Partners With God
No one believes more than I do that
everything we receive from God, we receive by grace through faith totally apart
from our performance. Redemption and all that it affords us - right
standing with a Holy God, wholeness and health in our bodies, peace for our
minds, prosperity and abundance in every area of our lives was richly given to
each of us through the redemptive work of Jesus at Calvary, and not one person
is worthy of this gift of his own merit nor can we earn what Christ has freely
given. We have been born into the family of God! God is our Father! Jesus is our Lord and Savior! What an incredible relationship to have with the Creator of the universe.
Now that we are in God’s family, there is also an aspect of Jesus that we are to know and to grow in. He is the head of the church and we are His body, and He has one thing on His mind and this is expanding His family! As believers in the earth, we have been drafted into a mighty army. While we don’t “do things” to be accepted into His family (we by faith choose to receive His free gift of salvation), we do, however, partner with Him and do the good works He has called us to because we are now partnering with Him to expand His Kingdom and push back the kingdom of darkness in the earth. There is work to be done, and there is a grace (an empowerment, an equipping, the very ability of God) that we stand in to do the work!
Ephesians 2:10 (amp) For we are God’s own handiwork (His workmanship), recreated in Christ Jesus. Born anew that we may do those good works which God predestined, planned beforehand, for us (taking paths which He prepared ahead of time,) that we should walk in them living the good life which He prearranged and made ready for us to live.
He’s called us to good works! The truth is, the body of Christ in the earth will only be as strong as the local church, for it is within the local church that Christians are trained and equipped for the work of the ministry. Ephesians 4:11-16
God clearly gives us instruction in Hebrews 10:25 that as believers we are not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together. We cannot do the good works He has called us to walk in apart from the local church He has called us to. There are supplies we need from the body and supplies we need to give to the body. It is imperative.
1 Peter 4:10 (nlt) God has given each of you a gift from His great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another.
So you may be saying, “I see in God’s Word that I am to be hooked in to a local church and giving of my supplies. I want to partner with God in the family business of expanding His family. I see that I need to receive the supplies of the body for my own strengthening and I need to give of my supplies to strengthen others. Where do I start? How exactly do I do that?”
Below are some things that each of us should bring to the church body.
1) A prayer supply. Philippians 4:6, Colossians 4:2-3, 2 Thess. 3:1, 1 Peter 4:7 To be successfully assembled together and partnering with God in expanding His family, we all need to not only have an active personal prayer life, we also need to engage in the corporate prayer life of the church.
2) Material resources. Malachi 3:10, 1 Chronicles 29 The giving of our resources and our money is not a money thing at all. It is a heart thing.
3) Our time and our energy. We make time and expend energy on things that are important to us.
4) Faithfulness. Luke 16:10-12, 1 Corinthians 4:2
5) Good attitude. We owe our Pastors and the precious people that God has connected us with a good attitude.
- Always remember that the goal is more important than the role.
No matter what role we play in the body of Christ our eyes must stay
focused on the big picture.
- In church life, purpose must transcend personality.
- Quit is not an option! Never ever can we even play around
with those kind of thoughts. A quit mentality is the devil’s
playground.
7) A teachable heart. Proverbs 10:17
8) The employment of our giftings and our faith and our love. 1 Peter 4:10, Proverbs 11:25, Romans 12:13.
I encourage you today to read all these Scriptures. Stir yourself up in these things and let’s all see how we can be more productive in being the best possible asset we can be in growing God’s family.
Hebrews 10:24,25: And let us consider and give attentive, continuous care to watching over one another, studying how we may stir up to love and helpful deeds and noble activities, not forsaking or neglecting to assemble together … . .
