Chords That Cannot Be Broken

My prayer is not for them alone.  I pray also for those who will believe in Me through their message, 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 to 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."                                                

 John 17:20-23

The cry of Jesus's heart to God, His deepest desire for believers, was for Christians to be unified as one just as He and His Father are one. Jesus knew this would be an ongoing battle for those who believe in Him- the church.  He knew a war was waged.  Satan knew, now more than ever, that ultimately he had lost in the very moment Jesus rose from the deathly grave and Jesus knew he wasn't going down without a fight.  He would be using any and every tactic to malign the good news from being spread and God's kingdom being advanced.

My boys and I studied the Renaissance period and the Church Reformation during this time period this past school year.  When I study the history of the church I am awestruck how so many thousands of generations have been deceived by the "father of Lies".  It was so bad that Christians were killing other Christians in the most unthinkable ways due to their differences of interpreting God's Word.  Even to this day we have not learned from our ancestor's mistakes.  There is constant strife and division between denominations and sects, beliefs and convictions. 

Or perhaps taking a look at the individual.  I haven't lived a long life; a mere 34 years, but already in that tiny period of time, I know over a dozen Christ followers who have left a church over differences in belief or personal preference of what they want church to be like for them, or a hurt that they just can't move beyond.  I have watched people trade their emotion for TRUTH and the rift and division that it causes within the church Body (I have even fallen into this trap of lies in my youth); the moral that it damages and each party's hurt and pain while remaining in it, harboring those emotions and feelings, or coming out of it only slows His efforts.  This is exactly the agenda that Satan is pushing forward and his intent in his work of webbed lies. 

This was not Jesus's desire.  The fact that Jesus mentions the concept of being unified three consecutive times in His prayer to God was a way, in that culture and language, to place a great emphasis on that particular point.  Jesus emphasized His desire and a powerful point.  Paul also wrote:

"I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought."           1 Corinthians 1:10

Paul is not talking about coming to an agreement about the interpretations of the scripture, nor in our ideas of what a church service should look like or how the church or any one person in the church body should be meeting a person's emotional and intellectual needs or feelings (that's God's job) or even the political standpoints of believers.  Paul is charging all Christians everywhere to be unified in the one thing that stands above it all, the mission of spreading the message that God sent Jesus and the incredible love story that that is to us all; especially an unchurched person (John 17:20-23).  As far as our differences, "we are to throw off EVERYTHING that hinders us and the snare that so easily entangles us" (Hebrews 12:1) and we must, we MUST, be unified in advancing the gospel in our community!  For our "battle is not against flesh and blood (against other people)" (Ephesians 6:12).  It's not!  Whatever grievances (Col. 3:13) you have with the church, with another believer who has hurt and wronged you at any level, let it go!  Let it go for the bigger war that is waged against us.  Let it go for this world that is fleeting and the billions of souls that are perishing.  Our fight should not be against the church- each other, our fight should be to have "complete unity to let the world know that [God] sent [Jesus] and have loves them...."  We cannot let this be discredited to less than what it is!  It. is. everything!

In the story of the Tower of Babel, scripture says, that "the whole world had one language and a common speech."  They all came together under that one common thread: language, and accomplished a magnificent feat!  In fact God Himself said of it, "If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them."  These people were unified and God said NOTHING they plan to do will be impossible!  God destroyed it because man was building something for their own personal glory.  Can you imagine the flood of lost souls that would be saved if we, as Christians, were unified with one mission and vision in mind, throwing off everything else that hinders that, and then, the best part, God would fuel it because He would be SO for it since it would be all for HIS glory and not man's!

Jesus, the Gospel, God's perfect picture of His great love for us.  This is the wellspring of life.  Jesus, who set his own feelings and the ways He was wronged, aside for the sake of saving us all. -We are called to do the same.

However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me-the task of testifying to the good news of God's grace.

Acts 20:24

May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.  Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.  
Romans 15:5-7

As a prisoner for 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.                                                          Ephesians 4:1-4

Thorn In My Flesh

Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh...

