The Power of Unity

The Holy One calls to me this morning. Life with my Lord is never dull. While deep trials mark my pathway, I know He is taking me to places of greater wisdom and understanding as we traverse this "Highway of Holiness" together.

 The time in His Presence is so amazing to me. The world around me may be swirling out of control but in His Presence there is peace.

Today He talks to me about our unity and the importance of community. This has been the topic of our early morning conferences over the last few months. He speaks without words to my heart and mind about unity with Him. With the Holy Spirit, there is a communication beyond words, and many question just how the God of all creation might "speak" to a mortal.

"Without words" is about all I can say. When I surrender my thoughts and mind to Him, I am taken into a higher order of thoughts. When I commit my dilemmas to Him, He opens my mind to see things from a different perspective.

God also speaks through His written Word. Early in my walk, I decided that I wanted to know His Word and become a "Master" of His Word in my own life. I didn't enter into a seminary or school because I was a wife, a mother and business partner to my late husband. Time and responsibilities didn't permit an outside education, but I sat at the feet of My Jesus and by His Spirit, I learned. 

I am still in His institution of "higher education", where the simple Truth is found amid all the chaos of life and the confusion set up by the enemy of my soul. Today, as we talk about unity, the Holy One takes me to Matt 18:19 yet again. Jesus said, "Again, I tell you that if 2 of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by My Father in Heaven".

This is just one of His endless promises that belong to His Beloved. It is important to note the "context" of this promise. Jesus was speaking to His Disciples, not the general population, and not the Pharisees. His Disciples were men who embraced His teaching, and surrendered to His authority as they called Him, "Teacher", "Master" and "Lord".

This is important to understand because of the trust that "whatever you agree" to ask for, comes out of a common bond of love for the Lord and the Promise Keeper. 

If 2 agree to build a tower like "Babel" unto the heavens, for a self-exalted empire, even if it is shaped like a "church", the "agreement" most likely will not receive the promise. So, how do we know what to ask? How do we know what to agree to?

God's written Word is His Will. God's Will is always an appropriate place to start in agreement. 

By way of example, Jeremiah 29:11 is a place where many believers can agree and often quote to each other. But that verse follows Jeremiah 29:4-7. This verse is a directive and very much a part of his written Will for us. We are told to "pray for the peace and prosperity of the land of exile, " for if it prospers so will you". 

Can we first agree that the world is not our home and we are just passing through this earth realm which is for us a land of exile? If we agree as to our current placement, we can move on to agree to ask the Lord for the peace and prosperity to flow out over the land of exile. We can look forward to that being answered. This is not "name it and claim it" for lustful fulfillment of things that would become idols. The earth's greatest need is peace. (With God and each other) ...followed by provision to live life here.

For those who do not agree that the Bible is our life manual and a living Word for every life and generation, they will be stuck with just a historical view of God's Word, not applicable to today and therefore relegating them to a life of no hope.

However, if we agree that the promises are all ours in Christ Jesus, then we can go past the model prayer that says:

"Thy Kingdom come

Thy will be done

On Earth as it is in Heaven".

 

And on to live that reality here, now, today, and so long as our feet are planted on this Earth.  As I ponder that great promise of power in unity, to ask and receive, I am compelled to look at relationships where that can be most effective.

 When I read that promise, I have always seen it for "prayer partners" who are mostly unrelated saints, and those who come together for fellowship in community. Today the Lord blows open the limited understanding I have had and points out to me, the place of greatest relational impact of that promise in the world.

 That place is the basic relationship of two people upon which all society rests: the marriage of 1 man, 1 woman under the Lordship of Christ. The original benediction over the original pair was that they go forth and take dominion...rule...together... to co-govern with God and each other. Jesus' Word and promise reinstates that benediction.

 I think about what might be accomplished according to God's Word and His Will if married people could come together in agreement over their relationships, their families, their ministries and more. How much power could be wielded against the darkness in the world, if the "marrieds" would come into agreement to declare God's Word over what is out of God's order? How much healing would take place? How much of God's great government would come to our churches and communities? How much rebellion would be quenched, poverty ended, and divorces overruled?

 Evil orchestrates marital division because Satan knows the power of unity.

We have the promise and the plan. The power of unity is ours. The question is: will we wield it?

 The Spirit is calling. Can you hear Him?

The Power and Presence of the Holy Spirit

The Power and Presence of The Holy Spirit

The Holy One calls to me this morning. It's a day to be in awe of the One who calls me. Because He usually brings Glory for the Father and the Son to my mind, it's odd to stand back and worship the role and Person of the Holy Spirit. And because He indwells me it's almost like celebrating myself and that cannot be right...right?

