INTERDEPENDENCE

Today’s devotion is from 1 Corinthians 12:12-27 (TPT)

12-13 Just as the human body is one, though it has many parts that together form one body, so too is Christ. 13 For by one Spirit we all were immersed and mingled into one single body. And no matter our status—whether we are Jews or non-Jews, oppressed or free—we are all privileged to drink deeply of the same Holy Spirit.

14-16 In fact, the human body is not one single part but rather many parts mingled into one. So if the foot were to say, “Since I’m not a hand, I’m not a part of the body,” it’s forgetting that it is still a vital part of the body. And if the ear were to say, “Since I’m not an eye, I’m not really a part of the body,” it’s forgetting that it is still an important part of the body.

17-19 Think of it this way. If the whole body were just an eyeball, how could it hear sounds? And if the whole body were just an ear, how could it smell different fragrances? But God has carefully designed each member and placed it in the body to function as he desires.  A diversity is required, for if the body consisted of one single part, there wouldn’t be a body at all! 

20-24 So now we see that there are many differing parts and functions, but one body. It would be wrong for the eye to say to the hand, “I don’t need you,” and equally wrong if the head said to the foot, “I don’t need you.” In fact, the weaker our parts, the more vital and essential they are. The body parts we think are less honorable we treat with greater respect. And the body parts that need to be covered in public we treat with propriety and clothe them. But some of our body parts don’t require as much attention. Instead, God has mingled the body parts together, giving greater honor to the “lesser” members who lacked it. 

25-27 He has done this intentionally so that every member would look after the others with mutual concern, and so that there will be no division in the body. In that way, whatever happens to one member happens to all. If one suffers, everyone suffers. If one is honored, everyone rejoices. You are the body of the Anointed One, and each of you is a unique and vital part of it. 

God has designed us to be interdependent towards Himself and others, not independent.

Jesus died on a cross to establish a New Covenant… The vertical part of the cross represents our dependence on Him and His dependence on us to do His work on earth. The Horizontal part of the cross represents our dependence on each other needed to do what the Lord has called us to do. We are to be interdependent, not independent. We are to be a TEAM with Jesus as the head and those that He has joined us with as our team. 

You only have a small part of what it takes to achieve your God given assignment on earth!

You are called, gifted, empowered, equipped and enabled by the Holy Spirit, but even with the gifts and the power of the Spirit, you do not have enough to fulfill your calling… you need your team! Fellow believers of like precious faith are equipped with everything that you are missing.

In order to successfully do what God has called us to do, we need to invest almost as much prayer, loyalty, devotion and effort into our God given team as we do towards the Lord. We have to be loyal, submitted to one another… we need to protect one another, serve one another, help one another, celebrate one another, wait for one another and make room for one another if we are going to succeed!

Ask the Holy Spirit today to open your eyes and to reveal to you who your team is, which church you belong to, who to invest into, who to rely upon and who to come into covenant with. Ask the Holy Spirit to supernaturally join you to your team and to put each team member in their place by the leading of the Spirit. Some team members will be very likable, some will be sandpaper, other, hammers… each will have imperfections, weaknesses, feet of clay, but each will have a piece of what you need to succeed. It will take patience, love, forgiveness and commitment, but it will be totally worth it!

Jesus prayed all night before He chose His twelve disciples as led by the Holy Spirit. Peter the ‘mouth’, Thomas the doubter, and Judas the betrayer were amongst the twelve… Jesus did not miss it, ever one of the twelve were a vital part needed for Jesus to achieve His calling. Beyond the twelve, there were many more who joined team Jesus… each one as vital as the other in fulfilling the call on their own lives as well as fulfilling the call on each others lives and the call on the life of Jesus. You may live on an Island, but you are not an Island… we need each other!