United We Stand and Divided We Fall
Good Morning Friends,
Do you sense the togetherness, the unity, the union, Jesus hopes and prays for as He prays for His disciples and all those who would be His followers today? Read today’s scripture. Do you sense a connection as a child and parent? Do you sense the sanctifying rhythm between being set apart and then joined together in something glorious? Today we contemplate the coming of Pentecost next Sunday and Father’s Day the week after and we consider the importance of a healthy relationship with an earthly father as well as a heavenly one for the future of the human race. And here quite frankly I am perplexed a bit for I know the reality of our pagan and secular connections but still have hope for our redemption in a reality that God will redeem what God chooses to redeem. And as I consider the attributes of God, as I consider the amazing act of God praying for us and meditate on the Trinity of the Water, the Blood and the Spirit in agreement I do have hope. But honestly friends, though I am a bit joyous, I am also a bit nervous, sweating blood if you will, as I conclude as Jesus did that United We Stand and Divided We Fall.
Scripture: And the Lord was sorry that he had made humankind on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart.
Genesis 6:6 (NRSV)
But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have died.
1 Corinthians 15:20 (NRSV)
After Jesus had spoken these words, he looked up to heaven and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son so that the Son may glorify you, since you have given him authority over all people, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. I glorified you on earth by finishing the work that you gave me to do. So now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had in your presence before the world existed. “I have made your name known to those whom you gave me from the world. They were yours, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they know that everything you have given me is from you; for the words that you gave to me I have given to them, and they have received them and know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. I am asking on their behalf; I am not asking on behalf of the world, but on behalf of those whom you gave me, because they are yours. All mine are yours, and yours are mine; and I have been glorified in them. And now I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one.
John 17:1-11 (NRSV)
the Spirit, the Baptism, the Crucifixion. And the three in perfect agreement.
1 John 5:8 (The Message)
No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father’s heart, who has made him known.
John 1:18 (NRSV)
Message: Do you ever wonder about God changing His mind? There was that thing with Noah and the flood. There is evidence to support that God does regret things. The thought of the Supreme Being altering a position boggles the mind. So how do you think it is possible for us to influence God who has always known all things from eternity? I think…no feel the answer is in joining in the relationship of a Father and Son and Spirit. I believe that we are to experience the love of the Father who is the source of all life, the love of the Son who died on the cross and rose, the love of the Spirit who renews man and the world. Friends, we are to experience how all three persons of the Trinity co-operate in God’s work of salvation. In one week we will celebrate Pentecost and in two, Father’s Day. The intertwining with secular holidays and feasts and church activities is a dance of its own but is also hopefully a dance of the Trinity…Father, Son and Holy Ghost working as one as Jesus prayed they would and we would.. For this redemptive purpose, the Father sends the Son and the Holy Spirit to redeem his people on earth and to live in and with us. What we see in the journey of Holy History is the loving action of the Father sending the Son and the submission of the Son revealing the Father. Here the Son does the Father’s work and speaks the Father’s words and in response the Father testifies to the Son and sends the Holy Spirit. The beauty of it all is how the three persons share the work of salvation through the incarnation, baptism of Jesus Christ, his ministry and the work of redemption birthed in the church. Friends, the Sprit is given to Jesus Christ and in turn Jesus gives the Spirit sent through him to the disciples and then on out into the world. This is the way of work for us in the world, for in the hope and glory of being in unity we experience God. This is the only way to succeed. Friends, this is not a product of human reasoning but is revealed in God with us, in the person of Jesus, who brings his fire, the Holy Spirit and a personal relationship with the Father we are to share corporately.
Pray we confess our sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that we may be healed. Pray we be counted as righteous so that our prayers might accomplish much. Pray we realize that when we sin we hurt our soul and embrace death. Pray we have a life in agreement with the Trinity creating, redeeming and sustaining the experience of a life to the Glory of God. Pray we have the joy of hope in a God of love. Pray we not substitute the sovereignty of self with our needs, wants and feeling replacing the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Pray we embrace the solution of a relationship with the person of Jesus. Pray we receive Jesus and are joined in his love. Pray we pray in Jesus’ name through the power of the Holy Spirit to the Glory of God.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 