Uncategorized

Esther was finally chosen as the Queen. While her title changed, her character did not!  She could have easily thought to herself: ” I don’t need anyone’s advice anymore; others should be seeking my advise. I am the Queen, and the only one who is worthy to give me advice is the King. ” On the contrary, she remained teachable and submitted as we see in the scriptures.

And Mordecai told them to answer Esther: “Do not think in your heart that you will escape in the king’s palace any more than all the other Jews. For if you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” Esther 4:13-14

When Mordecai sent her the above message,  she took Mordecai’s message very seriously. Esther knew it was time for action. This action was much weightier than anything she had ever done before. This could cost her life! In the past God had used Mordecai and Hegai to counsel her. This time though, the Lord was thrusting her into a new dimension. He was going to be her advisor. She had to rely on Him to guide her step by step through such a delicate and fragile situation!

When we truly have a teachable attitude, we don’t lose the desire to learn from others regardless of how high God takes us. We have the humility to realize that we don’t know everything. This causes us to make ourselves available to learn from whomever God places in our lives. More importantly, we learn that God’s rulership trumps anything else. We are totally and utterly dependent on Him to give us instruction to navigate through life!

Being teachable can be particularly challenging for those who are in leadership positions. Leaders generally have an answer/solution to other people’s problems. As a result, they can have a tendency to stay in a position of counseling other people but not allow themselves to receive good counsel from those who aren’t their colleagues.

As we have seen over the last few devotionals, God used variety of methods to train His people and move them in the direction of fulfilling His purpose in their lives. What is amazing about God is that His training is so custom-made that it will not match the methods He is using on our siblings, our coworkers, or even our spouse. It’s important to stay sensitive to His spirit, so we can stay on track with His specific training for our lives.

Lord thank you for your unique training methods. We desire to be shaped by the training you have for us regardless of the person or the circumstance that you use to bring it to our lives. Amen.

For comments, please email me at Karlinefischer@yahoo.com.

I have been sharing about God’s specific training methods in the lives of His people which led them into fulfilling God’s purpose in their lives. Today I will be sharing about Queen Esther.

Esther through remaining teachable

Esther grew up with her relative Mordecai who loved her as his own daughter. She was instructed and trained by this man from an early age.

So it was, when the king’s command and decree were heard, and when many young women were gathered at Shushan the citadel, under the custody of Hegai, that Esther also was taken to the king’s palace, into the care of Hegai the custodian of the women. Now the young woman pleased him, and she obtained his favor; so he readily gave beauty preparations to her, besides her allowance. Then seven choice maidservants were provided for her from the king’s palace, and he moved her and her maidservants to the best place in the house of the women. Esther 2:8-9

There were many women who were at the king’s palace ready to be seen by the King, but the Bible mentions only Esther who pleased Hegai. Hegai was serving the king by following the guidelines to prepare these women for coming before the king. The other women didn’t feel the need to honor him or look up to him, but Esther did. She had the humility to treat Hegai with respect and be teachable. She even went out of her way to please him. She could have easily become proud of being at the king’s quarters and thought of herself as someone too high and mighty. However, Esther remained humble and teachable. That right attitude gained Hegai’s favor, which in turn gave her many more privileges than the other women at the palace.

Now when the turn came for Esther the daughter of Abihail the uncle of Mordecai, who had taken her as his daughter, to go in to the king, she requested nothing but what Hegai the king’s eunuch, the custodian of the women, advised. And Esther obtained favor in the sight of all who saw her. Esther 2:15

Esther had understood that Hegai wasn’t just the king’s servant to follow through with his assigned tasks. He was a man who knew the King well, so she listened to his advice before she went to the king. The Bible doesn’t tell us that the other women even developed any form of a relationship with Hegai.

God has blessings in store for us that come through unexpected people. Generally, these people will not be the ones that others would deem important or impressive, but they are God’s assigned person to bless us with something we couldn’t do otherwise. It’s important to view and value all people significant and be teachable before anyone.

Humility causes us to stay open and teachable. It doesn’t mean we are gullible with what is taught; it does mean that we are not too proud to receive insight and wisdom from anyone whether that’s a grocery store clerk, our housekeeper, or the Starbuck’s barista.

I will continue sharing about Esther in the next devotional.

For comments, please email me at Karlinefischer@yahoo.com.

