4-13-21 THOUGHTS

Ps 133:1  Behold, how good and how pleasant it is For brothers to dwell together in unity!

The recipe for unity is to consider the same information from the same source and to believe that information. [Much preaching is needed here.]  A belief in the Death-Burial-Resurrection of the Christ is our basis for unity.  Nothing else can overshadow that MAIN TRUTH!  We use the terms “brother” and “sister” in that context.  We are each adopted through Christ Jesus.
Eph 4:1-6   Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called,  2  with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love,  3  being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4  There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling; 5  one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6  one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all.

Rom 12:3-6a    For through the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith. 4  For just as we have many members in one body and all the members do not have the same function, 5  so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. 6  Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, each of us is to exercise them accordingly:
1Cor 10:16-17    Is not the cup of blessing which we bless a sharing in the blood of Christ? Is not the bread which we break a sharing in the body of Christ? 17  Since there is one bread, we who are many are one body; for we all partake of the one bread.
Col 3:15   Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful.

Eph 4:13    until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.
John 13:35 "By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another."       Jesus said the same thing in John 17 using a few more words...
John 17:21-23   that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me.  22  "The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one;   23  I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me.

My Prayer:
Lord teach us to be peaceful in person that we may grow together as the body of Christ.  As we gain precious physical access to each other once again, may we absorb the love of sweet fellowship,  and with renewed vigor, lift up the name of Jesus.  We pray in his name         Amen