Grace to you, and peace, in the precious yet mighty name of Jesus our Lord!
There are two particular verses that have had special significance for me of late, and I would like to share them with you . . . along with some of my thoughts. The first verse can be found in Ps. 133.
Behold, how good and how pleasant it is
For brothers to dwell together in unity!
At this present time, I don't think there is another word being bantered around the Christian community as much or as frequently as the word "unity". Everywhere one turns, people are speaking of it. "The Church needs to come together in unity." "We need to unify if we want to effectively reach our community." But what is unity? Do we honestly know what we are talking about? And even if there are some scattered examples of unity in Scripture (e.g., the re-building of the city wall under Nehemiah), do we (the Church) truly understand what it means to come together as one in Christ? Yes, Jesus asked that we might be "perfected in unity" (Jn.17:23), but what does that look like? Does it simply mean that we exchange worship teams on Sunday morning, or that your preacher delivers the weekly message in my church and vice versa? Or . . . does unity go deeper than that? If we truly dwelt together in unity, might not the Church look entirely different? And more importantly, might not the world look upon us in a different light?
The second verse comes from Jesus' discourse on the mount (Mt.5:6).
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
For they shall be satisfied.
I have to admit that this particular verse has caused me considerable angst. I keep asking myself, "Do I truly hunger and thirst for righteousness, or am I just putting on a show for the sake of others?" And in light of the verse above, is my hungering and thirsting in any way related to unity? If we . . . the Church of Jesus Christ . . . truly hungered and thirsted for righteousness, might we not find the unity we seek? But even if that's the case, where do we start? What does it mean to hunger and thirst for righteousness?
For me, the answer to any of these questions begins with a simple prayer: "Father, may your Spirit guide and teach me." Indeed, may He guide us all as we seek the unity we desire . . . as we seek to be truly satisfied.
As you pray for the city of Los Angeles, I encourage you to pray for unity within the Body of Christ, even if we don't know what to expect. And pray too that all those who call Him "Lord" will truly hunger and thirst for the righteousness of His kingdom in our midst.
Yours because the tomb is empty,
Lyle Randles, Director of Prayer Ministry
LIFE CONNECTIONS INTERNATIONAL
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