Athletes have to go through strenuous exercise and weight training to become stronger and develop stamina for their sport. The Lord does similar training with us to prepare us for the purpose and the assignment coming ahead. We can’t shy away from tough and uncomfortable situations if we desire to fully embrace everything God has for us.

Daniel through satraps’ envy (Daniel 1-6)

“Inasmuch as an excellent spirit, knowledge, understanding, interpreting dreams, solving riddles, and explaining enigmas were found in this Daniel, whom the king named Belteshazzar, now let Daniel be called, and he will give the interpretation.” Daniel 5:12

Daniel was in the king’s quarters because Israelites were under the Persian Empire captivity; Daniel was brought to the palace to serve the king. Being at the palace wasn’t Daniel’s idea, nor was it a dream come true! On the other hand, the satraps were swarming around the king trying to secure their own positions before the king. Each had their own ideas of greatness, and they certainly did not want Daniel to be the most regarded by the king. When one has a spirit of excellence on them, only those who have the same spirit will appreciate it. On the other hand, it will make those who want to cut corners and be mediocre very uncomfortable because they don’t want to look bad!

While the satraps were trying to trap Daniel, he calmly minded his own business and stayed close to the Lord. The fact that Daniel was separated from his family, and the satraps and the governors were so jealous of his abilities must have kept him intimate with the Lord.

The closer we are to the Lord, the bolder and less fearful of man we are. Another factor that greatly helps in being bold is when individuals don’t have selfish ambition. Selfish ambition causes people to cave in to man’s opinion in order to get to their desired position/outcome. When one is free of selfish ambition like Daniel was, then there is no fear of reprisal from the king or anyone else. Daniel could be himself without fear of losing a future prospect.

The satraps manipulated the king into signing a decree for people to bring their petitions only to the king and no other. When Daniel heard this, he wasn’t planning to change his worship. Daniel was simply there out of an assignment from God. That kept things simple and clear. When the challenge came not to pray to God or go to the lion’s den, the answer was clear to Daniel. His boldness against the opposition and the man-made rules was admirable! He even kept his windows open while he was praying.

Daniel feared God more than the king or the lion. He stood for God, and God stood for Daniel! In turn the king realized that it was Daniel’s God who had protected him. What a great testimony of Daniel’s faith and His God! Daniel’s faith would have also allowed other Israelites to worship the true God without the fear of punishment.

It would have been great if the satraps were convicted by Daniel’s God when the Lord rescued him. Unfortunately, sometimes people’s hearts are so hardened that they are not willing to see the truth and be changed.  If the satraps were accepting of Daniel and the environment was comfortable relationally, Daniel may have gotten relaxed and dulled with God’s purpose. Praise God for those satraps and the kings that kept Daniel on his knees praying as he always had! This gave him a strength and boldness that none of those other relationships could have given him.

A friend of mine confessed to me one day that if her husband were everything she wanted him to be, most likely she would not be walking with the Lord today. She would have just been happy and content with an easy marriage.

How is God training you right now? Are you allowing God to sharpen you through His method? Or are you fighting your way through it by despising the people or the circumstances surrounding you?

God is so much bigger than the difficult people or circumstances we encounter. If we stay focused on Him and not on the pain, we’ll be able to see the silver lining. Someday we will appreciate how God used those tough people/situations for His glory and our good.

For comments, please email me at Karlinefischer@yahoo.com.

Some of the methods God uses on His people are hard!  Praise God that He continues to remind us of who we are and his plans for us, so we can keep going in the right direction!

David’s early life was not an easy life, but what He went through allowed him to become a man that the scripture tells us:

 “Now when David had served God’s purpose in his own generation, he fell asleep; Acts 13:36 a (NIV)

Now, that’s quite a statement being made about someone’s life!!

David through being the youngest and Saul’s insecure leadership (1 Samuel 16-31) 

David was the youngest of eight boys. The Bible tells us that when Samuel came to Jesse’s house (David’s father) to anoint one of the sons as the future king, David wasn’t even invited to the party. The other seven were all there, but David was tending the sheep. They not only didn’t think of him as the future king, but they also didn’t care  having him there for the celebration of one of the boys getting anointed as future king.

If your family is having a graduation party or a birthday party isn’t everyone in the family invited? Someone was going to be declared and anointed as the future king in Jesse’s house that day, but David wasn’t considered to join the celebration. His family didn’t value him enough to invite him to this significant occasion! Being the youngest in the family, he was doing the menial work of tending the sheep and was treated like a servant rather than a son.

