Category: Thoughts and Meditations

“I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.” – John 17:23

Christians today seldom give unity with other Christians much thought. To the extent we ever think about unity, we mostly think about how to get others to agree with us. We prioritize being right, value getting others to yield, and often delight in “going it alone”. We consider unity a “nice to have” at best. In this, we’re very far from Christ’s will for His followers!

Jesus prayed for and prioritized genuine unity between believers. It’s more important to Jesus that we be unified as the church than that we agree on carpet color, music styles, or meeting times. It’s more important to Jesus that we be unified than that we be proven right on minor matters of preference, tradition, or power. If unity matters so much to Jesus, it needs to matter tremendously to every follower of Jesus!

Scripture teaches us to strive for unity. To work hard for unity. To prioritize unity. To sacrifice for unity. This makes sense given that Jesus died to make unity between fallen creatures of dust possible. More is at stake in our unity within the church than we generally imagine. Jesus is very clear that our unity as brothers and sisters in Christ is proof to the unbelieving world that God sent Jesus and that God loves us. Imagine that!

Your willingness to pursue unity with even those Christians you don’t particularly like proves the message of the Gospel! Our greatest isn’t our bumper stickers, our eloquent preaching, sophisticated teaching, bestselling books, or social media empire. The greatest testimony of Jesus we can offer to unbelievers is our ability as followers of Christ to live and love each other as one, unified body.

Are you pursuing unity with every other believer? Are you walking in unity with a local church? Are you willing to let go of things which are important to you but aren’t required by the Bible to promote greater unity and love in the church? That’s what Jesus prayed for you!

“I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one.” – John 17:15

When the troubles of the world become overwhelming, it’s helpful to remember what Jesus prayed for you. Jesus didn’t pray for any of His followers to be immune from the difficulties of life in a fallen world. He didn’t pray for you to be blissfully ignorant of the evil and sin running rampant in the world. He didn’t pray for you to live in safe and comfortable isolation away from the pain and suffering that marks life on earth. He didn’t pray for you to lock yourself away in a tower, fortress, or church to avoid interacting with the evil or foolish philosophies and fads of the world.

No, Jesus prayed for your spiritual protection as you navigate a world of challenges, setbacks, temptations, trials, and darkness. Jesus never prayed for His people to separate themselves from this world. To the contrary, He commanded us to go out and be salt and light, giving flavor, preservation, renewal, and the knowledge of the truth to a darkened, decaying world opposed to those values. Jesus commanded us to be witnesses to a hostile, watching world through our words, actions, and love. He commanded us to make disciples.

Obeying the commands of Jesus requires us to live in the world. We must experience the challenges of life that He Himself willingly stepped into. We must mix, mingle, and love those far from God. Long-term withdrawal from the world isn’t an option for Christ-followers, we must be out and about in the world. However, we do so confident that Jesus prayed for our spiritual protection.

As followers of Christ, we must never blindly go along with the sins of the world. We must never participate in the ungodly behaviors, attitudes, philosophies, and fads that may prevail. We must devote our lives to growing in holiness and growing closer and closer to Jesus even as we walk out in the world introducing people to Him.

What did Jesus pray for you? The protection of your soul from Satan’s influence. That’s far more important than the protection of your body from harm or your sensibilities from the evils present in the world. Go! Make disciples, while guarding your spirit in Christ as you do!

“But let justice roll down like waters,
and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.”

– Amos 5:24

Whether Old Testament or New, God’s desire for His people is consistent. He’s far more concerned with our hearts, minds, and attitudes than our visible patterns of religious behavior. Worship certainly matters, but appearing to worship while having a heart far from God’s is unacceptable and even offensive to Him. Giving, praying, teaching, and gathering with other believers are vitally important, but of little value if your mind isn’t trying to align to God’s and His values haven’t become your values.

God cares deeply about justice because He’s fundamentally just. He expects His children to act with justice and be concerned whenever they see others treated unjustly. If Jesus is your Lord, then as a citizen of God’s Kingdom you need to concern yourself with the work of the Kingdom here on earth. That work includes more than just sharing Christ so people enter the Kingdom. We’re called to concern ourselves with the things Jesus made clear distinguish God’s Kingdom here on earth from Satan’s domain of darkness. Practical concern for the sick, the poor, and the powerless. Acting with justice and acting for justice is a major part of making God’s Kingdom visible and attractive to a fallen world.

Likewise, God cares deeply that His people are righteous because He is perfect, sinless, holy, and righteous. He expects and empowers His followers to concern themselves with their own righteousness. Followers of Jesus must be pursuing holiness in every aspect our lives, both public and private, in the power of God’s Spirit. Righteousness can’t be something we put on for Sunday morning but leave behind us when we enter our workplace, the marketplace, or the community. Regardless of the cost, we must be acting with righteousness (not self-righteousness!) at all times, like an ever-flowing stream.

If you’ve embraced Jesus as your Savior, are you making Him visible through your concern for justice and daily practice of righteousness?

“For behold, he who forms the mountains and creates the wind,
and declares to man what is his thought,
who makes the morning darkness,
and treads on the heights of the earth—
the Lord, the God of hosts, is his name!”
– Amos 4:13

It’s a good habit to sit back and simply think about God. When you do, don’t just think about Him in the particular way you typically picture Him. Be intentional to think about Him in the many different ways that the Bible describes. Like a beautiful diamond with many glittering facets, God has infinitely many beautiful facets to think about. Contemplating any of them should be enough to bring us to worship our Creator!

Here in Amos, God proclaims His Almighty power and authority. This is certainly worth thinking about and worshiping Him for! God is the creator of this world and everything within it. He formed the beautiful and majestic mountains – the Rockies, the Alps, and the Himalayas. He’s bigger, grander, and more beautiful than the most massive, jaw-dropping, beautiful snow-capped peak. God creates the wind, which has such power, yet is generally invisible (much like God Himself).

God knows your every thought, spoken and unspoken. He makes night and day, light and darkness. He reigns in authority above all things on earth. He is the Lord! YHWH is His covenant name and He is the God of all of heaven’s armies of angels. God is absolutely, utterly sovereign over all things. He’s all-powerful, all-knowing, and ever-present. Nonetheless, He cares enough to know your every thought. Joyfully worship and give praise to Almighty God, knowing that He loves you very much!

“So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you.” – John 16:22

Try to imagine the feelings of those first followers of Jesus. Try to feel what they must have felt. Jesus, their friend and teacher, whom they had literally been following around 24×7 for years would soon be brutally executed. He would be betrayed by one of their own, arrested, tried unjustly, humiliated, and tortured. Soon He would be dead and buried.

What sorrow they must have felt. What a loss of purpose and focus for their lives. What a sense of waste must have crept into their hearts. Unable, as they were, to understand what Jesus was predicting they had to have felt like failures and fools. Their pain had to be enormous. Try to imagine and feel the depths of despair they felt.

Then feel the joy that came from seeing Jesus again! He was alive! On the third day He rose from the dead and appeared to them. They touched Him, talked to Him, and ate with Him. Once again, He was with them and taught them. Their joy had to be beyond imagination! Feel their joy…

This joy, the certain knowledge that Jesus had conquered death, sin, and Satan, the confidence that they saw Him go up to heaven with their own eyes, this joy never ended. The joy of knowing the risen Christ fueled their ministry for the rest of their lives. This joy overcame every kind of opposition and persecution imaginable.

You too hopefully know and believe that Jesus is alive and ruling from heaven. Rejoice in that! Try to feel the joy those first followers felt. Let the joy of having a Lord Who is victorious over everything that threatens you fill your heat and fuel your passion to make disciples of Jesus Christ.