Placed in The Body
1 Corinthians 12:18
Message #4
Today we are discussing chapters 4 and 5 of the book by John Bevere called “The Bait of Satan.” And my question for you today is, have you been placed in the Body? And so, let me start by answering that question.
If you have given your life to Jesus Christ (by faith) as your Savior and Lord, then 1 Corinthians 12 verse 18 tells us the following.
1 Corinthians 12:18 (NET)
18 But as a matter of fact, God HAS placed each of the members in the body just as he decided.
The Bait of Satan is the Bait of Offense, and recognizing the truth of this verse is foundational to us not taking the enemy’s bait and escaping the prison of offense.
Chapters 4 and 5 of this book talk a lot about the life of David, but I can’t review the entire life of David today. We do have a complete series on “The Life of David” and I encourage you to listen – especially for leaders.
But for today, let me just say Saul (the first King of Israel) was committed to killing David (who was to be the second King of Israel). And I mean Saul was really committed to killing David, and David (who knew he would be king) was running and hiding, and working very hard to avoid being killed by Saul – who was currently king.
And twice, it seemed God opened the door for David to bring an end to Saul’s madness – by killing Saul – twice. The first time (1 Samuel 24), was in the cave of En Gedi and Saul was there, unprotected and relieving himself. And David’s men had told him the Lord has given your enemy into your hand – take this opportunity to get your revenge. David snuck up to Saul but he only cut a corner of Saul’s robe off – instead of killing him. And David used the corner of the robe to convince Saul he had no malice toward him, even though Saul was committed to killing David.
The second time (1 Samuel 26), God had put all of Saul’s army to sleep, and David was with his bodyguard, Abishai. They snuck right up next to Saul, and Abishai had his spear up – ready to deliver the blow that Saul completely deserved.
1 Samuel 26:9–11 (NLT)
9 “No!” David said. “Don’t kill him. For who can remain innocent after attacking the Lord’s anointed one?
10 Surely the Lord will strike Saul down someday, or he will die of old age or in battle.
11 The Lord forbid that I should kill the one he has anointed! . . .
And here is the thought for today. Is it possible that God actually set up both of these perfect “opportunities” for David in order to test David to see if he would take matters into his own hands with Saul, or if David would allow God to deal with Saul AS God saw fit and WHEN God saw fit?
Was it a test of David’s trust in God to allow God to do what God wanted in this situation? And to allow God to act when God wanted to act?
When we feel like we have been offended, it is so much easier for us to take matters into our own hands than it is to trust God to respond how, when, and if God sees fit to do so.
In these tests of “opportunity”, God was refining David’s commitment to allow God to be God.
Romans 12:19 (NLT)
19 Dear friends, never take revenge. Leave that to the righteous anger of God. For the Scriptures say, “I will take revenge; I will pay them back,” says the Lord.
The point of this verse is not, “Alright Lord, YOU get ‘em, YOU take them out, YOU destroy them!” The point is that we are called to release our feelings (plans) for revenge and leave all of that up to God. This verse is saying, “Let. It. Go.”
What we see is not reality. Can you accept that? We live in a spiritual realm. We’re citizens of Heaven. We operate in a plane that is outside of the tangible reality. And so, if we’re making decisions based on what we see, God’s like, “Whoa! You see like two percent of the situation or even point two percent of the situation.” What we see is not reality. And so, God says, “Let it go because I see it all, and I’m involved in it all. And I was involved before it started, and I’ll be involved when it’s done. You know nothing, so let me handle it.” That’s what Romans 12:19 is saying.
And leaving it all up to God – is hard, isn’t it? Because what if God doesn’t “pay them back” like we think they deserve? What if God doesn’t do it in the way we think he should? OR in the time we think he should?
Truly releasing our feeling of a “need for judgment” toward someone who has offended us, is a crucial and a critical part of us being released from the Trap of Offense. We need to say this to God. “I am going to release all of my feelings of what’s right, or what needs to happen. I’m going to release them to you.” This is a crucial and foundational part of us being released from the prison of offense. And the prison of offense can be a life-long prison.
And God will deliberately place you in a situation where you can easily justify “taking action” against a person who has offended you. And when God “tests” you (sometimes it’s a pass/fail test) it is usually refining, purifying and tested as if by fire. It’s God putting you to the test to refine you, and to show you your own sin, your own heart, so that you become humble and dependent on him instead of justifying your actions and taking his place – that’s what we do. We take God’s place when we make God’s decisions for him.
