person a page in a notebook. We started with a few we will see before we leave Maine. We wrote down (only) spiritual characteristics that we see lived out in their lives. We then agreed that we would pray for a person, and write them an encouraging note to let them know that we see God at work in their lives, and how specifically that inspires us to follow the Lord more closely. This keeps the positive in focus and helps us to appreciate our brothers and sisters. It also reminds us to pray for them, and will encourage them when they receive a note from someone who loves them and wants to edify them.
We will pick a few families a week, maybe one per day to pray for, consider, and write to. I also considered that this type of thing could become a way of life, to consider others higher than ourselves and stop looking for ways to fix people and be critical, but instead to try to live a Godly example and lift up our Lord while also seeking to learn from them.
One minor flaw in our system has been noticed. It isn't a flaw in the system, but rather in our lives in general. You can not write spiritual encouragement or learn from people you don't really know. We have to be proactive in learning more about those we are in fellowship with. So, we must continue to get to know one another, to see one another for the purpose of encouragement, to learn from each other, and to build up the body of Christ by working together with the other members of His body to adequately fulfill our jobs in His body, the church, that marvelous collective of all sinners saved by His grace and being ever conformed more into the image of Jesus Christ.
Please let me know if you have improvements, variations, or have put this into practice in your lives. I understand writing cards or letters may not work for everyone, but I would encourage you to try it. Seeing other believers as someone to learn from and be encouraged by is much better than the trap I have sometimes fallen into of tearing one another down to try to get myself higher. Listen to the message by Elijah , he says it better than me.
Monday, August 31, 2009
A message from Elijah Hall on the body of Christ
In our teaching time yesterday at Grace Fellowship in Union, I heard a message that both thrilled my soul and convicted me, all while pointing my thoughts to how Jesus truly desires the church to be. This message is powerful, and I believe can help change the view of many Christians from "we have it all right" and "our church is better" to see believers throughout the world as one bride, adorned for her Bride, the Lord Jesus.
I will be making some clips from this message. Still, I encourage everyone to listen to the whole thing. I do want to make a few observations for the sake of those who do not know this man, but he speaks from experience and a heart completely dedicated to God's work.
Elijah is the second born of the Eric Hall family, with one older brother and 5 sisters. Elijah's family has worked in New Guinea and the Bahamas with New Tribes Mission. Elijah is now preparing for language training in preparation to go to Paraguay with NTM. He and his wife, Moira, have 4 children. Elijah is a man that I listen to, and I believe that this message came straight from God's own heart.
For further information about Elijah Hall and his family in their journey to Paraguay, click here.
I will be making some clips from this message. Still, I encourage everyone to listen to the whole thing. I do want to make a few observations for the sake of those who do not know this man, but he speaks from experience and a heart completely dedicated to God's work.
Elijah is the second born of the Eric Hall family, with one older brother and 5 sisters. Elijah's family has worked in New Guinea and the Bahamas with New Tribes Mission. Elijah is now preparing for language training in preparation to go to Paraguay with NTM. He and his wife, Moira, have 4 children. Elijah is a man that I listen to, and I believe that this message came straight from God's own heart.
For further information about Elijah Hall and his family in their journey to Paraguay, click here.
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