Friday, March 11, 2016

Stay Connected

eDevotion
Encouragement for your daily walk with God 

A church body has many spiritual responsibilities. One of the most important of those is to help each other stay on track. Since no one is immune to temptation, we need each other for encouragement and exhortation. There is no “Mind your own business” in God’s family. 

In fact, James explicitly told his readers to go after people who have strayed from the truth. Here is how The MESSAGE paraphrased his words: “If you know people who have wandered off from God’s truth, don’t write them off. Go after them. Get them back” [James 5:19].

Furthermore, the church body provides godly leaders. Their function is to watch over and care for the saints. Church leaders are often called “shepherds” in Scripture. They are responsible to guard, defend, and care for the spiritual welfare of the “flock” [Acts 20:28-29]. The author of Hebrews put it this way, “Their work is to watch over your souls, and they are accountable to God” [Hebrews 13:17b NLT, SE].

Stay connected to the body. Satan loves detached believers—isolated from God’s family, and unaccountable to spiritual leaders. Why? Because he knows they are defenseless and powerless against his tactics.

If you give Satan an inch, he’ll take a mile, as the old saying goes. So, don’t let him get a foothold. Stay connected to the church family.

But 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

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