2 Corinthians 12:7

In the past decade or so I've had more people than I can count comment on how they think I have super powers, or that I'm a robot, or a super human to be able to go at the speed and longevity that I do.  I have been known to power in a lot of productivity in a 17-18 hour day.  Another continuing theme from people's lips has been how much my life ministers to women, parents, and kids.  How much my teaching and example has changed people's walks, parenting, and marriages.  To both of these common comments I say, that I am merely human.  Nothing more than a jar of clay; capable of holding so much to do so much yet astonishingly vulnerable of shattering at any given moment.  And again, I am humbled.       I am humbled.      

See I came down with mono when I was 20.  I was told by my Dr. that I needed crazy amounts of rest.  Rest.  Ridiculous timing, Dr.  I was working 3 jobs to save up money for the following year that Shane and I would be married and living in Canada, me with my visitors visa unable bring in income and Shane going to school full time.  On top of the three jobs, I was planning a wedding, my wedding, that was to take place in less than three months.  Rest was not going to happen when I needed it.  But for a year following our marriage I rested- a lot!  

Fast forward 4 years.  I became anemic, experienced shockingly horrific stomach pains, along with many other symptoms to discover after months and months of doctors that I had Crohn's Colitis disease.  I was put on meds immediately which seemed to help for the most part for a while but then, after a couple years, my health began taking a downward turn.  It was everything I could do to function through the necessary duties of a Mom caring for the needs of my kids.  After many many months of uping my meds, suffering many health problems from joint pain, fatigue, losing mass amounts of blood in my stool, and experiencing neurological effects as well as losing 20 pounds that I didn't need to lose, (even though I was eating like a horse)  I got desperate.  I cried out to God for healing from this disease.  I didn't want to attempt to manage it anymore.  I wanted to be cured of it. 

I gave my cousin a call who had gone to a nutritionist in Houston whom had done wonders for her health as she suffered from a muscle disease.  He turned my health around in ways that modern medicine hadn't been able to.  I remember being 10 days into my new diet and supplements he had me on and calling up my husband and saying, "I'm back.  I finally feel like me....like I'm back."  I did great sticking to my diet for the first year.  But as time went on I cheated more and more on eating junk food and I'd go for stints where I didn't take my supplements.  So for the last two years I've had a low immune system which has left me vulnerable to a roller coaster ride of viruses and bacterial infections.  I've been sick a couple dozen times at least.

Presently I'm fighting a fever that comes on in the afternoons every day for the past four weeks coupled with body chills and aches.  My appetite is down and every time I do eat (even the healthy foods I'm supposed to) it feels as though my gut has been poisoned with toxins.  Some days I can hardly walk.  I haven't had a period in two months.  They're running tests on my trying to determine what is wrong with me.  So far with no luck yet.  Tomorrow I'm going into to blood work for my nutritionist and next week I plan to have a colonoscopy.

So I find it humorous when people comment on how I go 90-to-nothing or they don't see how I do it all because I've suffered from anemia for the past 14 years which makes me so stinkin' tired.  But that will never stop me from doing God's work.  It's why we're here.  It's the only thing worth living for.  My family is my number one ministry, so I homeschool.  Women in my sphere, so I meet with one on one's with ladies a couple times a month.  Lost souls in my circle of accountability so I stay intentional with them.  Impressing on the next generation, so I sing and teach preschoolers on Sundays at church.  And when God allows opportunities, I lead women in studies to deepen their understanding and their relationship with their God and Savior.  I can't tell you how many times I think 'how much more I could do for His kingdom if I weren't always struggling with my energy and health.'  And every time I think that, 2 Corinthians 4:7 pops in my head: But we have this treasure in jars of clay to who that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.  You see, I am nothing, I am nothing without Him!  I do find my poor health and plaguing anemia to be a hindrance to a more effective ministry but I am learning a lesson that far dominates that: divine power is best displayed against the backdrop of human weaknesses so that God is praised.  Rather than removing the problem God is giving me the grace and strength to live through it, and He declared that grace to be "sufficient".  This song seemed so fitting for this blog entry