SCRIPTURE: Ephesians 2:22
(NIV)
And in him you too
are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.
STORY:
During World War II, Hitler commanded all religious groups
to unite so that he could control them. Among the Brethren assemblies, half
complied and half refused. Those who went along with the order had a much
easier time. Those who did not faced harsh persecution. In almost every family
of those who resisted, someone died in a concentration camp.
When the war was over, feelings of bitterness ran deep
between the groups and there was much tension. Finally they decided that the
situation had to be healed. Leaders from each group met at a quiet retreat. For
several days, each person spent time in prayer, examining his own heart in the
light of Christ's commands. Then they came together. Francis Schaeffer, who
told of the incident, asked a friend who was there, "What did you do
then?" "We were just one," he replied. As they confessed their
hostility and bitterness to God and yielded to His control, the Holy Spirit
created a spirit of unity among them. Love filled their hearts and dissolved
their hatred.
When love prevails among believers, especially in times of
strong disagreement, it presents to the world an indisputable mark of a true
follower of Jesus Christ.
OBSERVATION:
We are divided. We are divided along political lines. The
divide is so strong that there are some who are wondering if we can be healed …
come together … for the good of the many. We are divided over solutions … a
pathway towards peace.
Conservatives do not trust the Liberals. We see each other
as the enemy … the ill informed … the problem. And we remain divided.
What is missing is a vision of what God intended when he
brought the peoples who make up our great country together. I believe that his
intent was not so we can be better than any other country, richer that any
other country, more powerful than any other country … but, that we can be a
channel of blessing to others.
The world needs hope and a vision of what can be. We have the
great possibility of offering this to the entire world if we would only get our
act together. If we don’t then the blessing that God has bestowed upon us will
be taken from us and placed on the shoulders of others.
We have to allow God to build us together the alternative is
a destructive force that will tear us a part.
PRAYER:
Live in us that we might become one. Live in us that unity
may reign. Live in us today that unity may be realized. Live in us that our
nation might be healed.
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