God Thoughts February 6
Memorize: I always thank my God as I remember you in my prayers, because I hear about your love for all his holy people and your faith in the Lord Jesus. Philemon 4,5
Read Acts 19:32—41
Paul sought others to help him in his work. Jesus also sent workers out two by two. (Matthew 10) On this occasion, his traveling companions were Aristarchus and Gaius. Paul wanted to go to the amphitheater to defend his companions, but the other believers wouldn’t let him go, fearing for his safety.
When God calls us into a relationship with himself, he joins us to a community.
Not surprisingly, recent findings in neuroscience confirm these truths. Brené Brown summarizes one researcher as follows: “In his book Social Intelligence: The New Science of Human Relationships, Daniel Goleman explores how the latest findings in biology and neuroscience confirm that we are hardwired for connection and that our relationships shape our biology as well as our experiences. Goleman writes, ‘Even our most routine encounters act as regulators in the brain, priming our emotions, some desirable, others not. The more strongly connected we are with someone emotionally, the greater the mutual force.’ It’s amazing—yet perhaps not surprising—that the connectedness we experience in our relationships impacts the way our brain develops and performs.”1 The biblical term for “connection” is community. When Jesus came to earth, he entered as part of a family and then gathered twelve disciples around him when he started his public ministry. He is rarely seen apart from community. In addition to the disciples, we read in the Gospels of significant relationships with Mary, Martha, Lazarus, Mary Magdalene, “the tax collectors and sinners,” Nicodemas, and Zaccheus. Jesus is almost always seen relating to people—whether healing their diseases, confronting their distorted beliefs about God, or proclaiming the kingdom of God to the multitudes. One of the most damaging ideas in recent Christian
theology is that it is holier to be in solitude than to be in community. (Nelson, Heather Davis. Unashamed (p. 42). Crossway. Kindle Edition.)
Prayer: Jesus your way is the way of connectedness to other children of God. Holy Spirit open my eyes to those I am connected and need my connection. Father, thank you for the church, the community we have been joined by the blood of Christ. Amen
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