Tuesday, August 23, 2011

The Body of Christ ... It's Here, so Now What? (11)

summarized by Dale Shumaker
4spirit@gmail.com

The Body of Christ
by Dr. J. Robert Ashcroft concludes with Here, Now and How!. It is not good for man to be alone. Bird watchers note that birds find a mate, court, nest and raise offspring. The son of Man, Jesus, said that even birds had a place to nest but the Son of Man had no place to lay His head. He was building
a family connection so large that no one would be alone without close significant relationships.

The Spirit unites, while Satan comes to divide
. The Spirit bonds us to many believers. This bonding is more intense and secure than the bond of family relationships. Jesus himself indicated that man would leave father and mother and become followers of Christ. Jesus said, "Who is my mother and brothers. Whomever does the will of the Father is my brother, my sister, my mother." (Mark 3:33,35)


Being united to Christ we become united to each other.

Everyone needs companionship. Each of us needs a support system.
It is more than a need. It is a Divine challenge to creativity and productivity. Do we try to reach our full potential alone? When we do we limit our success. God has ordained that the greatest power available to His Children will be manifested when they have the spiritual unity of which He spoke in Matthew (18:19) that when touching anything, the two or three in agreement, will be done by all the powers of our Father in Heaven. Note that earth and Heaven are linked together when we are united. This unity is a Spiritual law. This law is equally binding in the Spirit as natural laws are binding in nature... physics, biology, etc.

In knowing this, we know we can feed ourselves by sowing and reaping. When we sow Spirit, we reap Spirit. So unity in our relationships work the same way. When family units of husband-wife, parent-child, brothers-sisters are united it creates a family power.

The union of husband and wife is such a meaningful life that Paul uses the relationship to explain the union between Christ and the Body of Christ. Just marriage is not enough. There is social marriage, legal marriage, biological marriage. Then there is Spiritual marriage. The oneness of this kind of relationship goes beyond procreation. It deals with matters of the Spirit. Here, with this close intimate relationship, we win against all forces. The Holy Spirit becomes our ally in spiritual warfare.

The most practical place for this unity of an intense level is with husband and wife. When two become one, all the powers of God's universe beckon to our commands. With the potential to change our universe through this relationship so strong, Satan's focus has been very much to divide families, put husband against wife, and children against parents. This takes the power right out of the home. Although, a husband and wife and family who prays together and forms close bonding relationships has exceptional power of Spirit at work in their times together.

If married, your spouse is your greatest potential for a prayer partner. Some things to keep in mind to take advantage of this potential is to agree on a time to come together for devotions, and establish a pattern of worship. This may include reading the Scriptures or a devotional together, singing praise songs, including your children to read or sing, pray for each other, share what God is impressing on you for each other, do as you felt led as one unit. All major decisions would be better served after this experience to reassure it is God's guidance with you within the decision.

Once Jesus took three of His disciples with Him when He prayed. Establish prayer partnerships in addition to your family. Or if we don't have this potential in your family, find two or three as prayer partners. We can see great power coming in our lives. Jesus sent his disciples out in pairs. In a business or an individual finding someone like minded in Spirit to become partners in prayer and in mission support, will highly affect all your efforts. (Dr. Ashcroft suggests everyone in the Body of Christ is called to minister or be a ministry of some kind.) What we are called to do in God's will is a ministry for the Kingdom of God. So prayer partners and prayer groups will enlarge your function of life in Spirit. This is the key to true Spiritual empowerment. It is critical to form these relationships and allow the Holy Spirit to bond them for His power.

From this we will see new ministries birthed, a compelling Spiritual Vision. We are empowered in what we do for others as directed by the Holy Spirit.

Note that as the number of people increases it increases the difficulty of having the quality of agreement. Agreement diminishes. The critical factor is unity. So being small with greater unity is better than large and lesser unity. When we look at the phrase "agree together" it comes from the same root word that means harmony. Like a piano that strikes one string, all the strings that are sympathetic to that note will vibrate also. They are in synchronization with one another. Where there is agape love of God, and we are in love with Jesus and man, it is possible that we function in synchronization with one another.

This unity is not possible by human means. Each person involved must be totally in love with Jesus Christ. When He is Lord of the lives of each person in the group, such love is possible. And where there is love, the gifts of the Holy Spirit are manifest. Obviously, where His love is there is healing of every kind.

What is needed for prayer groups to be highly successful, with all the Creative Powers of God's Spirit to be at work, is compassionate and sharing love. That's agape love, the love of Christ at the cross. This is a sacrificial sharing love. It is the true meaning of fellowship. It carries the true meaning of the Early Church and intentions of our relationships as One in Spirit. It is so close in relationship that they shared their possessions as their needs became known. It takes a Special grace for this ministry, for the actual manifestation of the gifts of the Spirit to meet the needs of the Body of Christ.

Bible study groups conducted formally and informally are great places for group prayer to be part of it. Leadership and training are most important forces in sustaining the effectiveness of prayer groups. It is important to remember that the unity of the believers, the flow of compassion as we serve one another in love makes the Body of Christ a conquering force.

Teaching is not learning. Something can be taught but not learned. It needs to be part of our behavior. Change must take place that is self evident and motivates a new desire. To achieve the highest level of discipleship it is necessary to train. This includes teaching, getting information, and training, making it work effectively in daily applications.

Intercessory prayer, the kind that gets individuals involved with the subject of one's prayers is a most critical factor in successful praying. Prayer includes that we obey the directions we get from prayer.

Too many times we only take time to tell God what is needed and fail to get His strategies for getting the answer. He gives Spiritual intelligence... Divine Strategies for accomplishing things Supernaturally. The ability and comfort to pray with others out loud is a valuable part of prayer training. Each of us must find a way to join with another believer (or other believers) to touch the lives of those around us.

Missions are as much across the street as they are around the world. The hurting or hungry family may be your next door neighbor, or the business just next to you. Take note, and always be available to pray for and help where you can.

The reality of the Body of Christ is that it reaches out to a perplexed and wandering world. Our groups should welcome as many as we can into the fellowship, koinonia, and experience as a group the love and practical caring we give to each other. That people find a place to find gifts and abilities, cultivate Spiritual gifts, and become empowered so strongly that others notice and want to be part of it too.

This is our challenge in becoming one with God and One with each other.

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