Lion of Grace

So much that is Spiritual has both an immediate (near history) and a distant fulfillment. We see that over and over. As we study the Lord's Supper and all of it's significance, we see not only the passing of the old covenant at the last supper, but the promise of the new covenant that Jesus instituted by His death and resurection. We also have the promise of another cup in our future with Christ at the Banquet feast. When we gather for communion, we are remembering so much more than what is past but what is also promised for our future. We are literally gathering as one, remembering we will all gather together at another table promised to us. We are getting ready for glory!

HOPE. In this world we have many trials, but our hope in Christ is that He has overcome the world and there is a future for us with SO much promise. Man is so temporal while God is eternal. This calls us to use our time wisely here on earth. We believe in the existence and rule of one God and our salvation through Jesus Christ. My devotional for the day says, " The comparison of human brevity to God's eternity makes it clear that the only basis for existence, beyond fleeting sensation, is in God. Seperated from God, we are like a dream seperated from a sleeper--the most insubstantial condition ever imaginable! But joined to God.....we are a part of an eternal reality." That is based on Psalm 90. I love verse 12. " Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom." That is what Jesus tells us of our future for. To let us know we are a part of that eternal REALITY. To know everything of the flesh here is NOT reality so as not to be fooled by things of the flesh. As for the banquet.....I associate that with sitting with Jesus and the joy of being there. To really finally live with Him. To eat with Him, to speak with Him face to face to touch Him and to just be with Him.That's a joy I don't think I can fully comprehend now. I can only imagine!

I'm reading all of John 6 and it is impressed upon me that when Jesus fed the five thousand, He fed them with real bread just as in the old testament the Israelites were fed with manna. This was only temporal not a feeding that would last forever. The crowd saw signs and miracles and were satisfied with food for that moment, but many lost the entire spiritual significance that Jesus was trying to teach them. They wanted to hail Him as a Prophet and crown Him as a King, but Jesus would have none of it. He withdrew and went up to a mountain by himself. That was never His intention. It was about the Spiritual Kingdom He was going to usher in. The new covenant of eternal life. The feeding that would sustain forever. The people sought food and power, not faith so they would continue to be hungry and never satisfied. When we take in the real bread of life, Jesus, we actually are living our faith and strengthening our faith through partaking of the Last Supper. Jesus said," I tell you the truth, you are looking for me not because you saw miraculous signs, but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the son of man will give you. On Him, God the Father has placed His seal of approval." The disciples asked Him then. " What must we do to do the works God requires?" Jesus answered, " The work of God is this: TO BELIEVE in the one he has sent." The disciples then continue to ask about what miraculous sign they will receive like their ancestors did when they received the manna in the desert. Jesus replies in a spiritual context. " I tell you the truth, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from Heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the TRUE bread from Heaven. For the bread from God is He who comes down from Heaven and gives LIFE to the world." Now the disciples see that there is more....much more than they understand and they say " Sir! From now on, give us this bread!" Jesus then reveals himself and says, " I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who BELIEVES in me will never go thirsty. But as I told you, you have seen me and still do not believe. All that the Father gives me will come to me and WHOEVER comes to me I will not drive away. For I have come down from Heaven not to do my will, but the will of Him who sent me. And this is the will of Him who sent me, that I should lose none of all He has given me, but raise them up on the last day. For my Fathers will is that everyone who looks to the son and BELIEVES in Him shall have eternal life, and I will raise Him up on the last day." That is our faith and what what we remember during communion and how that came to be fullfilled in the greatest sacrifice and demonstration of sacrificial love of all time!

Our faith is everything. It is faith that sustains us. I was led to Romans 5 this week. It is through faith we are justified and have peace through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We gain access BY FAITH into His grace by which we now stand! This is our hope. If we have hope in Him who loves us, we can rejoice in suffering, knowing God is at work in our lives, growing us in everything we need through Him! Hope in Him never dissapoints us because He loves us and we have the Holy Spirit now in us! We are reconciled to Him. The disciples that turn away do not embrace these truths. They continue in " works" and self striving to make themselves right with God. They take the wider road to what they want. The road with Jesus is much more narrow. Those who embrace the faith know of their freedom in Christ and want to know Him more and more. We remain in Him because we know without Him is to return to " before" and I for one, NEVER want "before" back! To be a disciple means to follow and He daily takes us places in His Word and experiences to know more about Him. We simply follow daily seeking every means to see where He is taking us and revealing to us! Sometimes, just like the original disciples, we don't understand and we need simple teachings and our eyes opened to more spiritual truths. We do this by faith in Jesus and seeking His teachings knowing He is the only way! He does that in multiple ways, but it is HE Himself doing it! Really, nothing is different than when He was here physically with the twelve. He is still here with us in Spirit and we are walking with Him and learning too. He has called us and He will lead us! He is faithful! Awesome!

