... by Him (God) you were called into companionship and participation with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. God has united us with Christ, who is Wisdom and Christ has made us right with God, pure, holy and free from sin. In that unity with Christ in wisdom, thought and purpose, we are to live in harmony and be perfectly united in our common understanding and in our opinions and judgments. (No, that doesn't mean we all must like chocolate, tea and football. We are joined/thoroughly combined with Christ and our wisdom, comprehension, holiness, purity, response to sin...our participation with Christ is the unity. Not the individual qualities of preference and taste.) There are to be no dissensions or factions or divisions among us; we are not to be divided by different alliances to various teachers/mentors. Is Christ (the Messiah) divided into parts? Of course not. We are all in Christ the Undivided and Indivisible for God's gift of unity has place us there.
The word I received from this is to be careful not to rob unity by contributing to idol-worship of favorite Bible study teachers or worship styles. How can I better display and contribute to unity in the body...a full meal of the Bread of Life and Living Water rather than a-la-cart dining with the Bible teacher d'jour or the Top 40 Praise Hits of the week? Where am I giving personal preference greater accord than the Holy Spirit? I am challenged to be much more intentional in inviting God to join me and the Holy Spirit to teach me and lead me into worship...to make sure God is integral to my time...rather than to withhold my participation because the venue is not my best choice. My participation has been established with Jesus Christ my Lord...and I have been established to the end [He will keep me steadfast, give me strength, and guarantee my vindication; He will be my warrant against all accusation or indictment so that I will be] guiltless and irreproachable in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah).
For Christ (the Messiah) sent me out not to baptize but [to evangelize by] preaching the glad tidings (the Gospel), and that not with verbal eloquence, lest the cross of Christ should be deprived of force and emptied of its power and rendered vain (fruitless, void of value, and of no effect). The power of the Cross is neither the presentation nor the prestige of the speaker. The power of the Cross is Christ and Christ resurrected...the Truth, the holiness, the love, the redemption. Father, make me ravenous for You and Your word so that I am pleased to grow in You and Your Wisdom in any way You delight to use.
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