Scripture: Jesus said, "I
pray for all those who believe in me that they may be one." John
17:20
and from
1 Corinthians 12:12-13 ~ "The human body has many
parts, but the many parts make up one whole body. So it is with the body of
Christ. Some of us are Jews, some are Gentiles, some are slaves, and some are
free."
Application: We are all given special gifts from God
that make up who we are as people. Some of us can sing, some dance, some lead,
some follow, some paint, draw, or play sports.
This list of gifts is endless.
As the body of Christ, we are asked to work together as one. To step out and speak to others whom we
might not know. To be an example of
love and acceptance to others. As we
work together, God rewards us with more gifts.
How we utilize our gifts is often how we are viewed in society. If we use our gifts openly, then we bless
others through them. If we hide our
gifts from others, we appear selfish or uncaring. Take a look at the picture that is on our website. You will have to use this link to get to it
though because another link has not been set up. The link is http://www.epworth-umc.com/unityphotos/jesusMosaic.jpg,
but wait to click it until after you have read the rest of this devotion. It will take a minute to load, but you will
see a picture of Jesus Christ. If you
click on the expander, the red thing in the bottom right corner, you will then
see that this picture is made of many other pictures. The pictures used to create this mosaic are photos of people who
attend our church, of the church, the scouts, the youth group, and the young
children's school. While you may not
find your own personal picture, you can see by looking at it that each picture
is necessary to complete the big picture of Jesus Christ.
Quote: "Live love, Give love, Love love, be
love,- All these things do today, all these things along your way." -
Celia Whitler, a Franklin, TN Christian music artist
Prayer: Dear God, thank you for all of those people through out the world and in our community that come together to create the body of Christ. Help me to be one of those people. Amen
