Week 7 — Living Filled
Tuesday — Unity Is Not Optional
New Testament Scripture - Ephesians 4:3
“Make every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”
I've always like this scripture - it says - don't give up! But easy for Him to say....right. Yet, We spend time on reconciliation for a reason.
The early church was not made up of people who naturally agreed. Different languages. Different customs. Different political assumptions. Frankly - most folks did notlike anyone outside the clan... Maybe some of you feel that way too.
And yet the Spirit formed one body. We cannot talk about being Spirit-filled if we are comfortable with division. Unity does not mean pretending differences do not exist. It does mean we refuse to let them define us more than Christ does.
We will learn alot about this in the coming weeks - not a promise but I am thinking about a trip through Ephesians from a non-parochial level.... more a thread of what we are suppose to look like - not just behave like.
Let me get back to the point for today - The cross killed hostility. It did not postpone it.
And yet we are very skilled at resurrecting what Jesus put to death.
We hold onto offense. We rehearse arguments. (You do - don't you!)
We categorize people as “them.”
So as we arrive at the first Pentecost we need to know that it confronts that. (Remember last week or so I talked about Pentecost as the reversal of the tower of babel?)
If the same Spirit dwells in all believers, then contempt has no home here. Living filled with the Spirit means choosing reconciliation when pride would be easier.
That is not dramatic. But it is holy.
Prayer
Lord Jesus,
Guard our unity.
Convict us where we have rebuilt walls.
Make us one — not
New Testament Scripture - Ephesians 4:3
“Make every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”
I've always like this scripture - it says - don't give up! But easy for Him to say....right. Yet, We spend time on reconciliation for a reason.
The early church was not made up of people who naturally agreed. Different languages. Different customs. Different political assumptions. Frankly - most folks did notlike anyone outside the clan... Maybe some of you feel that way too.
And yet the Spirit formed one body. We cannot talk about being Spirit-filled if we are comfortable with division. Unity does not mean pretending differences do not exist. It does mean we refuse to let them define us more than Christ does.
We will learn alot about this in the coming weeks - not a promise but I am thinking about a trip through Ephesians from a non-parochial level.... more a thread of what we are suppose to look like - not just behave like.
Let me get back to the point for today - The cross killed hostility. It did not postpone it.
And yet we are very skilled at resurrecting what Jesus put to death.
We hold onto offense. We rehearse arguments. (You do - don't you!)
We categorize people as “them.”
So as we arrive at the first Pentecost we need to know that it confronts that. (Remember last week or so I talked about Pentecost as the reversal of the tower of babel?)
If the same Spirit dwells in all believers, then contempt has no home here. Living filled with the Spirit means choosing reconciliation when pride would be easier.
That is not dramatic. But it is holy.
Prayer
Lord Jesus,
Guard our unity.
Convict us where we have rebuilt walls.
Make us one — not
Posted in Easter Season 2026
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