Worship

“Lost in Your Love” by Brandon Lake featuring Sarah Reeves

Scripture

“Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity! It is like the precious oil on the head, running down on the beard, on the beard of Aaron, running down on the collar of his robes! It is like the dew of Hermon, which falls on the mountains of Zion! For there the Lord has commanded the blessing, life forevermore.” -Psalm 133 (ESV)

Christ’s Prayer for Unity

There was a time several years ago when the Lord, in His extravagant love, needed to remove nearly everyone in my life other than my family. It was a season of great tears and loneliness and pruning. But I had His promise that He would restore even more than I had ever lost, and I had to receive that by faith. It was a time with just Him and me as He loved me back to life. He needed to be my Counselor and my Comforter and have my ears tuned only to His voice. As someone who thrives and lives in the most joyous place of relationships, I had to trust that all of God’s pruning and removal was out of His heart of love. Thus began a deep reworking in my heart for an even deeper love for people.

Before Jesus took the cross, He prayed for us: “‘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 the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one—I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me (John 17:20-23, emphasis added).’”

A Personal Journey to Understanding Unity

He prayed (and is still interceding) for the unity among His people—a unity founded in His love and common identity in Christ. He paid for this beautiful unity on the cross and has given it to us by His Spirit, and now we get to steward it as we have relationship with one another. It is something freely given and worth defending with our whole lives!

Having grown up on the mission field and spending the majority of my life in the ministry space, I have watched believers be taken out by “friendly fire.” The enemy loves to divide and conquer the people of God. If he can use his most famous tactic of a spirit of offense that comes to rest on the hearts of one against another, a seed of division is born. We stop loving one another in the spirit of unity and the bond of peace, and we lose sight that our enemy is not the one standing before us. Instead we turn and battle the one whom Christ also resides in. And on this battlefield, believers are strewn, brokenhearted, offended, hurt, and divided. And the enemy laughs.

The Sacred Nature of Unity

As David was crowned king, it is believed that he wrote Psalm 133, ending a time of great division and discord for Israel. He compels believers to take notice and fix our attention on unity with one another. The unity of God’s people is pleasurable for us together, for those around us, and for our nation. It is a blessing from the Lord when unity is present. This song draws our attention to the imperative nature of unity and the gift of it, given by the Lord.

Unity is like an anointing oil that that is poured out on the head of the believer, changing the atmosphere around us to a fragrant pleasure for everyone who comes into contact with it. It’s a rich and glorious blessing of overflow, from God alone as He smears us with His very presence. It’s precious to the Lord since Jesus died to provide it for His people, in direct evidence of His glory. It’s not to be taken lightly nor disposed of lightly. It’s an indicator to a watching world of His righteousness, salvation, holiness, and goodness

“What a sacred thing must brotherly love be when it can be likened to an oil which must never be poured on any man but on the Lord’s high-priest alone!” -Charles Spurgeon, “The Treasury of David”

Israel is mostly desert land. But David correlates the dew of Mount Hermon to unity as full of life—green, moist, rich, healthy, and thriving. It refreshes thirsty ground, reviving parched places. This unity would be on display to a watching world that was parched without even knowing it. It’s profound to me of this simple reality that our unity would cause not only a watching world to take notice of God’s glory, but it could actually ensue a blessing on our nation as God’s glory becomes so practically tangible.

“One of the strongest ways of illustrating and releasing the culture of His world into ours is by who we do relationships. Jesus said they will know of our faith in Christ by our love for each other. Listen to those words: They will know. One of the most profound tools of evangelism ever is this simple truth. Love each other well. Not only does it bring strength to one another and glorify God, it draws people to Christ. Could it be any clearer? I don’t think so. The impact we are to have on revealing the culture of Heaven is in part by how we love and serve each another.” -Bill Johnson, “The Way of Life”

Overcoming Wounds to Build Unity

Here’s the deal: we live in a broken and fallen world and have been wounded and hurt by others. I can say that most of my hurt in life has been from fellow believers. It’s just a present reality of the work of the enemy and his weapons forged and sent to hurt and divide. I am sure we each can tell of a story of pain caused by someone in the form of betrayal, slander, accusation, and retaliation, to name just a few. If the enemy can divide us to a watching world, our testimony is tried and tested. But Jesus is the Great Overcomer, Redeemer, and Restorer of broken things. And as wounded ones, we can take new ground to be establishers of unity! He truly teaches our hands to war in this place. If there’s even a mustard seed of faith to receive what He’s willing to give us through this blessing of unity, He will take it and use it to bring Heaven to Earth and put Himself on display. And we walk in an anchored authority to take back ground from the enemy.

