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1 Corinthians 12:27 - Now you are the body of Christ, and individual members of it.

Okay, call me crazy, but this is where my mind is today. 

Everyone of us who has confessed with our mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in our hearts God raised Jesus from the dead, are saved (Romans 10:9).

All believers are IN Christ. We are IN Him, He is IN us, and He is IN the Father. You can check it out for yourself in John 14:20. Every believer is IN Christ.

Thinking about being IN Christ and a part of His body got me thinking about how a body is filled with cells. Well, you know me, I had to do a Bing search and find out what I could about the anatomy of a human cell and its function. This is what I found:

"The human cell is the basic unit of life that can replicate itself."

There are trillions of cells in one human body and they don't all have the same purpose or function within the body. But no matter what the purpose or function, every cell must replicate. No exceptions!

Okay, translate that into us being cells in the body of Christ. We are not all the same for a very important reason. God did not make a mistake when he created any one of us. We're all important, but we're all unique and have been given our own unique purpose and function. 

A healthy body needs healthy cells. And healthy cells keep making new cells. Just like Jesus followers (disciples) are to be healthy disciples who are making more disciples. 

That requires working alongside other disciples; each of us fulfilling our own fuction within the body AND making new disciples. No comparison! No condemnation! No exclusions!

Making new disciples means we can't isolate from those who are not already believers without allowing them to replicate in us.

But discipling is not just about us making new believers and then going on our merry way. Nope! In Matthew 28:19-20, Jesus tells us there is more we need to do AFTER they believe and are baptized. That's when the really hard work starts.

Discipling is not about bragging rights. In fact, discipling is not about us at all. It's about not being so full of ourselves that we don't do the work of teaching young believers. It's about slowing down and allowing them to come alongside us and learn from us, while we continue to learn from Jesus. 

Sound scary? Jesus ended His command to make disciples with these wonderful words, "I am with you always." Woot! Woot! That's Good News! Let's share it!

May grace and peace be multiplied to you!

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