Today as a nation we pause to remember all of those that have given the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom. Memorial day IS the honoring of sacrifice and of standing together for a common cause~ our liberty. These men and women stood together in a effort of unity to defend, protect, and provide for our nation and our families here in ONE nation, that USED TO BE UNDER GOD, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. I started thinking about this and how the Lord has blessed our nation as a whole. Our past PROVES we have been blessed whenever God was worshipped, exalted, and depended upon to FOUND this nation. We have since fallen away from this. Our nation has become weakened to an anemic state spiritually. Sadly, it is not just our nation collectively speaking, but the church as a whole as well. Divided by conflicts, strife, and worldliness, we have become weak and are not standing as we should. There is a price that is being paid for this.
Ephesians 4:4 says of the church that “There is ONE BODY..”.
As a church, we HAVE TO STAND TOGETHER as ONE BODY! Our forefathers KNEW this face to “be self-evident.” “ A house divided against itself cannot stand.” Mark 3:25. Several years back when my son was little, I was feeding him breakfast one morning. I had cooked him some eggs and was sitting down to cut them up. They had just come off of the pan and were “smoking hot.” I noticed within just a few minutes, after being divided, that they had cooled off considerably, and were now almost cold! I was amazed at how fast they had gone from being so hot, to now being cold! The Lord spoke to me through this. As a church we cannot be on fire for the Lord as long as we are divided! We will become COLD AND INDIFFERENT! We have to stay, or stand together as a whole, in unity as ONE BODY, in order for there to be retention of heat! Just as soldiers fought fervently for the physical liberty of our nation as a whole, how much MORE should we stand as a whole for the eternal SPIRITUAL LIBERTY of people’s souls?
Ephesians 4:4 then goes on to say that there is “ONE SPIRIT.” This we know is the Holy Spirit. If we are all following a different way or spirit, it IS NOT OF GOD! Soldier have ONE LEADER they follow; if not there is confusion on orders. “God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints.” I Corinthians 14:33. If there is not unity, there is someone or something that is NOT OF THE SPIRIT OF GOD! God will not lead us to EVER do anything that is against HIS OWN WORD! He cannot deny HIMSELF! (II Timothy 2:13.) We are to TRY THE SPIRITS ! “Beloved, believe NOT every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God, because many false prophets are gone our into the world. Hereby know ye the Sprit of God; Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God and every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is NOT OF GOD… hereby know we the spirit of error.” I John 4:2-6. The Bible tells us that we are not ignorant of Satan’s devices! He knows that the only way he can divide the church is from the inside! May we strive through the help of God to not let the devil get an advantage of us. “For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every EVIL WORK.” James 3:16. We need to “WATCH YE, stand fast in the FAITH, quit you like men, be strong.” I Corinthians 16:13.
Lastly, just as our soldiers fought for ONE HOPE of liberty from victory, we CAN STAND UNITED for ONE HOPE FROM victory! The end of Ephesians 4:4 says, “ye are called in ONE HOPE of your calling.” He IS OUR HOPE! (I Timothy 1:1)The Lord has called us to defend the faith and rescue the perishing. We cannot do so without hope! He has ALREADY WON the victory on Calvary. We stand on this hope and fight from it, NOT FOR IT! The gates of hell cannot stand against the advancement of the church, Matthew 16:18. As a whole, the church has to stand until THE BLESSED HOPE, the Second Coming of the Lord takes place!
May the church of the Lord stand united as ONE BODY, IN ONE SPIRIT, AND ONE HOPE! May we “endure hardness as a good soldier,” II Timothy 2:3. “For it is GOD WHICH WORKETH IN YOU both to will and to do of His good pleasure. Do all things without murmurings and disputing; that ye may be blameless, the sons of God, without rebuke, IN THE MIDST OF A CROOKED AND PERVERSE NATION, among whom ye shine as light in the world.” Phillipians 2:13-15. God give us the help we need to be “United as ONE”, for divided as a church, we will fail to bring THY LIBERTY to our nation once again!
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