Between the two passages, I see that this bread is my flesh ("body" in Luke) GIVEN for you. The Word given is impressed on me. Jesus was the sacrifice (real bodily sacrifice) that He willingly gave up for us so that the new covenant could be established. I have an interesting footnote to share from my Bible about the verses in Luke. It says, " Luke describes the institution of the Lord's supper in the upper room with Jesus' disciples on the night before his death in almost the exact same words as Matthew and Mark. The only difference was that Luke described a cup before the bread as well as a cup after the bread. Luke was apparently emphasizing the first cup as the cup of the Passover which they were celebrating on this evening while he distinguished the BREAD and cup which followed as the new covenant in the body and blood of Christ." The emphasis here is that the body of Christ was to be offered as the bread of life under the new covenant established by Jesus and His sacrifice. He gave up that life willingly so we could have eternal life and relationship with our Father as He has always desired it to be.

In practical terms, eating means injesting food to sustain life for your body. That food is life giving and without it we would die. Jesus is like that. If we do not take in all that He offers us in Spirit, then we can not be nourished and we will eventually die. This is SO important as a Christian, because we start out believing and reading His Word and seeking Him with all of our hearts, but often Christians fall off in these spiritually life giving foods and soon faith withers and dies. We must remain connected with all our life giving food sources offered through Jesus. Like the branches connected to the vine, we must receive our nourishment every day from Him. This can be difficult at times. I have recently had an experience in that. My father in law at age 80 was hit by a car and is in very,very serious condition. We have spent a lot of time in the hospital and waiting for surgeries to be completed and so many other needs have been occupying our minds. Though I did get behind in this study, I choose to remain in the Word and prayer. I seek God so much in peace and knowing He is sovreign in this situation. When life's troubles knock down our defenses it is really He who sustains us and nourishes us to stand strong in His love and care. We have to take in though what He nourishes us with! As for nibbling vs. a meal.....we need to fill up! The price of gas may be high to get you where you need to go, but God says "Come buy with no money." It's all free for the taking...so eat...a lot! : )

Sorry...I think I answered most of this question in question #3's reply, but I want to say that the visual of that one loaf really opened my eyes to see a truth I was missing before. As simple as it seems now, I was always trying to see the church as "many" under one God, instead of as "one" with one God ...but many individuals. It is so important to KNOW we are one! Thanks for this lesson! My heart is the church and I have been given a multiude of new ways to pray!

I know the church today is no different than the church at Corinth. I'm in agreement that we are all sinners and if our churches are really open door churches, then we will see many unsaved enter through those doors. This presents many problems because those yet unsaved are entering without wisdom or knowledge. They are seeking and are growing in small ways, but we cannot expect spiritual maturity in them when they arrive. Then, you have to take into consideration the percentage of carnal Christians who are pew sitters, power seeking church goers who have bought into "religiousity' and that can add up to problems in the church. I think here is where we step up in faith and say that God is at work in all things. We as Americans want the great American lie in our churches. Quick fixes, business agendas, programmed results and give it to me now please! We strive and strive as though God can't but we can! In truth God's kingdom is everything NOT that. We can't "create" unity. We as true Christians need to know we ARE one. We need to stand on and teach the truth of what is in the Bible. We need to share our FAITH in what God tells us we are. We are not going to be perfect churches or individuals, but we do have the Holy Spirit who is going to do a great work in each one who is saved. To those being saved it will be the truth of the cross and the fruit of the Holy Spirit who is going to do the work and get the results. Not us! Our job is to seek the kingdom of God (and it will all be added unto us) and to Love God above all else and love our neighbor as ourselves! The Christian call is a call to humbleness and servanthood. Sure, we will be called to address areas of habitual sin and injustice and that is very difficult when dealing with hardheartedness but even in those most difficult times, I believe God is at work and we can trust Him to work for the benefit of everyone who is His. When that is resolved, we restore in love. Any discipline should be to gather the lost one back into the fold! If every Christian could believe in the validity of who they are in Christ, every turn, trial and temptation can be overcome in a Christian way. We can stop "attempting to create" and just "be." We could accept others and allow them to learn and grow and come to trust in HIM and not in our ways. We could forgive and keep walking together because we would truly know ourselves and be aware of all we have been and are daily forgiven of ourselves. So who could stand to condemn another? Correct...yes...but not condemn. Lead and guide but not criticize at every turn. I truly believe I'm in a good church. I'm not in a perfect church, but I'm in a church with leadership seeking after God's own heart. We fail sometimes, we fall, we cry, we seek and we forgive. We have our problems, but I've seen the Holy Spirit correct and restore so many times. I've seen most everyone listen to Him too! We have our stubborn spots and our opinions and we have to deal with satan's outright evil, but that is a SPIRITUAL battle, not a human one. I've seen even the worst of that dealt with in love and compassion. I've seen firmness and strict discipline but I've seen restoration in love. We pray and pray and pray and then we pray some more. Sometimes it seems hopeless, but then we stand and we grow...reaching for the higher calling. In faith....because God never fails. If we keep encouraging each other to stand firm and to share our wisdom and knowledge of our mighty God and how to keep connected to HIM at all cost...then we ARE unified in Him....and amazing things happen! If we concentrate on picking each other up when another fails and we know repenting and standing in the light are GOOD things....then we cast out fear...to see and know the goodness of God. We can see each other as sinners...now saved in need of each other. Not to judge, but to love and accept and never give up on! Is it difficult? YeS...it takes discipline...to know and apply the Word...but we CAN! I love the church...with all our foibles, but more important...I KNOW God and that encompasses, much, much more and there is nothing that will ever destroy us!