And so, God will put you in this place to see if you can learn that. Here’s one of the devil’s tricks. One of the devil’s biggest deceptions in this situation is your Christian friends who support you. Your well-meaning” Christian friends will “take your side.” And out of friendship, they’ll wrongly imply that your feelings are right in God’s eyes.
What if we stopped for a minute and said, “What if we see this from God’s perspective? What if God has something good for you in this? What if this is an awesome opportunity for you to show grace, and mercy, and unconditional love, and forgiveness?” We need people that will tell us the truth, not feed us poison.
But in every situation that unfolds like this, your “well-meaning” Christian friends are dead wrong, and their fleshly response that seems to be so supportive is actually being used by the enemy to further imprison you in the Trap of Offense. The usual result is division, discord, and dissension being brought into the church.
And this is especially true and especially important when that person who has offended you is a leader in the church.
Now, please hear me clearly, right here. Remember, in this series, we are talking about you being personally offended and “Taking the Bait” of offense.
I am NOT talking about MORAL failure or CRIMINAL behavior.
I’m talking about a leader who has offended you by a decision they’ve made, or by something they’ve said, or maybe just by their personality.
Moral failures and criminal behaviors need to be handled differently by those who God has put in a position to handle them.
But I’m talking about the, by far, the more common offense of a leader who doesn’t do what you want them to do or handle a situation like you want them to handle it. THAT is the Bait of Satan that I’ve seen do more widespread damage than anything else in the church.
In our culture, people get offended and leave churches far too easily if we don’t like how something is being done, or being handled, or being said, we are quick to take the Bait of Offense and head to the next church.
We approach church like a restaurant. We leave church too easily. If something’s not being done the way we want it, if something’s not being prepared the way we want it, if we’re not being served the way we want it, then we just pick another “restaurant” to go to. (And I usually use “entertainment” for this example, but I love this restaurant idea because it really makes more sense to me.)
We leave churches way too easily because “they didn’t serve us right,” or “the meal wasn’t right,” or “the environment wasn’t right.” “There were too many people.” “There were too few people.” “My favorite donut isn’t there.”
So, here’s the thing. People leave a church and go to a different church – sometimes it’s legit because you’re like “Whoa! There’s some serious heresy going on there! Let’s find a Bible-teaching church.” But when you say, “I don’t like this, I don’t like that… I’m leaving,” we just do that too easily. If you think that other church is perfect, as soon as you get there, you’re going to make it not perfect because we’re all sinners.
But listen, the only perfect church is in Heaven, and the only perfect Pastor is Jesus Christ, himself. On earth, God uses imperfect sinners – saved by grace – to lead his church. Look at the twelve leaders Jesus picked to start the New Testament Church and take the gospel to the world. Those were some seriously imperfect sinners.
(By the way, if you haven’t gotten hooked on “The Chosen” yet, you really need to. Download the app called “The Chosen” and watch this incredible series about Jesus and the twelve Disciples. In this multi-season series, what we see is – Jesus through the eyes of the Disciples. And as they’re developing the characters of the Disciples, you’re like, “Whoa! These guys are seriously messed up!” They are real! Watch it and see for yourselves.)
Paul, the Apostle, the greatest Apostle, wrote these words in 1 Timothy Chapter 1, verses 15-16. Writing about himself, he says,
1 Timothy 1:15–16 (NLT)
15 . . . “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” - and I am the worst of them all.
16 But God had mercy on me so that Christ Jesus could use me as a prime example of his great patience with even the worst sinners . . .
God uses imperfect sinners – saved by grace to lead his Church. And I may not agree with the particular, imperfect sinner God has put in leadership in a church. But, please listen carefully right here.
What IF God has put that imperfect, saved by grace leader in your church – for your good?
What IF God wants to use that particular imperfect leader to do something good in your life?
What if God wants to use that imperfect leader
to refine you
to mature you
to transform you
to prepare you?
What IF that imperfect leader is there for God to test you?
What IF they are there to show you the condition of your own heart?
That imperfect person, who has caused you some offense, God wants to use that person in your life to bring you into a closer walk with him, to teach you more about mercy, and grace, and forgiveness. To teach you about unconditional, and sacrificial love. That person is in your life on purpose. But it’s not for them. It’s for you. And you are that person for someone else, believe me.
