Sep 12, 2022
S
Unity
John 17:20-26
"
I do not pray
for these alone, but also for those who will
believe in Me through their word; 21 that they all may be
one, as You,
Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also
may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent
Me. 22 And
the glory which You gave Me I have
given them, that they may be one just
as We are one: 23 I in them, and You in
Me; that they may be made perfect in
one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have
loved them as You have loved Me.
24 “Father, I desire that
they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may
behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the
world. 25 O righteous
Father! The world has not known You,
but I have known You;
and these have known that You sent
Me. 26 And I have declared to
them Your name, and will declare it, that the
love with which You loved Me may be
in them, and I in them.”"
Eph 4
I, therefore, the
prisoner of
the Lord, beseech
you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were
called, 2 with all
lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one
another in love, 3 endeavoring to
keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of
peace. 4 There
is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in
one hope of your calling; 5 one
Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all,
who is above all, and through all, and
in you
all.
Spiritual
Gifts
7 But to each one of us grace was given
according to the measure of Christ’s gift. 8 Therefore He says:
“When He ascended on high,
He led captivity
captive,
And gave gifts to
men.”
9 (Now
this, “He ascended”—what does it
mean but that He also first
descended into the lower parts of the earth? 10 He who descended is also the One who
ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all
things.)
11 And He Himself gave some to
be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some
pastors and teachers, 12 for the
equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for
the edifying
of the body of Christ, 13 till we
all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the
Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of
the fullness of Christ; 14 that we
should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried
about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the
cunning craftiness of deceitful
plotting, 15 but, speaking
the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is
the head—Christ— 16 from whom the
whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies,
according to the effective working by which every part does its
share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in
love.
The New
Man
17 This I say, therefore, and testify in the
Lord, that you should no longer walk as the
rest of the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their
mind, 18 having their
understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God,
because of the ignorance that is in them, because of
the blindness of their heart; 19 who, being past feeling, have given
themselves over to lewdness, to work all uncleanness with
greediness.
20 But you have not so learned
Christ, 21 if indeed you
have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in
Jesus: 22 that
you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which
grows corrupt according to the deceitful
lusts, 23 and be
renewed in the spirit of your mind, 24 and that you put on the new man
which was created according to God, in true righteousness and
holiness.
Do Not Grieve
the Spirit
25 Therefore, putting away
lying, “Let each
one of you speak
truth with his neighbor,” for we are members of
one another. 26 “Be angry, and do not sin”: do not let the sun go
down on your wrath, 27 nor
give place
to the devil. 28 Let him who
stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working
with his hands what is good, that he may have
something to give him who has need. 29 Let no corrupt word proceed out of your
mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that
it may impart grace to the hearers. 30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of
God, by whom you were sealed for the day of
redemption. 31 Let all
bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor,
and evil speaking be put away from you, with all
malice. 32 And be
kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another,
even as God in Christ forgave you.
Both Jesus, Yeshua, and Paul are speaking to
and about fellow believers in Yeshua.
This is not talking about the woke idea that everyone needs to
tolerate every idea as equally valid and moral, and it's certainly
not talking about the coming push for a One World Religion.
This is talking about unity within the body of The Way, the
body of our Messiah Jesus Christ, Yeshua HaMashiach.
This issue of unity has been on my heart for many
reasons. One is because of recent conflict with a close
family member relating to my Messianic beliefs and practices, but
also a teaching I've been following from a Messianic teacher from a
Youtube channel and ministry called MTOI, Messianic Torah Observant
Israel called "Unity and Division in the Body of Messiah".
He makes several points in that teaching that I want to pass
along.
We can and should pursue truth in various areas of our faith,
but we can practice and believe in our convictions without feeling
the need to push those on others.
Our goal should be to be selfless, where our focus is on our
Creator and not on ourselves, and by doing so we'll be operating in
the spirit and not in the flesh.
If we are selfless, we cannot be offended and we will not feel
the need to be right, or for others to acknowledge that we're
right.
Note that I'm talking about behavior within the body of
believers. We are told to make disciples and to share the
good news of the Gospel, but these lessons also can inform how we
go about talking to and dealing with unbelievers. Remember
we're told to always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who
asks us the reason for the hope that we have. That's
different than sharing something with someone who didn't ask for
the information.
This teacher also talked about a mental exercise that's
helpful for us to make.
Our Heavenly Father wants to spend eternity with us, but
though He wants all to come to be saved, we know that not all will
be saved.
He has given us free will and He has told us how He wants us
to think and how to live. To me , it's clear that it matters
to Him the condition of our hearts and who He is going to spending
eternity with.
What if you were able to choose who you were going to spend
eternity with. Who would it be and what would be your
criteria?
A more eye opening is what is others were able to choose who
they were going to spend eternity with, on whose list would you be
included and would you be included on anyone's list?
This exercise got me thinking about my impact on others
in general, as well as in the workplace.
When God created Adam and Eve and He told them to be fruitful
and multiply, and that same command applies to us.
That can mean we should bear children, but it can also refer
to the fruits of the spirit described in Galatians 5:22-23
"But the fruit
of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering,
kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness,
self-control. Against such there is no law."
Are you bearing this kidn of
spiritual fruit at work, as well as at home, and within the larger
body of Christ?
E
Fred Abakah, Merchant Marine in Ep. 4.
Some of you may be in the military, or in jobs where you spend
time with your co-workers for long periods of time away from
home. If so, you may benefit from listenig to that
episode.
L
18 “And you shall remember
the Lord your
God, for it is He who gives you power to
get wealth, that He may establish His covenant which He
swore to your fathers, as it is this
day. 19 Then it
shall be, if you by any means forget the Lord your God, and follow
other gods, and serve them and worship them, I testify against
you this day that you shall surely perish. - Deuteronomy 8:18
NKJV
A
H
Dad Joke "Why can't a nose be 12 in long?" - then it would be
a foot