Friday, March 16, 2012

Friends/Family/Family of God






I know what family is. I know the good of it and the bad of it. I know basically they are stuck with me and I am stuck with them----Whether we like it or not.


Perhaps I thought the family that God brought together was a rosy, glowy, better version of that.
"My brother and sister in Christ..." 
ya know?
The main difference between earthly families and "the Body of Christ" is Jesus. Because let's face it, the family Jesus has brought together is made of the same messy people.  

(Ephesians 4:9-16 ESV) 


He/Jesus
makes the Body...

He/Jesus
is the Head...

And He/Jesus
gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers,
(why did HE give us these giftings?) to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ,
(what does the "fullness of Christ" NOT look like?) so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.
(what does that "fullness of Christ" look like?) Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way
into Him, who is the Head,
into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.

I've learned, when Jesus steps in, gently showing me the way He views things, it is always quite backwards-y. (from my human perspective). 
In a recent heartache, the Body of Christ that I am a part of changed and became something very different.

Jesus' perspective makes me dizzy and a bit catywompus, so I am glad He doesn't crash Truth on me in huge doses. 
My husband just had a stroke. It crashed in on Him and he said it felt like he was quite outside of Himself and looking in. He saw himself acting drunk (which he's never been). He saw himself having no control which I suppose is a pretty good description of how it feels when God gives me a glimpse into His Truth. 

whoa!! I'm really that "off", God??

The Body of Christ, that I am a part of, is being shifted 
into Christ like Paul tried to share to the Ephesians.

Not the way I would have imagined, because it involved the leaving of dear ones...with no explanation...with no warning.
But srangely enough, we who remain are now experiencing how
He is the one who has "joined and held us together". We are learning that
He is the one "equipping" us now and "enabling each of us to work properly". And we will continue to watch with great hope because of His faithfulness to see how
He will "make this body grow so that it builds itself up in LOVE."







3 comments:

  1. You have been through a lot!! I am so sorry to hear about your husband. I hope he is ok! I know it is tough when things happen within the church and people unexpectedly disappear. It is so easy to become disillusioned but it sounds to me like you are viewing this as a learning experience. What a great outlook you have!

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  2. Thank you so much Holly for taking some time away to peek in to my life. I so appreciate your blog and your victories and life lessons that I am able to learn from! blessings to you!!

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