–Communing as the Body of Christ–
When people gather
To openly share
As prompted
By God’s Spirit
And spontaneously start
To pour out their heart
Together in prayer
They begin
To deeply care
For each other.
Why is this so rare?
To see, to care for, to embrace, to identify with, and to truly become the least of these is to prepare the way so that God can mightily move and ever increasingly manifest His glory amid our brokenness and poverty of Spirit. “God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble.” Obscurity causes our earthen vessel to be overlooked and fractures our pride so that the inner glory of God can shine unquenched and uninterrupted through the gift of holy meekness and self-detachment.
Following Jesus means keeping Jesus always first. It is to continually seek to fully surrender your will to His and to humbly obey Him as He reveals Himself to you through the Scriptures, your conscience, circumstances, His Holy Spirit promptings in your heart, and the testimonies and guidance of other Christ-followers. Be an all-out follower of the risen Jesus!
If you start talking to Jesus every day from your inner brokenness, you’ll soon notice that He’s talking to you. Humbly share your heart with Him today.
Christians in the New Testament would sometimes look to one person above the others in a congregation, but I don’t see that person having a solitary rank or solitary institutional power like a CEO. Individuals seem to have been followed because of their spiritual maturity, not because of institutional positional power. Also, Paul rebuked the Corinthians for exalting one spiritual leader above the others.
Mutual submission is essential. “Submit to one another.” Let’s obey the Scriptures and submit to one another as we follow the living resurrected Jesus Christ.
“A dispute also arose among them as to which of them was considered to be greatest. Jesus said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who exercise authority over them call themselves Benefactors. But you are not to be like that. Instead, the greatest among you should be like the youngest, and the one who rules like the one who serves. For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who is at the table? But I am among you as one who serves.” –Luke 22:24-27 NIV.
