Artist: Excelsius
Song: JATH Remix
Album: In Conjunction: Pre-Order CD

I love my big brother X (Excelsius) and I love the heart for ministry that he has. This man of God is always on the grind and has a strong will to want to unify and connect with the Body of Christ in as many ways as he can: through traditional ministry, hip-hop, choppin' it up (fellowship), and the list goes. It is with this idea in mind that Excelsius founded his ministry, with his wife Stacey, called Joined at the Hip (JATH for short). It is the name and focus of the ministry that I want to focus on for today's devotion because it is one that needs to be near the heart of every believer. Let us begin by opening our Bibles to 1 Corinthians 6:17.

1 Corinthians 6:17 (ESV) - But he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him.

Simple enough, right? Those who are joined to the Lord are one with Him. In other words, once we repent and put our faith in Christ, the Holy Spirit enters in and we essentially have God living inside of us so that we would grow to have the mind of Christ. It is at this point that we can operate in the things of God as the Holy Spirit leads, guides and directs us in all aspects of life. The great thing is that He is a teacher and able to allow us to understand Scripture so that 2 Timothy 3:17 might be fulfilled in our lives. If we look at 1 Corinthians 6 in context, especially verse 16, we can get a clear understanding of what Paul is trying to say about being joined to Christ. In the Old Testament Scriptures, we are told that when a man & woman have intercourse with one another (married or not), they become one or become inseparably joined together because of that act. When the Holy Spirit enters in, you become joined likewise, but in a much greater capacity (since He's God). If this joining is indeed the case, then why would you want to then prostitute yourself to the ways of sin, especially that of sexual immorality? God has bought us with a price, Jesus, and as a result we should seek to glorify Him with our body.

In like manner, we can also be joined at the hip with brothers and sisters in the faith, much like my brother Excelsius. We see this exhibited in Scripture with passages such as 1 John 2:19 and 1 Corinthians 1:10. Much like is described in JATH's about us page, 1 John 2:19 gives us the encouragement to know that all of those people who are walking with God and desiring to build up His kingdom are people that we can fellowship and be joined at the hip with, as being joined at the hip simply means to walk together side by side for a common objective. This thought is reiterated in 1 Corinthians 1:10 as Paul encourages us to be unified together in Christ, speaking with a like mind. As Christians, we should be joined at the hip with fellow believers, much like the apostles were joined at the hip to preach the gospel or like David and Jonathan who were closely knit. I have a few close brothers that I know I can walk with and it's awesome to know that even though we each have our own separate ministries, we have no problem coming together as we know all our work is for the glory of the Lord.

This word today is meant to encourage you to seek fellowship and unity in the body of Christ. This is not a walk that we can walk alone, and we are going to need brothers and sisters to help us along the way as we run this faith race. If you try to do it by yourself, you'll eventually fall flat on your face. Get some close brothers or sisters who can keep you accountable and push you to keep walking towards the things of Christ. That's what Joined at the Hip is all about, and that's what we at Trailblazin' Ministries are about as well. Get in fellowship and start choppin' it up!