Wednesday

Don't Just Believe. Belong!

You are called to belong, not just believe.

Even in the perfect, sinless environment of Eden, God said, "It is not good for man to be alone." (Genesis 2:18 NIV)

We are created for community, fashioned for fellowship, and formed for a family, and none of us can fulfill God's purposes by ourselves. The Bible knows nothing of solitary saints or spiritual hermits.

While your relationship to Christ is personal, God never intends it to be private. In God's family you are connected to every other believer. The Bible says, "In Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others." (Romans 12:5 NIV)

Following Christ includes belonging, not just believing. C. S. Lewis noted that the word "membership' is of Christian origin, but the world has emptied it of its original meaning. Stores offer discounts to "members,' and advertisers use "member names' to create mailing lists. In churches, membership is often reduced to simply adding your name to a roll, with no requirements or expectations.

To Paul, being a "member' of the church meant being a vital organ of a living body, an indispensable, interconnected part of the Body of Christ. We need to recover and practice the biblical meaning of membership. The church is a body, not a building; an organism, not an organization. (Romans 12:4-5)

There is nothing else on earth like the church!

God doesn't want us to walk the path of a Christian alone. He wants us to follow it with others. In fact, it is impossible to walk God's path by yourself. We are created to do God's work with other believers. People assume that the church is a place. It is not. The church is God's children gathered together to worship him. So, don't try to worship God all by yourself the whole time. Worship him with other believers, as you can fulfil his wants to the full extent.

I feel so blessed to be in milal. I dont think I've ever felt more like I belong in any other church. When you feel completely comfortable and like you're accepted, then O
its easier to open up and really grow I'm faith.

Your relationship Gid and your relationship with others does not have sit be seperate.
The church is one body, isolation is not what wanted you to do. Also, it is important to remember that e don't need to do everything on our own. That's why we have a church in the first place. If God didn't want connection between people, the church wouldn't have been established. And that's also another reason why Gof made Eve after Adam.
Keep in mind that some things like devos should be done separately with God, but don't think that everything just be done alone.

Okay, I really need to sleep earlier.....
~Audrey~

While there is a relationship specifically between you and God, it is important to remember that there are also relationships which exist between you and others, and these relationships aren't meant to be separated.
Even though we could say that our relationship with God with others (or more specifically PT members) are not separated because we go to the same church, have the same praise, and listen to the same sermon, when it really comes down to it, are we really connected to one another in the same body, or are we just in the same room? While we might have saturday practices and occasional fundays to bond and talk to one another, I feel that we tend to talk a lot more in the manner that we talk to any other friend, and a lot less about our spiritual lives and related matters. And the reason why this is important to do is because it's like we have a small community to rely upon and trust, but we generally choose not to use it, which is not very different than going on your spiritual journey alone.
We are all part of the same body; if the hand tells the brain that it feels something on its fingertips, but not that there's an open wound on its palm, the wound won't be able to heal properly.
Basically, as members of the same body, communication about what is really important is essential.

This devo really reminds me of a Bible verse I really like: 1 Corinthians 12:12

"The human body has many parts, but the many parts make up only one body. So it is with the body of Christ."

God made us all unique and different, but in Him we are united. Because of this fact we have fellow brothers and sisters in Christ to do life together with. In good times and bad we have not only God but also the Church and it's members, when we truly feel that we belong to a body of Christ.

I felt the difference between my old church (which I stayed with for about 10 years), and Milal.

It took me about 10 years to get close to the people in my old church, but in all honesty, I didn't feel like I quite belonged fully.
Then God took me here to Milal and the PT, and although I have only spent a year with you guys, and less than a year in the PT, I felt like I was contributing (at least a little) to this body, this unity. I felt like I truly belonged at times.

How can we worship if we are all worshipping with different intents and priorities? It is not wholesome worship, but if we have the same mindset, faith, and love for God and one another, I think belonging is easy(er) as 1, 2, 3.