The Call To One Another Living

The Lord has designed His kingdom in such a way that we have a need to depend on the body of Christ for our spiritual walk to truly thrive and grow. I have said it before and please bear with me as I reiterate it once again; God does not want us to walk this Christian walk all by ourselves. He has established the body of Christ as a support to one another, to lean on one another, both in the good and the bad times. The evidence is scattered throughout the scriptures for this principle. When we study out the “one another’s” it amazing how God has designed these relationships for our walk. Let’s take a look at some of the “one another’s,” shall we. I promise this will not be an exhaustive study, I will only scratch the surface. I would encourage you to study the rest of these out for yourself, it is quite amazing really!

Love one another

The phrase “love one another” and “love each other” is found 16 times in the NIV version. I can only figure if the Lord has enough patients to repeat himself 16 times using the exact same two phrases, then he must mean business on the subject of loving each other. The other part of this I find interesting is that all 16 verses were addressed to Christians in regards to loving other Christians. I can only guess that we as Christians can get ourselves in trouble on what seems like it should be a basic  principle to follow. Speaking for myself, I know that I sometimes find myself in a state of being quick to judge rather than quick to love a person. (I have listed of all 16 verses below. Please feel free to look them up, read them and study them out for yourselves.) Please keep in mind, these 16 verses are only the times using these exact two phrases. However, throughout the entire word of God it emphasizes the importance of us loving others.

“Love one another” verses:
John 13:34, John 13:35, Romans 13:8 1 Peter 1:22, 1 Peter 3:8. 1 John 3:11, 1 John 3:23, 1 John 4:7, 1 John 4:11, 1 John 4:12, and 2 John 1:5 (*wording may vary slightly depending on the copyright year and publisher)

“Love each other” verses:

John 15:12, John 15:17, 1 Thessalonians 4:9, 1 Peter 4:8, and 1 John 3:14 (*wording may vary slightly depending on the copyright year and publisher)

Forgive one another

Forgiveness brings about a whole host of benefits. For me, when I go to the Lord to seek forgiveness, I always come out feeling as if a burden has been lifted off my shoulders. The same kind of thing happens when we seek forgiveness from others, burdens are lifted, relationships can be mended and healed and the love of Christ flows not only through us, but also through the person we are seeking forgiveness from. It truly is a precious gift the Lord has given us. I never look forward to exercising this principle, but I am extremely thankful that the Lord ministers so deeply through it.

“Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.” Colossians 3:13

Honor one another

Scripture calls us to honor others. When you look up the word honor in the dictionary it means to hold in high esteem, high regard or high respect as for worth, merit or rank. So when scripture calls us to honor someone we are to place them in a position of high respect that shows others they are worthy! I can only speak for myself here. Ouch! How many times have I not placed someone in a position of honor and respect? How many times have I dishonored others, if not in my actions, then for sure in my thoughts? Oh man does that one hurt! We need to look at others in such a way that we see them not as lower on the totem pole than us, not even our equal, but in a place of honor, a place above us. I have so far to go in this area  it’s not even funny! Lord grant us grace and mercy in this area!

“Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves.” Romans 12:10

Serve one another

Our perfect example of a servant is Jesus Christ. Scripture tells us he did not come to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many (Matthew 10:28). When I think of some of the things Jesus did while He was here on earth it humbles me. Just the simple task of washing the feet of his disciples was so mind boggling to me. The custom in that day was that you washed your feet as you entered into the house because your feet were dirty from the dusty roads. Jesus was their leader, their shepherd, their king, and yet He was willing to set aside the titles that everyone has given him, humble Himself to the place of a servant and shower love and honor on His disciples in such a precious way. How many of us would do such a thing today? I realize that feet washing is no longer a cultural custom anymore, but this type of servant spirit can take so many forms. Are we willing to lay aside our pride to serve those around us with the spirit of Jesus, or are we unwilling to get our hands dirty in the muddy waters? I am speaking to the choir here! I need to hear this right now, without a doubt! We need to serve more and lay down our pride. Why? Because this is what Jesus did, this is the heart of a servant.

“...But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature, rather, serve one another in love.” Galatians 5:13

The list of “one another’s” goes beyond what we will discuss here. I do encourage you to study them out for yourself. I can assure you of one thing, you will be blessed by the beauty of living out a “one another” life as you put these things into practice.