One day David went to take food for his brothers at his father’s request. Three of David’s brothers were in military and worked under King Saul. They were in a battle against Philistines. When David arrived at the camp, he found that everyone including his brothers were afraid of this giant named Goliath who was intimidating the people of God. When he declared that he can fight him, his brother Eliab had some choice words for him.

Now Eliab his oldest brother heard when he spoke to the men; and Eliab’s anger was aroused against David, and he said, “Why did you come down here? And with whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your pride and the insolence of your heart, for you have come down to see the battle.” 1 Samuel 17:28

That’s so interesting! Elaib must have forgotten that some day he was going to serve his youngest brother! For now, he chose to be as hateful as he had the power to do it! David killed Goliath against all the naysayers.

Based on David’s birth order and the way his father and brothers treated him, he could have had inferiority complex and been unsure of himself. On the contrary, his time alone as a shepherd boy had allowed him to have more time for God, to worship him, and to become a strong warrior. While his family didn’t give him encouragement or a sense of value, the Lord instilled a sense of worth that his family could not possibly provide!

After David killed Goliath, he was rewarded with Saul’s daughter. David married Michal and became King Saul’s son-in-law. Saul could have trained David to become a strong military leader given the fact that he had become part of the family. Unfortunately, Saul was so insecure that he didn’t want to see David’s success. Saul even chased David several times trying to kill him. God trained David as a warrior through being a shepherd, and He also taught David  “what not to do” by watching Saul.

When David became king, the scriptures do not mention that David ever became insecure about others taking his position. While David made his own mistakes, he was not suspicious and insecure in his leadership.

Through all those tough years, David had learned to trust God. Since David didn’t manipulate or take short cuts to become a king, he was secure with his position. He had settled the matter that man was not in control of His God-given call. He didn’t need to feel insecure about anyone taking his place.  I believe, He was the kind of man that if God said, “I’m going to give the kingdom to another man.”, he would have willingly given it over without wrestling or arguing with God.

Thank you Lord for the opportunity to grow in your ways. Thank you for the varied training grounds that sharpen us for your purpose. Amen.

For comments, please email me at Karlinefischer@yahoo.com.

What are God’s training methods in your life? The Lord has creative ways to train us in order to prepare us for His purpose. He teaches us new skills, a new attitude, and a new way of interacting with people. God uses time, circumstances, and people to sharpen us in self-control and patience.  Just when we think we have arrived spiritually, He asks us to love the difficult people unconditionally. God’s training ground can be rough, arduous, and strenuous!

God’s preparation includes “what to do” as well as “what not to do”. We can learn from other people’s wisdom, love, and patience; these individuals inspire us to do better. On the other hand, we can learn from those who cause hurt, rejection, or oppression among the sheep. Through them, God instructs us not to imitate them. Our challenge is when we are faced with these tough people, not get appalled nor get offended by the person. If we love them dearly, we’ll have a tendency to justify their actions. If we can see it for what it is, then we can learn  “what not to do”.

God used a variety of methods, people, and circumstances to prepare the Biblical characters for the work of service in His kingdom and to accomplish His purpose on the earth. I will share about some of them in the next couple of devotionals.

Ruth through Naomi’s faith- (Ruth 1-4)

Ruth became a widow at a young age who was also barren with no children from the marriage. She was a Moabite who did not know God but learned about the Lord from her mother-in-law Naomi. While Ruth had a disappointing beginning, she did not doubt Naomi’s God.

After the passing of all the men in the household, Ruth chose to go with Naomi to her homeland, and serve her mother-in-law without any expectation for her future. She wasn’t following a dream. She just loved Naomi and Naomi’s God.  She was following a woman who had been a great example of faith to her.

Ruth chose to serve her mother-in-law without the fear of sacrificing her future. She came as a servant in the field of Boaz, and she gleaned in his fields as a poor person. Ruth didn’t have much to hang on to, but she anchored her faith in Naomi’s God. The Lord in turn used her mother-in-law and Boaz to bless her with marriage, a home, and a baby. God provided for her needs and desires! Her son was the grandfather of King David.

Samuel through Eli’s flawed leadership (1 Samuel 1-16)

Hannah brought her son Samuel and dedicated  him to the temple to be trained and raised by Eli. Eli was the priest and a judge, and he knew God’s voice. On the other hand, Eli’s sons were wicked.  Over the years, while Eli and his sons were priests of the Lord, Eli had not shown leadership in correcting or restraining his sons. They committed sin and unlawful practices as a lifestyle at the temple.

