Ephesians 4:15-16 Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.

Ephesians is so incredibly rich! What many consider my maternal grandfather’s greatest book, The Glory of God in the Christian Calling, was written on Ephesians, and I use Ephesians so often that a page of it literally fell out of the bilingual Bible I used prior to my current one. These two verses describe what could be called Body life, the normal, healthy state of the Church. Many things conspire to hinder this, of course, directed and encouraged by our enemy, the devil.  I think the chief of those is pride, along with its companion, self-centeredness. When we operate in and communicate God’s truth in His love, both of those things are completely defeated. We need to remember that Christ is both our goal and our Head, the one from whom we take our directions and whom we emulate. It is very significant that this passage speaks of each part doing its part. When we think, “Someone else will do it,” or, “My part isn’t important,” we are swallowing the devil’s lies. Paul explained very clearly in 1 Corinthians 12 how each part is essential, and how the whole body suffers when any part of it is compromised. That said, we’ve got to remember that the guiding principle is love, and not go around accusing others of not doing their part. We are to encourage one another, rejoicing to be part of the Body of Christ and delighting to be used by Him to bless one another and give Him glory.

This is very timely, because the Japanese fiscal year starts in April, and we had a board meeting yesterday to start preparing for the business meeting we’ll have April 13^th. God has been saying a lot to us recently about unity, and the board meeting was a good practicum in how that works out. There were differences of opinion, from different life experiences, and we were presented with the need to learn from each other, while letting the Holy Spirit be the arbiter of what we are to do as a local church. That takes more wisdom than any of us have naturally, so we need to ask God for that wisdom and exercise it as He gives it to us. (James 1:5) There are many signs that God is working in and around us, and we need to be sensitive and obedient at all times so that His plans may be fulfilled in and through us for His glory.

Father, thank You for how You are guiding and teaching us. I pray that we would have an ever clearer vision of who we are in Christ and what You want us to be, in this city and this nation. I pray that each person would rise up in the gifting and office You have assigned to them, so that all of Your plans may indeed be fulfilled for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!