DAY 77John 15:18 - Acts 6:7
It is just hours before Jesus would face the Sanhedrin, Pilate, Herod, and the people that wanted to take His life. As Jesus was talking to the Father and looking ahead at the suffering and crucifixion; He prayed for something unusual. He didn't ask for His followers to be wealthy or famous. He didn't ask for them to take over the world by force. He prayed that His disciples and those that would believe in Him would be protected and that they would be one.
John 17:11 " Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name - the name you gave me - so that they may be one as we are one."
John 17:21-23 "That all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one. I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me."
Unity! That's what Jesus prayed for all his followers right before He endured the penalties of our sins.
And how is that going to be accomplished? If you re-read the scriptures you will notice that it is done by The Power of His Name for The Glory of God and through Christ In Us.
The Power of His Name. Whatever the reason for the separation between brothers and sisters in Christ, the Power in His Name is even greater. When families, churches, or the universal church are divided, the Power in His Name can bind them back together. When our focus is taken off of whatever separates us, and placed on God then we will be one.
The Glory of God. Nothing in ourselves can mend the differences in denominations. Nothing we may do on our own can fix the division in a church. But when we forget about putting ourselves first and place our efforts on magnifying the glory of God, then all those things that keep us apart will fade away.
The Christ in Us. The key is that Christ must be in us. There are certainly goats and wolves among us that masquerade as His sheep that Satan uses to devour and destroy the church. However, if a group of people have Christ as their Lord and Saviour and are giving God the Glory, then the Power of His Name will protect them. And they will be in complete unity. They will also be "one in heart and mind"(Acts 4:32) because they will not be seeking the desires of the flesh. Rather they will be doing the will of God.
When a group of believers are in complete unity, then the world will know that they are Christians because they will see God's love work through them. They will see what is described in Ephesians 4:1-6 and Colossians 3:12-14.
"As a prisoner of the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit - just as you were called to one hope when you were called - one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all."
"Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have aganist one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity."
What binds all the virtues together and what binds all believers together is love. A love that can only come from Christ in Us. A love that was demonstrated on the cross for the Glory of God. A love which is the Power in His Name.
Where there is love for God, there is unity. And when there is unity, then the world believes that God sent His Son.