Samuel was trained at an early age to hear God’s voice under Eli’s leadership. He also learned that just because Eli heard and discerned God’s voice well, it didn’t mean that he led well as a father or a priest; Eli’s household was out of order. These circumstances prepared Samuel for what was coming next. He became the messenger of a strong prophetic word that God sent to Eli about his sons!

While Samuel learned how to hear God’s voice well through Eli, he did not idolize him. When the time came that God had a message to deliver to Eli, he could have said to the Lord, “I owe my life and my ministry to this man. Could you pick someone else to deliver this word?”. On the contrary, Samuel delivered the powerful and potent message in its entirety!

Samuel learned to have a realistic view of leadership over the years. He was willing to place Saul in leadership when God asked him to do it. When Saul became rebellious, he was able to move on and anoint David as the next king.

Samuel had learned to lean on God and hear his voice well. He also had matured to the realization that whether he is under a priest or a king, every one of them is only human; respect the position but don’t revere the person! He was able to discern the good and the bad in their leadership. He stayed objective and open to God’s leading, and as a result he remained useful for God’s purpose through his years of service!

What method is God using right now to train you? Are there individuals who inspire and challenge  you with their integrity and love?  Are you frustrated or disheartened by the difficult people around you? Are you able to see the benefit of the experience even when it’s hard?

In Luke 1:26-38, the Bible tells us about the angel visiting Mary and delivering a powerful and life changing prophecy. Every part of the prophecy would have been overwhelming enough, but all the elements of this prophecy put together were truly amazing!

There are a few things that are remarkable to me. Having grown up in a Middle Eastern nation, one would rather have anything happen to them than getting humiliated and ashamed by carrying a child out of wedlock. The fear of man and the opinion of man have such a control in people’s lives that make it debilitating and paralyzing for most people. The fact that Mary didn’t bring up that concern to the angel is amazing. Additionally, she was going to be married to Joseph soon. What if he didn’t believe her? Will he break up with her? She didn’t mention that concern to the angel either.

Mary could have protested the angel’s message by saying, “By the way, we come from a poor family. We have no political, financial, or religious clout to make this boy qualified for the throne. Have you considered my cousin Elizabeth or the Chief Priest’s daughter for this assignment? We don’t have any skills or resources to raise a king. Joseph is a carpenter, and that’s about the only thing we can teach him as a career.”

Mary in simplicity of her faith believed the angel and everything the angel told her. She exclaimed, “Let it be to me according to your word.” She received the seed of life through the prophetic word right at that time. She didn’t say that she had to pray about it. She didn’t declare,” I agree only with part of the prophecy.”  She accepted the whole counsel and made herself available to the Holy Spirit to do His work on her.

I hope we can receive the word of God with simplicity of faith without trying to analyze it or understand it. Mary didn’t try to make a plan for how this prophecy was going to get fulfilled. Based on various scriptures, it is clear that the Angel continued to give counsel to Mary and Joseph in order to guide their path, keep them in unity, and protect baby Jesus.

I love the song, “Mary Did You Know” because it beautifully describes the extent of the work of Jesus. Mary could not have imagined His awesome work when she received the prophetic word and became Jesus’ mother. You can use the link below (cut and paste if needed) to listen to the song on YouTube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPsgIhlYQmM

Thank you Lord for Jesus coming and for His obedience to the cross. Thank you Lord for your word. We receive it in simplicity of faith. Give us the courage to trust you with the process.

Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. And having come in, the angel said to her, “Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!” Luke 1:26-28

A young lady named Mary minding her own business is getting ready to be married to her fiancé. She hopes to start an ordinary life like all the other young girls her age. This young lady though is not going to have an ordinary life neither will she be an ordinary wife and a mother. Mary is highly favored by the Lord.

Whenever God highly favors someone, His spotlight is on the individual, and they become subject to God’s process and purpose. Mary was a perfect example of this situation when the angel interrupted her ordinary world to announce that she will be with a child.

“But when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and considered what manner of greeting this was. Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.

Then Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I do not know a man?

And the angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God. Now indeed, Elizabeth your relative has also conceived a son in her old age; and this is now the sixth month for her who was called barren. For with God nothing will be impossible.” Then Mary said, “Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.” Luke 1:29-38

Mary received an amazing prophecy. The entire prophecy would have been beyond Mary’s imagination let alone trying to help others understand it. How could this be!?