Paul teaches on one loaf. He says that we who are many are one body for we all partake of the one loaf. I think Paul is saying here, that we need unity as one and we symbolize that with the one loaf at communion. We all eat from the one though it will be divided and partaken by many. The symbolizim is concentrated on the one. In the other passages we are to reflect on divisions BEFORE we take from the bread and the wine. If we come divided from any brother or sister in Christ, then we are not seen as one, nor will we be as one. We must forgive and be forgiven before we come to the communion table. This creates a oneness in Jesus and we can partake as one though we are many. I think sometimes in the Church we see ourselves just as many indivuduals, instead of the truth that we are partaking as one THOUGH we are many. If even one is not right, that affects everyone! In this age, we are deceived into thinking so individually. It's always about us and then what can be added to us. In truth it's about all of us as one and what can I give for everyone!

The cup of blessing teaches us that the focus we should have is on the blood that Jesus shed for us. When we focus on this, we are overcome with joy and thankfulness and we lift our hearts to Him and we praise Him and we bless Him. I do that anytime I am in communion with Him, during prayer, musical praise or just in reflecting on His goodness to me. It is a responce from the heart overflowing from within because we know He has given us His all and there is not one thing that isn't from Him. We would be lost without Him. It is all about Him and always has been!

To me, it is such an intimate time at communion because I can take the time (and with all of my most dearest companions in life....by brothers and sisters in Spirit) to reflect on what our best friend Jesus really did for us. It is such a Spiritually deep time with Him and with others that we can come together and remember Him and eat with Him and each other. It is a time of renewing our hearts and our minds and cleaning out the unwanted stuff we had allowed to enter in or to cause division. We come away with deep fellowship, united through the Holy Spirit. My most fond memories of meals with friends have been meals where everyone has been accepted just as they are. Where there have been many from all different walks of life, united in our love for Christ and each other. The meals I cherish are ones that have been shared just because we love each other and we learn from each other and no one is left out or not accepted. Times where I was included in sharing memories even though I wasn't there for the making of the memory, but somehow through sharing the laughter or the tears I became a part of it now. I love meals that share in the Spirit and we just know He's still there with us. I love them when you come away in deeper relationships because of the time shared. Casual meals are hurried and small talk and you just know everyone wants to eat and go on to whatever they think is more important. It's not about the intimacy with the people you are with. We should approach the Lord's table the same way. I think it can become too casual. Not reflected on enough and not shared in the Spirit of love for each other.

It is really eye opening to me to see the parallel between the Old Testament and the New. Under the old covenant the leaders and the elders served in the same way the disciples served under the new. They were a part of ratifying the new covenant just as the elders were a part of ratifying the old. It was the blood of Christ that sealed the new covenant for us all. Under the old covenant, it was the blood of animal sacrifices and for the children of Israel, but today it is for all who believe, because by faith we are all considered His chosen people. The significance of us drinking the cup is that we symbolically remember the new covenant sealed for us under the blood of Jesus. We are given the freedom to partake in this ceremony and proclaim our faith in the new covenant that we belong to God as sons and daughters chosen by Him and given eternal life through the blood of Jesus.

