Welcome to the third week of We Are the Body. We are thrilled you are joining us. This Bible study will be slightly different than our last one in that we won’t have video or a study guide. However, we will a time of Deeper Refinement that will allow you to spend the week digging a little further into each week’s lesson. Please make sure to leave your link, or let us know through the comment section, if you are participating so that we can pray for everyone involved!
Love the Ones You’re With
The lyrics of a song came to my mind and I googled the song/lyrics and saw that it was a pretty ridiculous song! There was one line that kept running through my mind! It was this: “…so if you can’t be with the one you love, love the one you’re with!” I haven’t heard that in years, but for some reason it kept going through my mind!
I sat down to reflect and write about what God has been showing me this week. I opened my journal and started typing the verses that I have written down. Some of them were the following:
Ps. 34 “I will bless the Lord at all times. His praise shall continually be in my mouth. My life makes its boast in the Lord, let the humble and afflicted hear and be glad. 4. I sought (inquired of) the Lord and required Him (of necessity and on the authority or His Word) and He heard me and delivered me from all my fears.22. The Lord redeems the lives of His servants…”
Ps. 35. “And my tongue shall talk of Your righteousness, rightness, and justice, and of (my reasons for) Your praise all the day long.
Then I read something I had written down a few days ago. It was this: ” I should never “check out” mentally from a place where God has put me. If I am still in this place, then God has me here and I need to be ‘all here’ and use this time for His glory.”
So, how does this fit together?
There are some circumstances in our lives that are hard, and I have been tempted to “check out” mentally. To quit. To say “I’ve had it. I’m done!” The whole time I have been tempted to do that, all the verses I have been reading have been saying, “bless the Lord…praise Him continually…boast in Him…seek Him….He is in control!”
When I am tempted to “check out,” my focus is on me…poor little old me! ME! ME! ME! When I choose to bless, praise and boast in God, my focus is on God….a big God! THE ONE TRUE GOD!
The older I get, I am growing in my understanding of what it means when people say they “long for heaven.” When I was younger I didn’t really “get” that because there was so much life to live!
Even though, Lord willing, I have a lot of life left to live, the aches and pains of life have caused me to look forward to heaven. Not in a morbid way or even in a way that wants to escape suffering. I really have been blessed beyond measure….far more than I deserve…but life–the Christian life especially–is HARD. And the thought of actually meeting the God that I have been privileged to get to know in a deeper way BECAUSE OF THE HARD STUFF IN MY LIFE is actually becoming much more appealing to me!
That’s where the song comes in! I am learning what it means to long for heaven. To want to be with the ONE I am learning to love more. BUT, until that day I MUST NOT “check out” mentally. I must live my life, in all of my circumstances, as an act of worship to God. Serving and loving those who come across my path!
So….If I can’t be with the ONE I love…I MUST love those I am with! My husband. My children. Anyone who comes to my door. The homeless lady at the grocery store. The check out lady at Target. The people at my church. The lady sitting next to me in the waiting room at the doctor’s office. Love them. Let God love them through me. Bring Him glory. Show Him how much I love Him by loving those I am with!
That is my challenge.
That is what I am learning!
If I can’t be with the ONE I love, love the “ones” I am with…serve them, hug them, tell them about the ONE I love, praise HIM continually and talk of HIS righteousness, rightness, and justice, and of (my reasons for) praising HIM all the day long.
Have you ever experienced those times or circumstances when you’ve “checked out” mentally or been tempted to?
How did this effect your ability to love or serve those around you?
Romans 12:10-13 says this: “Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with God’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.”
This week we are going to take some time to look at how we can love and serve “the one’s we’re with”. Grab your notebook and make a list of the people that you spend the most time with on a daily and weekly basis. Your husband, children, best friend, neighbor… whoever you see the most throughout your day to day life. Skip a few spaces between each name. Throughout the week, fill in those spaces with practical ways you can demonstrate the Romans 12 passage to those on your list. Pray over each name and ask the Father to give you ideas and His wisdom for following through.
You can come back anytime this week and add your link below, or share in the comments, if you choose to share what the Lord has shown you through this.
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This is a particularly challenging question for me! I shared my thoughts in a blog post, so I won’t be redundant here.
I probably won’t link up next Monday, since it’s a holiday. My husband will be off from work, so I’ll be spending the day with him instead of blogging.
Thanks for sharing, Melissa! We will miss you on Monday! Have a wonderful day with your husband!!!
love this; I experienced the ‘checking out’ while on vacation in NM. I had an immediate prick in my spirit from the Holy Spirit. I cannot ‘check out’ from those around me whether on vacation or not! I believe every moment is a divine appointment on this earth. As long as we are breathing, we are to be His Hands, His Feet, His body to accomplish His purposes for the short time we are here. thanks, cyber hugs, Janice
Thank you for sharing Janice! I am blessed by your sensitivity to the holy spirit!
I following along on my phone as I sit beside my newly adopted sin in pediaric intensive care! Needed to hear this today!!
Tami–Thank you for following along! I am praying for you right now as you sit next to your new baby in intensive care.
Grace to you!
What a great reminder to not check out of places God has us! Thank you for this reminder to seek God in all of our circumstances and then love others where we meet them.
Thanks for reading and taking part in this, Leigh Ann! We all need reminders!!!
Grace to you!
This must be something I should adhere to because it was spoke about in church yesterday. Confirmation is what I call it. Thank you and I will be truely trying to love those around me. Thank YOU!
Oh, I’ve experienced those times alright, but God. He never leaves us or forsakes us. Sadly, a lot of Christians are dying on the way to living and unbelievers are living on the way to dying. I believe in living on the way to living. With that I mean I am excited about His return but in the meantime I am taking each moment given to me here to passionately advance His Kingdom. When we think of the privilege He gives us to serve Him on this earth when, really, He does not need to, that to me is such powerful evidence of His love that I am compelled to serve Him with all of my being expressing my love to Him with one of the things dearest to His heart–taking His love to people.
I cannot wait to see Him but I see it more like His Kingdom here–the new Jerusalem coming down from heaven. I don’t see it as going to heaven and resting from my troubles. I see it as the most exciting time yet ahead of us.
Gina, you’re killing me with this study and the area of relationships, but that’s a good thing. I’ll be sharing something this week 4. =D
Dear OneHeart,
What a lovely quote!
“With that I mean I am excited about His return but in the meantime I am taking each moment given to me here to passionately advance His Kingdom. When we think of the privilege He gives us to serve Him on this earth when, really, He does not need to, that to me is such powerful evidence of His love that I am compelled to serve Him with all of my being expressing my love to Him with one of the things dearest to His heart–taking His love to people.”
Lord willing, I plan to ponder those words of truth often!
May I use this quote as my ‘quote of the note’ at the bottom of my emails? I try to include one thought-provoking quote with each email that I write (got the idea from a precious lady, Shelly, at our church).
May God bless you with a true sense of His grace and peace and love. (Huge Gentle Smile) ?
HveHope *-:¦:-
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