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www.truthworks.com 22 Feb 06 devotion archive |
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Unity I tell you the Truth, In our discussion concerning division, we found that there is good division and bad division. Good division keeps us separated from the things that are ungodly. God calls us to be “holy as He is holy.” The word holy means to be set apart or to be separated from the things of this world that are not of God. So division in that sense is not only good, but it is required of us. However, as much as we struggle for holiness, we likewise struggle with unity. As we read last time, we are also called to be unified in the Spirit. Ephesians 4: I believe this lack of unity of the Spirit has plagued the church and the body of Christ since the early beginnings. And I believe one of the reasons we see this lack of unity is because we do not understand what it truly means. As I’ve studied God’s word, I continue to realize that my preconceived idea of what His Word says often confuses and confounds the real message. Unity of the Spirit is one of those areas that I had confused for a long time. The problem we’ve had with understanding unity of the Spirit is that we’ve lead ourselves to believe that God desires for your spirit to be unified with my spirit and my spirit with the rest of the body of Christ. We should all be unified with one another. That paints a pretty picture of the body of Christ, however it also paints a difficult picture. Why? Because it’s an impossible task because I’m carnal and you’re carnal (we have a sin nature). For us all to simply be unified with one another’s spirits is impossible. Impossible yes, but as we know, all things are possible through God. And unity of the Spirit is the key to the impossible. The clue to this problem is in the capital “S”. You see, when God calls each of us to unity of the Spirit, He’s not calling us to be unified with each other’s spirit – He’s calling us to be unified with His own Spirit. When I become united, become one with the Spirit of God, I have unity of the Spirit. Likewise, when you become united with the Spirit of God, you have unity of the Spirit. And when each individual, each member of the body of Christ (the church) becomes united with the Spirit of God, it’s only then that we can realize true unity with one another. It’s the perfect common denominator of the Holy Spirit that brings unity to the body. Imagine with me that the Spirit of God sits in the center of a massive room and all of us (the body) are scattered throughout the room. As hard as we try to unit with one another, it’s impossible for the entire room to be united. However, if every individual began to unit with the Spirit of God, then every individual would be drawn to the center of the room. As each of us draws closer to the Spirit, each of us draws closer to one another. Our focus becomes fixed on Him and not us. When that happens, there is unity. Anything else just creates more division. I encourage each of you to seek unity with God’s Spirit. The song reminds us that, “We are one in the bond of God.” It’s only through His leadership that we are unified. Your Servant,
<*))))))< <*))))))< <*))))))< <*))))))< <*))))))< <*))))))< Copyright © 2006 Truth Works Publishing. All rights reserved.
Unless otherwise specified, all scripture quotations taken from the HOLY BIBLE,
NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. NIV.
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