The new covenant differs from the old covenant because we no longer have to depend on our will to live a life according to the law. It was impossible for man to do that perfectly anyway and a blood sacrifice needed to be offered over and over to atone for the sins constantly commited. Under the new covenant, Christ was the final blood sacrifice for forgiveness of sins. He also was the fulfillment of the law. What we could never do, He did perfectly. He took all our sins past, present and future and shed His own blood as an atonement for them. He then sent the Holy Spirit to us as a helper and a counselor for us. It is under this new covenant that we can know God's Word and live with the help of the Holy Spirit. I was amazed when I was first saved, that I knew of some things in the Bible before I had even read it! Later, I came to know that what the Holy Spirit revealed to me in other ways, was the actual written Word of God! That was Him, through faith, working in me! The Holy Spirit is our helper to teach and protect and guard us. He also convicts us of our sins, but under the new covenant we are assured that we are forgiven of those sins when we confess them, through the blood of Jesus. What are our responsibilities? To seek the Holy Spirit and His guidance and to seek everything of the Kingdom of God. If we do that, everything is added from there. We receive the fruit of the Spirit and come to know our Salvation and that there is now no condemnation for us in Christ. We can live in freedom to love God and each other and we enjoy fellowship with each other as well as with God. We give our lives to Him in service forgetting the past and embracing our freedom of a new day everyday! Love and forgiveness becomes our anthem in everything and we become like Christ who is in us. Awesome!

The covenant was ratified by the sacrifice offered at the altar that was made to represent the twelve tribes of Israel. Half the blood was sprinkled over the altar and half over the people. The people agreed twice to do everything the Lord said so they voluntarily entered into an agreement or covenant with God. The blood of the sacrifice was sprinkled to seal the covenant between God and the Israelites and as an offering for the forgiveness of their sins, making them right with God again. What was eaten? I don't think the passage says, but I'm assuming from what we have already learned that it was the meat from the bulls.

Jesus pointed to the phrasing in Isaiah 53 because it was the prophetic revelation as to the whole purpose of Jesus' life. He was the fulfillment of that scripture, and I'm remembering that Jesus also emphasized throughout the last supper, that He had come as a servant. I'm reading all of Isaiah 53 and that is what is standing out to me. Servants are lowly and not thought highly of. Servants aren't noticed or have attention drawn to themselves. They aren't viewed as very chosen or special people. They aren't thought of for exalted ministries and are often forgotten and rejected by men. Being a servant means working on behalf of another, not for our own means or selfish gain but to benefit someone else. Jesus did all this for us. Though He was without any sin and He healed and fed and taught and comforted so many, He was despised, rejected and a man of sorrow. He still was a servant to us who were the sinners, the transgressors, the ones deserving of the punishment He ultimately endured for us. He came to serve and because He was obedient to our Father in this, He was raised up, exalted and triumphant and given a portion among the great. This was God's will for Him, to crush Him and to cause Him to suffer and to make His life a guilt offering. The will of the Lord ultimately prospered Him. Because He poured out His life for many, He saw the light of life and was satisfied. He bore the sins of other people and continues to make intercession for them (us). Jesus is the model of what our lives are to be lived for also. We can't do exactly what Jesus did as He was the final sacrifice to atone for sin, but we can be servants to each other, benefiting each other. Esteeming other as better than ourselves and in many ways, humbly laying down our lives for others to benefit Christ's Kingdom. We will suffer and be despised and be asked by God to suffer silently and to intercede in prayer for those against us, but in due time, He raises us up also and we too, will see the light of life and be satisfied sharing in Christ's glory.

