Jessie’s Blog

okay, finally.  I’ve been wanting to continue this thread– this topic won’t leave me alone!

but first, more important things: for those who are eagerly following along, I updated the Baby page, as we have our first PICTURE!!!  WOO! Check it out!

What else is necessary for unity?  Humility.

Ah, that crush to the carnal nature we all struggle with: humilty [if you haven't read my first blog on Humility, check it out here].  I don’t think anyone is ”naturally” humble.  We are all born with a lean towards making ourselves into the center of our attention, “self-gods”, kind of.  What dictates what we do?  Our self.  Who tells us what we should do?  Our self.  Who has the final say in pretty much everything?  Our self… you get the point.  Even those who would claim to serve God, in the final analysis probably are led more by self than by God or his directions. 

But, all is not lost.  We’ve been given an amazing example:  Jesus Christ.  Though He was rich, for our sakes He became poor, so that though His poverty, we might become rich (2 Corinthians 8:9).  The One who could have and should have been worshipped and followed came to earth to serve, emptied out everything, to give us everything.  Amazing!  The Greater serving the lesser, making them.. Great! 

Why?  Love.  He was so committed to love us, to show us His love, to captivate us with His affection, He would go to any length.  Really, it should have been us, trying to go to any length to show love and affection and commitment to Him: the One who holds eternity, and is worthy to be served by every human being (one day, He will be!)!  But, He turned the tables, did what we would never do– bowed low, the Uncreated One, serving those He created.  It’s completely unthinkable, yet true.  “Here is love, vast as the ocean . . . . “     

If we’ve truly been touched by Him and this truth…

If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion,  then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose.  Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.  Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.  Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus. . . [Philippians 2:1-5]

If we’ve been touched with the reality of Christ, the natural end will be that we should be (or eagerly desire to be) “like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose”.  How do we come to a place where we operate in a oneness of spirit and purpose?  It is when we don’t seek our own gain and do only what we think is important and excites us, but consider others BETTER than us. 

C’mon, how often do you look at your neighbor and say to yourself, “they’re better than me; I should treat them with more honor and value than I do myself”?  But, that’s exactly how we should approach our relationships with one another!  It’s easier said and though than done, I know.  But, in God’s eyes, the way for me to be truly be great, is to get down on my knees and do whatever I can to make YOU great!  It’s what Jesus did.  Am I better than Him?   

If you have n’t read Part 1 of this series, to that first: click here. 

After you’ve done that you might want to check out this interesting post about corporate times of praise/worship — funny, we all use different words to describe this time we share together glorifying God, singing songs, etc…. and there are actually 9 “worship words” in the Hebrew/Greek texts of the Bible — anyhow, he doesn’t do an in-depth exposition on all the words, but hits the heart of the matter.  I think you’ll enjoy. 

 Ok, so Part 2.  I couldn’t wait to post more.  My first post was so general on Unity.  And there’s so much more bubbling in me! 

One of the main reasons efforts at “unity” among Christians fail:  making “unity” the goal. 

That seems strange, right?  If you want to accomplish something, like becoming more “unified”, you set your sights on how you can make THAT thing happen, right?  Right.  Well, in most cases that is true in life.  But, I don’t think it works here. 

They say that nothing can bring “unity” among a group of people better than a common “enemy”.  This is how armed forces become such tight units, caring for one another, willing to sacrifice life and limb for one another.  It’s because they’re not focused on each other, and making sure the group is “ok” or safe.  There is a HIGHER purpose, a goal outside of themselves, a calling to fulfill destiny for many.  A common cause brings a common bond.  And not just agreeing to the common cause, but a heart and soul dedication to that cause — willingness to sacrifice self for the greater good.  In an army, laying your life down is for the greater good, and you do it willingly because it’s what you signed up for; you wanted to be a part of winning the “war”, squelching evil and protecting the greater good for all of mankind (more or less; I’m trying to generalize the mindset here — you get it, right?). 

In the call of our destiny to become One in Jesus, it will be because we are committed to a higher call, a greater good, and so dedicated to it that our lives are willingly laid down.  What is the greater good, then? 

 Is it that we would “get along” and like each other?  Or, is it that we could do activities together and say that we did this thing with that group that’s “different” than us?  Is it just a tacit agreement that “well, we’re Christians, so we’re supposed to be on the same team”. 

I say no. 

The higher calling is the glory of God.  That God Himself and His Son Jesus would receive honor and praise from more people and that His Kingdom would come more fully on Earth as it is in Heaven.   For this we are willing to lay our lives down, give up comfort, honor, pride, personal preferences, etc.  We love Him and He is worthy of it all and more.  That is the call that will truly unify us and cause us to love one another and humble ourselves and say “you’re better than me”, “your life and welfare is more important to me than my own”.

 So, why does is not seem to work when different groups try to “unify”.  Well, in my opinion, it’s because we look to ourselves and to each other.  We seek unity, not God and His high calling.  And, we end up factoring everything down to the lowest common denominator, i.e. “well, what are the basics that we can agree on, so nobody gets offended?”  What does this approach produce?  A lukewarm, “dumbed-down” cause with no passion, no teeth, no bite, no power.  It is self-protecting instead of sacrificial; it covets comfort instead of victory and battles won.  Istead of looking down, to the “basics”, we should look up to the higher calling and let it call us UPWARD. 

In the process, we will all be challenged — not to require less of one another, but MORE of ourselves– to give more, to humble ourselves, serve those around us and be obedient in love (to the One who loved us), even to death.  that is, I might have to die to what I “like”, my personal preferences, my position of power, my “vision”, etc. 

Ouch.

