Unlocking the Power – TGIF Today God Is First Volume 1 by Os Hillman – Friday, December 23 2011
Unlocking the Power
TGIF Today God Is First Volume 1 by Os Hillman
Friday, December 23 2011
“I in them and You in Me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that You sent Me and have loved them even as You have loved Me.” – John 17:23
There have been certain breakthroughs in the world that have changed the course of history: electricity, the automobile, the atom, and the telephone, to name just a few. If we never recognized the applications of these inventions, we would still be sitting around in the dark, riding horses, and communicating by pony express. However, we have seen the opportunities and the applications, so the world is a different place now.
Jesus made a profound statement that has the potential to change the world if we simply apply the truth. What if I told you that this one truth would allow people to see Jesus and respond to the gospel like nothing we have ever experienced? It is the key to unlocking the door of salvation to so many that remain lost. Yet it is the one thing we, as His children, fail at the most.
What is this one thing? It is unity. Lack of unity among His Body of believers prevents Christ from being revealed to so many. Efforts have been made, but our Body remains fragmented and weak. Consider that there are more than 24,000 Christian denominations in the world today and five new ones beginning each week, according to the 1999 September issue of Moody Magazine. Does this sound like unity?
God has called each of us individually and corporately to represent Christ to the world, but our independence, pride, and ego prevent us from becoming unified in the purposes of Christ.
Are you a catalyst for unity in His Body, or an instrument of division? Are people seeing Jesus because of the unity they see in your family, your church, and among your workers? The old adage, “United we stand, divided we fall,” is not just a good battle cry; it is a spiritual truth that will determine the fate of many souls. Pray that God will allow you to be an instrument to unify His Body.
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Learning Obedience through Suffering
7 In the days of His flesh, He offered up both prayers and supplications with loud crying and tears to the One able to save Him from death, and He was heard because of His piety. 8 Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered.
Hebrews 5:7-8
Have you ever wondered why Jesus had to suffer so much when He came to earth as a man? One might expect that the Son of the living God would live a comfortable life and die a peaceful death. After all, wouldn’t His blood have paid for our sins whether it was shed painlessly or torturously?
But Jesus took on human flesh and came to earth not just to die for our transgressions but also—with the exception of sin—to identify with us in every area of our lives. And that includes suffering (Heb. 2:17-18). How would a Savior who had no experience with pain help us when we hurt? Also, when it’s difficult for us to obey the Lord, we need the help of One who learned obedience from the things He suffered.
Unlike us, Jesus didn’t move from being rebellious to becoming obedient. Rather, He learned by personal experience the pathway we have to walk when God calls us to do something difficult or painful.
In His humanity, Christ struggled with the assignment that lay before Him: death on the cross. Even though the Father heard His cries, the plan was not changed, and Jesus walked through all of it in complete submission, just as He had done with every divine “assignment” throughout His earthly life.
The only reason you and I have salvation is because Jesus always did what pleased His Father—had He rebelled in that one area, all hope for lost humanity would be cancelled. If His obedience in suffering resulted in such a great benefit, just imagine what is in store for us when we do what God wants.
For more biblical teaching and resources from Dr. Charles Stanley, please visit www.intouch.org.
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TODAY’S ENCOURAGING WORD – 12/23/2011
And you, O Bethlehem in the land of Judah, are not least among the ruling cities of Judah, for a ruler will come from you who will be the shepherd for my people Israel.
–Matthew 2:6, NLT
