In a recent Bible study in which I participated, the last chapter focused on unity. I haven’t ever given as much thought to how unity affects God’s ability to work and bring revival as I did during that last week of this study.
In our lesson, the author, Joanne Moody shared how when Gentile believers were invited to join Jewish believers, they were able to come together despite their vastly diverse cultures. “Yet when they gathered together, the anointing of the Spirit fell, and they were united by their love of God. This is what happens when we see beyond our differences and center on Jesus.”
I have experienced that unity in greater and lesser measures at various times and places in my life. When I am part of a body where there is great unity, it seems anything is possible, but when there is discord, well, not so much.
As I’ve reflected on unity in these past weeks since our study ended, I sense that in these days particularly, we need to strive for unity in the body of the Lord. That requires being intentional about achieving the goal. And the most important aspect of that intentionality is to focus on Jesus. Our gaze is not on each other and zeroing in on our differences in appearance or opinion, but on the one who created us and who loves us with an everlasting love.
There’s plenty in this world to take our eyes off the Lord, but again, it’s with intention that we keep our eyes fixed on Him.
You may be like us and have situations where you’d like to see the Lord move in power, and we all want to do what we can to set the stage for Him to do that. We want to see the Lord bring revival to our own hearts as well as bring transformation to our land.
The Psalmist wrote, “How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity!” Aspects of the meaning of unity in the original language include unitedness, altogether, and one accord. Of course we read in Acts 2:1, “And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place” (KJV). And we know what happened that day with the Spirit of the Lord falling on them. So, that’s my prayer that as we gather, we would be in one accord and I believe if we do what we can do, then God may do what only He can do.
Related:
Coming soon, A New Thing from Beverly Varnado, another volume in the small-town romance series set in Worthville, Georgia. Beverly Varnado is an award-winning multi-published author and screenwriter as well as a blogger and artist. Her most recent book is a middle grade historical from Elk Lake Publishing, In Search of the Painted Bunting.
Her blog, One Ringing Bell, has nearly 1,000 posts in its archives. Her work has been featured on World Radio, in the Upper Room Magazine, a dozen anthologies, and other periodicals, and online sites. One of her screenplays was a finalist for the prestigious Kairos Prize in screenwriting. More at link bio.