So now, hear our key verse today as God speaking directly to you! NOT to that leader who has offended you – but to you. Not to that person who has offended you – but to you.
1 Corinthians 12:18 (NKJV) (this time)
18 But now God has set the members, each one of them (meaning you), in the body just as He pleased.
God has set you in the Body – just as he pleased. He did it sovereignly. Our “consumer Church mentality” has caused us to think that we choose where in the Body of Christ we are set.
We have to get to the point where we say “I am part of the Body. I am not a spectator, I am not evaluating, I’m not judging. I’m not eating at a restaurant. I’m part of a Body. And if this is the Body that you made me part of, then you have set me here purposefully.” It’s to change me. God wants to use this dysfunctional “hospital for sinners” to change me.
We don’t choose. This verse says the opposite. It says God has set you in the Body – just as he pleased. And what if it is the enemy who is convincing you to judge the Body of Christ like you would judge a restaurant.
Don’t talk about church as if you were talking about what restaurant you are going to tonight. “If everything is to my liking, then I’ll come back. And I’ll tip according to how well I’m treated on each visit, by those who are serving me.”
Our culture, and the Bait of Satan, tempts us to judge a church and judge its leaders like we would judge our experience at a restaurant. We have to stop this. It is anti-Biblical in every way.
God places us in the Body of Christ
to mature us
to refine us
to strengthen us
Not so that we can judge the church like we judge a meal at a restaurant. He wants to do it as a functioning part of the Body. And as we are a functioning part of the Body, God makes us who he wants us to be. He creates us to be who he wants us to be.
We have a great message called, “Grow Where You’re Planted” and you can get it on the WordByMail phone app or the calvarynuevo.org website.
Along those lines, Psalm 92, verse 13 says,
Psalm 92:13 (NKJV)
13 Those who are planted in the house of the Lord Shall flourish in the courts of our God.
It’s great to visit churches. But if you want to flourish in the courts of the Lord – get planted. Become part of the church. Be the Church. If God has planted you in the House of the Lord, he wants you to flourish right where you are planted. But think about what makes a tree strong. What makes a tree strong is first – good soil. A strong tree has to have good soil to send its roots down deep into the ground.
In the Parable of the Sower and the Seed, Jesus compares our hearts to soil where his Word can become deeply rooted – or not. In Mark 4, verses 5-6, Jesus says,
Mark 4:5–6 (NLT)
5 Other seed fell on shallow soil with underlying rock. The seed sprouted quickly because the soil was shallow.
6 But the plant soon wilted under the hot sun, and since it didn’t have deep roots, it died.
Shallow soil – yeah, I’m a Christian, but my heart is rock hard. Not healthy.
If we have been planted in the House of the Lord, first we have to allow God to prepare the soil of our heart for God to send the roots of his truth deep into our lives. That’s usually done by God plowing, turning up that fallow ground – breaking up that fallow ground – it’s painful for the soil. (If you can relate to the soil.) It’s painful for your heart, but God has to break your heart and turn up the soil so you can receive the roots he wants to send into your heart.
And then, when a tree’s roots are in good soil, what is it that makes that tree strong? It is actually wind, and storms, and trouble that makes a tree ready to withstand anything. You’ve seen trees on the side of hills where the wind blows all of the time, right? They lean into the wind. They don't lean back – they lean into the wind. And the more the wind blows, and the more the storms come, if their roots are deep, they get stronger, and stronger, and stronger.
Listen. We have to “lean into the storms” in the Body. We have to lean in, not in a sense of a fighting or arguing way. We have to lean in, in a loving way, and say to God, “What do you have for me in this situation? If you planted me here, the way that I’m going to get strong is by dealing with this situation, by leaning into this storm. Leaning into this wind, this adverse condition. I’m going to lean into it, and then you’re going to make me strong through it.”
And so, when we prepare our own heart to receive the depth of what God is teaching us, and then we lean into those adverse conditions – not in a fighting way, but in a “working things out in love” way – when we lean into those adverse conditions with the soil of our heart right, and our approach to unity and love right¸ we say, “Lord, I’m planted here. It’s not about that person. It’s about you using that person for me, to change my heart.”
And as we do that, THEN we will become like the man in the first verse of the Book of Psalms.
Psalm 1:1–3 (NLT)
1 Oh, the joys of those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or stand around with sinners, or join in with mockers. (all of which are easily found IN the church)
2 But they delight in the law of the Lord, meditating on it day and night. (they’re focused on taking in the truth of God’s Word, at all times)
3 (And the result is) They are like trees planted along the riverbank, bearing fruit each season (or in their season). Their leaves never wither, and they prosper in all they do.
