Monday, May 22, 2017

How To Be Of One Mind With The Father And Why You Should Be



…that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us… —John 17:21

{CHAMBERS}  “If you are going through a time of isolation, seemingly all alone, read John 17. […] God reveals in John 17 that His purpose is not just to answer our prayers, but that through prayer we might come to discern His mind. Yet there is one prayer which God must answer, and that is the prayer of Jesus— “…that they may be one just as We are one…” (John 17:22). […] The things we are going through are either making us sweeter, better, and nobler men and women, or they are making us more critical and fault-finding, and more insistent on our own way. The things that happen either make us evil, or they make us more saintly, depending entirely on our relationship with God and its level of intimacy. If we will pray, regarding our own lives, “Your will be done” (Matthew 26:42), then we will be encouraged and comforted by John 17, knowing that our Father is working according to His own wisdom, accomplishing what is best.”

{ELGIN}  I am certain that you have heard the phrase “being of one mind”.  It means that whomever is being referred to all are in agreement over some issue.  There is no wavering.  They are “one” with respect to whatever issue was at hand.  In the same way, yet in a more comprehensive way, Jesus prayed that we would be of one mind with the Father on all things, not just some things. There is never a time when we agree to disagree.  As we submit our lives to the Spirit and live our lives by faith, we are united in harmony with the will of the Father.  That is represented by complete trust in God no matter what circumstance we find ourselves in.  We don’t blame God or distance ourselves from Him because He has let us down somehow.  Some bad thing has happened to us and we feel God has not kept up His end of the bargain. 

God did not say that we would not have to face crisis, disappointments, heartache, or loss in this new life of ours.  We live in a corrupt world and our natural bodies are still subject to its corruption.  But, He did say that we could endure whatever comes and through it, He would be glorified.  (2 Corinthians 4:8-10) “We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair;  persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed;  always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies.  The Haitians often say to me “Si Bondye Vle” meaning if God is willing. A phrase that you don’t hear so much in this country anymore is “The Lord willing and the creek don’t rise.”  Both speak to the acknowledgement that God is sovereign and we yield to that sovereignty.  We are of one mind with the Father.  This not something that just happens after salvation, it is a result of doggedly pursuing a relationship with the Father through prayer, the Word, and worship.  Failing that, you will never know, never experience, what being one with Him is like.

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