Lord, I thank you that you have called us to live a one another life. Help us to put this one another living into practice on a daily basis. Help us to love, forgive, honor and serve one another as we walk this journey of faith. Thank you Lord for your principles found in your word. Thank you for teaching us how to treat others in the manner you have designed. Thank you for giving us the body of Christ as a support in the good and the bad times. Thank you that we do not have to travel this journey alone.

Echoing The Heartbeat of God

I wrote in last weeks post about representing Christ to the world and that we are all called to be Christ’s ambassadors. Now that we know that this is one of our greatest responsibilies as Christians, we need to better understand the heart of God so that we can accurately represent Christ to the world. What is on the heart of God? What is God’s heartbeat? I want to share with you some things that make up the heartbeat of God.

1. God’s heart beats with an overabundance of love for us.

“How great is the love the Father has lavished on us…” 1 John 3:1

We are called to love just as Christ loves us. We are called to lavish love on people! How would people react to us if we loved them just for the sake of loving, expecting nothing in return? How would they respond if we loved those whom society labels the “unloveable?” This is what Christ does. He comes in and loves us when we don’t “deserve” to be loved. We are called to respond the same way.

 “Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.” 1 John 4:8

God does not mess around, He is serious about the topic of love. He goes as far as saying if we don’t love, we don’t even know Him. I do not want to find myself in a place of not knowing God because I chose not to love.

For more reading on God's love visit the love series.

2. God’s heart beats with all the fullness of compassion over us.

 “The Lord is gracious and righteous; our God is full of compassion.” Psalm 116:5

God desires us to live a life filled and overflowing with compassion for people. When we reach out in compassion for others, most of the time that same compassion will come around and reach out to us when we are in need. Compassion starts with us.

For more reading about God's compassion visit: The Lord's Compassion

3. God’s heart beats richly with mercy, mercy that says “you will not get what you deserve.” Thank God for this mercy because I know I deserve far more than I will ever get.

“But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive in Christ...”
Ephesians 2:4-5

God expects us to be merciful to others. He has set a beautiful example of mercy for us by sending His one and only Son to die for the sins we have committed, sins we should have taken the blame and punishment for. I don’t know of any better example of mercy than this. This is mercy at it’s finest!

“Be merciful just as your heavenly father is merciful.” Luke 6:36

We are called to extend the same hand of mercy to others around us. There are going to be many times in our lives when we will be tested in this area! And as for me, there have been many times that I have fallen flat on my face failing miserably because I did not extend mercy when mercy was needed. But I thank God he is so quick to hand me mercy in my times of need. I am also thankful that the Lord does not measure the amount of mercy He will show us based upon how much mercy we have shown others. If this were the case, God's mercy would be very limited in my life for sure!

To read more on God's mercy click here.

4. God’s heart beats with immeasurable amounts of  forgiveness for us from our sins.

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9

When we go to the Lord with a humble heart and confess, he never hesitates to forgive. God does not sit there and try to list off reasons why we don’t deserve his forgiveness. He already knows we don’t deserve it. I am so thankful he is faithful to forgive me without reservation!

“For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your father will not forgive your sins.” Matthew 6:14-15

God also passes on the responsibility of forgiveness to us as well. He expects us to forgive others, just as He forgives us, freely, willingly and without reservation. God forgives with no strings attached, and no condemnation. Wow, what a responsibility we have to forgive! This can be so  challenging especially when in our humanness we feel like we can justify our reasons for not wanting to forgive. God’s word tells us that if we are unwilling to forgive others then He will not forgive us. Ouch! What a shot to the human ego! Lord, help us to keep a heart of forgiveness toward others.

Read more on forgiviness.

5. God’s heart beats with deliverance and healing.

“He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.” Psalm 147:3

While we can not deliver people from their bondages or sicknesses, we serve a God who can! God calls us to pray for those that need deliverance and healing. Our prayers are like a launch pad for God to take off from. When we present our hearts to the Lord he will respond. Our prayers do not fall on deaf ears. Please bear in mind, sometimes we need to keep seeking the Lord for healing and deliverance. This is not because the Lord is not listening, but rather He is working in our hearts as we wait upon Him for his answer in His timing. When we try to rush things we will often miss the bigger plan God has for the situation. It is God’s desire that we go to Him when we are in need of deliverance and healing.

“Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.” James 5:16

As Christ’s ambassadors, we are called to love as God loves, shower those we meet with Godly amounts of compassion, mercy and forgiveness, and to pray for healing and deliverance. These areas are some of the very heart beats of God. We are called to echo God’s heartbeat so that we can show the world who Christ is.

