Unity of The Bride
The captain of an ocean going ship cannot navigate across the sea by looking to the right or the left, it is only by looking up to the stars and navigating by the unchanging truth of true position that a ship can make it to the right location.
This same principle is true in the tossing seas of this generation. I have to navigate by faith...talking to and listening for God, then obeying His sometimes very hard commands...to get where He is taking me. We all do. We need to cultivate our ability to hear His voice.
Sometimes obeying God is hard. It is risky. There is sometimes a very hard pull from God's people to the right or left...some with good intentions, and some without good intentions...to conform to the flow that is evident to the eyes for "the greater good." Making choices for the greater-good is the center of man-based unity. Man-based unity will not last...there is only one head of the household...there is only one Father.
God-centered unity doesn't come from people conforming to each other. It comes from conforming to Jesus. Jesus honored earthly authority, and laid down His life for unity in His family, but He also spoke truth to earthly authority in and out of the body of God's people and the government. Jesus stayed in constant conversation with God and found that narrow road of navigating authority perfectly, without ever disobeying the plan His father was speaking to Him.
This requires an abiding in God. It is MUCH easier to hear people than it is to hear God, but that upward listening is essential for navigation. A confidence that you know His voice, and a willingness to obey that still small voice, even when all God's people are telling you otherwise is the only safe place to get direction ultimately. We can help each other hear God, but our individual obedience to God's voice is what we will all be held accountable for. Sometimes this obedience takes faith that God's leadership is what brings about His plans...not my, or anyone else's, wisdom.
I want to contend for the unity of Jesus' Body...with my all...it is what He prayed for! I believe in the Church...the Bride. But, I will never trade the unity of His body for obedience to His commands.
I Kings 13:4-32 So it came to pass when King Jeroboam heard the saying of the man of God, who cried out against the altar in Bethel, that he stretched out his hand from the altar, saying, “Arrest him!” Then his hand, which he stretched out toward him, withered, so that he could not pull it back to himself. The altar also was split apart, and the ashes poured out from the altar, according to the sign which the man of God had given by the word of the Lord . Then the king answered and said to the man of God, “Please entreat the favor of the Lord your God, and pray for me, that my hand may be restored to me.” So the man of God entreated the Lord , and the king’s hand was restored to him, and became as before. Then the king said to the man of God, “Come home with me and refresh yourself, and I will give you a reward.” But the man of God said to the king, “If you were to give me half your house, I would not go in with you; nor would I eat bread nor drink water in this place. For so it was commanded me by the word of the Lord , saying, ‘You shall not eat bread, nor drink water, nor return by the same way you came.’ ” So he went another way and did not return by the way he came to Bethel. Now an old prophet dwelt in Bethel, and his sons came and told him all the works that the man of God had done that day in Bethel; they also told their father the words which he had spoken to the king. And their father said to them, “Which way did he go?” For his sons had seen which way the man of God went who came from Judah. Then he said to his sons, “Saddle the donkey for me.” So they saddled the donkey for him; and he rode on it, and went after the man of God, and found him sitting under an oak. Then he said to him, “ Are you the man of God who came from Judah?” And he said, “I am. ” Then he said to him, “Come home with me and eat bread.” And he said, “I cannot return with you nor go in with you; neither can I eat bread nor drink water with you in this place. For I have been told by the word of the Lord , ‘You shall not eat bread nor drink water there, nor return by going the way you came.’ ” He said to him, “I too am a prophet as you are, and an angel spoke to me by the word of the Lord , saying, ‘Bring him back with you to your house, that he may eat bread and drink water.’ ” (He was lying to him.) So he went back with him, and ate bread in his house, and drank water. Now it happened, as they sat at the table, that the word of the Lord came to the prophet who had brought him back; and he cried out to the man of God who came from Judah, saying, “Thus says the Lord : ‘Because you have disobeyed the word of the Lord , and have not kept the commandment which the Lord your God commanded you, but you came back, ate bread, and drank water in the place of which the Lord said to you, “Eat no bread and drink no water,” your corpse shall not come to the tomb of your fathers.’ ” So it was, after he had eaten bread and after he had drunk, that he saddled the donkey for him, the prophet whom he had brought back. When he was gone, a lion met him on the road and killed him. And his corpse was thrown on the road, and the donkey stood by it. The lion also stood by the corpse. And there, men passed by and saw the corpse thrown on the road, and the lion standing by the corpse. Then they went and told it in the city where the old prophet dwelt. Now when the prophet who had brought him back from the way heard it, he said, “It is the man of God who was disobedient to the word of the Lord . Therefore the Lord has delivered him to the lion, which has torn him and killed him, according to the word of the Lord which He spoke to him.” And he spoke to his sons, saying, “Saddle the donkey for me.” So they saddled it. Then he went and found his corpse thrown on the road, and the donkey and the lion standing by the corpse. The lion had not eaten the corpse nor torn the donkey. And the prophet took up the corpse of the man of God, laid it on the donkey, and brought it back. So the old prophet came to the city to mourn, and to bury him. Then he laid the corpse in his own tomb; and they mourned over him, saying, “Alas, my brother!” So it was, after he had buried him, that he spoke to his sons, saying, “When I am dead, then bury me in the tomb where the man of God is buried; lay my bones beside his bones. For the saying which he cried out by the word of the Lord against the altar in Bethel, and against all the shrines on the high places which are in the cities of Samaria, will surely come to pass.”
