An Expert Performance

“And He is the head of the body, the church…” cf Colossians 1: 18

An expert dressage performance is beautiful. Top-level dressage is a very complex and exacting equestrian discipline. The beauty is in the minimal action of the rider getting a large independent animal to move in timed, definite steps and gaits. Judges look for the least movement in the rider to produce fluid movement in the horse. Horse and rider move as a unit.

HFS Van Derus

The rider signals the horse with their fingers, knees, heels, thighs, small sounds and sometimes a short, thin riding crop. Each sign asks the animal for something, either to change gait, move to another step or in another direction. Spectators should not be able to detect the rider’s movements, only the horse’s obedience

The horse cannot produce a precision performance without the rider. When the horse obeys the rider, the rider gets the glory and the horse receives praise from the rider. A well-trained dressage horse is submissive and obedient to the rider. In performance, the animal will enjoy the smooth connection and sharply applied actions as much as the rider.

Just so, a church body cannot produce an effective witness without submission and obedience to the head. The disciplined body is to watch, listen, and respond so that God gets the glory when we get it right. God signals to the church through personal Bible reading and prayer, through hearing of good solid Bible preaching, through the loving instruction of others, through our willingness to serve others. He places us in situations where we can respond to Him and get the job done.

There is a negative side to the exhibition in the ring; the horse does not have to respond to the rider.

Consider this; the horse is in the ring, with all the correct equipment and qualifications but the performance is a disaster. The horse is sluggish, fidgety, reluctant, and disobedient. Its tail is twisting, feet are stomping, and dragging, the ears are flipping back and forth, and the mouth is working against the bit. The horse moves sideways or in circles. It tosses its head and maybe even attempts to dislodge the rider. 

A misbehaving horse makes his rider look terrible. 

People will speak against the disobedience but most will criticize the rider for the horse’s behavior. The rider will leave the ruing in shame and a cloud of disrespect.

Does the behavior of the body of Christ produce respect for Jesus? Do others have good things to say about you? Does your family, even the unsaved, honor your love for God? Do your co-workers consider you hypocritical or are they attentive and eavesdropping when you talk about Jesus?

Imagine the dressage horse is the church, Christ is the rider, the judges are our brothers & sisters and the spectators are all the unsaved people. We’ve passed all the qualifications, we have the equipment, we look the part, we have the name of Jesus, and we call ourselves Christians. Here we are in the ring, everyone is watching. Now, Jesus gives us a gentle command unseen or felt by anyone but us. How are we going to respond?

• Do we move in beautiful fluid motion or do we refuse. 
• Are we willing to make the requested gait or post change
• Is our response sluggish, reluctant, and disobedience

Just attending a church does not tell the unsaved, lost and dying we are the body of Christ. We could be a horse circling in the ring without any obedience to the rider. Sure, we’re visible and we have all the trappings but is the body responding smoothly to the head.

In eagerly responding to Jesus on a daily basis, we show the lost and dying world the beauty of Christianity and the glory of God. At first, we can set up visual posts then after a while, the action will happen without the visual reminders. Our serving will be a natural fluid motion, a beautiful and effective witness anywhere, and everywhere.

• Obedience to prayer

• Obedience to Bible reading

• Obedience to ministry

• Obedience to witness

• Obedience to holiness

• Obedience to Jesus’ name

• Obedience to church attendance

Any old horse and rider can enter a show but in a top-notch event, they have to be a proven equestrian or it will be quickly apparent if they’re not. There has to be proof. The proof that we are the body of Christ comes from our action to being part of the body of Christ. We need to allow Jesus to be our trainer and respond to the commands from His hands. A Christian’s behavior is a direct reflection on Jesus.

Ask God to make you a proven disciple, an integral part of the body, responding to the head with smooth precision under the gentle guidance of Jesus. When the unsaved spectators see us, may they glorify our God in heaven for the beauty of our obedience?!

Six Habit-Forming Daily Devotions

Ever wonder if you've prayed enough? Well, you have to answer that one for yourself, but here is a list of six ideas to overcome the challenge of daily devotions in a busy life.

