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One thought on “The Holy Bod

  1. Does God really want these bodies back? They profit nothing eternally. Everyone who is born of water and the spirit shall be given new bodies, if they are found worthy of the regeneration. These present ones have worth only in that the Spirit may dwell in them. And if the Spirit indwells them, then they are also extensions of God upon the earth. They have become His eyes, His hands, and His feet, through which he may work in the world’s presence openly, clearly seen. Almost all of God’s work is done through the spirit. This work is seldom discerned by carnal perceptions. He has thus become invisible to the world. It is through our bodies and our acts that he is once again manifest to this world, if we walk in the spirit and not the flesh.
    As his manifestation, being the children of God, it very much matters what we do. The good we do brings both honor upon his name and recognition of his persistent presence, but even the little folly we partake in reeks as rotting flesh in their sight. They will excuse one another of many things; they will never excuse one identifying him or herself with a holy Christ. Yet even when we fall short of our holy calling a good work is accomplished. They shall call us hypocrites while they themselves do the same things and worse. Thus they shall be judged according to their own judgments. For God shall repay everyone according to their own judgments.
    Indeed, he repays everyone according to their own ways. A spiteful man shall receive spite. A patient man shall receive patience. A judgmental man shall receive condemnation. A merciful man shall receive mercy. An angry man shall receive anger. But a truly gentle, loving man shall receive love beyond what he may at present conceive.
    Christ is the embodiment of his holy example. We think upon all his great works and we marvel. Yet he did not set about to do great accomplishments. What did he build? Nothing. What lasting monuments of his presence did he leave? None. That is why some will claim he did not even exist, or he was some obscure wise man which has somehow become deified. He was a man going about doing small acts of kindness to all who came to him, or whom he came across. He built an invisible church, whose foundations and walls are those who follow him, a holy temple where no profane man can enter, and an altar upon which no unclean gift shall reside. None of this is seen by this world. They can only acknowledge his enduring influence with chagrin.
    Give to everyone who asks; and he who would borrow from you, turn not away. He lived these words while he walked among us. We are given two example of him not doing so. One was the Canaanite woman whose daughter was possessed, and the other was Salome, James and John’s mother. In the case of the latter, she wished her two sons to have the highest places in Christ’s kingdom. He explained this was not his to give. This was not exactly a no, but rather a deferral to a higher authority. In the case of the former, Jesus seemingly attempted to ignore the Canaanite woman and her pleas. This was actually out of character for him. (It may also teach us how beneficial it is to be persistent in prayer.) He always dropped everything to do what was asked of him. (Perhaps this was to teach the Jews that people from other nations would be moved by great faith and persistence to enter into the kingdom of God. There were many illustrations of this kind in his short ministry. People of all nations would come from the north, east, south, and west to sit down in the kingdom, while the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness.) He told her: “It isn’t proper to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” She answered: “That’s true; but the dogs do eat the children’s crumbs which fall from their master’s table.” For the sake of this saying, he declared the greatness of her faith to all present, and he also did as she asked. She asked him, and she did receive.
    For the sake of performing some good work, Jesus never went out of his way. The Raising of Lazarus was the only exception, and that was only because it was better if he was known to be someplace else when he died. There were always plenty of opportunities to do good works right in front of him. I expect it is the same with us, if we are open to their possibilities, and not overcome with what we feel as our responsibilities. If God wishes us to do something else, or be somewhere else, that is really the only time he needs to tell us. Otherwise, we already know what we should be doing. The question is whether or not we choose to do it. Our own wills and distraction may very well get in the way of doing what God has set before us to do.
    May we have eyes to see these opportunities more clearly and hearts to bring it to pass.
    michael