11/8 Praise Him! I'm writing this on Thursday and it is a good day why- because it's the day the Lord has made.:) We went to the school this morning, I can't remember if I wrote about it before. But we hold an assembly at a local school every other week and the kids are absolutely wonderful.

 This morning we as a team have been meditating on Acts 2:42-47. "They devoted themselves to the apostle's teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved." (NIV)

I've really been thinking about what this means for me as part of the Body. Then I realized I've already started thinking about the wrong thing: me. This church lived in complete community. In Acts 4: 32 Paul continues to describe the church, "All the believers were in one heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had."

Back up a little bit. The church focused on teachings, prayer, fellowship, and breaking of bread. They didn't just talk about it every Sunday- they DEVOTED themselves to it. They met everyday in the temple courts and lived together devoted to giving their possessions to provide for other's needs. "And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved." They stopped focusing on themselves. If I can say I am for sure devoted to one thing it is my own needs. I make sure there is food in front of me, I make sure I have clothes, I make sure God knows what's going on in my life- He hears about me a lot from my own mouth. I am pretty devoted to myself.

But this church they were devoted in prayer. They lived together as believers devoted to one cause with sincere hearts joining into to one heart of following after Him. The Lord blessed their ministry when it stopped being about them. They lived their lives for the progression of His name and the Body, rejecting an individualistic culture. The church is one Body- not a bunch of different bodies that were ever meant to function on their own.

So the question isn't what does this mean for me as part of the Body, the question is what is God's call for His Body? That's tough. How do I stop making it about me? I want to know what God's call on my life is, but the thing is that it's not about the call that He has on my life, because it's not about my life. It's about His. But how do I do that? Go back to the Word: I need to devote myself to following His teaching's, to the breaking of bread in community, to the needs of others above my own, to praising God continually with a sincere heart, to living in the Body and to prayer.

I claim no knowledge. I've really been wrestling with this because I don't know how, taking my needs out of the picture doesn't seem possible to my brain. But then again God is teaching me to redefine "need." My prayer is that as the Body in Africa, in America, over the whole world that we can seek after Him and seek how He means for us to live. Am I saying that I think we all need to sell everything we have, I don't know, I want God to be speaking not me. Community isn't about stuff it's about the heart. This is something my team has been working on: laying everything out on the table and trusting each other to love the same and of course focusing on the cross. I do however feel God calling me to align my life and sense of ownership, of not just physical stuff but who I am, with His call for the the Body.

I really hope this makes sense. I am trying to figure out what living for the Kingdom and the Body and not for myself means. Please pray for my team as we share our lives with each other, not just sharing clothes, but sharing who we are and doing life together. I'm excited. I hope that you will find what community means in your own life and thank you for being part of my community. Love and miss you all!