The Church

Ephesians 1:3-10 English Standard Version (ESV)

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ 10 as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.

That is a general description of a church or more precisely The Church.

As I related yesterday, I didn’t know that from experience, only in Word. Experience of being in the body of Christ, which is the church, complicates matters because it is made up of flawed needy people. It is uncomfortable to think of ourselves in those terms. Since becoming comforted by the Comforter, joining a local body of believers feels like that is putting our comfort at risk. There is risk in nearly everything we do in life because we are vulnerable people who do not want to be vulnerable. Past pains make it even riskier to open ourselves up to exposure of our inner most doubts and fears.

I found myself being pulled by some unseen force to find a group of believers. My boss at the time was instrumental in showing me grace and was the elder at a local church. I trusted him and accepted an invitation to come and see what they were all about.

On trembling legs I walked into that church.

The Comforter

John 14:16 King James Version (KJV) And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;

John 14:16 English Standard Version (ESV) And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever,

I prefer the title Comforter over Helper simply because my first experiences with the Holy Spirit was in receiving comfort. During those early days of reading my bible, comfort was something I needed and I was not even aware of it at the time. God knew me better than I knew myself.

Psalm 104:15 English Standard Version (ESV) and wine to gladden the heart of man, oil to make his face shine and bread to strengthen man’s heart.

This was being done in me and for me at a time when I had no understanding of what wine and bread represented. Who was making this happen? Was it something I was doing, or something that was being done to me? Perhaps it is a little of both. I was reading God’s Word and the Holy Spirit was using my reading to enact God’s will for me. My awareness would come with time.

My first comforts were all about me. I was the one who was a mess. His Word was slowly straightening me out through no real effort on my part except in continuing to read my bible. One of the first changes in thinking for me came about when I saw relevant meaning for others. It seemed that a verse or passage might help someone I knew was troubled.

I wanted to help someone else in the same manner I had been helped.

2 Corinthians 1:4 English Standard Version (ESV) who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.

How could I help someone else if I didn’t understand how I had been helped?