Daily Devotional: 6/21/2018 - 1NE

"Now if the foot should say, 'Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,' it would not for that reason stop being part of the body." 1 Corinthians 12:15

Okay, open your Bibles up to 1 Corinthians 12:12-31. We all have gifts and talents. There is no gift or talent that is greater or more special than another. God has given and not given us these gifts for a reason. That reason is for his glory and benefit. He is the one that created us and he is the one that gives us the gifts. Some of our gifts that God gives us comes in due time, in his time and his timing is perfect. He knows when the it is the right time. He has a plan for all of us. He uses us all in different and special ways. Verse 12 goes on to say, "Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ." The body of the Church is made up of all us. There are so many parts to anything, anything with great detail and purpose is made up of many parts. There are very few things in this world alone, that are made up of just one thing (the only thing really are single-celled organisms and even that if you go deep is made of more than one part - the parts of a cell ) everything else is made up of multiple things. Look at the device you are reading this one, if it is a phone there are buttons, a screen, a camera (maybe even two of them), circuits, charging port, a body, metal, the list keeps on going. Colossians 1:15-18 says, "The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy." Jesus is the head, we are the body. Once we are baptized, we are baptized in the Spirit. We are baptized in the one and only Spirit. This is a Spirit that does not discriminate, it takes in and accepts everyone and everything. This Spirit forms the body, One body; that is the body in Jesus. Verses 15-17 say, "Now if the foot should say, 'Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,' it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. 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 stop being part of the body. 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?" We all have talents and attributes and they are all God-given. Some of us are the eyes and some of are the ears. The eye cannot hear and the ear cannot see, but they are both needed for the body. Without the your eyes you cannot see and without your ears you cannot hear. Some of us have talents that we wish we had or even wish we did not have, some of us pray that we had talents that others have. Verse 18 says, "But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be." God has a reason for everything. He has a reason why things happen or do not happen. He has a reason why we have things or do not have things. He has created us in his perfect image, there is not such thing as a flaw in his eyes. We are all perfect, he love us and loves everything about us. His love is unconditional and ever lasting. Exodus 20:17 says, "You shall not covet your neighbor's house. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor." We should not covet what people have, whether it be worldly possessions or it be Godly gifts. We have and do not have these possessions and gifts for a reason. If God wanted us or wants us to have it then he would have and will give it to us. James 1:17 says, "Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows." Matthew 7:11 says, "If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!" Verse 20-26 says, "As it is, there are many parts, but one body. The eye cannot say to the hand, 'I don’t need you!' And the head cannot say to the feet, 'I don’t need you!' On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it." We need to come together with our talents. We need to feed off of each other and help out each other. We cannot do anything alone. We cannot finish the mission Jesus has left us with alone. Life and discipling is a team sport. Do not weight or say one talent is bigger than the other. Every talent is great in the eyes of the Lord. There is no talent that is greater than the other. He loves us all equally. Do not let the world determine and define what is great or not great in our eyes. All of the time worldly standards are no match to the standards of God. God has created all things equal to show that there is no talent that is greater, that no person is greater than the other (v. 25). Matthew 20:16 says, "So the last will be first, and the first will be last." If one suffers we all suffer. We are One in mind. We are One in body. We are One in soul. We are One in Spirit. We are One in mankind. We are One in God.

"Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it." (1 Corinthians 12:27)

Lord, thank you for making us in you. Making us from your perfect image. We are all beautifully and perfectly handmade from the template of your image. You made us all equal. We all have gifts and talents, I pray that we are able to use them for your glory and our benefit. Allow none of us to covet others and allow none of to use our talents and gifts for our sole purpose only. I pray this in Jesus's name, Amen.

#LetsBeAMovement