One Body

1 Chronicles 28:9-10

⁹ And you, my son Solomon, acknowledge the God of your father, and serve him with wholehearted devotion and with a willing mind, for the LORD searches every heart and understands every motive behind the thoughts. If you seek him, he will be found by you; but if you forsake him, he will reject you forever.

¹⁰ Consider now, for the LORD has chosen you to build a temple as a sanctuary. Be strong and do the work.

When you read this scripture does it make you think about what God is calling you to do? I realize that unlike Solomon I am not called to the task of building the Temple or unlike Noah to build an ark. I am not Moses who was called to meet with God on the mountain and chisel straight from the mouth of God the commandments on the stones or even like David to conquer the giant & eventually reign as the greatest King of Israel. The list of people that God used throughout the bible are long and I hope that when you spend time in the word reading about them you would allow each story to strike the cords in your heart.

Although I am not one of them, I am a child of God. What I cannot deny is that I am destined to fulfill the calling that God has placed upon my life to reflect His glory. I want you to remove the thoughts you may have that your “calling” has to be huge or on a level that you cannot comprehend. Although this may be true for some, or even for you at times, what I want you to think about today is how we can make sure that we don’t miss out on the times when God is calling you to be a vessel for him, even if it is for one person.

If God has placed it on your heart to rise up and be a prayer warrior for someone then don’t think twice about it. Get up and pray. If God has brought a situation to your attention and you feel the Holy Spirit directing you to encourage that person or counsel that person through it, than through prayer be willing to serve. The word of God says that we are The Body of Christ, One Body with many parts that work together.

Let’s read a little about what God says about our gifts (callings) and what we are to do with them.

 1 Corinthians 12

Spiritual Gifts

¹ Now about spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be ignorant.

² You know that when you were pagans, somehow or other you were influenced and led astray to mute idols.

³ Therefore I tell you that no-one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, Jesus be cursed, and no-one can say, Jesus is Lord, except by the Holy Spirit.

⁴ There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit.

⁵ There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord.

6 There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men.

⁷ Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.

⁸ To one there is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit,
⁹ to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit,

¹⁰ to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues.

¹¹ All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just as he determines.

One Body, Many Parts

¹² The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ.

¹³ For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body— whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free— and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.

¹⁴ Now the body is not made up of one part but of many.

¹⁵ If the foot should say, Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body, it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body.

¹⁶ 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 cease to be part of the body.
¹⁷ 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?

¹⁸ But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be.

¹⁹ If they were all one part, where would the body be?

²⁰ As it is, there are many parts, but one body.

²¹ 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!

²² On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable,
²³ 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,

²⁴ while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it,

²⁵ so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other.

²⁶ If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.

²⁷ Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.

²⁸ And in the church God has appointed first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then workers of miracles, also those having gifts of healing, those able to help others, those with gifts of administration, and those speaking in different kinds of tongues.

²⁹ Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles?

³⁰ Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret?

³¹ But eagerly desire the greater gifts.

1 Corinthians 13

Love
¹ If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.

² If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.

³ If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.

⁴ Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.

⁵ It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.

⁶ Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.
⁷ It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

⁸ Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.
⁹ For we know in part and we prophesy in part,

¹⁰ but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears.

¹¹ When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me.

¹² Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

¹³ And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

We all have gifts. We are all called. We are the Body of Christ, one body with many parts. I can make a list a mile long of people that are hurting, sick or need salvation. I have times that God puts people on my heart by way of sorrow to make me aware that I need to pray for them right then. There are times in the middle of the night I will be woken up by a thought or a dream I have of someone and I know that I need to actually wake up, and get out of bed and pray.

How powerful we would be if we just committed to being a vessel for God and prayerfully listened to his direction. We are all needed and loved; God has a plan for your life, a calling to stand up and thrive against.

There are times when I feel as if I am a slave to my fears or thoughts. It isn’t until I rise up (meaning to make a move) and claim my freedom in Christ over it. We are not supposed to be held down by slavery, we are however supposed to seek wisdom and discernment over everything in our life. If God has placed something on my heart I don’t hit the floor running, I hit the floor on my knees to seek his direction on where my approach is supposed to be.

Galatians 5

¹ It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.

I have been really blessed by many believers who have done exactly what I am talking about today for me. There is something that is so thrilling for me when someone calls me or somehow lets me know that God has put me on their hearts to intercede in prayer for (especially when they haven’t a clue as to what I may be going through). I feel like it is one of Gods special blessings to let us know that He knows.

Today, I just wanted to encourage you to keep pressing on (or for some of you to start pressing on). We all have struggles and doubts and insecurities. Just remember that it isn’t “us” that have the power and  authority, we just need to be a vessel for it to flow through.