THIS is what we are called to do and to be.
But, instead, too often we judge where God has planted us like we judge the service at a restaurant, and as soon as our meal comes under-cooked, or over-cooked, or not presented how we like it, we push our chair back and throw our napkin down, and next week we go to a different restaurant, and as we go, we tell others to avoid the restaurant we just left.
And when we do that, we uproot ourselves from where GOD has planted us, and we transplant ourselves to what we think will be a better location.
But every time you transplant a tree, its root system becomes weaker. And every time you transplant a tree, it has some time of dying. And then it becomes easier and easier for you to be uprooted until you get to the place where your root system cannot endure ANY AMOUNT of hardship at all. And, if you transplant a tree TOO MANY times – it will die.
God created us to function together AS a Body, and he has placed each of us in the Body as HE sees fit and he has called each of us to be a healthy, functioning part of the Body.
And speaking of a healthy, functioning body, just down from our key verse (1 Corinthians 12:18), speaking of God placing each member of the Body just as he wants it.
1 Corinthians 12:25–27 (NLT)
25 This makes for harmony among the members, so that all the members care for each other.
26 If one part suffers, all the parts suffer with it, and if one part is honored, all the parts are glad.
27 All of you together are Christ’s body, and each of you is a part of it.
Do we feel that way about the Body that GOD has placed us in? That God has called us to care for one another? That if one part suffers, all parts suffer? And if one part is honored, all parts are honored? That we all – together – ARE Christ’s Body? And that each of us is part of his Body?
Guys, don’t take the Bait of Offense. Don’t uproot yourself – or isolate yourself in the church God has planted you in. Don’t become critical of the other parts of the Body, or who God has placed in those parts.
And please, please, DO NOT FEED the bitterness in those who have taken the Bait of Offense. Do not think that you’re being supportive by encouraging the poison of offense that they are drinking. Instead, do what you can to save them from being drawn any further into the enemy’s Trap of Offense.
Help them work through their offense. Help them go, and talk, and forgive. Help them to see that the grace, and mercy, and forgiveness that they have received from God. That God is calling them to extend that same grace, and mercy, and forgiveness to those they think have offended them.
If you have given your life to Jesus Christ (by faith) as your Savior and Lord, then 1 Corinthians 12 verse 18 tells us the following.
1 Corinthians 12:18 (NET)
18 But as a matter of fact, God HAS placed each of the members in the body just as he decided.
The Bait of Satan is the Bait of Offense, and recognizing the truth of this verse is foundational to us not taking the enemy’s bait and escaping the prison of offense.
Chapters 4 and 5 of this book talk a lot about the life of David, but I can’t review the entire life of David today. We do have a complete series on “The Life of David” and I encourage you to listen – especially for leaders.
But for today, let me just say Saul (the first King of Israel) was committed to killing David (who was to be the second King of Israel). And I mean Saul was really committed to killing David, and David (who knew he would be king) was running and hiding, and working very hard to avoid being killed by Saul – who was currently king.
And twice, it seemed God opened the door for David to bring an end to Saul’s madness – by killing Saul – twice. The first time (1 Samuel 24), was in the cave of En Gedi and Saul was there, unprotected and relieving himself. And David’s men had told him the Lord has given your enemy into your hand – take this opportunity to get your revenge. David snuck up to Saul but he only cut a corner of Saul’s robe off – instead of killing him. And David used the corner of the robe to convince Saul he had no malice toward him, even though Saul was committed to killing David.
The second time (1 Samuel 26), God had put all of Saul’s army to sleep, and David was with his bodyguard, Abishai. They snuck right up next to Saul, and Abishai had his spear up – ready to deliver the blow that Saul completely deserved.
1 Samuel 26:9–11 (NLT)
9 “No!” David said. “Don’t kill him. For who can remain innocent after attacking the Lord’s anointed one?
10 Surely the Lord will strike Saul down someday, or he will die of old age or in battle.
11 The Lord forbid that I should kill the one he has anointed! . . .
And here is the thought for today. Is it possible that God actually set up both of these perfect “opportunities” for David in order to test David to see if he would take matters into his own hands with Saul, or if David would allow God to deal with Saul AS God saw fit and WHEN God saw fit?
