Q: How do you make unity?

That's the question that was on my mind last weekend one morning while I was reading John 17. In verse 22-23 Jesus says, "..that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me." And I really want that for the Africa team.. so my question was what is He talking about exactly, this becoming perfectly one business..?

The KJV says, "that they may be made perfect in one.." I was still at a loss as to how that happens or what Jesus really meant. The specific Greek meaning behind the phrase made perfect is "to add what is yet wanting in order to render a thing full." So I started praying and thinking..

It was interesting to think about the phrase "becoming one." The word used for "one" is literally just "one," the number. So, it's like- though the disciples were 11 guys at this point, they weren't even 1. And for all of us in the body of Christ- though we are so many, we aren't even one. I thought about it this way- it's like we are each a very small fraction, and when you add up the numbers, it doesn't even add up to 1.

Hopefully that makes some sense.. But in John 17, Jesus basically says, "add me to them, so that they may be perfectly one." The Lord makes us one by connecting all the small fractions and "adding what is yet wanting" in order to render us as one.

This was kind of a new way of looking at unity for me... so I kept thinking about it, and the Lord eventually reminded me of Ezekiel 37. There's a bunch of dry bones layin around in the middle of a valley, and if you put them all together, they couldn't even add up to one body, they were missing necessary stuff. So, God gives the bones breath, sinews, flesh, and skin. And the bones came together, bone to its bone. Then the breath came into them, and they lived and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army.

I used to think that Ezekiel 37 was just about individuals getting revived- but really it's about bones that have been divided. Bones that lack what they need to be brought together.. This interpretation is supported in the next chunk as well, 37:15-23. The Lord has Ezekiel write "Judah" on one stick and "Joseph (aka the stick of Ephraim)" on another stick. He tells Ezekiel to then "join them one to another into one stick, that they may become one in your hand." When the people ask what he means by doing that, the Lord says to explain that He is making two nations one. This whole scene is about 2 sticks, or 2 separate kingdoms, becoming 1.

They will no longer be a bunch of separate bones dealing with and struggling with different problems at different times. Instead, they will be connected, and they will deal with things together. And together, they will finally be able to "not defile themselves anymore with their idols and their detestable things, or with any of their transgressions."

The Lord brings the dry bones together, and He adds what is lacking to render them one, complete. He adds the breath and sinews (whatever those are) and flesh and skin, which makes the body a full One.

The bones cannot live until they are connected.
And a bunch of connected bones cannot live until the Lord breathes into them.
Then- this body that is united and alive- can truly overcome, be saved from their backslidings, and be cleansed.

That is a sweet, sweet picture of the body of Christ.

So, I ask whoever is reading this- please pray for my team, pray that we would see that each of us by ourselves is just a tiny fraction of the body. Pray that we would realize that even connecting dry bones isn't enough to make life. Pray for the Spirit of the Lord to make us fully united and fully alive. Pray that I would see myself as dead without the body and without the Spirit. Pray for a recognition of need and a passion for authentic community in us. Pray that at our next meeting (Feb. 12th) we would really share deeply of ourselves with each other, that we could pray for each other, and that we would have a STRONG bond and KNIT TOGETHER HEARTS, that we would be on passionate mission side by side.

"Only behave as citizens worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that... I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel, and not frightened in anything by your opponents.." Phil. 1:27-28 -Pray this over us :)

Grace and Peace,
Kristen

Prayer Blog

"When evil is looming we can postpone its coming with our prayers, and when good is delayed, we can accelerate its coming with our prayers."

"One of the most profound ways you can love someone is by praying for them. Intercession does something very powerful in the intercessor: it joins the heart of the intercessor to the heart of the one being prayed for."

"The body of Christ doesn't work properly without the members praying for each other. Prayer is the immunity system of the body of Christ. Through prayer, we fight off the invasive forces that seek to disease and afflict the body. Prayerlessness in the body of Christ is akin to leprosy. In leprosy, the nerves stop functioning properly, no longer sending signals of pain to the brain... When the church does not feel pain with other suffering believers, it indicates the presence of "spiritual leprosy." The church's nerves are dead. What happens next is the church begins to lose body members. Pain signals the body to send help to the hurting member. Pain is absolutely necessary for the body to be able to repair itself and heal itself. Thus, pain is a gift. Intercession is a response to pain. We cry because we're in pain. Cries of intercession are the vehement cries of believers beseeching heaven on behalf of one another."

This summer I get to be part of a team of 13 young adults serving in Kenya, Africa. The team was put together by Waweza Movement (see wawezamovement.org). My desire is that we would be a team soaked in prayer and that everything we do would be covered in prayer as well. So, I thought I would make a blog to give everyone who wants to an opportunity to pray for us. :) I'll be posting scripture and prayer requests throughout the next couple months, so keep comin' back!

Grace and Peace,
Kristen