Daily Bread 12-15-17
Ephesians 2:19-22
19 Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God;
20 And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;
21 In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth into an holy temple in the Lord:
22 In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.
ref. - Mt 16:18 - And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
1Co 12:28 - And God hath set some in the Church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healing, helps, governments, diversities of tongues.
Mt 21:42 - Jesus saith unto them, Did ye never read the scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same has become the head of the corner: this is the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes?
Jn 17:23 - I in them, and thou in me, that they be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.
When someone states that "We are the Church" we must be careful. It is not us that makes up the Church but it is God through Jesus Christ. It is not also us but Christ who is in us. Our bodies do not make up the body of Christ, it is our souls. If these souls are in the right standing with God then they will become immoveable, just as Christ told Peter, and on this rock shall the Church be built. But first what is in our souls must be immoveable. There are may gifts that come from God but we must have that immoveable soul in order for them to be given. We read of apostles, prophets, teachers, miracles, healing, tongues. These gifts were explained and written in this order to show us the level of their importance. As Christ himself had to suffer adversity and labor on through it so must those who have been given these gifts. Also, those who seek after these gifts must know that they will suffer many of the same things. This is why our souls must be grounded, settled, and immoveable in Jesus Christ. His Spirit MUST dwell within us before God will allow us to possess any of these great gifts. It is not the most popular or the best looking or even the most talented that God uses, it is those who will not be moved in Jesus Christ. Just as God showed us in the perfect example of his Son; Even the whole world can be against us(and it will be), and if we have the right Spirit, the Holy Spirit, and it is God's will, we can be made the most powerful soul to fight in this war against principalities and powers that are ruled by the enemy. Our perfection will not come by what we show each other we can do, it will come when we have completely surrendered to the power of the Holy Spirit and have let God use us the way that he sees fit. Christ prayed to his Father that he make it easy for us, that there be only one way for us to achieve this greatness, and his love prevailed. We have been given only one way to achieve any of these things and it is through Jesus Christ. There is no two ways, we do not become disciples of men or join in with the worship of idols, we serve God through our perfect example, Jesus Christ. Want salvation? Come to Jesus! Want to sanctify your life? Learn of Jesus. Want to receive the Holy Spirit, become obedient to Jesus! Want gifts? yes, you guessed it.....Jesus!! We are being built by Christ for God's Spirit to come and dwell within us!
Jesus Christ!! The rest....is history!!!!
Have a great day!!!