JOHN 4:14 NASB
But whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.”
MATTHEW 3:2 NASB
Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
** It is up to each individual to be fully faithful to the leading of the Spirit in unlocking what God is personally, collectively and in context to our present generation, making known to us for our time. He speaks to us individually and yet is always about working out His eternal purposes on a much larger scale and stage. We often become so occupied and accustomed to the minutiae of everyday life that we miss the small ways He teaches and appears to us and how this all works together to bring about the glories of the Kingdom of God "on earth as it is in heaven." (Matt. 6:10)
Some are always drawn to seeing the higher purposes of the Kingdom, more often than not, pertaining to human relationships and need. Others are compelled largely to view human interaction and fellowship more in how it relates to the eternal councils of His will and how it affects the unchanging principles and essence of His sublime nature within the scope of our current times. Neither one is better or worse than the other, but rather quite necessary within the context of balance and moderation within the body of Christ as a whole. Some are the face, or the mouth, and often find themselves in the place of the attention and praise along with having to bear the weight of the periodic criticism that accompanies the limelight. Society exalts and pressures us to be demanding and moderately repressive leaders rather than helpers and workers looking out for the true needs of others; spotlighted influencers rather than Christlike followers.
On the other hand the foot is not the first member of the body one would be lining up to be. It's rarely seen and mostly known by its protective covering, the shoe, and its occasional pungent odor. Yet in concert with the Head, the feet uphold the entire body giving it balance and momentum and is responsible for carrying the weight of its movement and progression to the desired destination. Neither again is lesser or more important, and when in fellowship with the Head, work in tandem for the glory of God and not for its own recognition and position. God determines where we fit, and in Him, our fulfillment is not as a spectator, consumer, organizer, figurehead, administrator, or in our particular giftings or talents that have placed us within the scope of church based activity and enterprise. It is the simple yet set apart devotion of "following the Lamb wherever He goes". This removes the tangled web of our most brilliant plans and keeps us looking to Him and His Word and not to the mechanisms and machinery of the modern religious grinding wheel.
ROMANS 12:4-5 NASB
For just as we have many members in one body and all the members do not have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.
1 CORINTHIANS 12:27
Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.
EPHESIANS 4:15-16 NASB
But speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the Head, even Christ, from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.
** And so, standing transfixed between our highest aspirations and ³"lowest hell", is the cross of our Lord Jesus -- “The Great Equalizer". There can never be enough said about the utter totality, completeness, and "it is finishedness" that is embodied within the work of the cross. There is no stone unturned, no dark secret, no misstep and falling short that has not been provided and propitiated for, within the bounds of such love and such a sacrifice as this. He has purchased our redemption by His blood and must work this redemption in and through us by that same blood opening up the way of "suffering in the flesh" to no longer have only what we think our best interests are in the forefront.
1 PETER 4:1-2 NASB
Therefore, since Christ has suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same purpose, because he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, so as to live the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for the lusts of men, but for the will of God.
³The Love of God
by Frederick M. Lehman
1 The love of God is greater far
than tongue or pen can ever tell;
it goes beyond the highest star,
and reaches to the lowest hell;
the guilty pair, bowed down with care,
God gave His Son to win;
His erring child He reconciled,
and pardoned from his sin
Refrain:
O love of God, how rich and pure!
How measureless and strong!
It shall forevermore endure:
the saints’ and angels’ song!
2 When years of time shall pass away
and earthly thrones and kingdoms fall,
when men who here refuse to pray,
on rocks and hills and mountains call,
God’s love so pure shall still endure,
all measureless and strong;
redeeming grace to Adam's race—
the saints’ and angels’ song. [Refrain]
3 Could we with ink the ocean fill
and were the skies of parchment made,
were ev’ry stalk on earth a quill
and ev’ry man a scribe by trade,
to write the love of God above
would drain the ocean dry;
nor could the scroll contain the whole,
tho' stretched from sky to sky. [Refrain]
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