The Holy Spirit: The Soul In the Body

But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased.—1 Corinthians 12:18

Let us review something here that we probably know: the doctrine of the life and operation of Christian believers on earth—starting with the fact that the Christian church is the body of Christ, Jesus Himself being the Headship of that body. Every true Christian, no matter where he or she lives, is a part of that body, and the Holy Spirit is to the church what our own souls are to our physical bodies. Through the operation of the Holy Spirit, Christ becomes the life, the unity and the consciousness of the body, which is the church. Let the soul leave the physical body and all the parts of the body cease to function. Let the Spirit be denied His place in the spiritual body, and the church ceases to function as God intended....

According to the Bible, the whole body exists for its members and the members exist for the whole body. And that, of course, is the reason God gives gifts, so that the body may profit spiritually and maintain spiritual health and prosperity in its service for Jesus Christ in an unfriendly world. Tragedy in the Church: The Missing Gifts, 14-15.

"Lord, I pray today that we in our church might be aware of Your presence, that we might be faithfullly exercising the gifts You have given, and that we might be a healthy Body that pleases You. Amen."