Jesus referred to the violence of His death and told them of His blood to be poured out to show them and to help them understand the cost of sin. It was a violent practice to offer an animal sacrifice and His death and suffering wasn't going to be any different except that His death would atone for our sin once and for all. He was explaining something to them that was so spiritual.....I don't know if the disciples really grasped at that time all He was saying, though He often talked about His death and rebuked any who said it wouldn't happen. How much was truly understood though until the Holy Spirit came....I don't know. I know most were bewildered and afraid and hiding as it all happened. That to me shows a lack of understanding. I think it's still a lot like that for people today. Except by faith and the power of the Holy Spirit, it is hard to grasp that someone would do that for us. Except through the Holy Spirit revealing the truth to us and God's love for us and showing us God's faithfulness in spite of our sin it would be really difficult to accept that for ourselves....knowing we don't deserve any of it. The truth is though...Jesus did die for us.... and we have life because of it....but it wasn't at any small cost. It was at the highest, most painful, torturous cost and it was the greatest display of love and grace ever given and we need to remember that every time we take communion and examine ourselves for unconfessed sin or lack of good fellowship between each other. For that matter....even when we are tempted to sin anytime.

Old testament sacrifices were God's way of showing grace and mercy because when Adam and Eve sinned, they could no longer dwell with God because God is holy. When we sin, or when Adam and Eve sinned, God didn't cast us/them away. He punished their sin, but He made a way to have forgiveness and atonement for sin also....because He loves us. Under the old covenant it was through the blood of animal sacrifices and under the new covenant, it is through the blood of Jesus who was the final sacrifice until today. The seriousness of this is that our sins aren't any less grievious as we sometimes like to fool ourselves into believing, because we are saved, but that God's love and grace are greater because of the way He made for us to be forgiven of them through His only son Jesus. That is a huge extension of love and forgiveness to us and shows us the goodness of God and His goodwill toward men. I am glad for this lesson. I was always taught to see the severity of God....but now I see the severity of our sin, but the goodness of God. Thank you!

I don't think the word "encourage" could ever describe all Jesus has shown me through the sacrifice He offered for me. To understand, has become life transforming! I've never felt of any worth at all in my life. I didn't even want to live life anymore! Now, I'm not only loved and accepted and secure and peaceful and amazed and awed....I have a purpose! I have a future and hope and light and a sound mind and someone who is for me! I could go on and on! I am overcome with gratitude when I read in the Bible all He gave me and asked the Father for....for me! How will we ever truly understand all of this? I don't think we can this side of Heaven, but I know I'm going to keep seeking Him with all my heart and soul and mind and with everything I've got! I get stronger every day. What am I inspired to do? It's contagious! I want others to see His glory all over me.....and I want them to wonder who, how and why and if they can have this too....and then I want to tell them everything and watch them start to shine! JOY!

Jesus gave (Was obedient to the Father's plan to offer His only begotten Son up as a ransom for many, even unto His own death ) his body and blood as a sacrifice in exchange for our eternal life. All of our purity and righteousness are only through Jesus and His sacrifice. In and of ourselves we have nothing to offer but our humanity and that is a life of sin, but through Jesus, the Father sees us as pure because the blood of Christ has washed us clean. Only through Jesus are we bought back and ransomed from sin. Only through Jesus can we enter in and come before the Father. Jesus is the only way. We all have sinned and fall short of righteousness, but Jesus redeems us when we believe and so all our hope is in Him. There is no other hope. Only the blood of Jesus has the power to set us free. He did it for us. Pure and simple. If we never receive anything else from this day onward....we still have everything because we have been given life. Our salvation through Jesus Christ.

For me, it was the proof I needed when I was lost, that there was a God who actually understood me. Who actually physically experienced all I experienced and that He really cared about me after looking everywhere I possibly could for the kind of love I needed. Christianity showed me Jesus became like me, suffered in life like me and was willing to never give up on me and to even die for me so I could go to Heaven and so I could have a relationship with my Father in Heaven. I came to believe that through this very real human life that there was hope for me and by faith I could make it through this life and live again eternally in glory. With much testing and watching and searching, I finally knew and rested in the truth. Without those truths....my faith would never have taken root and grown.

I think the emphasis was on Jesus himself in the flesh, being the atoning sacrifice for our sins. Just as under the old covenant a blood animal sacrifice had to be offered, to usher in the new covenant, Jesus was the final blood sacrifice for our sins. Jesus was both God and man. We can identify with Him and He with us because he was human just as we are, but He was also God's only begotten Son, and Jesus was obedient to the Father unto death to atone once and for all for all of our sins. I'm astounded that the love of the Father is so great and the obedience of the Son was so great. I'm amazed that this was all done for we who are so undeserving of it all. It is by faith that we accept the truth of all this, but it was a real physical and tangible gift of love when Jesus suffered a horrible death on the cross. It is the physical suffering we can see that we can relate to and gain an understanding of how great a sacrifice physically and emotionally and spiritually was actually given. Also to understand that the old was gone and the new had come. We can live with the knowledge of Christ and that allows us to live under grace and peace through Him.

