Unity

Ephesians 2:12b-13 "You were excluded from citizenship...and you did not know the covenant promises God had made...You lived in this world without God and without hope. But now you have been united with Christ Jesus. Once you were far away from God, but now you have been brought near to Him through the blood of Christ."

Sometimes I talk with people who seem so lost. This past week we had a caller at the Billy Graham Association that called ready to commit suicide. All of us stopped and prayed for the caller. I feel so much sorrow for people who have no hope. But I can look back at my life and remember that same feeling of no hope. God does not want us to be in such despair. He wants us to know the hope we have in Him. He is our hope and wants to be the one we turn to for everything. We can have unity with God.

Ephesians 2:14a,15b 16, 18, 19b "For Christ Himself has brought peace to us...He made peace between Jews and Gentiles by creating in Himself one new people from the two groups. Together as one body, Christ reconciled both groups to God by means of His death on the cross, and our hostility toward each other was put to death. Now all of us can come to the Father through the same Holy Spirit because of what Christ has done for us. You are citizens along with all of God's holy people. You are members of God's family."

These verses are for us who have received Christ as our Savior, to remind us to be unified. No matter which Christian denomination, nationality, gender or school we go to, we are all ONE body under Christ. We BELONG to the same Father & have the same Holy Spirit within us because of our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ. We are not outsiders as the world can make us feel, we are inside the family of God. We are called to worship the one true God, and to love each other with a deep love as Christ ambassadors.

So how do we do this with all of the waves of life, difficult people and sins in our heart? We do this by the means that we have been given. The Holy Spirit that dwells within us.

Ephesians 2:20-22 "Together, we are His house, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. And the cornerstone is Christ Jesus Himself. We are carefully joined together in Him, becoming a holy temple for the Lord. Through Him you ..are also being made part of this dwelling where God lives by His Spirit."

How cool is that? We are made the dwelling place where God's Spirit lives. Wow! We no longer have to listen to our sinful nature but are free to obey God's Spirit that desires to work through us. :-)

Lord, I pray that I would be a willing vessel for you. That my sinful ways would not try to get in your way. That you would reign in my heart, mind and soul. That you would help me love others they way you want me to.