Was it a test of David’s trust in God to allow God to do what God wanted in this situation? And to allow God to act when God wanted to act?
When we feel like we have been offended, it is so much easier for us to take matters into our own hands than it is to trust God to respond how, when, and if God sees fit to do so.
In these tests of “opportunity”, God was refining David’s commitment to allow God to be God.
Romans 12:19 (NLT)
19 Dear friends, never take revenge. Leave that to the righteous anger of God. For the Scriptures say, “I will take revenge; I will pay them back,” says the Lord.
The point of this verse is not, “Alright Lord, YOU get ‘em, YOU take them out, YOU destroy them!” The point is that we are called to release our feelings (plans) for revenge and leave all of that up to God. This verse is saying, “Let. It. Go.”
What we see is not reality. Can you accept that? We live in a spiritual realm. We’re citizens of Heaven. We operate in a plane that is outside of the tangible reality. And so, if we’re making decisions based on what we see, God’s like, “Whoa! You see like two percent of the situation or even point two percent of the situation.” What we see is not reality. And so, God says, “Let it go because I see it all, and I’m involved in it all. And I was involved before it started, and I’ll be involved when it’s done. You know nothing, so let me handle it.” That’s what Romans 12:19 is saying.
And leaving it all up to God – is hard, isn’t it? Because what if God doesn’t “pay them back” like we think they deserve? What if God doesn’t do it in the way we think he should? OR in the time we think he should?
Truly releasing our feeling of a “need for judgment” toward someone who has offended us, is a crucial and a critical part of us being released from the Trap of Offense. We need to say this to God. “I am going to release all of my feelings of what’s right, or what needs to happen. I’m going to release them to you.” This is a crucial and foundational part of us being released from the prison of offense. And the prison of offense can be a life-long prison.
And God will deliberately place you in a situation where you can easily justify “taking action” against a person who has offended you. And when God “tests” you (sometimes it’s a pass/fail test) it is usually refining, purifying and tested as if by fire. It’s God putting you to the test to refine you, and to show you your own sin, your own heart, so that you become humble and dependent on him instead of justifying your actions and taking his place – that’s what we do. We take God’s place when we make God’s decisions for him.
And so, God will put you in this place to see if you can learn that. Here’s one of the devil’s tricks. One of the devil’s biggest deceptions in this situation is your Christian friends who support you. Your well-meaning” Christian friends will “take your side.” And out of friendship, they’ll wrongly imply that your feelings are right in God’s eyes.
What if we stopped for a minute and said, “What if we see this from God’s perspective? What if God has something good for you in this? What if this is an awesome opportunity for you to show grace, and mercy, and unconditional love, and forgiveness?” We need people that will tell us the truth, not feed us poison.
But in every situation that unfolds like this, your “well-meaning” Christian friends are dead wrong, and their fleshly response that seems to be so supportive is actually being used by the enemy to further imprison you in the Trap of Offense. The usual result is division, discord, and dissension being brought into the church.
And this is especially true and especially important when that person who has offended you is a leader in the church.
Now, please hear me clearly, right here. Remember, in this series, we are talking about you being personally offended and “Taking the Bait” of offense.
I am NOT talking about MORAL failure or CRIMINAL behavior.
I’m talking about a leader who has offended you by a decision they’ve made, or by something they’ve said, or maybe just by their personality.
Moral failures and criminal behaviors need to be handled differently by those who God has put in a position to handle them.
But I’m talking about the, by far, the more common offense of a leader who doesn’t do what you want them to do or handle a situation like you want them to handle it. THAT is the Bait of Satan that I’ve seen do more widespread damage than anything else in the church.
In our culture, people get offended and leave churches far too easily if we don’t like how something is being done, or being handled, or being said, we are quick to take the Bait of Offense and head to the next church.
We approach church like a restaurant. We leave church too easily. If something’s not being done the way we want it, if something’s not being prepared the way we want it, if we’re not being served the way we want it, then we just pick another “restaurant” to go to. (And I usually use “entertainment” for this example, but I love this restaurant idea because it really makes more sense to me.)
We leave churches way too easily because “they didn’t serve us right,” or “the meal wasn’t right,” or “the environment wasn’t right.” “There were too many people.” “There were too few people.” “My favorite donut isn’t there.”
