1 Corinthians 12:14-20 I Do Belong Here….

1 Corinthians 12:14-20
14 Now the body is not made up of one part but of many. 15 If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. 16 And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? 18 But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. 19 If they were all one part, where would the body be? 20 As it is, there are many parts, but one body.

This is something I find myself saying when I first started coming to church. This passage basically talks about people who compare themselves with others, and because of this comparing, you see yourself not belonging to the body. Well, have no fear Mr (ms) Reader… God has a purpose for you for it is God that “has arranged the parts in teh body, every one of them, hust as He wanted them to be.”

It also focuses on the idea that the body of Christ needs to be diverse. How can we all be the same thing? What if we were a church of just cooks, where would the teaching be? What if we were a church of just teachers? Where would the cook and the greeters and the worship band and the (keep adding) be? Going back to my last post, if we all shared the same strength, then we all share the same weakness with no one backing us up. It’s like playing football with all quarterbacks. I don’t see that team going to the superbowl any time soon….

We need to be a diverse group and whether you are something big (like the back of the church) or something small (like a toe), you are a part of the body, God has placed you there, and that you are of great worth to the body of Christ.

So where do you belong? What part of ministry do you belong to? Are you a leader? Are you a backstage kind of girl/guy? Are you just a simple greeter that makes others feel welcomed?

I’ve been in a rut asking God where my giftings are. I know music is something God has placed in my heart, but I’ve been really thinking…is that what God wants me to do? What other giftings do I have? Well, I’ll just have to wait upon the Lord…

1 Corinthians 10:17 Body parts?

I seem to have hit a pretty hard wall. I’m slowly getting up and starting to run again. I gotta be more attentive to where I run so that I won’t run into it again or if the Lord willing, run right through it (even if you run through it, you gotta know where the wall is so that you can brace yourself for it.)

1 Corinthians 10:17 Because there is one loaf, we , who are many, are one body, for we all partake of the one loaf.

(Context is we associate ourselves with whatever we partake in, the communion of God or everything else, which is the devil)

Because we all take from one body, from one Christ, why is there some times when you look at others and ask, “what are they doing here?” or even to the harsher extent, “why do we need them here?” Sadly, I’ve had a share of those questions in my heart many times. What you have to realize, Daniel, is that everyone is a part of the body. There’s a reason why they are here. There’s a reason a why God put them here. They belong to some part of the body. Do you discourage others when those thoughts come up or do you ask yourself, “how can we make use of this body part?” There are times when some parts of the body are not an emphasis but in every situation, the body is used. Think of playing the guitar. Emphasis is on the hands and the arms. Although the other parts are not emphasized, they are used, the feet tap, your head bobs to get you into the music, your legs help you stand for support, even your toes help you stay up (I hear that missing your big toe causes you to be really imbalanced). Every situation, you use some part of the body sometimes without even noticing it. I remember moments where my foot was hurting, not only walking, but moving in general. Even when I wasn’t even putting pressure on it. I specifically recall saying “I didn’t realize how much I used my foot.” Are you going to be saying that about people, or will you say, “Ok, what can the foot do here, how does the foot affect the body during this time, is the foot in pain cause that would but the whole body in pain/turmoil….)

Think of the people that you think are “not useful” because in every body, every part is used….
(1 cor 12:12-31)