Listen to the song that inspired the title of this post.

Lord, I thank you for a greater understanding of your heart! I thank you that you desire to use us to reflect your glory so that we can show the world exactly who you are and what you look like. Lord, there are going to be times when we mess up and misrepresent you, but I pray that you help us to draw closer to you in these moments and that you use them to teach our hearts more about your character. Lord, I pray that we learn what It means to echo your heartbeat.

Our Calling In Christ

We are all called to be active in the body of Christ. We each have responsibilities within the kingdom depending on our spiritual calling. But whether we are called to be a missionary overseas, or a stay at home mom, there are responsibilities we are all called to.

“For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing.”  2 Corinthians 2:15

“You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not in ink but with the spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.” 2 Corinthians 3:3

“We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors…” 2 Corinthians 5:20

“And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” 2 Corinthians 3:18

Wow, I count it such a privilege to be “the aroma of Christ”, “a letter from Christ”, “Christ’s ambassador” and to “reflect the Lord’s glory.”  We are all called to represent Christ to a lost and dying world. What an honor to have such a responsibility! God entrusts us to show who He is to the world. Let's just try to wrap our minds around that for just a moment. How many of us would send someone to represent us, to be our ambassador? I know I would struggle with this one. I would worry that they would misrepresent who I am and someone would get the wrong impression of me who has never met me face to face. Yet this is exactly what Christ does with us. He sends us out into this world to represent him to those who have never met Him. What a tremendous responsibility! What a beautiful privilege! I can’t even believe that God trusts me that much, but He does! And He trusts you too. Now, this does not mean God thinks we are perfect and that we are going to represent Him to the world accurately all of the time. Remember, we all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). So naturally, there are going to be times that we misrepresent the Lord to others. But the amazing thing is this, God already knows the mistakes we are going to make. He already knows that we are going to misrepresent Him from time to time. But this is the beauty of our heavenly father, He still wants us to be His ambassadors, His letter, His aroma, and to reflect His glory! I will say it again WOW!

Lord, I pray that we lay hold of this basic responsibility, that you have called us all to be your ambassadors. I thank you that you trust us enough to represent you to the world. I pray that you help guide us into a better understanding of your heart so that we can limit the number of times that we misrepresent you. Lord, it is not our desire to give others a false view of your heart. So, work in our hearts and lives that we may accurately represent you to the world. We love you and bless your precious name!

To read more on this topic visit : "Our Great Commission" and "Reflection Of The Light."

Hiding The Word

“I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.” 

Psalm 119:11

Since our challenge this month is a scripture blitz that focuses on hiding God’s word in our hearts I figured I would discuss the importance of this exercise. God has given us such a precious gift of His word. I have heard so many stories of fellow believers in third world countries who do not have access to the written word of God like we do here in America. These brothers and sisters would do anything they can sometimes, just to get their hands on one page of the written word of God, and if they they do, they weep with tears of joy! The way they grow in their faith is through memorization of scripture. They write it on the tablets of their hearts.  

I also can’t help but think of countries where the Bible is forbidden. In these places Christians have no option but to memorize scripture because if they were found with a written copy of the Bible they would be put to death. Wow! How blessed we are to have such freedoms in this country. Many of us, myself included own multiple copies of God’s word. What would we do if those wonderful freedoms that we have experienced in this country for so long were stripped away from us. Would we be able to survive the rest of our lives on the number of scriptures we have committed to memory? I know I would struggle with this. I think I would make it through one day of such rights being taken away before I have exhausted my small library of scriptures that I have hidden away in this heart of mine. How about you? How long would you last? Scary thought huh?

This is one of the reasons behind the scripture blitz. I personally needed something to hold me accountable to memorizing the word of God. I can only imagine if I need some accountability in this area than it is quite possible that some of you need the same thing as well. I am looking forward to this challenge because I know that the memorization of scripture will bring about more blessings than we can even count and possibly even a few blessings we are unaware of.

“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.” Colossians 3:16

Lord, I thank you that you desire us to memorize your word to protect us from sin. I thank you that you desire to dwell in us richly when we hide your word in our hearts. Lord, help us to grab onto your word so tightly that no matter what trouble comes our way we will never forget your promises. Help us to use the word we have hidden in our hearts to bring us comfort and encouragement in the toughest of times.