Weekly Devotion - "INTENTIONAL COMMUNITY" - Jan 17, 2011

from Lenae

GEMS Training Manager

INTENTIONAL COMMUNITY

As for the saints who are in the land, they are the glorious ones in whom is all my delight.

Psalm 16:3

As I put on my winter coat and triple wrapped a scarf around my neck before stepping out into a bitter cold Minnesota night to go to GEMS Crazy Love Bible Study, I said to my husband, “I wish everyone had a small group like this.” Although we’re not always united in opinion, we are bound by a great love for God and one another. This once a month gathering is a precious time of interacting with God’s people.

David felt the same way about the people he did life with. He forged friendships with those who encouraged him to stay strong in his faith. His dear friend Jonathan helped him find strength in God (1 Samuel 23:16). David’s mighty men gave his kingship strong support to extend it over the whole land, as the LORD had promised (1 Chronicles 11:10). The prophet Nathan loved David enough to rebuke him, delivering God’s word on his sin with Bathsheba (2 Samuel 11-12).

Do your friends encourage you to stay strong in your faith in God? Are you committed, like Peter was, that until his dying breath he would remind brothers and sisters in Jesus about the things of God, and urge them to pay attention to Scripture? I think it is right to refresh your memory as long as I live in the tent of this body, because I know that I will soon put it aside, as our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me (2 Peter 1:13-14).

Interacting with God’s people must go deeper than talking about the weather and go further than the pot of coffee that is shared after Sunday morning worship. Intentional community must be central to our relationships with God’s people. We must . . .

• Spur one another on toward love and good deeds (Hebrews 10:24).
• Encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness (Hebrews 3:13).
• Share with God’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality (Romans 12:13).
• Be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints (Ephesians 6:18).
• Do good to all people, especially those who belong to the family of believers (Romans 6:10).

That’s a tall order for introverts and independent souls. If we’re not intentionally living in community we need Paul’s reminder that Christ gave Himself to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for Himself a people (not individuals!) that are His very own, eager to do what is good (Titus 2:14).

PASSION Step: How can you share life and encourage another believer today?

We are not saved individually and then choose to join the church as it if it were some club or support group. Christ died for His people, and we are saved when by faith we become part of the people for whom Christ died.

 Tim Chester and Steve Timmis