“All of us will face issues in our lives that will make us want to hit the eject button and isolate ourselves in our pain. Then off by ourselves, we build our theology around our disappointment to console ourselves. Somehow we have to resolve that when that happens, we will not stop clinging to Jesus. He is ever present with us, our hiding place and Rock. In every situation of suffering I’ve encountered, God has been there every time when I’ve turned to Him. Instead of turning to Him, however, it’s easy to allow anger, bitterness or unforgiveness to become our shelter. Those create a thick wall of defense against the outside world, but they also become our private prisons where we can live in the regret of our past mistakes, rehearsing them over and over again and letting them bring us to a halt. … You and I have God’s strength and presence to help us move forward. Let your past faults become your fire.” -Robby Dawkins, “Do What Jesus Did”

My friend Jordan, who is coming on as a missionary to lead the whole prayer strategy to undergird the Arise movement, shared with me this week that for a year she has prayed that her heart would be unoffendable. What if we all prayed this same prayer and took Jesus at His word to be builders and carriers of unity in the Bride of Christ in this significant hour? What if we dared to fight for unity instead of fight to be heard and understood? (I’m saying this to myself as much as I am writing this encouragement to you.) What if we believed the best about our brothers and sisters and not receive the lies the enemy uses to highlight their faults and frailties? As much as I have declared to you that you are freedom fighters for the lost, we must take up this calling and anointing to move this through in the Bride of Christ, by the power of the Spirit in us. Revival will be established in our unity as we overflow the love of Christ to one another. A watching world will see the glory of God fall on us in even greater measure! We can be a beautiful picture of all that David wrote in Psalm 133.

Living Out Unity Today

Just a couple weeks ago when our team was in Waco, Texas, I saw this beautifully exemplified to me. Maya and I were sharing a room, and as we were getting ready for bed she said to me, “I brought communion for us to take together.” It was such a beautiful expression to me of intentional love and intentionally guarding our unity and friendship by what Jesus had paid for on the cross. She led us through communion, and we prayed together for our daughters and the Harvest Day before us. That very act of intentionality ministered to me so much.

I want to pray this word of declaration over you because the prayer that Jesus prayed in John 17 will be fulfilled. May it be so on Earth as it is in Heaven!

Lord, I praise You for the unity You have given Your Bride for the display of Your glory here on Earth. I declare that this unity is coming to us as sisters in even greater measure as you long to pour out this blessing. I thank You, Lord, that we will overflow with love for one another in even deeper depth because we are learning and living in how loved we are by You, Father, Jesus, and Holy Spirit. I declare a bond of unity for us that the enemy will not be able to penetrate. Be a wall of fire around us, Lord, and Your glory within! May we be carriers of revival because we have been transformed by love and can love one another outrageously and extravagantly, in the powerful name of Jesus! AMEN!

A Few Key Notes

• We are still looking for people to join us May 7-8 in Midland, Texas, for Harvest Day. There will be a one-hour training over Zoom leading up to the weekend, and the weekend will kick off at 5 p.m. with a time of gathering, eating, and worshipping together. RSVP by emailing me at [email protected].
• Registration is now open for the Arise spring luncheon on May 13! To register in person, visit www.eastwest.org/ariseluncheon. The cost per person is $10 to attend in person. To attend the event virtually for free, register online.

Date: May 13

Time: 11:30 a.m.

Location: The Hope Center, 2001 W. Plano Parkway, Plano, TX 75075

• We’re also looking for table sponsors for the spring luncheon. If you’re interested in sponsoring, email Stacy Riddick at [email protected] for more information.