The Body of Christ

Tuesday 15 December
READ: 1 Cor 12: 12 - 27
MORE LESSON: 1 Cor. 12 :27

The Church is the Body of Christ. The Church literally means 'the called out ones'. These are the people who have been called out of the world and are gathered together onto the Lord. Everyone who has accepted the lordship of the Lord Jesus is part of the Church. When you get born again, the Spirit of God baptises you into the Body of Christ and you are part of His Church as long as you continue to live by His Word. The Church was bought by the Blood of Jesus Christ and that is why it is called the Body of Christ. The Church is not called the Body of God or the Body of the Holy Spirit. God in His infinite wisdom decided that the Church should be the Body of Christ and that is why Jesus says, . . . I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail over it: Matt 16: 18. It is Jesus Christ's Church: it is His body and you are part of that body. In the human body there is no part that is not important. The teeth cannot be removed for the eyes and the legs cannot be substituted for the hands. There is no part of your body that you will ordinarily cut off, even to your tiniest finger. So if the Church is the Body of Christ, that means we are the members and we are all important. Everyone has a role to play. Stop seeing the church as a place where you come to sit down while the choir sings, the pastor preaches and then somebody prays and you say 'amen' and leave. You are part of that Body and you have a role to play.

In a body, the same blood flows through all the veins and every organ yields to the central control system. So also it is that the Holy Spirit flows through and binds everyone in church together. Everyone must yield to the control of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the power of the church and He has organised the church by putting leadership and structures in place. You must respect the central control system and ordained authority system of the Holy Spirit in the church. Don't be in church and be living an independent life that is not answerable to anyone. There is no organ in the body that tries to live independent of the rest, so get attached to others in the body; you are part of the Body of Christ.

Today I want you to know that the Church is the Body of Christ and function with the consciousness that you are an integral member of the Body, it is only then that you can benefit from what the body supplies.

Prayer/Action
* Pray for grace to be a useful member of the local church that you attend.
* Pray to be a blessing to every member of the body and not a burden and a problem.
* Pray for the Body of Christ globally, that she will represent Christ correctly in the world.

PROPHETIC PRAYER
I declare that with Jesus as my great shepherd, I shall not want in destiny: the doors of provision shall be opened unto me, in the name of Jesus.