1. Pray before getting out of bed.

Even if you're late and running with the pedal to the metal, don't swing your legs off the bed before saying something to God. Need a short list of prayer requests?

• His Wisdom for whatever you encounter in the day
• His Help with any trouble you're facing
• For someone's salvation
• For someone's health
• Anybody for any reason that comes to mind
• Lord, Help me bless someone today 
• Thank you, Lord

2. Speak a prayer aloud for your spouse or children

Still in a rush? Even in a quick passing, lay your hand on the shoulder of at least one person in your care and say a short prayer. Need a short list of prayer requests? In each short prayer, name the person as you bring them before God.

• Lord, protect (name)
• Lord, I love (name)
• Lord, help (name) today
• Lord, give (name) a peaceful day
• Lord, Thank You for giving (name) to me
• Lord, help me be (name) Husband or Help me be (name) Wife, or Help me be (name) parent

3. Speak a Scripture verse to God

Are you still running late? Don't have time to look up any Bible verses, or read any devotional material? Well, most Christian homes have a verse plaque hanging somewhere, be it Bathroom, Kitchen, or Hallway. Stop and read it to God, taking a breather to think about the power in those words. If you have only a few, then make sure you get more and hang them all over your house. You'll never be without blessing material.

4. Speak a verse aloud

Do you commute in a personal auto? You have time to meditate on at least one verse. If you ride public transport or carpool, maybe you have to wait until you're alone. Take sometime during your day to say a verse aloud. Speaking Scripture is wonderful. You get to think it, feel it in your mouth, and hear it said. Three blessings. Are you at home? Then you can bless a family member with your worship. Maybe you can even speak the verse together, doubling the blessing.

5. Pray before tasting every piece of food or swallow of drink

Even if you're grabbing a doughnut and coffee at the drive-thru, say Thank You, God. You couldn't drive through to get your doughnut and coffee if it weren't for God. It's His car, His food, and especially His money you're spending. He even made it possible for the Drive-Thru to exist at that location.

6. Speak the name of Jesus aloud

For any believer, the name of Jesus is a loving word. It cannot be spoken without some thought about His Holiness, or Grace, or Crucifixion, or Resurrection, or Lordship, or His Forgiveness.

Nurture the habit of speaking love aloud and it'll grow easier every day. As you speak verses and prayers aloud around your family and even among your friends, they'll catch the worship habit as well and multiply the blessing to God.

"For faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God" 

Romans 10:17. NKJ

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For more ideas on prayers for the people in your life, 

download this free PDF file. 

Ten Things to Pray For in the Lives of Others

Say Amen, It's the Truth

The word Amen is the accepted closing for our prayers and is translated from the Hebrew and Greek as truly, so be it, the truth, trustworthy, surely, and verily. 

When saying Amen, we, in a sense, vow that everything we have just said to God is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. We are claiming that all we've said or asked is in trust and belief in God's perfectness to reply. That's pretty strong stuff to end a conversation with, especially when during our prayer God has read our minds and hearts, weighing our motives against our words.

Amen is a powerful word but just because it is a weighty pronouncement, be at peace knowing it is not always necessary to say the word when ending prayer. God isn't going to pass over your requests if you don't close with Amen. Because God knows our minds, hearts and motives, the Amen is safely implied when our heart is right.

Consider Nehemiah's hurried prayer.

"Then the king said to me, "What do you request?" So I prayed to the God of heaven" Nehemiah 2:4.

The next verse begins with "And I said to the king..

& there's Peter's cry to Jesus,

"But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying "Lord, save me!" Matthew 14:30.

Jesus reached out and saved him.

It is probably safe to assume neither man felt compelled to say "Amen" in the immediacy.
But just to help with the usage of this important word, here's an anagram to remember the heaviness of the word.

A---Agreed with God .......I agree You're Sovereign, and Your perfect answer will glorify You

M---My prayer ....... I bring this to You because I believe in You

E---Enjoyed talking with You, God .......self-evident meaning

N---Now I'm surrendered .......another self-evident meaning

 Another wonderful thing about this word is when God answers your prayer, it is absolutely acceptable to shout AMEN in praise!