Keeping unity

"Now may the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God and into the patience of Christ." (II Thessalonians 3:5)

May the Lord direct my heart, my total being, toward Him.

"...The temple is not for man but for the Lord God." (I Chronicles 29:1)

King David will be passing on to his son, Solomon, the baton of kingship, as chosen by the Lord. Solomon will lead in building the temple. But David will make preparation. The preparation, has noted in verse 2, indicates "gold things to be made of gold, silver things to be made of silver, bronze things of bronze, iron things of iron, wood things of wood, onyx stones, stones to be set, glistening stones of various colors, all kinds of precious stones, and marble stones in abundance." The preparation was complete. David's affection was to the Lord, he had given over and above, and those under him, leaders, captains, officers, they too offered willingly. The people rejoiced. All rejoiced. (verses 3, 6, 9)

And David blessed the Lord:
"Blessed are You, Lord God of Israel, our Father, forever and ever.
Yours, O Lord, is the greatness,
The power and the glory,
The victory and the majesty;
For all that is in heaven and in earth is Yours;
Yours is the kingdom, O Lord,
And You are exalted as head over all.
Both riches and honor come from You,
And You reign over all.
In Your hand is power and might;
In your hand it is to make great
And to give strength to all.
Now therefore, our God, We thank You
And praise Your glorious name.
But who am I, and who are my people,
That we should be able to offer so willingly as this?
For all things come from You,
And of Your own we have given You.
For we are aliens and pilgrims before You,
As were all our fathers;
Our days on earth are as a shadow,
And without hope." (I Chronicles 29:10-15)

"O Lord God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, our fathers, keep this forever in the intent of the thoughts of the heart of Your people and fix their heart toward you." (verse 18)

May the Lord direct your heart and mine, our total being, toward Him.

Our heart(s) is not always fixed upon, pointed toward You. We allow our minds to wander and travel dangerous paths that result in turmoil and despair for us.

There is the church founded upon Jesus Christ.

In Matthew 16, when Jesus and his disciples are discussing who He is, Simon Peter says, "You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God." (verse 16)Jesus replies in verse 17-18, "Blessed are you ... for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it."

'On this rock' - the revelation from God that Jesus is the Christ, is the Son of the Living God.

There is the church. But we are not united, we have not united, we have not kept our unity that was founded upon the Lord Jesus. We have separated into hundreds, thousands of little pieces.

In John 13, when Jesus is speaking to his disciples before his death, he says in verses 34-35: "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another."

Not just his current disciples, but all of his followers, past, present and future.

"endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace." (Ephesians 4:3)

"There is one body and
one Spirit,
just as you were called in one hope of your calling;
one Lord
one faith,
one baptism;
one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all and in you all." (Ephesians 4:4-6)

Let's keep the unity. Let's remember to whom we belong.

Four little words - "and do not sin"

"Be angry, and do not sin: do not let the sun go down on your wrath or give place to the devil." (Ephesians 4:26-27)

God says we can be angry. Oftentimes there is good reason. But certainly not always. I would guess more often than not there is seldom a good reason.

In Our Daily Bread reading for today Joe Stowell says anger is like a burglar alarm, with disruptive and annoying blasting filling the air. Stowell says in the midst of our peaceful lives, something turns a key in our spirit and triggers the alarm, producing exploding emotions.

I am overly familiar with this. I would guess many of you are too. A loved one says something and perhaps there is a hint of sarcasm in their voice. We hear that sarcasm and we react. Boy do we react!

Yet God says, "Be angry, and do not sin."

How many of us skip over those four little words -- "and do not sin"?

We may succeed in forgiving the other by the time bedtime comes around, but how well do we achieve not sinning in the first place? We pout, we withdraw ourselves from the others' presence - either physically or emotionally. We drive erratically. We yell and scream. We're irritated and we're sure everyone else should know it too.

We are human. But we are also God's children. And as His children, we are to be like Him, not like the world. We are to be different.

We are not to sin.

Help me Lord. Help us all ... not to let anger control our lives. Help me to meditate on You and be still.

"Be angry and do not sin. Meditate within your heart ... and be still." (Psalm 4:4)