Those of you who know me will know that I unintentionally climbed off of my motorcyle while it was still moving...yes yes...
it is NOT the brightest thing one can do whilst riding a motorcycle, but accidents happen...
This blogicle (blog article) is not actually about the accident, but about what God has taught me about life through the accident. Lesson 1: tar is hard ... lol.
But seriously...if I wasn't wearing my "armour" I would have been waaaay worse off than I am... what I learnt is that life is hard and we need to have our armour on or the world, life and satan will scrape away at us.
Ephesians 6:10 - 18 The Armor of God
10Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. 12For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.
Just as I need to clothe myself in my biker "armour" daily... I need to do that with Gods armour... I need to do that more. Sheesh! I haven't been doing it enough!!!!
The next part is about the body... The human body and the body of Christ.
1 Corinthians 12:12 - 31
12The 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. 13For 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.
14Now the body is not made up of one part but of many. 15If 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. 16And 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. 17If 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? 18But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. 19If they were all one part, where would the body be? 20As it is, there are many parts, but one body.
21The eye cannot say to the hand, "I don't need you!" And the head cannot say to the feet, "I don't need you!" 22On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, 24while 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, 25so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. 26If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.
27Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. 28And 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. 29Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? 30Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? 31But eagerly desire the greater gifts.
And now I will show you the most excellent way.
Each part is designed to play it's part WELL... My right thumb is STILL being my right thumb and kinda playing it's part in my body... but it's not playing it WELL... it is suffering... and so my hand suffers, by being in a cast... and that makes my body suffer... and me suffer.. I can't type properly... I can't drive yet, so my work is getting behind. I've had to figure out how to do everything with one hand... which is tough.. just because ONE little piece of bone in my thumb is not playing it's part!!!
FAAAAAAAR too often the same happens in the body of Christ. Parts of the body don't play their parts well... we show up late and unprepared for stuff (like worship team on Sundays, having not practised) and we expect God to show up and perform miracles and get people "saved". But actually we are standing in the way cos we are unprepared and not playing our part WELL.
This extends beyond practising songs for a Sunday service. Are we walking around "topped up with Jesus", or are we running on empty until a crisis occurs? We have become far too good at "getting it right on our own", that instead of being part of a bigger picture and relying on God, we just do our "religious" duty and do what we do.
I can't wait for my thumb to stop being religious and play it's part WELL again :-P
I guess God looks at us sometimes and says the same.
