Ephesians 4:4-6   There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

Paul tells us to maintain the unity in the body of Christ.  We don't create the unity, God does.  He makes us one.  Jesus prayed that we would be one with Him and with each other just as He is one with the Father.  It is His one-ness that we have been given.  We preserve, or maintain this unity, this one-ness by loving each other, forgiving each other and caring for each other.

After all, there is "one body and one Spirit...one God and Father of us all."  Let's do all we need to do in order to preserve and maintain this unity with God and with each other.

John 13:34-35  A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

Jesus gave us a revolutionary commandment.  Women were told to be in total submission to their husbands, and husbands were told to treat their wives well.  Don't beat them or abuse them.  Anything else was within the social norm.

But Jesus changed all that.  He said to love each other, to give our best to each other and even to lay down our very lives for each other.  That is giving as Jesus gave.  

Lamentations 3:22-24   The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.  “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.”

Jeremiah talked about his suffering, and how he was afflicted in many ways.  Then he said that he remembered:  God's love never stops and his mercies never end.  Every day they are poured out on those who trust in Him.  God, Jeremiah said, is his portion, his reason for living.  "Therefore I will hope in him."

He is there for you, too.  Trust in Him today!

Ezekiel 36:27-27   And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.

Do you want your life to change?  Ask God to transform your heart.  He will conform you into the image of His Son Jesus, from the inside out.  Changing your behavior is temporary, but when God performs heart surgery, it is forever!

1 Peter 2:9   But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.

Your identity and mine, if we live our lives for Jesus, is greater than we think.  So often we believe we have no value, but God says that we are His own special possession, a people that He Himself has chosen.  Right here in the divided states of America, we are God's holy nation, set apart, and ready to do His will.  Thank you Lord, for choosing us!

Psalm 34:8   Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good!  Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!

Have you experienced the goodness of God?  Have you tasted the sweetness of His word?  You are blessed when you place your full trust in Him!

2 Corinthians 4:6-7   For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.  7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.

God has given us "the light of the knowledge of the glory of God".  So that we don't think we had anything to do with it, we live our lives in these frail bodies.  So let's look up, and praise the God who gives us all that we are and all that we have.  After all, He has the power.  We don't.

Isaiah 26:3-4  You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord God is an everlasting rock.

The peace mentioned here is the Hebrew word shalom, meaning complete peace, wholeness and well-being.  It is peace of mind and peace in your soul.  It is what gives you restful sleep when the world is crashing down around you.

How can you gain shalom?  By giving your life to Jesus, letting Him take control of your worry, your pain, and every part of your life.  That is called grace.  When Christ is the One you live for, you experience His perfect peace.  Trust in the Lord.  After all, He is an everlasting rock!

Romans 1:19-20   For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. 

Watching the amazing hummingbirds outside my window, I can't help but think about the creativity of God.  He is the artist behind every rainbow, and the engineer of our entire ecosystem.  How can we not praise Him?!

Philippians 2:9-11    Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

There will come a day when everyone will confess that Jesus is Lord.  Past sinners and saints, and even you and me.  Everyone will have to admit who Jesus is.  The difference is that some will celebrate that statement, and others will mourn because they didn't really trust Him for everything.

When that day comes, I want to say, "Jesus, you are MY Lord!"   How about you?