A UNIFIED CAMPUS FOR A UNIFIED BODY?

Bible Verse:
…to train Christians in skilled servant work, working within Christ’s body, the church, until we’re all moving rhythmically and easily with each other, efficient and graceful in response to God’s Son, fully mature adults, fully developed within and without, fully alive like Christ.
Ephesians 4:12,13 (TM)

Devotional:
As I watched the video of the proposed new buildings at Northwest, I was struck by how streamlined and organically functional the new building will be. How effective and smooth-running all the children’s arrangements will be; how they will work together, in harmony, to build up the next generation in Christ.

As I ponder the relationship of this huge undertaking to our body here at Northwest, the parallels strike me. As we pray “Jesus, we want what You want” throughout this year, we are asking to be made into a new and streamlined, efficiently functioning, united body of believers for the sake of bringing in God’s Kingdom here on earth, here and now. The Message describes what we hope to become: “fully mature adults, fully developed within and without, fully alive like Christ.”

So then I ask myself, “How can I co-operate with Jesus as He seeks, by His Spirit, to make me more like Him today?” He tells me to come to Him and take His yoke upon me, for He is humble and gentle in heart and He will give me rest. He tells me that if I love Him, I will obey His commands. His commands are to abide in Him; to love God with all of me; to love others as He loves me, and to go out and tell others around me of His love for them and His power to save them and give them eternal life.

I realize that I cannot hope to obey His commands without abiding in Him and coming to Him to take His yoke and follow the way with Him. I need to put my hand in His each day and check frequently to see if my hand is still in His. I realize also that as each of His children does this, each keeping his/her eyes on Jesus, we will be built into a great unity and we will become the streamlined, functional body of Christ that He seeks in us.

As we undertake to build the outward buildings into an efficiently functioning unit, will we also take our own part in uniting ourselves to Jesus Christ and to each other to become the efficient and grace-full body of Christ of which Paul speaks in this verse?

Prayer:
Thank our Father for making you a part of His family forever and ever, for uniting you with His Son, Jesus. Ask Him to work powerfully in you by His Spirit to make you more like Jesus every day. Ask Him to help you to put 100% of your trust in Him, for He is worthy of all of your trust, so that you will allow Him to do the work He needs to do in you to make you more like Jesus, no matter what it takes. Ask Him to forgive you for your self-centeredness in seeking daily to please yourself and go your own way and do your own thing because it is pleasing to you. It is not pleasing to Him.
“Jesus, I want what You want!” Pray that God will make this to be true in you. Write this prayer out on a Post-it® note and fix it to your mirror. Every time you see it, lift it up to God and pray it again.

Written by Rosemary Graidage. Rosemary and Colin have attended Northwest for 16 years.