So, here’s the thing. People leave a church and go to a different church – sometimes it’s legit because you’re like “Whoa! There’s some serious heresy going on there! Let’s find a Bible-teaching church.” But when you say, “I don’t like this, I don’t like that… I’m leaving,” we just do that too easily. If you think that other church is perfect, as soon as you get there, you’re going to make it not perfect because we’re all sinners.
But listen, the only perfect church is in Heaven, and the only perfect Pastor is Jesus Christ, himself. On earth, God uses imperfect sinners – saved by grace – to lead his church. Look at the twelve leaders Jesus picked to start the New Testament Church and take the gospel to the world. Those were some seriously imperfect sinners.
(By the way, if you haven’t gotten hooked on “The Chosen” yet, you really need to. Download the app called “The Chosen” and watch this incredible series about Jesus and the twelve Disciples. In this multi-season series, what we see is – Jesus through the eyes of the Disciples. And as they’re developing the characters of the Disciples, you’re like, “Whoa! These guys are seriously messed up!” They are real! Watch it and see for yourselves.)
Paul, the Apostle, the greatest Apostle, wrote these words in 1 Timothy Chapter 1, verses 15-16. Writing about himself, he says,
1 Timothy 1:15–16 (NLT)
15 . . . “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” - and I am the worst of them all.
16 But God had mercy on me so that Christ Jesus could use me as a prime example of his great patience with even the worst sinners . . .
God uses imperfect sinners – saved by grace to lead his Church. And I may not agree with the particular, imperfect sinner God has put in leadership in a church. But, please listen carefully right here.
What IF God has put that imperfect, saved by grace leader in your church – for your good?
What IF God wants to use that particular imperfect leader to do something good in your life?
What if God wants to use that imperfect leader
to refine you
to mature you
to transform you
to prepare you?
What IF that imperfect leader is there for God to test you?
What IF they are there to show you the condition of your own heart?
That imperfect person, who has caused you some offense, God wants to use that person in your life to bring you into a closer walk with him, to teach you more about mercy, and grace, and forgiveness. To teach you about unconditional, and sacrificial love. That person is in your life on purpose. But it’s not for them. It’s for you. And you are that person for someone else, believe me.
So now, hear our key verse today as God speaking directly to you! NOT to that leader who has offended you – but to you. Not to that person who has offended you – but to you.
1 Corinthians 12:18 (NKJV) (this time)
18 But now God has set the members, each one of them (meaning you), in the body just as He pleased.
God has set you in the Body – just as he pleased. He did it sovereignly. Our “consumer Church mentality” has caused us to think that we choose where in the Body of Christ we are set.
We have to get to the point where we say “I am part of the Body. I am not a spectator, I am not evaluating, I’m not judging. I’m not eating at a restaurant. I’m part of a Body. And if this is the Body that you made me part of, then you have set me here purposefully.” It’s to change me. God wants to use this dysfunctional “hospital for sinners” to change me.
We don’t choose. This verse says the opposite. It says God has set you in the Body – just as he pleased. And what if it is the enemy who is convincing you to judge the Body of Christ like you would judge a restaurant.
Don’t talk about church as if you were talking about what restaurant you are going to tonight. “If everything is to my liking, then I’ll come back. And I’ll tip according to how well I’m treated on each visit, by those who are serving me.”
Our culture, and the Bait of Satan, tempts us to judge a church and judge its leaders like we would judge our experience at a restaurant. We have to stop this. It is anti-Biblical in every way.
God places us in the Body of Christ
to mature us
to refine us
to strengthen us
Not so that we can judge the church like we judge a meal at a restaurant. He wants to do it as a functioning part of the Body. And as we are a functioning part of the Body, God makes us who he wants us to be. He creates us to be who he wants us to be.
We have a great message called, “Grow Where You’re Planted” and you can get it on the WordByMail phone app or the calvarynuevo.org website.
Along those lines, Psalm 92, verse 13 says,
Psalm 92:13 (NKJV)
13 Those who are planted in the house of the Lord Shall flourish in the courts of our God.
It’s great to visit churches. But if you want to flourish in the courts of the Lord – get planted. Become part of the church. Be the Church. If God has planted you in the House of the Lord, he wants you to flourish right where you are planted. But think about what makes a tree strong. What makes a tree strong is first – good soil. A strong tree has to have good soil to send its roots down deep into the ground.