First of all she was going to be with child. Wait! She is a virgin. She’s never heard of any virgin conceiving, and she’s had a pure relationship with Joseph. How is this possible?

Secondly her child was going to come through the Holy Spirit. Did she really know much about the Holy Spirit at that time? The presence of the Holy Spirit upon individuals was rare before Jesus’ arrival. Additionally, we know that God was silent for about 400 years prior to Jesus’ birth, so there were no visible or audible manifestations of God for a long time.

Thirdly, the baby someday was going to take the throne of David. The Israelites hadn’t had a king for centuries. While Mary’s ancestry went back to King David, she wouldn’t have considered herself a royalty. The Bible doesn’t even mention her father being a priest.

Finally the angel tells her that her older cousin Elizabeth who had been barren was going to be with a child as well. What changed? Why now?

Do we believe God in simplicity of faith when He speaks to us? I’m sure Mary never imagined the process the Lord had for her and for her dear son, but she just accepted the promise and believed God.

I will continue with this subject in the next devotional.

Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!  It is like the precious oil upon the head, running down on the beard, the beard of Aaron, running down on the edge of his garments. Psalm 133:1-2

Psalm 133 tells us that the unity of the brethren is like oil flowing on the Aaron’s head, his beard, and down to the edge of his garments. This oil makes us softer. Others’ personalities don’t become sandpaper that rub against us. The offenses fall off faster because the anointing of unity causes issues not to stay and fester in our hearts.

God calls unity among the brethren good and pleasant. It’s interesting that Aaron who was a priest is used as the analogy to the concept of unity. The Bible calls each of us “Royal Priesthood”. There is an anointing that comes upon us by being in unity with our brethren!

The secular world in some cases does a great job with unity. Every employee in a company works for the benefit of their company’s  success. Sports teams come together and play united.  Some players may even have differences or disagreements among themselves, but when it comes to winning, everyone does their part to help the team succeed. Who plays the best game or who will get the credit is not their primary focus or goal. The main goal is the success of the team regardless of who will be the star of the day.

Are we willing to let God break through our individuality and bring true unity in the body of Christ? Some think that we only need to be united with the head. That’s is not true. Our unity starts there, but it doesn’t end there. We still have to do our part to put aside our personal preferences and prejudices, so we can walk in unity with our brothers and sisters within the body. When we are willing to do that, then the anointing of God will be upon the body. I believe, when we come to greater unity with our brothers and sisters in Christ, we will become more effective in reaching the lost because we have practiced accepting people who are different from us. 

And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 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; Ephesians 4:11-13

God has given us apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers to equip the saints for the work of ministry and to also build up the body of Christ in order to reach the unity of the faith. According to this scripture, the unity of the faith is just as important as equipping the saints. If we are only focused on equipping the saints, we will develop an individualist mentality about  ministry. However, we cannot forget that we are also called to be built up corporately until we reach the true unity of the faith.

It’s possible that in our individualist American mentality, it is easier for us to take on the assignment of being equipped for the work of ministry rather than work on maturing through unity. These scriptures are a call to those operating in five fold ministry gifts as well as leaders and church members. Every one of us needs to seek God’s wisdom to be part of the solution to unity of the body. 

Lord, we need your supernatural wisdom and revelation to see the body united. You came to tear down the walls of hostility between people. Tear down the walls of prejudice, individualism, competition, &  indifference that keep us at a distance from others. Help us to mature in this area. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

Misconceptions About Unity

Misconception #1: There must be complete agreement to have unity.

We don’t have to see everything the same way in order to have unity. For example, in a marriage God generally brings the opposites together to form a union.  Problems actually occur when one or both spouses try to change each other and make the spouse like himself/herself. The difference in a marriage can be a great blessing. If the difference is handled well, it brings balance and completeness to the marriage. If both spouses operated the same way, it may work great in some areas. However, other areas can suffer or become off-balanced. The same is true in the body of Christ. The scripture tells us:

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. Ephesians 4:16

Each part is important and each joint supplies. We don’t need everyone to be “eyes” in the body, and we don’t need everyone to be “ears” in the body. Each person has been called to fulfill their purpose in the body of Christ. That means we will not always see what someone else sees, and we will not hear what someone else is hearing. More importantly, God will give us different burdens for the church, ministry, people, and the community. Just because we don’t see or hear what someone else is seeing or hearing, it doesn’t mean they are wrong. Their burden may be a very valid burden, but it just hasn’t been revealed to us at the moment. Obviously, if something is unscriptural, then it must be dealt with appropriately.

