A VISION OF THE BODY OF CHRIST

A VISION OF THE BODY OF CHRIST
by Geoff Sadler Email: ukgeoff1@gmail.com

"A VISION OF THE BODY AS A GOLDEN LOAF OF BREAD--WE ARE TO GIVE THE WORLD SOMETHING TO EAT"
"Giving away what we have is one of the fundamental principles of multiplication."
In late October, I was waiting on the Lord when I had a vision of a pastor who was standing in front of the congregation. Then I saw a group of 15 to 20 people in front of him form into a "loaf of bread", which began to glow--golden in color. The pastor then went up to the loaf of bread (the group of people) and started breaking pieces off, with each piece of bread being one person. He instructed the group to go into the congregation and pray for people--as he said to them, "You give them something to eat." As they went and did this, people began to get healed and delivered, and there was a feeling of tremendous liberty in the place.
This pastor is one of the most servant-hearted leaders that I know. After I shared this vision with him, he told me when they moved into their church location, the Lord spoke prophetically to them and said that they were becoming "a house of bread." He went on to share that the Lord is teaching him more and more how to release people into their callings and destinies.
I believe the timing of this vision to be significant. God often births something in someone or some church that He later uses to speak to the Body of Christ about on a larger scale, and I believe that He wants to do that now. It's time for ALL the saints to be involved in Kingdom ministry. As most of us know, we all are to be involved in Kingdom ministry, but there are times and seasons when God has to speak to us more specifically, because of the set time we are in and because of what He wants to accomplish in that time.
Luke 9:12-14, 16-17, "When the day began to wear away, the twelve came and said to Him, 'Send the multitude away, that they may go into the surrounding towns and country, and lodge and get provisions; for we are in a deserted place here.' But He said to them, 'You give them something to eat.'
And they said, 'We have no more than five loaves and two fish, unless we go and buy food for all these people.' For there were about five thousand men. Then He said to His disciples, 'Make them sit down in groups of fifty.'
Then He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to Heaven, He blessed and broke them, and gave them to the disciples to set before the multitude. So they all ate and were filled, and twelve baskets of the leftover fragments were taken up by them."
The Bread Of Life
Jesus said, "I am the Bread of life." He also said, "This is My Body" as He broke bread at the last supper. I know He was talking about His physical body being broken on the Cross for us, but the Church is also referred to as "His Body." He is the Bread, and we are also the bread (because we are part of His Body), and He wants us to give away bread to those that need it. It's all Jesus.
One of the marks of true leadership is that it releases people into their callings and ministries and mobilizes the WHOLE Body as much as we are willing to do. It's sometimes easier said than done, of course. Not every member of the Body wants to co-labor with Christ; not every leader has the ability to be able to release the Body as effectively as he wants to; and not every leader wants to release the whole Body as they should. I personally believe that everybody is a leader to some degree, and I'm grieved when I see leaders trying to mobilize people in order to serve their own vision. I believe this grieves God too, because it means that His Church is only doing twenty percent of the work that He wants us to. That's why we need His GRACE to be released in greater measure in order to accomplish these things.
The Church is meant to have full employment, and it takes servant-hearted leaders who want and know how to equip and release the Body in order to achieve this. It's a matter of philosophy. If every church was operating with the philosophy of ministry that releases people into their destiny and the vision God has for them, millions of Christians would be released into the harvest fields. They would also be working with the support and encouragement of one another-- building each other up and encouraging each other in the "good works that the Father has prepared for us in advance."
It's great to have ownership of your own vision (God's vision for you). It energizes you and makes your life exciting as you partner with God in building His Kingdom. It's what you were made for. It's great to be part of a team--a team that is working towards the same goal (building God's Kingdom) as you are. Yet at the same time, the team is serving "one another" in order to help accomplish the vision the Lord has for each of them. This is what teamwork is all about.
Even in the business world, management has found that when they give ownership and a share of the profits to their employees, they are generally happier, working harder, and producing more than they did without any real incentives or ownership of the vision. How much more should it be like that in the Church?
