Wednesday, March 14, 2007

Day 17 – Somewhere to belong

Somewhere to belong

Just this evening as I walked home to my apartment block, I was thinking to myself how I’ve never really belonged anywhere. How I felt moving around throughout my childhood, my teens and now my adulthood could be the reason for it. So imagine my shock when it was the topic of my study.

That God has called and created me to belong, not just to believe and be isolated, but to belong, as I cannot fulfil God’s purpose for myself by myself. So whilst my relationship with Christ is personal, God never intended it to be private, because He intended me to be connected to every believer, to belong to each other for eternity – Rom. 12 vs. 5so in Christ we who are many form one body and each member belongs to all the other.

So since I am created for a specific purpose, attaching myself to a living, local church is important because only through my relationship with others will I discover my role in life [Ephesians 4 vs. 16]. This explains why whenever we have a spiritual decline; the first thing that goes is our church attendance which causes us to be disconnected from the body. So for me to say that the church is not very important in my life is arrogant and ignorant. For God’s word says in Ephesians 5 vs. 25Christ loved His church to give His life for it. The church is called the bride and body of Christ for a reason [2 Corinth. 11 vs. 2; Eph. 5 vs. 27; Rev. 19 vs. 7], and I am commanded to love it [1 Pet. 2 vs. 17].

Therefore, I am no longer a foreigner or an alien but a fellow citizen with God’s people and household, and this knowledge encourages me especially when I feel like a misfit. Understanding the importance of church family is also of significance. As being part of a church family identifies me as a genuine believer [Obviously I can’t claim to be following Christ if I’m not committed to any specific group of disciples – John 13 vs. 35by this all men will know that you are my disciples if you love one another ] and serves as a powerful witness to the world. Being part of a church also moves me from my self centred isolation to living to practice my unselfish sympathetic life that God has given me, to care for others and share the experiences of others. In doing so, develops my spiritual strength, and encouraging, praying, greeting, serving, teaching, accepting, submitting, devoting, forgiving and submitting to others becomes my family responsibilities, which cannot happen in isolation, as isolation breeds deceitfulness.

So even though it is easy to fool myself into thinking I am mature when there are no challenges, real maturity only shows up when I deal with others in my relationships, which requires more than the bible, as the company of others will help me to grow by learning from them and being accountable to each of them. I also have to bear in mind that I have a unique role to play in my relationship with others, as God has gifted me for my unique assignment. And has designed my local fellowships to help me discover, develop and use my gifts. So even though I might have in addition to my service in the church a wider ministry, God has gifted me in the building of His church – 1 Corinth. 12 vs. 12 - 27.

Lessons Learnt on Day 17

That God has called me to belong and to share in Christ’s mission in the world. As He works through us in the world, for that reason I have been given my contribution to make - Eph. 2 vs. 10For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. That my church community is there to help me from backsliding as I’m not immune to temptation. 1 Corinth. 10 vs. 12; Jer. 17 vs. 9; 1 Tim. 1 vs. 19; Heb. 3 vs. 13; Therefore it is my / our duty and responsibility to go after one another that I / we feel is wavering; James 3 vs. 19 – 20because the devil loves detached believers as he knows that they are defenceless and powerless against his tactics. So I want to take this opportunity to thank my local church here, RCOGIC, my Home church Calvary International Ministry UK, my bible study group and now TERC for allowing me into their family. What a place to belong.

6 comments:

Zoe Believer said...

hello..pleased to be first but even more pleased by what i have read...somewhere to belong. I totally agree with the fact that 'we should not forsake the assembling of the brethren'.
You give me a lot to ponder on..i think i need to take this home with me.
Out of curiosity what is TERC? Have a blessed day

The Life of a Stranger called me said...

@ believer its a new international bible study group started up by cherub aka bijouxx..its on her blog website ..http://childofthemosthigh.blogspot.com/.. we call in every friday at 5am EST time (if the clocks have been moved back then it is 10am GMT).

And many callin all over - its a like a conference meeting but made up of bloggers and friend. try to see if you can make it.

Thank you for taking the time out to follow the series. Be blessed. Still waiting on ur email??

ThatGirl said...

its amazing to see you update progress with the book EVERYDAY! I've not read any of the posts tho cos I plan to read this book this summer so I want it all to be fresh...hehehehe. have a blessed one

Naijadude said...

Zionerr....No knowledge is lost, reading it now might get you ready and charged up in the spirit gives you the zeal not to give up but lay claim to it that the Lord has for you.

Thank you for the post, LOASCM. Be blessed!

Truth said...

God that inspired you to do this write up will definetly keep watch over all you are and do.Yes my dear it is indeed the will of God for us to belong,but i want to point out that we should ask Him also where we should belong.Also we should not be lost in the mist of the fellowship we belong.By this i mean,always in the church and not having spent time with our Daddy who has called us.It is interesting that you called yourself a stanger and lonely all the time. Go through the bible, and you will know that we are all strangersin this world and the People God used most in the bible were people who were alone.This means we can be lonely but not alone. I did a write up this morning before seeing your blog about who we are. God will surely give us understanding of the place He will want us to belong.

Eagle's Nest!!! said...

You are God's chosen vessel, Life_of_a_Stranger! I so much like you!! You are spiritually inclined!!

And thanks for the comments on my blog