Body Of Christ, Joints Working Together

Tonight while at church, God gave me a tid-bit off of what Pastor John was preaching. He was talking about the Family of God, and about having unity and peace, and then he started talking on confrontation. That is where my tid-bit from God came in. He was talking and illustrating with his hands how when joints rub together, and even though this is not exactly how he put it, the idea hit me that when two joints rub together against each other, how this sometimes causes inflammation in the joints, this can lead to worse things like arthritis of the joints and a host of other joint ailments.

Well, this is like the body of Christ, and we are the joints working together in the body to keep the body walking straight, functioning properly. But sometimes there is confrontation in the church family, and this causes division among the joints, so to speak. Sometimes though we need confrontation in the form of communication, like Pastor John said. All confrontation is not bad. In other words, you have to be willing to communicate and not just get your feelings on your shoulders and walk off. You need to communicate with the joint that you are having aggravation with. It is like putting on the Ben-Gay to soothe the pain. But sometimes communication is not enough, there also needs to be prayer, this is like the sling that will hold the joint still while it is being restored. And we all know that God will bring the restoration to the body of Christ.

So what part of the body of the family of Christ are you playing? Are you the aggravation in the joint, are you the Ben-Gay that soothes the pain, or are you the Communication and prayer that will support the joint to help bring the restoration to the body of Christ, so that division does not occur?

We as a Family of God, need to all pray for each other daily, to keep our joints lubricated with prayer, so that division does not occur. I sense that we need this now more than ever, and I hope that God will use me as a sling, or lubricant to help restore His Family, so that there will be peace and Unity in the body of Christ.

We can not pick and choose whom we will love in Christ. Our commandment from God is this. That we love our neighbor as ourself. And like Pastor John said, this is not a suggestion, this is a commandment. God did not say, do this if it makes you feel good. No, He said DO IT!

1 John 4 vs 20-21...If someone says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? And this commandment we have from Him, that he who loves God must love his brother also.....

Sounds like He is pretty clear on what He is telling you here. So you can not get mad at me, because I say the word says you have to love your brother, and that is not your biological brother, that is your brother in the family of God. And in the family of God, we are ALL brothers and sisters in Christ, so that means everybody, (not just your denomination, but all denominations in Christ). In other words, you can not take care of your joints properly, if you have a grievance against your brother. If there is any un-forgiveness toward your brother or sister, you are causing inflammation in the joints of God's church family. So there needs to be communication and prayer applied, to bring about restoration.

Neta