ICSG Daily Devotions
Jesus Said, “GO!”
A balanced Christian life involves Christ in the center of our lives, reading the Word, prayer, fellowship and evangelism. Having all these in our lives will cause us to be fruitful and fulfilled in our walk with God.
When God saves a person, He places the person in the body of Christ. The body of Christ comprises many parts. Just as any part of the body cannot function fully on its own, the local church brings many Christians together so that a believer can grow, be secure and find his identity and service to the Lord there. One cannot just have a casual relationship with the church where he/she belongs. It must be his base, a place where he can work, rest, rejoice and cry.
Ephesians 1:20-23 (NKJV) which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come. And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.
Jesus is now seated at the right hand of God the Father and He is the Head of the Church, which is His body. We have now become representatives of God on this earth and different parts make up a body, we have different functions and different giftings.
Ephesians 4:11-16 (NKJV) And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.
It is important to note that not all believers are in the fivefold ministry (ie. apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers). But God wants every believer to be strong in the supernatural without necessarily being employed in the full-time or fivefold ministry. All believers are already in full-time ministry without realizing it because he or she has a social network of neighbours, friends, work colleagues and relatives which is often greater than that of the preacher. Therefore, it would be sad if the believers only live passively through meetings hoping that the preacher will do all the work. We are joined to Christ who is our Head and if so, we have the power, authority and responsibility to reach out to them as Christ would do if He were here on earth.
God has chosen you to be His ambassador in the community and the nations. You have an important part to play in the body of Christ.
Jesus said in Matthew 28:19 (NKJV), “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations…” Therefore, Go!
Sermon Series: Jesus Said