This same principle is true in the tossing seas of this generation. I have to navigate by faith...talking to and listening for God, then obeying His sometimes very hard commands...to get where He is taking me. We all do. We need to cultivate our ability to hear His voice.
Sometimes obeying God is hard. It is risky. There is sometimes a very hard pull from God's people to the right or left...some with good intentions, and some without good intentions...to conform to the flow that is evident to the eyes for "the greater good." Making choices for the greater-good is the center of man-based unity. Man-based unity will not last...there is only one head of the household...there is only one Father.
God-centered unity doesn't come from people conforming to each other. It comes from conforming to Jesus. Jesus honored earthly authority, and laid down His life for unity in His family, but He also spoke truth to earthly authority in and out of the body of God's people and the government. Jesus stayed in constant conversation with God and found that narrow road of navigating authority perfectly, without ever disobeying the plan His father was speaking to Him.
This requires an abiding in God. It is MUCH easier to hear people than it is to hear God, but that upward listening is essential for navigation. A confidence that you know His voice, and a willingness to obey that still small voice, even when all God's people are telling you otherwise is the only safe place to get direction ultimately. We can help each other hear God, but our individual obedience to God's voice is what we will all be held accountable for. Sometimes this obedience takes faith that God's leadership is what brings about His plans...not my, or anyone else's, wisdom.
I want to contend for the unity of Jesus' Body...with my all...it is what He prayed for! I believe in the Church...the Bride. But, I will never trade the unity of His body for obedience to His commands.
I Kings 13:4-32 So it came to pass when King Jeroboam heard the saying of the man of God, who cried out against the altar in Bethel, that he stretched out his hand from the altar, saying, “Arrest him!” Then his hand, which he stretched out toward him, withered, so that he could not pull it back to himself. The altar also was split apart, and the ashes poured out from the altar, according to the sign which the man of God had given by the word of the Lord . Then the king answered and said to the man of God, “Please entreat the favor of the Lord your God, and pray for me, that my hand may be restored to me.” So the man of God entreated the Lord , and the king’s hand was restored to him, and became as before. Then the king said to the man of God, “Come home with me and refresh yourself, and I will give you a reward.” But the man of God said to the king, “If you were to give me half your house, I would not go in with you; nor would I eat bread nor drink water in this place. For so it was commanded me by the word of the Lord , saying, ‘You shall not eat bread, nor drink water, nor return by the same way you came.’ ” So he went another way and did not return by the way he came to Bethel. Now an old prophet dwelt in Bethel, and his sons came and told him all the works that the man of God had done that day in Bethel; they also told their father the words which he had spoken to the king. And their father said to them, “Which way did he go?” For his sons had seen which way the man of God went who came from Judah. Then he said to his sons, “Saddle the donkey for me.” So they saddled the donkey for him; and he rode on it, and went after the man of God, and found him sitting under an oak. Then he said to him, “ Are you the man of God who came from Judah?” And he said, “I am. ” Then he said to him, “Come home with me and eat bread.” And he said, “I cannot return with you nor go in with you; neither can I eat bread nor drink water with you in this place. For I have been told by the word of the Lord , ‘You shall not eat bread nor drink water there, nor return by going the way you came.’ ” He said to him, “I too am a prophet as you are, and an angel spoke to me by the word of the Lord , saying, ‘Bring him back with you to your house, that he may eat bread and drink water.’ ” (He was lying to him.) So he went back with him, and ate bread in his house, and drank water. Now it happened, as they sat at the table, that the word of the Lord came to the prophet who had brought him back; and he cried out to the man of God who came from Judah, saying, “Thus says the Lord : ‘Because you have disobeyed the word of the Lord , and have not kept the commandment which the Lord your God commanded you, but you came back, ate bread, and drank water in the place of which the Lord said to you, “Eat no bread and drink no water,” your corpse shall not come to the tomb of your fathers.’ ” So it was, after he had eaten bread and after he had drunk, that he saddled the donkey for him, the prophet whom he had brought back. When he was gone, a lion met him on the road and killed him. And his corpse was thrown on the road, and the donkey stood by it. The lion also stood by the corpse. And there, men passed by and saw the corpse thrown on the road, and the lion standing by the corpse. Then they went and told it in the city where the old prophet dwelt. Now when the prophet who had brought him back from the way heard it, he said, “It is the man of God who was disobedient to the word of the Lord . Therefore the Lord has delivered him to the lion, which has torn him and killed him, according to the word of the Lord which He spoke to him.” And he spoke to his sons, saying, “Saddle the donkey for me.” So they saddled it. Then he went and found his corpse thrown on the road, and the donkey and the lion standing by the corpse. The lion had not eaten the corpse nor torn the donkey. And the prophet took up the corpse of the man of God, laid it on the donkey, and brought it back. So the old prophet came to the city to mourn, and to bury him. Then he laid the corpse in his own tomb; and they mourned over him, saying, “Alas, my brother!” So it was, after he had buried him, that he spoke to his sons, saying, “When I am dead, then bury me in the tomb where the man of God is buried; lay my bones beside his bones. For the saying which he cried out by the word of the Lord against the altar in Bethel, and against all the shrines on the high places which are in the cities of Samaria, will surely come to pass.”
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