Monday, March 8, 2010

One Mind

Reading through the book of Ephesians, one quickly realizes that Paul has an inspired concern for the Ephesus church; namely that the Church reflect the unity that is proper for the body of Christ. After all, it is rare that the parts of an individual's body act out of concert with one another and when they do, it's time to call in Dr. House and his famed diagnostic team. Individually, our bodies were designed so that our feet, our hands, our heart and our mind would all be working toward a common goal, whether that goal is to digest food, or climb Mt. Kilimanjaro.

In the case of the body of Christ, the same thing is true and in Ephesians 2:6-7, Paul demonstrates what this goal should be.  All believers should be actively demonstrating the abundance of Christ's grace.  In saving us, God desires to use our lives to draw others to Him.  Whether we are interacting with family or interacting with strangers, whether we are alone or in a crowd, our lives should be a constant reflection of God's grace to us, because we are constantly reflecting on His kindness expressed in grace. Demonstrating the abundance of His riches towards us is the singular goal of our lives, not to proclaim our own worth, but in acknowledging our unworthiness, to proclaim the magnitude of His kindness. In recognizing that our lives our worthless apart from His grace, we display the costly and incomparable sacrifice of His life.  God choose us to be a demonstration of His kindness and grace not by merely being kind and gracious to others, but by telling of His kindness and grace to us.

May we keep this focus in mind. And may this be the common focus of all Christians' lives.




How do you keep your focus on reflecting Christ? 

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5 Comments:

Anonymous Darla said...

Sharing about the abundance of God's grace towards us reminds me of how much value the Bible puts on 'testimony'.( "They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony", Rev 2:11.) By sharing with others about what God has been doing in our lives we are actually performing a type of spiritual warfare. We are helping others to increase their faith and trust in God while reinforcing our dependancy on Him.

March 8, 2010 at 5:22 PM  
Anonymous Kyle Reed said...

That is cool that you are reading through Ephesians, I am as well.
I just read chapter 5 today out of the message. Love the language.
"Don't live carelessly, unthinkingly. Make sure you understand what the Master wants.
Don't drink too much wine. That cheapens your life. Drink the Spirit of God, huge draufts of him. Sing hymns instead of drinking songs! Sing songs from your heart to Christ."
Chapter 5 vs 17-20

March 9, 2010 at 7:17 AM  
Blogger N.A. Winter said...

Darla -I love what you wrote about testimony. How easy it can be to forget how telling the story of what God has done in our lives can strengthen and encourage others.

March 9, 2010 at 7:48 AM  
Blogger N.A. Winter said...

Kyle - that's a great version of the Chapter 5 verses. Which translation is it? My favorite part was "don't live carelessly" - I often have to remind myself of that when I'm pondering what I should post on Twitter. How important it is to "understand what the Master wants" not only what He wants to do in our lives but how He wants us to live.

March 9, 2010 at 7:49 AM  
Anonymous Kyle Reed said...

Its from the message by Eugene Peterson

March 9, 2010 at 11:52 AM  

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