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Treasuring Our Relationships – Christ In You –
By Nancy Taylor Tate
Whether we at Parousia Ministries are writing or speaking, “Christ in you, the hope of glory” is at the core of our message as we pray and believe for
the preparing of a people for the end-time purposes of the Lord. While we can often think of the words “Christ in you” as applying to us individually, there is a corporate “you” to whom they also apply.
Many
years ago, Ivan Q. Spencer spoke of “the reproduction of the Christ within His many-membered body, or the birthing of the man-child, the forming of Christ within us.” When I heard his words, they resonated in me, and for more than twenty years
now, I have carried them in the back of my Bible.
These thoughts have been stirring in me again, as I’m experiencing a deeper understanding of the reproduction of Christ in a “many-membered body.” Christ
in us, the hope of glory! Joined together under His headship, in right relationship with God and with each other!
How the Lord longs for this coming together of the body of Christ. An overcoming people in whom Christ has been
formed, through whom He can work and move. A great multitude who come together in unity of heart from every nation, tongue, tribe, and people. What a glorious calling! What a glorious people to be part of!
Recently Allen,
my husband, taught on conflict resolution and building friendship in marriage. These skills can be applied to other relationships as well. As I listened, I realized afresh how important our relationships are. What a big part they play in God’s purpose
being fulfilled in and through our lives, individually and corporately!
We can desire, determine, and learn to walk in right relationship with one another, starting in the home, then flowing out to the body of Christ and into
the community. Psalm 133:1-3 speaks of the anointing that flows down where good relationship (unity) is:
“Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! It is like the precious
ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron’s beard: that went down to the skirts of his garments;As the dew of Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion: for there the LORD commanded the blessing, even life
for evermore.”
Joined together, we can become a people in whom Christ can be seen and glorified, that there might be a fuller manifestation of His presence among us.
Our individual lives
are enriched as we learn to love and walk in right relationship with others:
“But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him” (1 John 2:5).
“If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us” (1 John 4:12b).
“He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling
in him” (1 John 2:10).
“We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death” (1 John 3:14).
My
prayer is that the understanding of “Christ being formed within” will burn in other hearts, as it does in mine. I have been blessed to see some people so transformed by the Christ within, that His heart and nature finds expression in them, come
what may. Their lives challenge me to continue to yield to the Lord and His inner working in my own life.
“My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you” (Galatians 4:19).
May we all press toward that high calling of God. As we allow the Lord to work within, may we also be open to learning some new skills! May our relationships be strengthened. May Christ be seen in and through our lives, singularly and
together, in the way we treat one another – at home, in the church, in the workplace, and in the community.
May we become His habitation, a resting place for the presence of the Lord. Christ in you, the hope of glory.
Christ in us, a yet greater hope of glory, that there might be an even greater manifestation of His glory, presence, and power in the communities, countries, and places God has us.
Blessing
Our prayer is that you increasingly prosper, both spiritually and in your life circumstances, beyond all that you have experienced in the past, and also, may you be blessed in life, in health, and in all that is before
you.
Prayerfully yours,
By Nancy Taylor Tate
PAROUSIA MINISTRIES
www.wadetaylor.org
PAROUSIA MINISTRIES | P O BOX 236, Thurmont, MD 21788