Some months back Pastor Derek was speaking about everyone being part of Christ’s body of believers and each and every one of us being encouraged to play our part in doing what we can to build up the ‘church’.
Ephesians 4 verse 16 says “From (Christ) the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.”
Maybe we ask ourselves “but what can I do?
The following is an extract from one of our daily “Our Daily Bread” devotional reading earlier this year by a Dave Branon that I found encouraging.
‘According to the family legend, two brothers, one named Billy and the other one Melvin, were standing in the family’s dairy farm one day when they saw an airplane doing some skywriting. The boys watched as the plane sketched out the letters “GP” overhead.
Both brothers decided that what they saw had meaning for them. One thought it meant “Go preach.” The other read it as “Go plow.” Later, one of the boys, Billy Graham, dedicated himself to preaching the gospel, becoming an icon of evangelism. His brother Melvin went on to faithfully run the family dairy farm for many years.
Skywriting signs aside, if God did call Billy to preach and Melvin to plow, as seems to be the case, they both honoured God through their vocations. While Billy had a long preaching career, his success doesn’t mean that his brother’s obedience to his calling was any less important.
While God does assign some to be in what we call full-time ministry (Ephesians 4:11-12) that does not mean those in other jobs and roles are not doing something just as important. In either case as Paul said “each part (should do) its work” (v16). That means honouring Jesus faithfully using the gifts He has given each one of us. When we do, whether we “go preach” or “Go plow” we can make a difference for Jesus where ever we serve or work. ‘
Some years back at a morning service after singing the song Refiner’s Fire we had a time of just being still and waiting on the Lord
My wife (Daphne) saw a picture in her mind of many bars of pure gold lying at different angles and positions, all scattered on the ground. Two strong arms were reaching down from above and gently picking up each glistening bar.
These strong gentle hands picked up each gold bar and placed one bar upon another until each scattered bar was in unison with another and building a strong wall.
She felt that the Lord was saying to her that each of His children in the church is as precious as gold, and that as they have been refined in the fire that each person needs to be in unison to make the “body” strong and to build together a strong wall.
Let us consider how we can use our own God given gifts to honour Him in whatever we do. To think how we can encourage others we know so that they too can use their calling as a way to serve Jesus.
In Ephesians 4: 29 we are encouraged not to let ANY unwholesome talk come out of our mouths but only what is HELPFUL for building others up according to their needs that it may be of benefit to those who listen. Are our words loving, kind, gentle, reassuring, encouraging and helpful?
Let’s ask God to use us right where we are and that our words, actions and work ethic whether in employment or in the home can profoundly affect others. We may not realize until we reach Heaven just how impacting even the smallest of our actions were.
Maybe have a listen on You tube to a song by Ray Bolts called Thank You (or Thank you for giving to the Lord) . I like the Gaither Music TV Ft version as it contains exerts from Billy Graham’s ministry.
Another couple of You Tube songs to bless you with this time are oldies but goodies. Refiners Fire sung by Brian Doerksen and The Potters Hand sung by Hillsong.
May we all be filled afresh with the Holy Spirit and lets all allow God to use and mold us to His will and use us in whatever capacity or circumstance we come across as we go about our daily lives……
May God bless you all heaps….. AS YOU GO (Matt 10:7-8)
Malcolm & Daphne