February 6, 2016
All For ONE!
Greetings,
I have had the opportunity to walk with a group of people over the last 16 months filling in as preacher/teacher. I have so enjoyed the last few years of my life as I have had the opportunity to spend time with lots of different groups of people all over our region.
I was reminded this week by an acquaintance of mine how important it is to stand together and remember we're on the same team. His words directed me to Jesus' prayer for us in John 17. His desire was for us to be one. He wanted us to be in unity. We haven't done a very good job at this over the years. It made me think about what a blessing it has been for this goofy Mennonite preacher and his family to be a part of so many different denominations and congregations! Our body of Jesus has gotten so big through this!
The problem is this isn't normal, but I guess neither am I! :) But, why has it been possible for these opportunities of blessings to occur? Well, I can promise you it didn't have anything to do with ability or knowledge. Then it hit me...It is right there in Jesus' prayer about us being all for ONE! He says it right at the end..."I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known." That is the barrier breaker. When we draw nearer to our REAL Father in heaven, He begins to reveal Himself to us more and more. It is up to us then, to talk about this REAL God in our REAL lives that are full of REAL problems. The more we talk about Him alive in our everyday life to each other the more the barriers we have allowed to separate us begin to dim and fad. The same Spirit has been given to each of us and I am not Chris the Mennonite preacher, but I am child of a loving Father God and a brother in Jesus just like you. We are all for ONE! As we focus on the same God and the same Jesus and the same Spirit in each of us and share how ALIVE & REAL they are, we will form a bond very difficult for life to break.
There is power in this practice. Jesus said that when we do this something miraculous happens..."the world will know that God sent me and that God loves them just as He loved me."
Blessings,
Chris Birky