Misconception #2: Conformity is unity.

Conformity is not unity! As a matter of fact, conformity produces a counterfeit to unity. That is man’s attempt to unity. People in their urge to express unity make compromises to the voice of the Holy Spirit in order to conform to the voice of those in power or in majority. Conformity is carnality, and it is based on fear of man. The scripture very clearly speaks against conformity but commands us to be transformed (See Romans 12:1-2).

Unity is a lot harder to achieve because it requires a transformation by the Holy Spirit. Unity stems from humility and love towards God, the body of Christ, and authority. Each of those elements are important to have a healthy unity. We cannot get united to people in a healthy way apart from being united to Christ first. If we are united with Christ, but we choose to either unite ourselves to authority or only to the body of Christ,  we will eventually cause division.

Unity requires humility. It brings a lowliness that puts aside our stubborn individuality and allows the spirit of God to flow and bring something that we on our own cannot bring to the table. We have to suffer the loss of own opinion or preferences at times and value people regardless of how different they are from us!

To have unity in the body, we also need to have an attitude of thankfulness for those in authority over us. We are called to pray for them for they have a great responsibility before God to shepherd the people of God. We will not always agree, but we don’t need to agree to follow the leader or be submitted to them. They just need to be following the finger of God and what the Bible prescribes.

Lord, we need a renewal of mind in the area of unity. We want our hearts and minds to be aligned with yours. Help us to catch the little foxes that cause disunity among us. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

The unity of the body is very important to the Lord. God sets the example of unity in trinity; the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit working in one accord with one another. Each have their unique work, and at the same time they work in unison to reveal the Godhead and to bring the Kingdom of God to the earth.

Paul exhorts us to unity in the below scriptures:

Therefore, I the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. Ephesians 4:1-6

We have much in common

The Apostle Paul urges us to unity because we all serve the same God, who has given us the same Holy Spirit. We all have the same hope for eternity, and we are all part of the same body who is the bride of Christ. We have the most important things in common.

Although as believers, we have much in common, the unity is still going to take work. Paul calls each believer to enter in this unity with lowliness and gentleness. Unity requires humility. If we come with an attitude of pride or harshness, we create an atmosphere of separation, resistance, and even hostility.

Christ has bought us unity by destroying the power of the enemy whose main work is to separate people from God and to separate people form one another. As people of God, unity is available to us, but  it will still require work and effort on our end to partner with the Holy Spirit.

Unity will demand dying to self and personal preferences.  It will require being patient and long suffering with one another. Unity will insist in overlooking each other’s weaknesses. That means we are not just tolerating each other, but we choose to love. Out of love for the individual and love for the body, we will do our part to go through the pain of bearing with each other’s immaturity and issues. In this way, we are keeping the bonds of unity recognizing we are all imperfect people who serve a perfect God!

Sectarianism causes disunity

Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. For it has been declared to me concerning you, my brethren, by those of Chloe’s household, that there are contentions among you. Now I say this, that each of you says, “I am of Paul,” or “I am of Apollos,” or “I am of Cephas,” or “I am of Christ.” Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? 1 Corinthians 1:10-13

If we shift our focus from Jesus, we are bound to concentrate on the natural and become political! A natural person will want to get close to those who he/she deems important or popular. Some will join the “loving” club. Others will join the “truth” group. A few will want to belong to the “elite” club who only a privileged few can enter in. Any of these groups includes some people but rejects or excludes many. All of this is carnality, and it is sin because it indicates that Jesus is not at the center of attention any longer.

God uses people in our lives to help us grow and mature. However,  they are not designed neither are they capable to take the place of Jesus. We are not baptized in any one’s name except Jesus. No one has died for our sins except Jesus. No one can open the door to heaven except Jesus. No one can define our destiny and future except Jesus. For all of those reasons and a whole host of other reasons, we cannot join ourselves to a person or a group to the point of causing disunity, separation, or division.

Think about your associations, attitudes, and words. Examine them to see if they create an atmosphere of unity for the greater body. If your attitude or actions are in the line of  “us versus them” chances are division is being brewed in you and around you.