Fully clothed
“For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed with our habitation which is from heaven, if indeed, having been clothed we shall not be found naked. For we who are in this tent groan, being burdened, not because we want to be unclothed, but furthered clothed, that mortality may be swallowed up by life," 2 Cor. 5:1-4.
Read Romans 8:18-23
Dear longing one,
There is a part of even the most mature believer that groans to be filled. This longing can exist even where there is deep intimacy with the Trinity. It is not the result of any sin. This groaning is an inward yearning to be connected to the rest of the Body. It is a longing to be “fully clothed.”
Each believer is endowed with special spiritual gifts. Each also has unique personality, experience, and natural talent. No matter how mature a person is, he or she is not the entire Body. By very virtue of the fact that they are an individual member of a Body they have need... the need to be jointly fit together.
The more dysfunctional our environment is from a spiritual perspective the greater this longing will be. Even the most ideal Christian community however, feels the birth pangs of wanting to know the unity that will only fully be known outside the confines of our human flesh.
Our place in Christ is also very much a place with others. Our place in Him is unique and individual, but it was meant to compliment and be complimented by the other members of His Body. We cannot fully know Him without being willing to know and be known by His other members. Our love for Him is deepened as we love and are loved by the rest of His family. So is the mystery of Christ.
Until God graces me to share again,
Randall Paul Pipes
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