Yet today, I am brought to a new awareness of the magnificence of the Holy Spirit and the so often over-looked or under-appreciated magnitude of His Being.

Scripture says that, "In the beginning", (Genesis1:3), "Now the earth was formless and empty. Darkness was over the surface of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters". It goes on to say, "And God said, "let there be light" and there was light".

As I meditate on the Trinity and try to grasp the unattainable complete picture of a Being so Glorious, men would be incinerated in His Presence unless He wrapped Himself in flesh. I can only imagine....what it was like....to be there.....in the beginning.

There is such a mystery surrounding the "community" that is made up of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. As I think about the 3rd Person of the Trinity and marvel at His possession of my soul...I wonder....

It seems that He is "The Force". As in "The Force be with you". He is the One Jesus relied on to bring His "new immortal body" out of the tomb. And He is the life Force that will bring us out as well for He is the Force behind resurrection life.

That inter-dependency upon each other seems to be the model of what the Lord Jesus called for within His Body, the Church. Since before Creation manifested a world we know as the Universe, God as the Trinity: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit were in harmonious unity. Without beginning and without end, they were a Community beyond our comprehension, and always will be.

Yet They have invited us to enter into fellowship and be united with Them ....All of Them...in complete "unity"....in comm-"unity".

It has been suggested that the Holy Spirit is the One who empowers the spoken Word of God. He is the Force in the Word, Who gives life to the Word.

As I move through this course of study and into maturity, I realize I have entered the "school of the Holy Spirit". Upon my own petition and request, He has set about to teach me of His role in the Triune Godhead.

I honor Him and I worship Him. Jesus came to bring Glory to the Father. The Spirit came to bring Glory to the Son and now, we, by the power of the indwelling Spirit, can bring Glory to all Three.

I admit to having a flawed perspective of the Holy Spirit at the onset. My early education did not include a study of His Role or Being. Misrepresentation and ignorance of Him led me to suppress even a desire to become acquainted with the One who will give life to my mortal body and raise me from the dead should I die in the flesh before my Lord comes.

I know this is a sentiment shared by a vast majority of the Body of Christ. Ignorance of this incredible side of the three-part Godhead has crippled the Church since He is the Force behind the spoken Word of God.

In John 14, Jesus laid out what was about to happen upon His death and spoke of the One who would empower all who believe in Him: His identity (as God), His Authority (as Sovereign), His love (as Sacrificial).

Jesus spoke of a Comforter and a Counselor, who would come to live "with us and be in us" He went on in John 15, to give us the picture of Himself as "the Vine" and His disciples AKA you and me, as the branches with His life force bearing fruit through us. That "Life Force" connecting us to Him is the Holy Spirit.

To say that I have just discovered the tip of the iceberg of incredible things to come, is the understatement of all time. I have been blessed in the Sacred Romance to learn more about my Beloved Savior & Lord, now I am being led into places where His life and His Spirit can be unleashed. As in all matters relating to life with the Lord, it is the surrender of my will that unleashes His Power.

All were born into a fallen world. The "curse" is the separation from the Creator. His love could not leave us without a rescue. He sent Himself in the flesh to die the death that was required to lift the curse and redeem man. The death of Jesus, restored the order of Creation and brought peace once again between the Creator and the created.

Free will gives all men a choice to be restored to our Creator God or not. Once the decision is made to go on with God and His Son, Christ Jesus, the Holy Spirit is sent to empower the order of Heaven to be manifested through those who have embraced that life with the Creator.

Under the influence and control of the Spirit, we are on assignment here to live in that restored dominion and harmony with the Creator as it was in the Garden before the fall.

The Holy Spirit brings enforcement of God's Divine order through our spoken words. We do not have the power to change things but He does. Our Spoken words are His dominion.

Evil understands this better than we do. The enemy in his cunning strategy has convinced people to speak his agenda and thereby cripple the Holy Spirit's power. "The power of life and death is in the tongue."

We quote that scripture yet do not discipline our words. We speak in agreement in the power of evil over the power of our God. I am called today to repent for all the worthless words I have allowed to pass my lips. Because they were spoken in times of distress and heartache is no excuse.

The Lord is the same yesterday, today and forever. The Holy Spirit stands ready to bring my spoken word of God's Word into the earth's realm to the delight of all mankind and the establishment of His order through me.

I celebrate and worship the Holy Spirit. I delight in this understanding of His role within my being. I can feel His confidence beginning to surge.

The Spirit is calling. Can you hear Him?