Why would I want to do that?  Because Jesus did that for me, and I’m madly in love with Him.       

Ah.  I’m learning a lot about this… or, I feel like I am.

I have long been burdened to see unity happen in the people of God.  I have given of myself to try and see this happen.  But, I guess it’s harder than one would expect. 

 John 17:20-23  “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. 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. 

This was Jesus’ prayer for US!  For you and me!  He was thinking of those of us who would be following in His footsteps hundreds of years after He had died and rose into Heaven, forever interceding for us.  His great desire of us was that we would express the perfection of unity, just like He had with his Father.  His plea to the Father was that we would become “one” like the Godhead.  Amazing!  How can we even understand the unity within God; that the distinct Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are three individuals, yet One Being??  And, how could WE — diverse people, ministries, groups, etc. –  EVER express the complete UNITY that God has within Himself??  HOW?!  I mean, our feeble minds can’t even understand the reality of it – how are we to EMBODY it – this reality that we can’t even define clearly?!

Yet, it was the prayer of the Son, to His Father.  God, speaking to God.  Would the Father deny His Son this one desire??  No way.  The Father would be pleased to grant the answer to this perfect prayer, the prayer of His Beloved Son!  Does He lack the power to do this?  Never.  It is guaranteed.  It will be.  It will be.    

So, why does it seem so impossible?!?!

Jesus prayed that we would be “one” as He and the Father were/are one; i.e. sharing the same emotions, feelings, thoughts – and submitted in love to one another, rejoicing in one another and enjoying bringing joy to each other. 

Not only will we be One with one another, we will be One with God Himself!!  Talk about two very DIFFERENT beings . . . becoming ONE!  God wants to share HIS glory with us!  His glory is His goodness!  He is going to share HIS goodness with us, it will be OUR goodness.  Not only that, we will love Jesus AS MUCH as the Father loves Jesus.

WOAH.

The question is:  how much does the Father love His Son??

I’ll stop there, for now.  Unity has been burning in me.  But, I’ll do this in segments, so as not to overwhelm you.  If you’re at all interested in following my train of thought let me know . . . but, I’ll probably keep posting anyhow, even if no one responds.  J   

I just made a page to chronicle the growth and development of “Baby Still”, for all those who are giddy with us, I’ll try to update this page regularly. 

And, in light of my last post, I posted a little info on North Korea.  I’ll try to post more stuff on nations of interest, too, as time goes on.

Please browse around and leave your thoughts.  .  :) 

I love the nations!  As a child I was fascinated by different cultures and people that seemed exotic in some way.  I had a certain sense of pride in being friends with those who were “different” —  ethnically, or otherwise.  

Today, that fascination has grown into a life focus.  I’m committed to not getting too caught up in my little middle class, white, Midwestern life experience.  I’ve been on several trips to different nations of the world, and it has opened my eyes.  We may have a lot of wealth, materially in the US — and that’s nice, because how else would someone like me get to travel all over the globe?? —  but the true riches of life seem to be found in abundance once you reach the shores of other lands.  I’ve come to realise how very bankrupt I am in the things that really matter, although, on most days, I feel like I have pretty much everything I could need or want.

Life never happens in a vacuum.  Whether or not we realise it, what happens to Sergei, Chen, Alfonso, and Paulo in their parts of the world affects you and me.  Our futures and destinies are tied together.  Eternity will show that our lives have always been connected, and though we feel like it’s easy to get lost, or to hide (depending on your personality)  in the “sea” of 6 billion people on the planet, we are all connected.  Your life affects mine, my life affects yours, and on and on from person to person all over the world, the reverberations of our lives have impact in the destiny of us all. 

In light of this, to keep from becoming some sort of “political” blogger, I started a new page on this blog dedicated to specific nations that I have a keen interest in.  You can keep tabs on it if you want. 

Maybe Disney was prophesying when they came up with the “It’s a small world after all . . ” song…

“There is hope, but we fear to hope,” she said. “We still dream of rearing our children in a country where everybody would have equal chances at opportunities.”

This is a quote from an article I just read about Myanmar’s current unrest (Yahoo news got  this one right, thanks to the AP).  Pray for the Christians in Myanmar/Burma, too.  The media like to focus on the monks, but they are not the only ones terrorized by a militaristic government.   

And, don’t be fooled.  Although North Korea finally admitted to having nuclear reactors/plants (who did they think they were kidding anyway?) and have agreed to “cooperate” with peace-seeking nations in a disarmament plan, they are not suddenly good.  I hardly consider this breakthrough.  While thier loftly leader Kim Jong Il is trying to look good in the face of the global pressure, the people of North Korea are literally dying every day!  Oh, you didn’t know?  I’m not sure why the media doesn’t tell us about the fact that there are many in prison workcamps, and that there’s been a country-wide famine in North Korea for many years, causing the death of thousands every year.  . . . .  [if you didn't notice I linked to several of the words above, if you want to find more info on any of this stuff, just click them and follow the link] . . .

I could go on for a while about the burdens that many counries carry, but I won’t belabor the point – we all want to be free!  Our founding fathers were right (not that America is perfect or that those men were, either):  ”We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” 

So, what is the solution to all the ills and burdens in the world?  Should we come in with military might and fight for the freedom of those who are oppressed?  Maybe.  Or, we could appeal to the High Court of Heaven . . .

Because “if the Son [Jesus Christ, the Son of God] sets you free, you will be free indeed.” From the Bible, book of John, chapter 8:36. 

Sounds simple.  that’s because it is.  Real freedom — freedom of the soul and spirit– is paid for already,  and can’t be regulated by any human government.  and, it’s what we were all made for, and it is what we all long for — to truly be free.