I have been really made more aware of the spiritual depth of Christianity and not only how I am personally connected to Jesus, but also how I am connected to other brothers and sisters in Christ. This revelation has renewed a right Spirit within me. It has made me aware that this is such a Holy and sacred connection. That helps me to view my everyday relationships and even everything I do to reach the lost in a new light. This has been so eye opening to me and has touched me so deeply that I hope I will never take communion again without renewing in my mind what a deeply spiritual gift Christ has given us. How many facets this all has. That He gave so much and so willingly and so unselfishly with such generosity....has really set my mind to ponder on where these truths are evident in my life towards others. When I accept so freely these wonderful gifts, can I not give so freely besides? I try to....but I have just been given such a deeper perspective. I see that I have been given the PRIVELEDGE to share in the cross. That the calls on our lives are to be such Holy callings and that we should take communion with this reminder always. I always pray for the church and I have been made aware of how casual and mundane we have become about the very foundation we are built on and how we as a church (Christians) have lost such depth in what we teach and what we preach and how we live and our personal witness to who Jesus really is! At least for myself I have been convicted of this. I'm just so grateful to Him for leading me to this study and the depths He is taking me. I am in such awe.....again.

In Old Testament times, a sacrifice was offered for the sin of the people. These sacrifices were considered Holy. Only the priests were allowed to offer the sacrifice and a part of that ceremony was for the priest to eat a portion of the sacrifice to take part in the atonement for the sins of the people. Today under the New Covenant, Christ is our portion. When we eat of the bread and the wine, we remember Christ Jesus. We remember the Holy sacrifice offered up for the atonement of our sins. We are all a royal priesthood because we have believed in Jesus. As a priesthood we can partake in this sacrifice and in doing so, we share in the sacrifice. We share with Christ and we share with each other. One of the most beautiful prayers in the Bible to me, is the prayer in John 17. In verses 20-26, Jesus prays for all believers. He prays for all to be one. He prays about giving us the glory that our Father had given Him. He prays for complete unity and He speaks of love. He prays of the love the Father has for Him and for that love to be in us also through Him. He gave us all that to share in with Him...at no cost to ourselves. We were the guilty ones and yet, we can come, just as we are and still share in that with Him and be considered family just because He loved us that much. No merit of our own. No earning it yesterday, today or tomorrow. Just because He loves us. We are so casual in taking communion and even in telling this old, old story. We have lost the depth of all He really did for us. This is a Holy sacrifice we share in. We are Holy through His sacrifice. We need to live like a Holy priesthood. We need to love as He loved. We need to abide and be obedient as He was. We have a high calling and we need to live it the very best we know how to.

Koinonia means to participate and to share in something. To participate means to me an active thing. When we participate we are once again remembering and doing what Christ did before He died for us. This brings to mind that Christ is there in the midst of us as we do so. To share denotes many. We as many, the body of Christ, share once again with Christ in our midst. We share with each other remembering the sacrifice Jesus gave for us. It is awesome that Jesus said where two or three are gathered in His name, there He is in the midst of them. It's hard for us to really "see" what we are doing so often. We are actually communing with Jesus as His disciples. We are one with each other, just as He is one with the Father. We are remembering all He did for us. We are remembering our calling to follow Him and to live as He lived. If we would really reflect on all that, knowing He is in our midst, we would really take the ceremony and our brothers and sisters much more seriously and with much more reverance and awe. We would be deeply moved to humbly seek His will, in gut wrenching gratitude. We would take our call to be disciples and to make more disciples more seriously. Other things we thought were so important during the week would seem kind of silly then wouldn't they?

Paul was warning the church to remain in Christ alone. There were others that were trying to bring other beliefs and "secret" religions into the church. There were those still sacrificing to other gods and were living in immoral ways. This was confusing to new Christians and Paul was saying that they couldn't "mix" things in with what they now knew as the truth. He told them it was life in Christ...or no life at all. We embrace Christ and saturate ourselves with everything of Him and what He teaches and imitate what He did and we need to remain pure in that. We need to take every highway available to stay connected in reminding us and in expanding our learning from Him through the Holy Spirit and the Word. Our focus has to stay on Him. If we lose that, then we start to add a little here and a little there and soon we have only " created" our own religions...but are calling it Christianity. We've spoiled what was pure to begin with.