In the Parable of the Sower and the Seed, Jesus compares our hearts to soil where his Word can become deeply rooted – or not. In Mark 4, verses 5-6, Jesus says,
Mark 4:5–6 (NLT)
5 Other seed fell on shallow soil with underlying rock. The seed sprouted quickly because the soil was shallow.
6 But the plant soon wilted under the hot sun, and since it didn’t have deep roots, it died.
Shallow soil – yeah, I’m a Christian, but my heart is rock hard. Not healthy.
If we have been planted in the House of the Lord, first we have to allow God to prepare the soil of our heart for God to send the roots of his truth deep into our lives. That’s usually done by God plowing, turning up that fallow ground – breaking up that fallow ground – it’s painful for the soil. (If you can relate to the soil.) It’s painful for your heart, but God has to break your heart and turn up the soil so you can receive the roots he wants to send into your heart.
And then, when a tree’s roots are in good soil, what is it that makes that tree strong? It is actually wind, and storms, and trouble that makes a tree ready to withstand anything. You’ve seen trees on the side of hills where the wind blows all of the time, right? They lean into the wind. They don't lean back – they lean into the wind. And the more the wind blows, and the more the storms come, if their roots are deep, they get stronger, and stronger, and stronger.
Listen. We have to “lean into the storms” in the Body. We have to lean in, not in a sense of a fighting or arguing way. We have to lean in, in a loving way, and say to God, “What do you have for me in this situation? If you planted me here, the way that I’m going to get strong is by dealing with this situation, by leaning into this storm. Leaning into this wind, this adverse condition. I’m going to lean into it, and then you’re going to make me strong through it.”
And so, when we prepare our own heart to receive the depth of what God is teaching us, and then we lean into those adverse conditions – not in a fighting way, but in a “working things out in love” way – when we lean into those adverse conditions with the soil of our heart right, and our approach to unity and love right¸ we say, “Lord, I’m planted here. It’s not about that person. It’s about you using that person for me, to change my heart.”
And as we do that, THEN we will become like the man in the first verse of the Book of Psalms.
Psalm 1:1–3 (NLT)
1 Oh, the joys of those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or stand around with sinners, or join in with mockers. (all of which are easily found IN the church)
2 But they delight in the law of the Lord, meditating on it day and night. (they’re focused on taking in the truth of God’s Word, at all times)
3 (And the result is) They are like trees planted along the riverbank, bearing fruit each season (or in their season). Their leaves never wither, and they prosper in all they do.
THIS is what we are called to do and to be.
But, instead, too often we judge where God has planted us like we judge the service at a restaurant, and as soon as our meal comes under-cooked, or over-cooked, or not presented how we like it, we push our chair back and throw our napkin down, and next week we go to a different restaurant, and as we go, we tell others to avoid the restaurant we just left.
And when we do that, we uproot ourselves from where GOD has planted us, and we transplant ourselves to what we think will be a better location.
But every time you transplant a tree, its root system becomes weaker. And every time you transplant a tree, it has some time of dying. And then it becomes easier and easier for you to be uprooted until you get to the place where your root system cannot endure ANY AMOUNT of hardship at all. And, if you transplant a tree TOO MANY times – it will die.
God created us to function together AS a Body, and he has placed each of us in the Body as HE sees fit and he has called each of us to be a healthy, functioning part of the Body.
And speaking of a healthy, functioning body, just down from our key verse (1 Corinthians 12:18), speaking of God placing each member of the Body just as he wants it.
1 Corinthians 12:25–27 (NLT)
25 This makes for harmony among the members, so that all the members care for each other.
26 If one part suffers, all the parts suffer with it, and if one part is honored, all the parts are glad.
27 All of you together are Christ’s body, and each of you is a part of it.
Do we feel that way about the Body that GOD has placed us in? That God has called us to care for one another? That if one part suffers, all parts suffer? And if one part is honored, all parts are honored? That we all – together – ARE Christ’s Body? And that each of us is part of his Body?
Guys, don’t take the Bait of Offense. Don’t uproot yourself – or isolate yourself in the church God has planted you in. Don’t become critical of the other parts of the Body, or who God has placed in those parts.
And please, please, DO NOT FEED the bitterness in those who have taken the Bait of Offense. Do not think that you’re being supportive by encouraging the poison of offense that they are drinking. Instead, do what you can to save them from being drawn any further into the enemy’s Trap of Offense.
Help them work through their offense. Help them go, and talk, and forgive. Help them to see that the grace, and mercy, and forgiveness that they have received from God. That God is calling them to extend that same grace, and mercy, and forgiveness to those they think have offended them.