In order for the harvest to be fully brought in, THE WHOLE BODY needs to have a share in the profits of the Kingdom--saved souls, healed and delivered people, etc. Then we can give all the glory back to God. Giving away what we have is one of the fundamental principles of multiplication. In order for increase to come, just as the loaves and the fishes were multiplied, people HAVE to give away what they have been given. In order for the harvest to be brought in, to the degree that God wants, the whole Body needs to be "doing the stuff." It's not about anarchy, it's about His glory. When we focus on pleasing God, our motives become pure and we are able to work together without competition or fear.
Romans 12:4-11, "For just as we have many members in one body and all the members do not have the same function, so we, who are many, are one Body in Christ, and individually members one of another.
Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, each of us is to exercise them accordingly: if prophecy, according to the proportion of his faith; if service, in his serving; or he who teaches, in his teaching; or he who exhorts, in his exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.
Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor; not lagging behind in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord."
A Golden Loaf Of Bread
In the vision of the loaf of bread turning golden in color--I believe this represents the glory of God that has been and is being poured out upon His Body in this hour. There is greater release of His glory upon the Church now and in more congregations than I can ever remember happening before. There has been a move of God's Spirit in the last 20 years more than ever before in this generation. God has sent out apostles and prophets into the world who have been carriers of the glory, and they have been highly effective in transferring bread to those who have been hungry enough to receive it. They have also become multipliers themselves by giving it away to others.
As long as I've been a Christian (20 years), I can't remember a more exciting time than this, and this is only the beginning. God spoke to me recently that VERY SOON He is going to do something more radical than we have ever seen Him do before. The RAIN of His glory and REIGN of His Kingdom are about to be poured out on the earth like never before.
I was recently in a meeting in Las Vegas, when God spoke to me prophetically. My whole body began to shake as the spirit of prophecy came upon me and He gave me a prophetic word which said this:
"You think you're radical, but actually, you're not that radical. Compared to what I Am about to do VERY SOON, what I have done in the past will seem like a mere trickle. In order for some of you to receive what I Am about to pour out, you need to let go of some of the ways that you have seen Me move in the past. You have become familiar with My ways and it has become a thing of the flesh for some. My people have tried to market themselves and My glory too much, and because of this, My anointing and glory hasn't increased."
Later on as I was being prayed for, I started marching on the spot. As I did this, it felt like water literally began splashing onto my legs. I thought that the carpet must be wet, but afterwards when I knelt down to feel it, it was bone dry. Then I had another vision.
I saw the Church dressed in battle fatigue, marching throughout the land. This was a radical army with no agenda of their own, but to see God's glory manifest in the earth. Then I saw children as young as one and two years old, reaching out and touching people, and as they did, people were healed. It was as if God was saying, "How can I not get glory for Myself in these days as I pour out onto little children, which man cannot take the credit for."
I believe God's word was a correction for us to not touch His glory. It's not easy to carry God's glory and remain humble. The heart is deceitful above all things and we need the gift of humility and the loving correction of the Father to help us on our way. We need to be as little children and come humbly to our Father regularly, and ask Him to reveal any pride. I believe this vision to be a literal thing too, that God will use little children in that way.
The Children's Bread
Bread is also used as an analogy for healing and deliverance. Mark 7:26-27, "The woman was a Greek, a Syro-Phoenician by birth, and she kept asking Him to cast the demon out of her daughter. But Jesus said to her, 'Let the children be filled first, for it is not good to take the children's bread and throw it to the little dogs.'"
Healing and deliverance are the children's bread first of all, but it's also for the world. How is the world ever going to get saved, healed and delivered unless the whole Church is released to do it? There simply isn't enough people to bring in the harvest if we don't all participate. The world is crying out to the Church, "The harvest is past, the summer has ended, and we are still not saved."
In conclusion, I believe it's important that we seriously consider these things today. God has positioned the Church for a greater release into the harvest field than ever before in order to accomplish His will for this hour and for His glory. It's His desire that ALL men should be saved.
Grace Grace Grace
There is "more than enough grace" available to us to accomplish what God sets before us to do--together. Let's pray for GRACE to be released to leaders in order to enable them to equip and release their congregations into their destinies.
Let's pray for GRACE to be released upon the WHOLE Body of Christ to enable them to fulfill their destinies and work together to bring in the harvest.
Let's pray for GRACE to be released upon the needy, in and outside the Church, and that the glory of God will be manifest in greater measure in the earth.
It's time to bring in the harvest--you give them something to eat.