Let Go and Let God, Part 2
Last week we coined the slogan “Let Go
and Let God.” We also began thinking in terms of being a prisoner of Christ.
This week we are going to go deeper in that slogan and the thought of being a
prisoner. As this unfolds a little deeper, we will evaluate every aspect of our
actions and words.
As you go into this week’s devotion,
think about how you handle situations with people who seem to demand a great
deal of patience from you. I think we all encounter those kinds of people from
time to time. These are the people who try our patience and push to us to react
and speak unkindly sometimes.
Unity in the Body of Christ
Sunday: Read
Ephesians 3:1-3 “I therefore, a prisoner
for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you
have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with
one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of
peace.”
Last week we learned that we are to consider ourselves a
prisoner of Christ, and as a prisoner, we are not free to go and do as we
please. This week we are going to go deeper into our actions and reactions to
other people. The passage today tells us to walk at all times in a manner
worthy of the calling that has been extended to us. Read the passage several
times and think about each aspect we are to exemplify in our lives.
In your journal list the aspects we are to display. Beside
each one explain what it means in your own words. Then, write beside the
explanation how well you think you have displayed that aspect or characteristic
in your life.
Example: Humility and gentleness - this means to remain
humble in my thinking and how I portray myself to others regardless of the
blessing from God I have received or the status God has allowed me to have. I
am also to speak and interact with others in a very gentle manner as opposed to
speaking harshly and sharply with them regardless of how irritated I may become
with them. — This was a struggle this past week as I encountered someone who w
as behaving in a haughty manner because of their new position. The instant I caught myself beginning to come back with an aggressive counter argument, I stopped, thanked this person for taking the time to talk with me and explain their perspective of the situation. I realized that arguing would not resolve the issue. The best thing to do is to remove myself from the situation, document the conversation and situation and wait for the right time to continue the issue with others present. Just because a person is not willing to treat others fairly and justly does not mean I should speak to them in the same authoritative manner, but rather I should treat them with the kindness I am asking they provide to others.
as behaving in a haughty manner because of their new position. The instant I caught myself beginning to come back with an aggressive counter argument, I stopped, thanked this person for taking the time to talk with me and explain their perspective of the situation. I realized that arguing would not resolve the issue. The best thing to do is to remove myself from the situation, document the conversation and situation and wait for the right time to continue the issue with others present. Just because a person is not willing to treat others fairly and justly does not mean I should speak to them in the same authoritative manner, but rather I should treat them with the kindness I am asking they provide to others.
Do this in your journal for each of the aspects we are to
portray as a person of Christ.
Monday: Focus on
Ephesians 4:1-6 “I therefore, a prisoner
for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you
have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with
one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of
peace. There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope
that belongs to your call— one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father
of all, who is over all and through all and in all.”
Read this passage and think about why we are to behave in
the characteristic of humility and gentleness, patience, bearing one with
another in love, and being eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
In your journal today write the reasons you think it is
imperative to behave in the ways mentioned above.
Tuesday:
Focus on Ephesians 4:7-16 “But
grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ's gift.
Therefore it says,
‘When he ascended on high he led a host of
captives,
and he gave gifts to men.’
(In saying, ‘He ascended,’ what does it mean
but that he had also descended into the lower regions, the earth? He who
descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might
fill all things.) And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the
shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for
building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith
and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of
the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children,
tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by
human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth
in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ,
from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it
is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it
builds itself up in love.”
This passage indicates that we are all given a special
gift for a certain purpose, and we are
to use that gift to build up His kingdom. One point I want to make is that we
must remember that we were not given our special gift to build up ourselves.
Read over the passage and begin praying over the gift God has bestowed upon
you. You may also want to read from Romans 12 and I Corinthians 12 to find a
complete listing of the Spiritual Gifts.
Romans
12 1 Corinthians 12
exhortation administration
giving apostle
leadership discernment
mercy faith
prophecy healings
service helps
teaching knowledge
miracles
prophecy
teaching
tongues
tongues
interpretation
wisdom
Write that gift in your journal and explain how you know
that is your gift and how you have been using that gift.